Sizzling grills, chilly beers, and loads of Ok-pop maintain issues thrilling at Bellwether BBQ.
Ignore what your mother and father informed you. When consuming Korean barbecue, play with hearth and play together with your meals. The meal begins with the flip of a dial, waking up the (normally) gasoline grill set in the midst of the desk. However the enjoyable really begins with a platter—or tower—of uncooked meat, prepared so that you can prepare dinner.
It is not essential to depart Seattle if you happen to’re within the temper for strong Korean barbecue. However a lot of the great things nonetheless exists exterior town. This checklist covers from Lynnwood south to Federal Manner, although severe aficionados typically make the trek to Lakewood’s Koreatown.
Baekjeong
Lynnwood
A Korean skilled wrestler turned actuality TV star based this chain in 2003. At present Baekjeong’s 9 US areas embrace one at Alderwood Mall, with tables of all sizes, air flow tubes poised above every grill. Vibes are decidedly informal, however pleasant employees will grill your meat tableside; every tabletop has intelligent built-in containers the place your corn cheese and egg souffle will prepare dinner within the grill’s residual heat. The menu of combos and a la carte meats occupies a contented midpoint: higher high quality than many all-you-can-eat spots, with out venturing into A5 Wagyu territory. The non-BBQ menu consists of some particular lunch dishes (whats up, bulgogi grilled cheese) and a seafood pancake as huge and fluffy as a private pan pizza.
Meet Korean BBQ
Capitol Hill
Baegopa
Chinatown–Worldwide District
Previous Village Korean BBQ
Shoreline
Ka Gained
Lynnwood
The scissors that await on every speckled tabletop look swiped from an workplace cubicle however deal with like a Monaco Grand Prix contender. The tongs function with comparable precision—just some small causes Ka Gained stands out, even in Lynnwood’s density of KBBQ. Inside this strip mall hideaway, servers current a Technicolor parade of banchan and delivery container–measurement parts of pork stomach. Specialty yangnyeom kalbi (quick ribs marinated in sesame oil) and black pork stomach are glorious beginning factors for a meal. This place is a throwback from the times when American KBBQ eating places additionally served an enormous menu of different Korean dishes, and but Ka Gained nails a broad vary of soups and scorching pots.
Son of a Butcher
Eastlake
The cheeky title is simply the primary clue—Eastlake’s urbane next-gen barbecue hang-out crosses cultures with ease. SungJun Park grew up in his mother and father’ restaurant (Sottukkeong Korean BBQ in Lynnwood). Eun Music has cooked in higher-end Seattle kitchens. Collectively, they provide custom a sheen of soju-swilling cool. Son of a Butcher makes use of high-tech tabletop burners to grill cuts that emphasize high quality, not pedigree. However venturing past the grill feels important. Few different Korean eating places on the town serve the steak tartare–esque uncooked meat dish often known as yukhwe or dak galbi, the spicy hen and rice cake stir-fry. You positively received’t discover one other spot that riffs on chimichurri with Korean elements like chives.
Exit 5
Renton
Shin Sung
Federal Manner
Households pack into wood cubicles, teams wait up entrance for seats, and servers zip between the tables, piled excessive with plates of meat, clattering empty banchan bowls onto carts as they clear tables. The quick tempo makes the dearth of decor or a lot further ambiance much less noticeable, which is okay as a result of Shin Sung actually attracts most of its clients for the worth of its all-you-can-eat choices, which vary from a fundamental two-meat choice to ones with all of the bells, whistles, and child octopuses.
So Moon Nan Jib
Federal Manner
Traces can get lengthy for this homey spot, however the huge crimson vinyl cubicles, soju choice, and high quality of the meals— BBQ and past—deserve a bit endurance. The BBQ is obtainable by the merchandise and together meals, however not all-you-can-eat. That’s a superb factor right here, for the reason that restaurant additionally excels at soul-warming soups good for damp winter days, from the jam-packed military soup to the delicate pork neck bone model.
Bellwether BBQ goes past at its buffet, with fried hen wings and mushy serve included within the all-you-can-eat unfold.
Bellwether BBQ
Chinatown–Worldwide District
Boisterous teams order low cost beer specials underneath vivid lights, seated in entrance of gold grills as loud Ok-Pop music movies drown out dialog and half the communication with servers, if you happen to can handle to flag one down. Fortunately, you don’t must say something earlier than diving into the well-stocked buffet of fried appetizers, soup, rice, and noodles (plus dessert, for later), because it’s a part of the all-you-can-eat worth. You do must order the banchan, and choose a handful of meats at a time from the checklist of 17 choices in essentially the most fundamental bundle, which incorporates head-on shrimp, marinated lamb, and garlic beef, together with the requirements. Upgraded packages virtually double that checklist, with objects like American Wagyu.
New Gangnam
Shoreline, Lynnwood, Lakewood, Olympia
After launching with areas in Lakewood and Olympia, New Gangnam picked up the previous Sura areas in Shoreline and Lynnwood to grow to be a full-fledged minichain. The ambiance on the Shoreline location is barebones (others are considerably nicer), however the self-serve, all-you-can-eat combos are inexpensive and when service is required, it’s fast. The twin buffet setup lays out the uncooked meat in a single part, useful for folk who would possibly need to preview what they’re getting or need to pattern a bit of every thing earlier than committing to a full plate. A second part consists of all kinds of sauces, all of the banchan, salads, lettuce for wraps, and even the corn cheese included within the meal.
