I love beef bulgogi. It’s delicious, easy to make (if somewhat laborious if you cut your own beef), and quick to cook by sautéing it. BUT, I am in a cooking strike until I get a new kitchen, so I haven’t made it for a long time. I decided to give Trajeder Joe’s beef bulgogi a try for one reason only: I didn’t look at the price. At $12 for the 16-lb package, it’s far beyond what I’d have comfortably pay for a frozen meal. However, now that I try it, I’m pretty sure I’ll get it again.
The plastic tray comes with one thing only: beef bulgogi in its marinade/cooking sauce. No rice, no veggies. If you want them, you’ll have to add them. At 40 grams of carbs and 27 grams of sugar for the whole package (which is enough food for two people) this is not precisely low carb, however.
But, and here is the but, it’s just delicious. The tender (but not too tender) beef has a smoky flavor that elevates this dish to the stratosphere. It really made me realize what I’d been missing by sautéing my bulgogi instead of grilling them over a wood-chip smoking box (given that I have a gas grill). Of course, it’s possible you could achieve the same flavor with just a dash of liquid smoke – I might try that next time too. Liquid smoke is not listed on the ingredients, however, so I’ll assume the meat achieves its smokiness naturally.
I love Korean food, but I hadn’t been to a Korean BBQ joint for a couple of decades. Not only are they usually expensive, but when my kids were little, I was reluctant to take them anywhere close a hot grill – one of them still bears a scare from a very unfortunate George Foreman incident. Later, one of them became vegetarian and Korean BBQ restaurants are very sad places for those who love animals too much to eat them. So when my sister, who we were visiting in LA, suggested that we go to Gen Korean BBQ, I was quick to agree – and not only because she just had a baby and I’m being nice to her.
According to my sister, Korean BBQ joints have become very popular in LA, but most are quite expensive. Gen seems to be the exception to the rule, at “just” $30 per person for all your can eat BBQ. They do have some premium items for an additional $20 pp – and everyone at the table has to order this -, but for a first or second visit, at least, there is enough in the regular menu to satisfy everyone. Drinks are not included, and children 10 and under are half price.
The restaurant itself is pretty casual, and includes booths, tables and half-halves, we had one of the latter. In the middle of the table there is a gas grill, which they turn on when you arrive. You can order up to four raw items to cook in the grill – and really, more won’t fit -, as well as appetizers. It’s all you can eat, and they’ll keep bringing food for as long as you want. With three adults and one child, we got to try quite a few dishes. None were amazing, but several were quite good, making it a good place to come when you are just hungry. You are supposed to finish everything you order – so don’t over order – and you can’t take anything home.
I started by ordering a couple of appetizers. The deep friend mandu (pork & vegetable dumplings paired with a savory soy sauce) was actually quite good. The skins were hot and crispy and the filling nicely spiced – the soy sauce wasn’t even necessary. My nephew liked them a well.
The fried rice cake sticks with sweet & spicy sauce, however, were a bust. The ticks themselves had a weird glutinous texture (I know, I know) and no flavor whatsoever. The sauce was too spicy for my taste, so I ate one and that was that. Nobody else wanted to try them.
Later in the meal I got the Pork Riblets. These were listed in the meat menu, but I mention them here because they come already cooked. They have both “Korean style” and “spicy” riblets. I order the former but I think I got the latter, as they were too spicy for my paladar. I ate one, and it was good – though a bit too charred -, but the spiciness made it impossible to eat more. There is quite a bit of fat on these – but then again, that’s a given for ribs, so beware.
While I ate the appetizers, we cooked our first four meals. The waitress had recommended that we order the chadol, thin slices of brisket which I don’t think are marinated. This is a good call, particularly for those who don’t already know they like Korean flavors. I think this might have been my daughter’s favorite. I liked it, though only after it had charred a bit and acquired some flavor. The meats are served with a variety of pickled vegetables as well as soy sauce and flavored salt (and rice).
We also got the Gen Signature Yangyum Galbi, or marinated short ribs. This is a favorite of my sister and was quite good, she ordered it a couple of more times. Again, this benefits from some charring.
Her other favorite is the Hawaiian Steak, which is beef marinated in teriyaki that comes with pineapples. Both beef and pineapple were very tasty. As the meats are cut so thinly, they are pretty tender as well. We had seconds of this.
Finally, we had the beef bulgogi, which wasn’t as good as mine, but pretty good as well.
Among the other things we tried, was the Smoked Samgyubsal – marinated, smoked pork belly. Here, I wish the slice had been thinner, as one slice was too much of a good thing, even with two of us eating it. There was a reasonable amount of meat to fat, and it had a nice smoky flavor, but it was hard to see what was fat and what was meat after cooking it, and I did not like the texture of the thick pieces of fat in my mouth. They have several preparations for samgyubsal, but given that my issue was the texture, I don’t think I’d order it again.
Another item we tried and we’d not order again is the garlic chicken. Once cooked, this really tasted of over-roasted garlic and nothing else. It was bitter and just too one-note, no one liked it.
