86 Hot Pot BBQ - Brooklyn, NY

It was a night to catch up with my girlfriends and what's better than to hotpot that night away. It was a chilly day in New York, so hotpot was definitely the better option. 86 Hotpot opened not to long ago and is still fairly new to the neighborhood of Bensonhurst.

It was quite empty on a Thursday night, but nonetheless, the service was pretty great. 86 Hotpot BBQ has both your regular hotpot and bbq, we only did hotpot which was $21.99 a person - not bad since it includes seafood (like mussels, clams and crab) which a lot of places don't. The interior was very modern and clean, sauce station was a bit small. The placement of the raw food that came out was on point, they didn't mix the more bloody items with the rest of the food (always a pet-peeve of mine).

At 86 Hotpot, you're given a menu with a list of food and you just mark off what you want. Very efficient and the food came out at a timely manner, which is always a good thing. One thing that might be interesting to know, if you're a party of 4 or less, you'll most likely get a big pot of broth to share whereas if you have a larger party, each person will get their individual pot.

I'd definitely recommend 86 Hotpot, it's very similar to 99 Favors. I need to come back to try the BBQ.

The spread...

Verdict:
Food ~ 4 out of 5
Price ~ 4 out of 5
Service ~ 5 out of 5

86 Hot Pot BBQ
2239 86th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11214

Yakiniku West - great late night bbq

So it was around 9pm, J and I were getting hungry after a few glasses of wine. We were hungry but didn't exactly want anything heavy so small plates would be perfect for us.

Yakiniku West popped into our heads because of the interesting take-off-your-shoes concept before entering into the dining rooms with the tables. Good thing I brought my flats along for easy slip-ons and offs. The tables are a lot lower than your average dining tables and you sit on the floor, but no worries, they have holes right underneath the table for leg room. Oh, and cushioned seats for your buttocks, so comfortable haha

We ordered an array of dishes (about 6 dishes plus a drink) to grill and the total of everything was less than $50, mind blown!

J was curious about this OneCup sake and when it came out I started laughing. It looked like those cup they give you at the doctors to do a #1 for a body check up. The taste on the other hand was like unfiltered house sake, I wasn't a fan.

Love me some Agedashi Tofu when I can get my hands on it. I love how light the tofu is and the dashi soy broth is just so refreshing. Pieces of tofu here are pretty big, one piece can be split into quarters while other places I can just split them in half and fit it in my mouth (that's what she said!).

The first time we had Yooke was at Takashi and it blew my mind. Ever since, J and I were on the search for the best Yooke and up until this day, Takashi is still in the #1 spot. YW's Yooke isn't bad, beef was tender and we liked that touch of cucumbers in it, but also agreed that something was missing. A flavor was lacking but we just couldn't put our hands on it.

Grilling at a Japanese restaurant is totally different than a Korean restaurant because you're not rushed. Every time I'm at a Korean restaurant, the waitress/waiter always come by and cooks the food and quickly places it on our plates. At a Japanese restaurant, you cook it yourself and get to experience it. Which is what I like about it, I can control how much I want on the grill because I like eating it piping hot and fresh off the grill.

Everything was delicious. We were given dipping sauce but some weren't really needed. Tongue was the best and next came the pork cheek but everything was excellent.

Really dig this spot because of the atmosphere, concept and decor. Great place for group get-togethers.

Yakiniku West
218 E 9th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-9238

Pocha 32

I've heard good things about Pocha, things like it's a great place to hit up when you're drunk and have the munchies. Pocha is a Korean joint that gives off a really casual atmosphere, casually enough to sit back, relax and get wasted. Lines can get really long especially when it gets later into the night. But I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

Been here twice already and both times my group ordered the Watermelon Soju. Basically a hollowed out half watermelon that contains watermelon juice, soju and some club soda. It's pretty fun when you drink out of bowls also, which is all they give you so don't ask for cups/glasses. They usually water down the watermelon soju which plays no affect on us so we would order bottles of Chamisul or Chum Churum aka soju and pour it into the watermelon. Their yogurt soju is really good as well.

With all that drinking, there has to be food. Pocha is really well known for their casseroles. Nice and piping hot, great for the colder weathers but it's good in the dead of summer also because they occasionally have air vents and circulation running through the joint.

A lot of places serve budae jigae, a smaller version of the Budae Jungol which they serve here. Consisting of a lot of random things, it's very comforting after 5+ shots of soju. I love the spicy broth and the bits and pieces that gets crushed and breaks down at the bottom of the pot. Do not waste the soup!

One of our friends wanted pork and he decided on the BBQ Pork. It wasn't anything special, felt a bit jipped since there wasn't much pork. Flavor was a bit off and it felt like they forgot to season it. But when you're tipsy and happy, you pretty much have no idea what you're eating, but you'll eat it.

I forgot what exactly happened but I think someone wanted pork belly but they didn't exactly just have pork belly but they had it with kimchi, and we ordered it anyways! The Kimchi and Pork Belly Stir Fry was definitely not what we expected but it was good. Spicy good. I really dig the tofu that came with it, flip it fast enough and you'll crisp each side.

Pocha is one of those boozey and loud places. They have fish nets all around the restaurant and you can write little notes on the chopstick covers or napkins and stick it through the fish nets. Service is average and you need to hail down the waiters/waitresses when it gets later into the night. Don't expect them to come to you and ask how you're doing. One thing though, just be careful of the stairs when you leave.

