AYCE Korean BBQ - Recommendations

[puppychao]

Taking some friends to Korean BBQ for lunch this Saturday . It seems like Soot bul Guirim and Mu Dung San are the favorites among the hounds. Is this still true?

[Mr Taster]

AYCE Korean BBQ is rarely a good deal, for the following reasons:

1. They tend to use inferior quality meat. Tahoe Galbi is particularly guilty of this.... their namesake rib meat is awesome when ordered a la carte, but unappealingly grey and mediocre when part of their AYCE deal.

2. By the time you factor in tax, tips and (maybe) drinks, you're looking at $25-$35 per person for the aforementioned sub-standard quality.

3. With 3-4 people dining, $35 per person can get you a huge, great, filling meal at a very good quality non-AYCE Korean BBQ place... Soot Bull Jeep, Tahoe Galbi, Park's (a little more if you order the Kobe/Wagyu), etc.

AYCE is smoke and mirrors. Don't fall for it.

Mr Taster

[wilafur]

not necessarily. if you are a big eater and and can ingest copious amounts of food, then ayce is the best route.

i've done my fair share of acye vs order off the menu places and i typically get out of ayce for $30pp whereas it is more along the lines of $60pp at places other places such as soowon.

the bottomline is at ayce, it is quantity over quality....but sometimes ayce just hits the spot.

[Mr Taster]

I'm a big guy and I've never come anywhere close to paying $60/pp!

I'd forgotten to even mention the fact that Korean BBQ is by its very nature AYCE due to the neverending parade of panchan.

Mr Taster

[wilafur]

remember, it's not always the biggest guy that can eat the most.......as evidenced by takeru kobayashi and joey chestnut. =) lol.

not to mention me!

[bulavinaka]

My parents and wife will agree with you 100%. Don't ever make the mistake of AYCE-ing my sub-6 foot arse anywhere.

[samtron608]

agree in a some ways. small groups (6 people or less) probably not woth AYCE. go for thier combos (basically a sampling of meats).
for 6 or more, ayce tends to work out better...for some reason, larger groups tend to eat more as a whole if food is available...combos never work out or if your order a la carte, just never enough for the money...people tend to eat less cause they dont want to seem like a pig! haha
not sure if i made sense here, but hope you get part of what im tyring to say!

[huaqiao]

As a big eater, I always hold back at Korean BBQ if we're ordering off the menu. The plates of meat aren't cheap and as the bill is always just divided equally, me ordering another plate of meat means everyone else has to pay more. It means I end up trying to get full on the free panchan and other non-meat items.

At an AYCE, I skip straight to the meat and don't feel a need to hold back. It's just much easier to enjoy myself and not worry about unfairly sticking the other people in my party with a higher bill.

[Foodandwine]

Mr. Taster at Gui Rim its about 16.99 a person. We brought a bottle of Bordeaux ( no corkage) and ate rather well. Plate of Octupus, 2 plates of Rib Eye ( rather a nice cut too..) 1 galbi, 1 short ribs and perhaps 1 or 2 other meats. With a nice tip we were out for about $25 each. Thats pretty cheap. I see you point when dining with a larger group. However in my eyes the value is there..

[burumun]

I like both Soot bul Guirim and Mu Dung San, both much better than Manna.
Mu Dung San also offered duck meat last I went which was nice.

[DrBruin]

I like Manna Korean BBQ.
3377 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019

I think it's 17/pp +tax+tip.

[wilafur]

i detest manna. it is dirty dirty dirty and the meat is bleh.

i'd stick with soot bul guirim, mu dung sang or tahoe galbi. i still need to try gui mok, yi ssi hwa ro and chweh ga neh.

p.s. i prefer the original guirim on 6th, not the one of vermont.

[losfelizhound]

wilafur: Why do you prefer the original Guirim and not the one on Vermont? Just curious :)

[wilafur]

service: the folks at the location on 6th are quite cordial and always has at least a couple people on staff that speaks english.

bad experience: my group was essentially kicked out of the vermont location last year........they just stopped serving us and gave us the check and would not come back to our table. so much for ayce.

[losfelizhound]

Wow. My experience (small group, one visit), was good. The meat, and the banchan were decent, and the service was a little brusque, but nothing that the flags would go up. I have been meaning to try the "original" on 6th, and in all probability, I will go there instead of returning to the one on Vermont. Thanks!

[Foodandwine]

http://www.yelp.com/biz/gui-rim-korea...
I went to Gui Rim a few months back for Lunch and had a very nice meal. the Rib eye is very very good. A whole steakk 3/8 inch thick. Banchan/Panchan was alright but the mixed salad was very good too.. Go for it its well worth the price and experience