This Korean BBQ joint is pretty good. I’ve been here twice now, and I had a good meal each time. While I find the prices of many of these places to be a bit on the pricey side, if you go with enough people you can defray the heavy costs. This time I took some shots of the pork belly. So good.
The other dish is thinly sliced beef, noodles and yummy broth (the noodles are under the surface of the liquid).
DON’S BOGAM
17 E. 32nd St.
New York, NY 10016
This recent addition to the BBQ scene sits on Second Avenue and draws a pretty big line at mea time. The set up is basically like any old fast food joint, where you stand in line, place your order, and tun wait to carry it away on a tray. The food is fucking delicious; everything from the sides to the mains. My buddy and I tried some sausage, some brisket, some ribs and a pair of delicious sides. Check the food porn – the cool part is you can eat street side:
UPDATE 2/26/17
Amazing beef rib. For $28 this is better than going to a steakhouse.
Pastrami sandwich – limited time only – was so freaking good.
And burnt ends sandwich was killer.
Standard brisket sandwich:
Spicy chicken sandwich:
Hot links:
S’mores bread pudding!
MIGHTY QUINN’S
103 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
TJ Finley’s is a bar in Bayshore, Long Island. It is actually my favorite bar on Long Island, by far. I’ve been coming here for quite some time now; I’m somewhat of a regular. They have a really amazing beer selection – both on tap and in bottles/cans – I’m talking hundreds to choose from, and many obscure and interesting. But not only that… This place has some of the best pub food I’ve ever had. My all-time favorite sandwich is here: a brisket sandwich with thick bacon, cheddar and BB! sauce. It’s fucking mint. The burgers are pretty amazing too, with my favorite being the breakfast burger.
A little over a year ago I joined their beer club, which essentially means you have to drink 100 different beers from various regions of the world: 50 US, 10 German, 15 Belgian, and 25 other. I currently have something like 11 left. Toward the end it gets harder to find stuff that you want to try to plug in the holes, but the great part is that I get to keep going back and eating the delicious food.
Do yourself a fucking solid and go here. Get a burger, or the beer & cheese fondue, or the smoked BBQ and ribs on Saturdays. You won’t be disappointed. They also throw some great parties for Oktoberfest and St. Pats, and they even have a pour your own beer thing going on at certain booth tables. Yup – you just pour yourself and they keep track of the ounces for you. pretty sweet.
UPDATE!!! On 11/28/14 I finally finished my beer club. I went out with a brisket sandwich, nachos, and a truffled french fry poutine as well. FUCK YEAH!!!
TJ FINLEY’S
42 E. Main St.
Bay Shore, NY 11706
Madangsui is a great spot for quality Korean BBQ, and Korean food in general. My wife and I came on a Friday after work to give it a try. It’s located on 35th Street just east of 6th Avenue. Not quite IN K-Town, but close enough. And slightly removed from the craziness of the main K-Town hub. Here’s what the joint looks like outside and inside:
As is common practice in Korean cuisine, the banchan comes out first… an array of pickled veggies and greenery to wet the appetite and for adding to your BBQ meats, lettuce wraps or rice dishes.
They also brought out some fluffy egg in a small cast iron pot, and a crab and veggie soup. The egg was perfect. The soup was hearty and rich, and the crab gave it a nice flavor of the sea:
We actually started with some chicken bibimbap. It was really tasty with the fried egg on top. I just wish the rice was a little bit crispier from cooking in the clay pot some more. The little crispy brown bits are the best!
For the bbq portion we had two different meats. First, the pork belly. Nice, juicy quarter inch goodness:
We also had some spicy, marinated rib eye. Lookin’ good!
It was seriously good quality meat. Check out the menu and see for yourself:
Yeah that’s right. Jowls. I ordered it, but our waitress said it wasn’t very popular. I asked “Yeah, but is it good?” She replied that she has never tried it, so I held off. Next time.
Our waitress fired up the meat for us at the table…
You know what? Fuck it… This is something you need to see in video. Here:
Once it was finished on the grill to perfect doneness we slapped the meat onto some lettuce wraps with some toppings. Delicious. The lettuce adds a nice crunch and cool, lightness to contrast with the meat.
That’s all I’ve got for you hungry assholes out there. If you’re looking for a good quality KBBQ joint that isn’t in the epicenter of the K-Town hustle, then this is definitely the place to go. I will definitely be back… specifically for the jowls.
MADANGSUI
35 W. 35th St.
New York, NY 10001
