Galbi Korean BBQ

So back-to-back posts on Korean BBQ eh?  Well, never enough of a good thing right???  Well, finally made it out to Galbi Korean BBQ located in Pinetree Village in Coquitlam.  Spotted this when I went to Chapters a few months ago.  This little restaurant doesn't sport an extensive menu.  In fact, there are only beef and pork options as well as cold noodle and that's about it.  Prices are reasonable and hey, with food costs these days, this is an important factor.

So we essentially ordered the whole menu, which isn't hard considering the limited choices.  That could also be said about the Banchan as we only had kimchi, pickled radish, pickled onion and jalapeno, house salad and romaine for wrapping.  Regardless of the selection, they were good including that well-dressed and fresh salad.  Kimchi was not sour, but was light on spice.  Radish was crunchy with plenty of tang and sweetness.  The meal also included Bean Paste Stew which was quite good.  Lots of flavour and spice as well as ingredients.  Can't complain as it was included with our meal.

To supplement our meat-filled meal, we got the Cold Buckwheat Noodle.  We would've ordered the spicy one if we weren't sharing it with the kids.  This was refreshing as always and helped cool things down from the hot meats from the BBQ.  The addition of pickled radish made the whole thing on the more sour side, but we still enjoyed the chewy noodles and crunchy cucumbers.

As for the meats, the best one was the Marinated Short Ribs.  Well-priced at $33.00, these were prepped properly and also decent in size.  The marinade helped the meat caramelize and become smoky on the grill.  There was enough inherent flavour that we didn't need to dip this into the sesame oil with salt and pepper.  The meat was tender with classic short rib chew.

We also had the Fresh Outside Skirt that was sliced medium-thick and as you can tell from the picture, it was indeed fresh with a nice sheen.  This was decently marbled and when grilled, it came out surprisingly tender.  Since this was not marinated, it was best with the sesame oil dip, as well as the spicy bean paste.  This was reasonably priced at $32.00.

Our last beef selection was the Fresh Rib Finger for $28.00.  For those who are not familiar, rib finger meat is the meat you find in between beef ribs.  It is generally well-marbled and can be on the chewier side.  This cooked up well due to the fat content (also crisped up on the outside) and was tender enough for me.  When I make a prime rib roast, this is the meat I most look forward to.   

For our pork selections, we started off with the Marinated Short Rib.  Yes, same as the beef, but not.  This cooked up like a pork steak, yet with a meaty and robust texture.  Due to the fat content, it also crisped up well on the grill and of course, caramelized due to the fat and the marinade.  Again, it was sweet with balancing saltiness.  No need to dip it into anything.  Wished they included rice in the meal (you have to order it separately).

One of my favourite meats in general is Pork Jowl. If you are unfamiliar with this cut of meat, it is from the pork cheek.  It is generally fatty with a bouncy chewy texture.  With that being said, I find it tender despite being somewhat chewy.  This cut of meat is usually quite expensive, so it was reasonable at $23.00.  When we put it on the grill, once again the fat helped add charring and caramelization. 

Of the three pork belly choices on the menu, we went for the Fresh Skin Off Pork Belly.  It was equal in meat-to-fat ratio and therefore was super flavourful and tender.  This also crisped up and charred-up well.  Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Galbi Korean BBQ.  With high food prices these days, we felt the menu wasn't overly expensive considering the quality of the meats.  Service was also good.  We'll be back.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Quality meats
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Limited menu
- Limited Banchan selection