Love Korean BBQ

Summary

As we enter the end of the year and NYC indoor dining is forced to be shutdown due to a COVID uptick, we wanted to get some last fixin with Korean BBQ. Even though we have tried many of the major Korean BBQ restaurants near Koreatown already, this is one of the few remaining ones to try. When we visited, they check your temperature and had glass dividers between tables. We were fortunate to be seated in a little cubby hole meant for a party of 6-8.

The banchan consisted radish, potato salad, kimchi, and fish cake. Most of these sides were on the decent side. They also give you some salad. The kimchi was slightly disappointing as it wasn’t fermented enough.

The sauces (from left to right) consisted of some type of mayonnaise like dressing, bean paste, sesame oil with salt, and some light sweet soy sauce mixture. I usually stick to the bean paste or sesame oil as my dip.

We ordered the Love Beef Set for 2 which consisted of brisket, prime steak, and marinated galbi. The brisket was surprisingly plentiful. It was quite good, and it reminded me a lot of LA Korean BBQ brisket. The prime steak was also very delicious and tender. Both of these are unseasoned, so they work fantastic with either (in my opinion) the bean paste or sesame oil dips. The marinated galbi was on the sweeter side due to it being oversauced, but the meat itself was very tender. A bonus here is they also cooked the tendons that wrap around the bone. This tends to be on the chewy side, but many Korean restaurants do cook down the tendons such that it can be edible.

We opted for the kimchi stew which had kimchi vegetables and little pieces of pork belly in it. The stew was actually pretty good in that it was on the sour (fermented) side.

The truffled eggs-plosion is basically an egg souffle with steamed eggs, mozzarella, and truffle oil. It’s garnished with some green onions. Overall, I was unimpressed with the texture. The eggs weren’t soft like other Korean places, very overcooked like a firm omelette, and the truffle oil was kind of a gimmick. As you dig into the egg, it gets stuck to the edge of the clay pot. I would skip this despite how alluring it may sound.

The service is super quick, and the food was pretty decent. The portion size was filling for 2 people.

Final Verdict

This is a very average run-of-the-mill Korean BBQ restaurant in the area. I think if you crave KBBQ and the others are busy, this one could be a good alternate option.

Yelp Jabs

This was unequivocally one of the worst meals I’ve had while dining out. At first glance, this korean bbq spot seems to be the hit of ktown. Its outdoor seating is plentiful and trendy, with its rose decorated enclosure. The menu is not AYCE and there doesn’t seem to be an option for that.

I’m trying to think how many Korean BBQ restaurants in NYCY Koreatown are all you can eat.

The kimchi was too sweet and not authentic… The one thing I did like was the kimchi fries!

This elitist decided to comment the kimchi as unauthentic but liked the kimchi fries. That’s quite an oxymoron there.