Pocha 32
15 W 32nd St - 2nd Fl
New York, NY 10001
(212) 279-1876

Lunchin' Solo: iKimchi - Spicy Fried Pork

I've heard about the Korean Food Cart on Lexington Avenue near Baruch College but never really found the time to get it. Finally, as I was running some errands in the neighborhood I decided to stand on the long line and wait for my food.

Good weather and street food don't go well together. I despise the long lines but for good food, it's worth it.

There's like 4 people running this little cart. The chef, the person assembling my tray, the person taking my order, and finally the guy that just replenishes the items in the cart. Their meals range from $5-7 and miso soup for $2 unless you get it with the lunchbox which is just $1 more.

Heard from J that the Spicy Fried Pork is good since he works in the area and got it multiple times, so that's what I got.

Not a bad deal, the Spicy Fried Pork w/ salad and rice was $6. They also prefer you telling them if you want kimchi or not along with the time when you place your order. Salad was on the weak side, can't you give me more? But, I did get hooked onto their salad dressing. So good! I'm guessing ranch and vinaigrette? I did see them squirting 2 different sauces on it!

Kimchi was ok, took me an hour to finally be able to eat my lunch which by that time, my kimchi was warm. I like my kimchi cold because it holds that crunch. Even though it was warm, the crunch was still there. A good little banchan to start with.

The combo came with fried rice, I wasn't too crazy about it because it was a bit on the hard side. But I do appreciate the meat. Very flavorful and they give a generous amount.

Not a bad choice for lunch since I can sort of justify the price. A lot of times Korean lunches can come out to being $7-10, especially around K-town but this is quite reasonable.

iKimchi
Lexington Ave (between 24th and 25th Street)
New York, NY 10010

Don Bogam BBQ & Wine Bar

One of the reason why J chose this specific Korean place as one of our first full meal back in NYC is not because of the BBQ but because of the wine part. We went away for 3 weeks to Asia and it was definitely unfortgettable. But, now that we're back, it's time to continue on this journey of NYC feasting.

Don Bogam is one of the places where you can choose to BBQ or not, and from that decision the maitre'd will either seat you at a regular table or the awesome table where the table is above a pit and your legs dangle when you sit. Sort of like a cheating way of sitting Korean style.

We ordered quickly because we were starving. For this place, you need to order at least 2 entrees from their BBQ list in order to BBQ it at the table (odd).

Delicious Plum Wine ($19) was a bit on the sweet side. Quite smooth and no aftertaste at all.

Your typical Korean set-up. I really missed kimchi in general and this place didn't disapppoint. Something that was different was the steamed egg custard, it was a lot firmer, softer, and smoother; tasted like tofu and it had a shrimp on the bottom...interesting.

The Pork Belly ($25.95) was already pre-cut and was placed on the grill for some sizzling action. The cut here were particularly thinner than any other places I've previously ate at. The cooking time was quicker and the outcome of pork was a lot more tender.

Love my wraps with lettuce, scallions, kimchi, radish and top that off with the pork belly...heaven. This combo never gets old.

I decided on a Kimchi Jjigae ($10.95) because it was extremely cold that night. We asked for 2 bowls of rice to go with the stew. I was surprised at how much I liked and enjoyed this stew. I never liked kimchi back then but the past year, I've been eating kimchi like it's an obsession. This kimchi stew was excellent, spicy and tangy which makes it really appetizing.

While we were finishing up the pork belly and stuffing ourselves with the stew, our waitress came by and refilled our lettuce basket and gave us more scallion salad (this salad is addicting).

Last but not least, the Beef Short Rib in Spicy Sauce ($27.95) which wasn't spicy at all. Marinated really well, so we didn't need any sauce for this. I actually just ate it on it's own because it was tender to a point I just want it to linger in my mouth solo.

The meal was your average Korean BBQ food, the service was more than I expected at a Korean restaurant, and the seats were what amazed me the most. Will I be back? Definitely, but with a large group of people.

Don Bogam BBQ & Wine Bar
17 E 32nd St
New York, NY 10016
(212) 683-2200

San Soo Kap San

I was craving for some Korean BBQ and after my coworker told me how good this place was, I knew I had to go. J and I arrived at SSKS on a Tuesday night around 8:30pm. The restaurant was pretty empty but I definitely didn't mind it.

We got down to business and ordered asap.

There was a wide selection of banchan and every single one of them tasted excellent. I loved the kimchi the best, they even refill your banchan. Beside the banchan, there's also complimentary miso soup, grilled mackerel and steamed egg. My favorite part is definitely the sauces, love me some miso paste dip.

First up, is the Sam Geup Sal ($20.95). They give you 3 strips here instead of 2, so the awesomeness of this place just went up because we get an extra piece. It also tasted a lot better here for some reason, must be the freshness or the cut of the meat.

I mainly wanted to come here for their Angus Kalbi ($29.95).
We also ordered the Haemool Pajun ($15.95), you can probably see that in the photo below...

The beauty of BBQ-ing. The kalbi was extremely tender and flavorful, no need for sauces here.

The way I eat the pork belly. Lettuce, kimchi, pork belly, miso paste - put into mouth. Heaven!

Our meat piled on the side of the grill. So friggin delicious!

I'm definitely returning. Everything about this place was pretty dam amazing.
The waitress helps you cook tableside so you literally don't have to do anything. There's a free salad bar with unlimited amount of yummy oranges for after the meal. They even have a TV screen that was displaying soccer, win!

Probably the best thing would be how laid back it was. No one rushed us and I truly appreciate that. I rather go on a weekday when it's not busy at all rather than the weekends when you're literally fighting at the salad bar. This place closes at 2am so plenty of time for some great late night grilling.

San Soo Kap San
17110 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11358
(718) 445-4850