Mongolian Grill?

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT
What's the cross street for the place on Sepulveda?

It's called Big Wok Mongolian Barbecue. I think it's nears Artesia in Hermosa Beach-----it's actually at 1199 PCH.
PS......gotta add Ragin' Cajun to the list of places in Hermosa. It's the best Cajun food I've found out here!

Here's a marinade recipe:
1T mushroom or dark soy
2T cooking or rice wine
2T oyster sauce
1T cornstarch
3-4 slices ginger root
Marinate for 30 to 45 minutes.

Cook.com has some recipes on their search. Sounds like good stuff!

Thanks Ed and Rusty!!!

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

Thanks Ed and Rusty!!!

Enjoy!

i think mongolian is totally over-rated.it seems like it used to be really good. but now, they've dumbed down the choices and the process of making the stir fry. for instance, when i first started eating at mongolian in ann arbor, mi, it was great. all there sauces and spices to choose from....i mean, they had stuff like red and white wine, lemon juice,soy, etc. now, they have all these pre-made sauces. boring! you can't really concoct like you use to.

i don't know....i've been so underwhelmed with that place lately. i'd rather go out for some good thai rather than risk making crummy bowl upon crummy bowl of stir fry.

am

The Mongolian Grill opened up on Richmond Street in downtown London, Ontario in 1996. It's a place where you select your own ingredients which are then grilled out in the open for you by a chef on their Mongolian grill. Suggested menus for specific dishes are available for those diners who lack imagination. It's proven enormously popular with university students and others because you can go back to the buffet as many times as you want for a set price.

Tony Cheng's restaurant in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown is a great choice for Mongolian Barbecue including the table provision of warm sesame rolls (to hold your food) and roasted peanuts. Yum !

quote:

Originally posted by tpd

TJ-

Cincinnati has has Mongolian Barbecue for over 10 years. Ta Han has been on Chester Rd. in Sharronville at least that long. It is a stand alone MBBQ place.

http://www.cincinnati.com/freetime/dining/reviews/090701_mongolianbbq.html

I drove the length of Chester Rod a few days ago, and Ta Han does not currently exist, near as I can tell.

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

*laff*

Ok, so this proves once again why the safest place to be in case our country is attacked is in Cincinnati -- everything comes here ten to fifteen years after it comes to *anywhere* else.

I do really love these places, though :-)

That said, has anyone found one seperate, ie by itself and NOT part of regular steam-table/food bar type chinese buffet?

I just did a search of our local restaurant review site that lists restaurants by cuisine (b4-u-eat.com), and we have no Mongolian BBQs in Houston. Ohmygawd, we're even behind Cincinnati .

11 Korean, tho .

quote:

Originally posted by aimala66all there sauces and spices to choose from....i mean, they had stuff like red and white wine, lemon juice,soy, etc. now, they have all these pre-made sauces. boring! you can't really concoct like you use to.

Oh, it really depends on where you go. There are a number of different chains, and various stand-alone places, and they all do it differently.

In Maryland, there's one in Laurel that really isn't anything to write home about, but a fairly new one in Columbia called the Mongolian Grill. I went there with a bunch of computer tech guys when I was taking an ESRI GIS class in Columbia a few weeks ago. They did have a huge variety of spices, sauces, and toppings, including red wine and white wine, etc.

But honestly, the best one I know is (and I swear I'm not making this up) the Great Khan Mongolian Barbecue in the Annapolis Mall. Yep, it's a mall food court shop. Instead of a straight-across counter, it's an inverted U shape, so there's room for four meats (chicken, beef, pork, and lamb, which I always get), about 15 different vegetables, and half a dozen sauces. There's a spicy sauce, a mildly spicy sauce, barbecue, "Mongolian", teriyaki, and lemon. You can get garlic or not, and either lo mein noodles fried up with it or your stuff over rice, as you choose. It's not quite as extensive in choices as a big sit-down restaurant would have, but it's pretty good. I love having lunch there, and found it even better than any of the four different sit-down places i've been. Maybe it's the noodles, I don't know. lol It could also be the fact that since it's a food court place, in affluent Annapolis, Maryland, they have a fairly high demand, and so their ingredients are quite fresh and don't tend to sit around for hours waiting for a customer, you know? Even so, the meat comes in frozen shavings, so you know it hasn't been sitting there getting all warm and icky.