They had many other meats to try, but frankly, we were too full to try them, and this despite the fact that we didn’t even try the salads.
We did order the Hotteok, a Korean pancake. This was probably not worth the calories. The inside felt like uncooked batter and it wasn’t very flavorful at all.
Now, none of the meats were high quality – but as they are cut thin and heavily marinated, I’m not sure that mattered much. The grill got dark a couple of times with all the burn marinades, but they were promptly changed.
Service was great at the beginning, the waitress explained how things worked carefully, but she sort of disappeared at the end, when things got busy.
Gen Korean BBQ is a chain, with 24 restaurants throughout California, plus a couple in Arizona and Florida. The closest to me is in Fremont, and I might give it a try sometime.
Gen Korean BBQ 10151 Reseda Blvd Northridge, CA (818) 709-3932 Monday - Thursday 11:00 AM - 10:30 PM Friday 11:00 AM - 11:30 PM Saturday 10:00 AM - 11:30 PM Sunday 10:00 AM - 10:30 PM
Is the future of high end cuisine in New York, Korean?
Our last night in New York City we decided to have a meal that looks at the City’s culinary future – and what a meal it was!
New York City is the culinary Mecca of the world. Its vibrant immigrant population comes from every country in the world, and its high density forces both people and cuisines to be a in a constant dialogue with each other. Fierce competition means that there isn’t much room for being less than perfect (though apparently some Asian restaurants are the exception to this). It’s thus no wonder that NYC has the most Michelin starred restaurants than other city outside Japan, other than Paris. While I’m not one of those who think that Michelin stars are the be-all end-all (for some decades now, Michelin reviewers have been obsessed with Japanese cuisine and methods, greatly biasing their results in favor of such restaurants), they are as good a way as any to judge to culinary richness of a city.
For years, the high-end culinary scene has been dominated by restaurants serving French or French-inspired, pan-Asian influenced “contemporary” cuisine (and, of course, Japanese fare). Finally, though, we are seeing restaurants that focus on other cuisines break into the high-end scene, and I expect that this will become a growing trend. Already Indian, Mexican and Israeli restaurants have received Michelin stars in New York City, while a Mexican and two Thai restaurants have obtained them in San Francisco. But no cuisine has broken into the high-end restaurant scene as stridently, as Korean food. New York City now features tenMichelin starred Korean restaurants, while the Bay Area has two. The future of high-end cuisine may be global, but the present seems to be Korean.
We were not, of course, necessarily surprised to learn this. Korean food is delicious – my husband could live on bulgogi alone -, and not as challenging to American tastes as other Asian flavors. Indeed, its flavor profiles can be quite flexible, as shown by the rise of Korean fusion cuisines, such as K-Mex. That said, we had never had high-end Korean cuisine before and were excited to try it.
Kochi was the logical choice for this exploration, as it was conveniently located near our hotel. While I couldn’t get reservations the first time I tried, I got on the waiting list and was able to procure them for a Friday at 7 PM without too much trouble, albeit the only seating available was in the enclosed patio.
Kochi’s patio was, indeed, our first indication that the future of fine dining is not in fine surroundings. While the restaurant itself is pleasant enough – a contemporary, clean, non-distinctive, crowded space -, the patio itself was a sad afterthought. I imagine that it was put into place during the pandemic, but little to no effort has been added to make it a pleasant environment. The tenting and heating, while welcomed in such a cold, rainy night, were distinctively unattractive. More problematically, the smell from the fuel burnt by the heaters they used was overwhelming – I’m not sure if they had a leak or they use some particularly smelly fuel such as kerosene, but it smelled toxic. Given how important smell is to a culinary experience, this was an atrocious choice. At the prices they charge, they should be able to afford electric heaters.
On the plus side, Kochi is a rather casual restaurant, particularly in the patio, so you don’t have to worry about bringing a jacket for anything but warmth.
Kochi serves a 9-course menu for $145 plus supplements. The food is upgraded Korean street food, in particular, skewers – though a lot of the items they serve would be better off without one (do remove it before you try to eat each dish). While you don’t get to choose your courses, Kochi will text you before the evening and ask you about any food restrictions, and work around them. Everyone gets the same dishes. The amounts are perfect so that you don’t end up hungry, but are not overstuffed either. They offer a sool paring for $105, which consists of various Korean liquors. We decided against it, as we are not big alcohol drinkers. I had bubbly water while Mike had a single glass of sool, but he doesn’t remember which one. He found it interesting, but not something he’d have again.
Dinner at Kochi started with Sweet Potato Soup (chapsal beignet, caramelized apple, toasted yulmu, caviar). The plate comes with the beignet and accoutrements, and the soup is poured on top of it (the photo was taken before that happened). The soup itself was absolutely delicious, and my favorite dish of the evening, and something I will try to make myself in the future. While the beignet and other ingredients added texture and contrasted well with the sweetness of the soup, the soup was really the star of this dish and didn’t need anything else.
