During my one week stay in NewYork
city in October 2015, we went to miss Korea BBQ for lunch. My brother and his
family are regulars there and they assured me that it was the best restaurant
in the town.
I was not disappointed.
How could I be when missKoreaBBQ is
named as NewYork City’s ‘Best Korean BBQ Restaurant’ at 2015 Times Square Asian
Food Festival
It was freezing outside, and my
brother dropped me at the end of the lane, and went to look for a parking place, we
walked at a fast pace, stopped to look closely at the attractive food dressing
in the window and entered the warm restaurant.
Halloween was just round the corner
during that time, so this restaurant too was in Halloween mood
We seated at the far end, cuddled
around the fire place that was at the centre of the table. The beauty of Korean
cuisine is that the food is cooked at the table itself and you nibble on food
straight out of the hot pan.
The romance starts as soon as
(banchan) small side dishes start appearing on the table, among which there are
lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, green onion salad (called paieori) and sauces.
We started to nibble on side dishes
when the waitress arrived, placed a big shiny pan on fire place in the centre
of the table. She puts the oil and then the marinated meat and mixed
vegetables, stir fried the veggies as we sat munching on delicious kimchi
pancake, that was served on our plates. I would highly recommend these pancakes
for its texture and flavor.
Soon the pan fried pork belly with
vegetables ( Ohsum Bikkeum) were simmering on the center tables and we began to
pluck out the pieces of the cooked pork and vegetables straight from the pan.
Hot and spicy, they tasted so good.
Kids wanted to eat Yakshu Bulgogi.
This is the most popular variety of Korean bbq. Before cooking, the meat is
marinated with the mixture of soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and pepper.
A perforated dome griddles are place over centre fireplace at the table, and
meat is roasted over it, while the soup and juices slide towards the cupped
edges. You take the pieces of cooked meat, dip into the sauce and savour it.
Since they ordered beef, I did not
eat it, but from the contentments (of oohs and aahs) from the girls, I can
assure you that it must have been quite tasty. I was then informed that it’s
most famous dish ‘Bulgogi’ had won ‘The Culture Trip’s New York Local Favorite
2015 Award.
Steak was another dish I missed out
although it looked juicy and tender. There were roasted vegetables like apples
and corn paired with this dish.
A vegetarian dish was made for me on
another table, I did not watch her make but the sauces were sacculent and tasty
We were in the restaurant for over
two hours, eating at slow pace, enjoying every moment. It was warm inside and
the food was hot, spicy and tasty. When we got up to go out, we was greeted
with strong gust of icy wind, we then realized, that choosing Korean cuisine
was a wise decision on a cold day like this…….