Mmmm. This is making me hungry. I think I'll go there for lunch tomorrow.

EliseT, must have just missed you Saturday night with friends. MBBQ on Reseda is the greatest. They own the one on Vanowen also, but not the same decor. I'll look for you next time we go.

Ack! So I went to Great Khan's Mongolian Festival for lunch, and the guy said their corporate office hadn't paid their rent to the mall, and they might be out of business next week! My favorite Mongolian BBQ! Up in smoke!

quote:

Originally posted by RedPatti

EliseT, must have just missed you Saturday night with friends. MBBQ on Reseda is the greatest. They own the one on Vanowen also, but not the same decor. I'll look for you next time we go.

There's one on Vanowen? Hmmm... BTW, I work in Northridge Mondays, so if you ever want to meet up for dinner, just Email me.

I tried the Mongolian sauce a few weeks ago...I added star anise, and it was pretty good. But not any better than in the restaurants. So, like Thai and Indian, it's easier to leave it to the experts.

quote:

Originally posted by tpd

Cincinnati has has Mongolian Barbecue for over 10 years. Ta Han has been on Chester Rd. in Sharronville at least that long. It is a stand alone MBBQ place.

I just started a new job last week in the Tricounty area, which is just a mile more or less from Chester Road, so I drove by and found that yes, indeed, they are still there and open....sorry about my original report, I have no idea how I missed it. I'll add that they have fairly limited hours, but I'll be sure to stop over there for lunch in the upcoming weeks to try it out.

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

*laff*

Ok, so this proves once again why the safest place to be in case our country is attacked is in Cincinnati -- everything comes here ten to fifteen years after it comes to *anywhere* else.

I do really love these places, though :-)

That said, has anyone found one seperate, ie by itself and NOT part of regular steam-table/food bar type chinese buffet?

There's one over on Chester Road, near Tri-County. My coworkers took me there a few weeks back. It's quite good. The Natural Resource folks in our office call it "The Mulch Pile."

...and so, I went there for lunch.

Didn't much like it, though....very salty, no mushrooms or peapods available, and seemed pricey for what you get. I always like an eggroll with this type of meal, and those weren't available, even for an extra charge.

The mongolian grills 'built-in' to the traditional chinese buffets around the area seem (to me, at least) to have more variety, better quality, and overall better value, which is suprising given that Tahan is a stand alone MG place -- MG their sole specialty.

Ah well, always glad to try out a place I haven't been to before....

We now have one of the cross-breed Buffet/Mongolian BBQ (stir-fry) places near us. It opened in what used to be a "PO' Folks" that went under a couple of years ago. One thing I like about the stir-fry side of the establishment is that my food is HOT...not just steam table warm. Price, just over $5 for lunch. Not a bad deal.

Exactly.

For a fairly low price...generally in the 5-6 dollar range at lunch...you get access to a typical Chinese buffet BUT ALSO a freshly cooked, customized meal as well.

75% of my meal at such a place is mongolian grill (I prefer the chicken and pork, with mushrooms, onions, carrot, sprouts, scallions, pea pods, fresh garlic, and a bit of bell pepper) and the rest is egg rolls, crab rangoon, misc fruit, etc from the standard buffet settings. I really, really like this mix -- so much so that I generally don't eat dinner on any day I have this for lunch.

It'd be even better if I could get them to deep fry an egg roll or a few rangoons whilst my custom meal is sizzling away on the 48' round grill, but that's asking a bit much (heh) for the price paid.

