Mr. BBQ

I know, I know...  The best Korean food in Los Angeles resides in K-Town.  There I said it.  I wanted to get that in before people chime in and criticize my decision to eat at Mr. BBQ out in Fullerton.  You see, due to our tight schedule of eats, the only time we could get Korean was when we were staying out in Anaheim.  So taking our dinner break from Disneyland, we made the short drive over to Mr. BBQ for some AYCE action.  Normally, AYCE means low quality and bad service, but at Mr. BBQ, that couldn't be any further from the truth.  This was some of the best service I've ever had in a non-fine dining establishment.  No joke!

So for the AYCE, the menu is pretty extensive and one could get even more selections with the premium AYCE.  We ended up staying with the standard menu since there was like over 20 items already.  That theme would continue into the Banchan as we were served 14 different kinds including a green salad.  Impressive not only for AYCE, but any Korean BBQ joint.  Even better, they refilled the banchan, salad, water and sauces without us even asking!  Literally, we turned our heads and things were topped up.  Impressive.  Onto the meats, we got all of the beef options including the Premium Wagyu Beef Belly.  Let's just say when this cooked up, it was buttery and soft.  Heaven in our mouths!  Pro-tip, make sure you cooked this through as the considerable amount of fat isn't that appealing when not activated.

Continuing on with the Thinly-Sliced Prime Beef Brisket, it was fairly lean so it was not as soft as the beef belly (also it wasn't wagyu).  With that being said, it was still plenty tender with a meatier texture.  This cooked rather quickly and the grill had a difficult time providing an effective sear.  Hence, you would have to overcook it quite a bit to achieve this. I would ask for the grill to be turned up in this case.  Next, the Black Angus USDA Prime Top Sirloin was not only legit-looking, it was completely legit when we ate it.  Being a thicker-cut, we could get a proper sear on it and still keep the meat around medium-rare.  The result was a super tender and full-bodied tasting steak.  It completely blew our minds that we were getting such quality beef at a reasonable AYCE price!

Not finished with beef, we had the Marinated USDA Prime Sirloin as well as the Marinated Black Angus Choice Chuck. Due to the marinate, these did sear up a bit more easily and of course didn't need much at all of the sauces on the side except for the aromatic sesame oil.  I thought the prime sirloin was somewhat similar to the steak, but less meaty due to the marinade.  As for the chuck, it may have been a lesser cut of meat, but due to being thinly-sliced, it was soft.  Our last beef dish was the Premium Wagyu Finger Short Ribs.  This was essentially, the remaining meat on the bones which meant it wasn't exactly tender nor buttery.  Rather, with the tendon and fat, it ended up to be pretty chewy.  If you really wanted actual short ribs, you would need to pay another $10.00pp for the premium AYCE.  Our first non-beef meat was the Teriyaki Marinated Chicken.  Being thigh meat, it was tender and was also well-seasoned.

Onto some other meats, we had the Premium Cut Fresh Pork Belly along with the Premium Sliced Pork Neck.  For me, I wasn't as impressed with the pork compared to the beef.  It wasn't as if the quality wasn't good, it was well-marbled and fresh.  Rather, with the grill not being hot enough (possibly our fault not asking it to be turned up), the meat didn't char properly and it became a bit chewy since it cooked so long.  We really wanted to try more meats, but we were at our maximum meat consumption.  So we ended off with the Spicy Garlic Pork Butt and Fresh Shrimp.  Due to being thinly sliced and marinated, the pork butt ended up to be much more tender and tastier than the other 2 cuts of pork.  As for the shrimp, we cooked it just enough so it had a meaty sweet snap.  By now, we couldn't eat anymore despite many more items on the menu.  For the price, the quality of the meats was also very good.  I also can't forget to mention the awesome service.  I've never had such good service at a Korean AYCE before or most other casual restaurants.

The Good:
- Reasonable pricing
- Meats are good quality
- Outstanding service

The Bad:
- Floors are pretty slippery
- Lineup is crazy during peak times