Until I lived overseas I was unaware that Korean BBQ with high quality meat cuts was even a thing. Even when I lived in Thailand this sort of dining experience was kind of overshadowed by a similar thing the Thais do called Mu-Ga-Ta that is much cheaper and more accessible so I rarely tried it there.
Here in Vietnam though, since Koreans comprise what appears to be a vast majority of the overall tourism, these restaurants are everywhere. There are at least 3 of them within 200 meters of my condo and last night when having happy hour beers with my German friend, he suggested we go and eat there. This was an easy sell for me
So the deal is you sit down and before you even order anything the staff swarm you with a bunch of side dishes that you get unlimited quantities of. Then you select your meat cuts that you want and they cook it at the table on coals right in front of you. We ordered one of the most expensive beef combos and I didn't really even put much thought into what it actually was because I knew it was going to be good because it always is.
one of the great parts of this is that the very friendly staff member is assigned to your table and basically just stays there the entire time. She knows from a great deal of experience exactly the moment that the meat is done and then sets it over to the side indicating that you can take it anytime that you want. In the meantime you much away at the other things that they have put in front of you. For me I tend to attack the pickled onions as well as the kimchee because they go oh so well with the steak. Also, a bottle of Soju goes very well with the entire thing as well. This is yet another product that had I not lived overseas, I probably wouldn't even know what it is. I THINK it is a rice wine of sorts that you drink out of shot glasses. To me, this stuff is kind of gross but for some reason it just compliments the steak perfectly. I never drink Soju any other time.
This extravagance is a bit pricy especially when you consider where we are in the world and how much things generally cost. This meal was around 1.4 million VND all in, which is around $60. That might not sound expensive to those of you in the west, but I can quite easily get some sort of rice dish for dinner for a couple of dollars so yeah, $60 is a lot here but it is worth it on occasion.
This particular place is visible from the roof of my building. I only go there about once a month but if you find yourself in the area one day and are craving some good meats I highly recommend Gainn. I would tell you where it is but if you are in the area you will almost certainly be staying in this part of Da Nang anyway, and you will stumble upon it. It's wildly popular but when you do go in there you will notice that almost all of the customers are Korean.
I have never tried Korean BBQ, but have heard it is very good. I saw some of these places in Paris and was not up to paying for 7 people when you do not really understand the concept and pricing. I saw on the menu they were charging meat by the 100 grams and with the amount we eat that did sound kid of scary. Tonight I went out to a restaurant for 3 people and the bill including tip was just over $20 so this is like living in another world.
you are a big boy, 100 grams of meat is nothing to you. I could see the price getting seriously out of control for your dinner :)
What was the restaurant where you managed a $20 dinner?
That price was for 3 people and it was a seafood restaurant. I had line fish with a salad for around $5.5 which is cheap and it was really good. They do steaks (prime rib, rump and t bones) and other items which are around $7 for 350g which is considered a ladies steak here. The most expensive item was the 1kg of prawns (35 prawns) which was around $16. This is an independent restaurant and not a chain which are weirdly enough far pricier. A simple burger would set you back around $10 and why independents are still the best option for families. This restaurant has been around since the 1960's which is rare these days for a business to last that long.
A few years ago I was in Normandy ad there was a butchery with a restaurant upstairs and on the menu they had steaks to share with them only being 500g each. I told the waitress it was not for sharing and I was ordering that for myself. The butcher who happened to be in the kitchen cooking came through and was happy that he had a meat eater in the house lol. Years ago steak houses used to offer a 1kg cut of meat and I have not seen one on the menu for a good 10 years now. This was considered normal and not a challenge either.
That's pretty awesome. The steak looks fantastic. I have never been to a place like this before. I've never been to a Brazilian Steak House either. I think it would be cool, but I likely can't eat my money's worth like I used to be able to. $60 is definitely on par with what you would pay over here. Especially if you are drinking.
There's probably some BS rule in USA about how the customers cannot have access to their own food or something. The coals being indoors would almost certainly be a fire code violations or something. The Japanese steakhouses in the US are fun though, I remember those. For whatever reason we do not have those here. Are they still popular in the States?
Yeah, they are still around. I don't know about your first point. I went to a place a while ago where they put a screaming hot stone on your table and you took your own steak on the stone. It was interesting, but I would probably never go again.
well the hot stone gimmick is a clever one but likely increases the price unreasonably.
Yeah, it wasn't worth it. It just became tedious because everyone was eating their food while I was still trying to get mine to the preferred "doneness".
We have very few of these where I live because the Thais have their own version of it that is all you can eat. That does appear to be some very high quality beef though, the likes of which I would avoid at Big C because I know it is going to cost a small fortune.
I remember mugata. That is a bit different in that nobody is going to help you cook but it was much more affordable than Korean BBQ is.
I can't think of a better way to have 9 pounds of bacon for $4
The restaurant has some good staff who usually help you a lot. Your dishes are very wonderful and I definitely want to try them. Beef combo.Why is it expensive? Have a nice day thank you.
it is expensive because the beef has to be imported from other countries. Vietnam produces it's own cattle but they are very poor quality.
Good experience, whole meat taste different and taste great. I think you enjoyed it very much
indeed I did... but because I am sensible as far as my wallet is concerned I do not go here very often.
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