Our second dish was Hwe (red snapper, bergamot doenjang, fennel salad, satsuma). I’m not a huge fan of crudo, though I did like the fruitiness in this dish, but Mike absolutely loved this.
Next, we had the Eggplant Twigim (rice cake, pine nut hummus, turnip, fermented chili). Neither my husband nor I are fans of eggplant, but these skewers were surprisingly tasty. I did like the pine nuts hummus. In all, the combination of flavors and textures was quite good.
Our next skewer was of Halibut in a Jiri Consommé (bean sprout and mustard green namul, tofu). This bite was cooked to the precise right level of doneness, was wonderful flaky and nicely seasoned in the broth. Mike, who loves fish, enjoyed it greatly.
Next we had the 28 Days Dry-Aged Pork Collar (pistachio ssamjang, Perilla kimchi, Savoy cabbage). I’m sure it was good, but it was probably the least remarkable dish of the evening, as we can’t remember it at all.
For the next dish, you could have the Duck (Long Island duck breast , barley risotto, duck jus, potato jeon) or substitute it with Wagyu beef for an extra charge. I decided on the duck, while my husband got the beef. It was perfectly cooked, the skin was nice and crispy, and the whole bite was delicious. I did like the combination of flavors, and the barley risotto underneath it.
Mike loved his A5 Wagyu beef ($59 supplement), which came with the same accoutrements as the duck. While he opted against ordering the Perigord black truffle supplement ($20), it was served with it anyway, compliments of the Chef. A5 is the highest classification for Wagyu beef and you definitely could tell the difference. I’ve only had Wagyu beef twice (I’m not counting Wagyu beef patties), the first from a supermarket and the second at Bix in San Francisco, and neither could compare in any way whatsoever. Then again, a whole Wagyu steak at Bix was $50, while here you got a three-bite strip of beef for a $59 supplement. We did love it, but I don’t think it was worth the money – other than for the experience of having tasted such quality of meat. I wouldn’t order it again, unless I was swimming in money.
The last savory dish in the tasting menu is Shrimp Bibimbap (soy-cured shrimp, sous-vide quail egg yolk, seasonal sprouts, candied anchovy, seaweed rice). You can substitute the shrimp for sea urchin for $16. As I don’t eat shrimp, they offered to substitute the shrimp in this dish with salmon – which I dislike just as much. Fortunately, they were able to do substitute it with beef instead. Ultimately, I don’t think the meat made much of a difference, as it was only a small part of this dish – which really amounts to an after dinner salad. The flavors were quite nice, when everything is mixed together, and I think the crispiness of the fresh greens worked as a great counter for the fattiness of our previous course. This was quite well thought out.
We had ordered one serving of the Abalone ($24 supplement), given that Mike wanted to try it and I didn’t (I did take a bite, I hated it as much as I thought I was going to). Unfortunately, they’d forgotten about it, and they only brought it when I reminded them. Fortunately this was before we had started our desserts. Mike was pleased though not overwhelmed by the abalone – which he’d never had before. He felt it tasted like he expects mollusks to taste, and he liked it but wasn’t overly impressed by it. He was happy to have tried it, but doesn’t think it was worth adding it, given the price.
Finally, we had time for dessert – and this tasting menu includes two of them. The first was Froyo (daechu frozen yogurt, dehydrated korean dates, cranberry compote) and it was absolutely delicious. Mike liked it better than the plethora of desserts we’d had the previous night at Daniel, though I still preferred the vacherin there. But it was really, very good. I was dismayed when writing this review that daechu refers to jujube dates, which means that I will not be trying to make this frozen yogurt myself – but I really enjoyed the bright, tart flavor.
This was followed by Chestnut Ice Cream (honey crisp compote, chestnut cream). It was nice, but completely overshadowed by the froyo, which we liked fare more.
Finally, they brought us a complimentary dessert, as we were – once again – celebrating our anniversary (early). Unfortunately, I can’t remember it at all. If there is one thing I’ve learned from our two high-end dining experiences is that one dessert is enough. I understand that if you hire a pastry chef, you want to take full advantage of their talents – but at least at our age, we really don’t need that many sweets at the end of a meal.
Service was good and pleasant, but not particularly remarkable. It was definitely not as obsequious as at Daniel’s. In all, I’d say that dinner at Kochi was an excellent culinary experience – Mike actually liked the food better here than at Daniel’s -, the experience was limited to the menu. Beyond it, it was like dining at any other average restaurant. For the price – and we ended up spending roughly the same amount as at Daniels -, I felt dinner at Daniel was much more of a treat. Of course, if you can afford dinners like these as something other than once-in-a-decade experience, the lack of “specialness” about dinner at Kochi would probably matter far less.
Kochi
652 10th Ave.
New York City
646-478-7308
Mon-Thur: 5:00pm – 9:30pm
Fri, Sat: 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Sun: 5:00pm – 9:30pm
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