Jeong Won Korean BBQ

I've been anxiously waiting for Kirk's review of mmm-yoso of the newest Korean BBQ place in the Convoy area. Inspired by the "All You Can Eat" theme, I rounded a couple of friends from work to try the place out yesterday. Ms. L had her first Korean BBQ experience when I took her to Buga last year so she was eager to try another one. You can read all about Buga (my favorite) here, and on mmm-yoso here, here, and here. We also brought along Mr. S. This was also his second time but his first experience was with coworkers at an old job with LG and let's just say his account of that experience would turn anyone off. But Mr. S has a great attitude about trying new foods (and with much hype from me) and decided to tag along.

We got there just a bit after 11'ish. According to Kirk, the hours are 7 am to 10 pm. There was only 1 table occupied when we got there. I counted 6 BBQ tables and about 6 regular tables. There's also a larger room in the corner. A very pleasant woman seated us and handed out menus. Here are the choices for BBQ. There are a lot of other things to choose from on the regular menu from the kitchen.

Since there was 3 of us, we each decided to order something different. That way we can try more items and just ask for more of what we liked. I recommended Kalbi and Bulgogi and Ms. L and Mr. S thought shrimp would be good. Soon after placing our order, our server brought out our dipping sauces. Let me tell you, Mr. S was ga-ga over these, especially the paste on the right. He had 3 servings of it

The panchan was similar to what Kirk had on his visit, except we had 10 and did not get the mixed greens plate. That was fine with me since and we didn't really miss it. I loved the anchovies (right in the picture below) but couldn't get Ms. L to try it. Mr. S tried it and said it was...not bad. I think he was being polite, hehe.

Here's the rest of the panchan and the plate of Kalbi and Bulgogi at the top of the picture.

The server put all the shrimp (left) on the grill and added half of the kalbi and bulgogi, as well as some of the vegetables. I liked the assortment of vegetables, although I could hear my Mom in my head, "They're giving you all those vegetables to fill you up. Just eat the meat!" I was impressed with the size of the shrimp for an AYCE place.



Now those of you who follow my eating posts know I love kalbi. I mean I dream of kalbi, that is when I'm not dreaming of Chinese roast duck or chicken feet. hehe. So I'm sure it would surprise many of you when I report that the Kalbi was okay but I preferred the Bulgogi. I know, I was shocked too. Maybe it's because it didn't have the ribs, maybe it's not marinated enough, but whatever it was, the Bulgogi had better flavor. The shrimp was really good. They were good sized and kept you busy until the meat was done.

One idea that Ms. L had, which I thought was pretty cool, was to grill the garlic and the jalapeno rings. It was much better than chomping into a toe of raw garlic. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, can you smell the garlic if I breathed on you???

We enjoyed all three that we decided to get another round of everything. Our server swapped out the grill plate and brought our selection. By this time, the lunch crowd came in and the tables were filling up. A large party came in around this time and were seated in the side room.

I think we probably could have had another plate of Bulgogi but I think we were all being a bit modest and called it quits. Ms. L and I tried the soft serve. It was vanilla flavored and reminds me of the soft serve from Souplantation. Not bad. Total bill without tip was $58.72 (included 1 soda). Not too bad for AYCE Korean BBQ for 3 people.

Mr. S was so thrilled with his experience that he was talking about wanting to try some sushi with us. He's been wanting to try octopus for a long time but just haven't found anyone to go with for lunch. Well...he asked the right 2 people because Ms. L and I are huge sushi fans.

Jeong Won Korean BBQ
4690 Convoy St., #104
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours: Mon-Sun 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.

Have a wonderful hump day. Now go and eat well.