Best Korean BBQ in Northern Virginia/DC ? (Annandale: shop, Koreans)

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by pcity

I'll second Ill Mee in Annandale. Not only is it packed on the weekend, but it's mostly packed with Koreans, so you know it's good Korean barbeque.

Is Il Mee still buffet? And, do they still threaten to make you pay if you end up with more food on your plate than you can eat?

[oleo]

Originally Posted by tankdude

Is Il Mee still buffet? And, do they still threaten to make you pay if you end up with more food on your plate than you can eat?

Sweet. I am definitely going to this one!

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by oleo

Sweet. I am definitely going to this one!

The last time I went, which was a long time ago, this is what they had.

Troughs of raw marinated cuts off beef, pork, etc. for you to take back to your table to grill.

Small assortment of sushi by the sushi bar.

Hot/cold bar of korean favorites such as kimchi, mandoo gugi, seafood pancake, panchan, etc.

[oleo]

Originally Posted by tankdude

The last time I went, which was a long time ago, this is what they had.

Troughs of raw marinated cuts off beef, pork, etc. for you to take back to your table to grill.

Small assortment of sushi by the sushi bar.

Hot/cold bar of korean favorites such as kimchi, mandoo gugi, seafood pancake, panchan, etc.

I'm just looking for a nice octopus pancake and some bbq.

[Burgers+Beer]

A lot of people like Yechon in annandale. They are open 24 hours which is a plus. An order of Kalbi will run you about $20.00 give or take a few dollars. Bulgogi is a buck or two less. They also have the pancake dish you were asking about Hae Mul Pa Jun. If you like shrimp the Mae Woon Sae Woo is pretty good. It is kinda like a spicy sweet and sour shrimt. One thing you should be aware of if you order BBQ is that you will have to order two dishes if you want to cook at your table. You can mix and match though. If you only order one dish they will cook it in the back and bring it out. Most korean BBQ places are like this. Yeochon is pretty good for first timers. They have a diverse mix at the restaurant. FYI i have always found the waitstaff to be pretty abrupt and rude even with my wife being korean.
Yechon Korean Japanese Restaurant

If you are going with a group you may want to try the special menu on the back of Yeochon's menu. Basically you can try a little bit of all the grill choices with the third selectio. Grilled Beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, etc.

Welcome to Woo Lae Oak Tysons Corner is another option. A bit over priced in my opinon. They only give you a few side dishes as well. I really dont like it when i am charged for extra kimchi.

Also i cannot remeber the name but in annandale, va their is another restaurant that is pretty good. It is in a shopping center that has a giant food on the main section and if you look across the parking lot you will see a restaruant that has a picture of a cow. Right next to what used to be gilbert small arms years ago. I can say the food is pretty good but i felt that the restaurant was really dirty. I also had to wait forever for the wait staff.

I personally think manhattan and flushing NY have better BBQ.

[slee27]

Its called SooWon Galbi. Next to Trader Joe's. They have a $5.99 lunch special and I heard they are now open 24hrs. Go to their website [url=http://www.mysoowongalbi.com]Home Page[/url] for a 10% coupon for dinner. I really like Hee Been but after moving to centreville, I only go here. Their galbi is the best, and their bulgogi is really good too!

[weezycom]

Lately I've enjoyed Honey Pig in Annandale -- the atmosphere is a bit raucous, sort of a cross between Korean industrial-chic disco and southern US corrugated tin rib shack, so it's loud and smokey and a bit frenetic. Food is good, it's inexpensive ($60 for 4 of us that shared 3 meats, 1 grilled kimchi, & big seafood pancake but no beer). A few gringos in there that night but mostly 25-35 year old Korean/Asian folks. Fun and good, but if you really like banchan, their offerings were fewer than you get at many of the area's Korean restaurants.

Han Gang on LRT at Ravensworth is excellent, but about 2x the price of Honey Pig. A very serene, spacious, subdued, elegant restaurant. The #1 galbi is esp. delicious. Lots and lots of very good banchan. Also, the *** chae was quite good (but very difficult to eat with the stainless steel chopsticks used there). 1 each galbi & *** chae and 2 beers was almost $60.

[leighland]

Has anyone done Chos?
Chos Garden Korean BBQ Restaurant - Official Site



What do all the terms mean like kalbi , bulgogi, banchans and ahjumma?

Anyone eaten those candied crickets?

[weezycom]

kalbi/galbi is marinated boneless pork rib meat. Bulgogi is thinly sliced beef in a marinade of mostly garlic and soy (often done with thinly sliced onion rings also in the marinade). In a Korean restaurant, they will bring many many little dishes with a small serving of something -- fish cake, seaweed salad, marinated soybeans, kimchee (a hot spicy pickled cabbage), mung bean sprouts, pickled radish, tofu preparations, etc., etc., etc. The conglomeration of the little dishes is known as banchan. You've got me at ahjumma, though. I don't know what that one is.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by weezycom

kalbi/galbi is marinated boneless pork rib meat. Bulgogi is thinly sliced beef in a marinade of mostly garlic and soy (often done with thinly sliced onion rings also in the marinade). In a Korean restaurant, they will bring many many little dishes with a small serving of something -- fish cake, seaweed salad, marinated soybeans, kimchee (a hot spicy pickled cabbage), mung bean sprouts, pickled radish, tofu preparations, etc., etc., etc. The conglomeration of the little dishes is known as banchan. You've got me at ahjumma, though. I don't know what that one is.

Thanks! Guessing you haven't tried the crickets either