Torm
Explorer
Got a restaurant with really good or really lousy Mongolian BBQ nearby? Got one that's in another state, but is sooo good you drive there occasionally anyway? 
Please tell me about it!
Got a recipe you use for Mongolian BBQ at home? Post that, too. I'll start:
RESTAURANTS:
Fayetteville, NC has a chain restaurant called BD's Mongolian BBQ, that has pretty decent BBQ. They have a huge variety of meats, veggies, sauces, and spices to play with. The downside is that they aren't very careful about allowing your food to get a little mixed with your "grill neighbor's" - this sometimes results in me getting meats and vegetables I don't want, and has, in the past, resulted in my "grill neighbor's" food being completely ruined for them. (I like mine SPICY.) They also have a tendency to be very loud while they cook, banging the utensils and such, and they encourage the cooks to be loud and obnoxious as well. I guess this is supposed to be "atmosphere", and I regard it much the same way I do the atmosphere of Venus - I acknowledge that it IS atmosphere, but I just don't want to breathe it any longer than I have to. Really good food, though, if somewhat Americanized. And they have locations in other states, too.
Charleston, SC has a place actually called "Mongolian Barbecue" on Rivers Ave. They have a Mongolian BBQ that comes at one price with a pretty good Chinese buffet. They have a decent (and more traditional) selection of meats and sauces than BD's, and a calmer dining environment. They still have the same problem with "grill neighbors" on occasion, but less often, in my experience.
Columbia, SC has a place that is so horrible (very limited meat and veggie selection, almost no sauces, NO decent ones, and I was uncomfortable with their lack of cleanliness), I didn't even bother to remember the name of it, but I can tell you this: if you ever start to go to a Chinese restaurant someplace in Columbia called the BOOZER Shopping Center, turn right around, get back on Broad River Rd, go to the other side of I20, and eat at the Monterrey Mexican Restaurant. And forget about Chinese entirely that day. Or, pop up 26 a bit to the Columbiana Mall, and eat at the Chinese place in the food court - it is FAR superior. :\
Wake Forest, NC has a place called "Bali Hai" that I found to be pretty abysmal - VERY limited selection of meats and veggies, and a very limited selection of sauces that they won't even let you touch! You have to let the cook do it. :\ Ungood.
Springfield, MO has a place called Jade Dynasty that has a decent Mongolian BBQ, once again as part of a Chinese buffet price. The BBQ itself is minimal - they get by with a minimum of what I consider necessary to even call it a Mongolian BBQ, as far as meat and sauce selection goes. But what there is, is good, and the lack of selection is made up for by it being accompanied by an excellent atmosphere and one of the best Chinese buffets I've been to anywhere. (And I've been to more than a few all over the country east of about Kansas.) And their price is very reasonable, too.
The best I ever had, speaking strictly on the quality of the BBQ itself, was a toss-up between a place called Diamond Head, also in Springfield, MO, and a place called Szechuan Palace in Murrell's Inlet, SC - but sadly, they have both gone the way of the dodo.
RECIPE "SECRETS: Lots of BBQ places have a "House Sauce" that they won't tell you the ingredients for. I've found that the House of Tsang Sweet Sesame Ginger Hibachi Sauce that you can find at most Super Wal-marts works pretty well as a substitute, although you'll want to thin it down by mixing it with a little chicken broth (even if you're using it to cook other-than-chicken). Also, I've found that Steak-Umms work pretty well to replicate that shaved steak a lot of them use - although I have to get them almost to brown and drain all the grease off, first, to minimize the excess grease.
Alright - your turn.
Please tell me about it!Got a recipe you use for Mongolian BBQ at home? Post that, too. I'll start:
RESTAURANTS:
Fayetteville, NC has a chain restaurant called BD's Mongolian BBQ, that has pretty decent BBQ. They have a huge variety of meats, veggies, sauces, and spices to play with. The downside is that they aren't very careful about allowing your food to get a little mixed with your "grill neighbor's" - this sometimes results in me getting meats and vegetables I don't want, and has, in the past, resulted in my "grill neighbor's" food being completely ruined for them. (I like mine SPICY.) They also have a tendency to be very loud while they cook, banging the utensils and such, and they encourage the cooks to be loud and obnoxious as well. I guess this is supposed to be "atmosphere", and I regard it much the same way I do the atmosphere of Venus - I acknowledge that it IS atmosphere, but I just don't want to breathe it any longer than I have to. Really good food, though, if somewhat Americanized. And they have locations in other states, too.
Charleston, SC has a place actually called "Mongolian Barbecue" on Rivers Ave. They have a Mongolian BBQ that comes at one price with a pretty good Chinese buffet. They have a decent (and more traditional) selection of meats and sauces than BD's, and a calmer dining environment. They still have the same problem with "grill neighbors" on occasion, but less often, in my experience.
Columbia, SC has a place that is so horrible (very limited meat and veggie selection, almost no sauces, NO decent ones, and I was uncomfortable with their lack of cleanliness), I didn't even bother to remember the name of it, but I can tell you this: if you ever start to go to a Chinese restaurant someplace in Columbia called the BOOZER Shopping Center, turn right around, get back on Broad River Rd, go to the other side of I20, and eat at the Monterrey Mexican Restaurant. And forget about Chinese entirely that day. Or, pop up 26 a bit to the Columbiana Mall, and eat at the Chinese place in the food court - it is FAR superior. :\
Wake Forest, NC has a place called "Bali Hai" that I found to be pretty abysmal - VERY limited selection of meats and veggies, and a very limited selection of sauces that they won't even let you touch! You have to let the cook do it. :\ Ungood.
Springfield, MO has a place called Jade Dynasty that has a decent Mongolian BBQ, once again as part of a Chinese buffet price. The BBQ itself is minimal - they get by with a minimum of what I consider necessary to even call it a Mongolian BBQ, as far as meat and sauce selection goes. But what there is, is good, and the lack of selection is made up for by it being accompanied by an excellent atmosphere and one of the best Chinese buffets I've been to anywhere. (And I've been to more than a few all over the country east of about Kansas.) And their price is very reasonable, too.
The best I ever had, speaking strictly on the quality of the BBQ itself, was a toss-up between a place called Diamond Head, also in Springfield, MO, and a place called Szechuan Palace in Murrell's Inlet, SC - but sadly, they have both gone the way of the dodo.
RECIPE "SECRETS: Lots of BBQ places have a "House Sauce" that they won't tell you the ingredients for. I've found that the House of Tsang Sweet Sesame Ginger Hibachi Sauce that you can find at most Super Wal-marts works pretty well as a substitute, although you'll want to thin it down by mixing it with a little chicken broth (even if you're using it to cook other-than-chicken). Also, I've found that Steak-Umms work pretty well to replicate that shaved steak a lot of them use - although I have to get them almost to brown and drain all the grease off, first, to minimize the excess grease.
Alright - your turn.
) I tend to put all kinds of things on mine that are extremely anti-authentic. I start with some Italian noodles and sausage, crawfish, lamb and occasionally grouper or crab, put some green beans, lots of onions, pineapple and a few other vegetables. Tons of fresh cut garlic (my wife always knows if I've been eating there as I come home from work with olour d' garlic oozing from my pores), cajun and carribean powdered spices, lemon pepper, red pepper, lemon juice, teriyaki sauce, bbq sauce, kung pao sauce, and various others. To be honest with you, they changed all their sauces a year or two ago and I haven't really settled on a combination yet, so I still mix up a lot of other things.
