Wonder Pig Kbbq
All you can eat (AYCE) Korean BBQ places are pretty sparse the closer you get to Manhattan. If you did find one, the quality is kind of questionable compared to the a’la carte places. We discovered this restaurant a few months back when we went to the Popeyes next door. It hadn’t opened yet, but there seems to be a few restaurants next to it that are opening in the very near future. This restaurant used to be called “HoneyPig”, but apparently it changed its name right before opening.
Ambiance
We arrived on a Saturday late afternoon without reservations, and it was very easy to get a table for 2. The table is somewhat similar to places I’ve been to in Suwon, South Korea where there are vent ducts that sit above the BBQ plate. On one side of the plate, there is a hole where the various oils drip into an aluminum drip pan.
The restaurant has a slew of TVs hung along the walls where they are playing KPOP videos, and there is a lot of spacing between tables. Due to COVID protocols, each table has a plastic glass separating seats as needed.
The service was pretty fast for dinner. When you sit down, you can place a few orders of meats at a time as well as any additional sides.
The price was actually very affordable at $35 per person. You are limited to 100 minutes with a 30% up-charge per additional 30 minutes. Any left over foods will result in additional charges and cannot be taken out of the restaurant.
Food
We started with strawberry soju. Even though this was mighty fruity, it actually was very smooth and went well with our dinner. My partner mentioned she started feeling drunk after a few shots, but that’s what soju is all about.
The banchan included salad, jalapeno radish, and kimchi. I definitely don’t think the little sides here are anything to rave about, but my partner who normally complains about kimchi felt this was their favorite kimchi.
The dipping sauces included the typical bean paste, a light ssamjang, and oil and salt. You have to ask them for oil to pair with your salt. The bean paste was pretty mild and not as salty or bold as I generally preferred. The ssamjang-like red sauce was my least favorite and tasted pretty watered down. But this doesn’t matter much to me as I tend to prefer the classic oil and salt combo.
There are actually 21 different meats on the dinner menu to order from, but we didn’t try most of them since we preferred the non-marinated meats.
Here is the #12 pork belly. The quality of this was surprisingly good.
Here is the #1 thinly sliced brisket and #2 top blade steak. Our favorite in this entire meal was actually the brisket. The waiter mentioned the brisket comes from Omaha steaks, so not surprisingly, the meats were deliciously tender.
Here is the #12 pork belly again, #20 soy butter squid, and #7 marinated garlic sauce. The soy butter squid was very tender and lightly flavored. The marinated garlic meat was pretty good and light.
Not pictured, we also ordered #14 pork steak and #8 chicken teriyaki. The pork steak was unmarinated and tasted great. The chicken teriyaki was also good in that it wasn’t overly dressed in teriyaki seasonings. Included with the teriyaki chicken were some onion chunks and broccoli.
We didn’t take advantage of the sides much since we were saving room for the meats. However we did get the steamed egg, and it tasted just like other Korean restaurants. It was light and fluffy with the right seasonings.
Lastly, here is the cooking plate that you cook your food on. Sometimes the waiters come and help you cook, and other times you can cook yourself just like in Los Angeles.
Final Verdict
We were pleasantly surprised by this Korean BBQ place near our neighborhood. The meat quality is actually superb even for its price. My only criticism is that there is not a lot of little side dishes, but it’s compensated by the big sides that you can order along with your AYCE. If you are around the LIC area near Queens Blvd, this is a must go-to if you are hungry for meats or Korean BBQ.
Yelp Jabs
I gotta be honest. We’re at an AYCE spot. If you’re not gonna bring us the food and force us to wait, what’s the point? I might as well just go to a regular kbbq place. I can understand that the server might be busy with other tables, but if another server can serve us immediately, there’s really no excuse.
This restaurant opened fairly recently, so they were still trying to figure out their logistics. Unfortunately this yelper was ill-prepared for that and took one for the future diners. When we went, the service was several notches better.
The beef was super tough and low quality, with the selections to choose from being pretty poor as well. The marinades on all the meat items here were incredibly bland and done poorly, while the dipping sauces they provided were water down
I can’t help but think this Elitist didn’t know how to cook their red meats. The only way it gets tough is if you let it cook too long, and that goes for any red meats. I did feel some of the marinades and sauces were watered down, but I definitely didn’t mind especially since I steered to the classic oil and salt. As usual, I’m chalking this Elitist complaint to their own user error.