TJ,
I did bring the grillman some of the Orange Chicken- General Tse's Chicken or whatever the sticky sweet chicken is called. He chopped up several pieces into the other meats and veggies on the grill. When mixed with the peppery sauce It makes a great sweet/hot combination. I really go heavy on the snow peas/onions and mushroom slices off the grill also. Then run around the steam tables to grab a couple of Shrimp Egg Rolls, and a few other goodies. We have to get these Asian folks to master the "Sweet Tea" beverage, hehehe They still don't get it Sweet Enough !!

quote:

Originally posted by tpd

As for Chinese Buffets, the best one I have been to recently is in Florence Ky. on Houston Rd in the Walmart/Sams Club parking lot. I dont think there is a name on building but you can't miss it. They have MBBQ and non-threatening sushi along with the usual steam table and salad bar selections. It's not half bad for the price, particularly at lunch. Tom

Tom, I ate at that Florence Chinese buffet with the Mongolian grill in October, when I made a trip to Florence to get a fix of Krispy Kreme donuts. With an hour to wait for hot donuts (KK was running behind that evening), I went looking for food. The young grill master at this place did a good job, so I had a second plate. That's all I had there.

I've only had Mongolian grill stir fry about a half dozen times and I've enjoyed it. My only complaint is that the cook in Lexington's original place can't seem to get the garlic cooked; it's always raw or semi raw. Unable to communicate in a common language, I now ask Mongolian grill cooks to leave the garlic out, which is a shame.

The food in Chinese buffets is at best pedestrian and highly sugared (one exception is a place in Knoxville). I'll take a good quality Chinese cafe anytime. Fortunately, Lexington, Kentucky has one: Asian Wind in Palomar at Harrodsburg Rd. and Man O War Blvd.

Lunch or dinner at a good Chinese sit down restaurant does not cost much and one doesn't leave hungry. I just don't like the trend toward ubiquitous Chinese buffets of poorer and poorer food quality.

quote:

Originally posted by paul and louise

well now
we went to chainese buffet place last weekend
they had the mongolian grill thing goin' on
i tried it and since we were guests i was graceful enuff to finish it
the korean bbq joimt here in lex is very enjoyable
the meats are marinated and there is good variety
and the pickled veggies/kim chee makes great appetizer, condiment, and desert......louise no like because waittress not so good
they are very nice.....

I'm wondering if the Korean place is in Lexington, Kentucky. I've twice visited the Richmond Road place for dinner - each time with a visiting Korean woman from Brazil - and had fine meals. My companion knew what to order and introduced me to a big chunk of the menu.

I was there last summer for the weekend Korean grill with a Chinese friend who is a trained chef. We had a good dinner, but truthfully, I nearly starved to death as it took so long to cook small amounts of food on my side of the in-table grill. We had a 2nd and 3rd pot of hot coals brought to the table, and I was still a little hungry when we left. A lot of frou frou for $25 to start. I would go back because the quality is there, but I'll eat a banana or something just before.

quote:

Originally posted by JimInKy

Tom, I ate at that Florence Chinese buffet with the Mongolian grill in October, when I made a trip to Florence to get a fix of Krispy Kreme donuts.

I haven't been to that particular one yet -- I tend to go for one in Northern Cincinnati at the intersection of Winton and Kemper, which is the area where Carmen Electra grew up. I will get down there one of these days. There are two on Beechmont, more or less near my home, but neither are much good and both set their prices a bit too high.

quote:

Originally posted by JimInKy

The food in Chinese buffets is at best pedestrian and highly sugared (one exception is a place in Knoxville). I'll take a good quality Chinese cafe anytime.

I mostly agree, but find that a few things tend to do well on the bar because they cycle quickly - egg rolls or crab rangoon, for example, at least at the places I have been. I agree about the entrees, but my point here is that I get all my entrees from the mongolian grill, so I never touch the steam table entrees.

quote:

Originally posted by JimInKy

I just don't like the trend toward ubiquitous Chinese buffets of poorer and poorer food quality.

I'd agree that the trend you mention here is also in evidence in Cincinnati. Every time a restaurant with a decent amount of floor space closes down, you can just about bet it will reopen within 6 months as a chinese buffet or a mexican place.

However, I find that they aren't all of the same quality. They tend as you say towards fair/mediocre, but you find the occasional gem (1 in 8, at best) that makes trying the other 7 worthwhile, and then you just go there once you've found it.

I see these places around. we have a very nice one in Knoxville, as well. There is nothing wrong with them, and the food is very good and served in a unique way. Ihave been to the one in Cincy and the one here in Knoxville, it's just that after I tried Thai and Indian food I became bored with Chinese, so I just don't go to Chinese places, because I usually look for Thai instead.