KOREAN BBQ AT YASU

Wow. I'm totally in a blogging kind of mood today. Probably because I'm bored at work.
With back to back Sox games taking place in Fenway, everyone's either in the square to see the games or avoiding the square because of the games. Sigh. Good thing we went to Yasu for dinner last night so I can share that experience with all of you.

So I'd driven by Yasu several times and I had noticed it, but since it was a Korean/Japanese restaurant in Coolidge Corner, I just assumed that it wasn't really a place I wanted to try. However, Katie tried it last week and said it was pretty good, and there was a decent review in the Globe about it and more than anything else, we were a little desperate to find great Korean BBQ in Boston. So after a cold rainy day spent outdoors watching the Pride parade, it was nice to get inside to a warm and cozy bbq joint. When we walked in I was pleasantly surprised to find a fairly large restaurant with the traditional bbq grills and more than that, there were a fair number of Asians in the place (always a good sign). We were seated in a back room with our own table grill. Here's a pic of one of the other tables. You'll notice the vent above too.So there were a bunch of us at dinner (and it's always nice to share stuff at Korean bbq). We started off with 2 orders of scallion seafood pancakes and I must say they did a good job with these. I enjoyed it a lot, and hoped that the following entrees would be just as yummy.So for those of you who have never been to Korean BBQ, you get to order some type of meat and grill it yourself. We got 2 orders of beef and 2 of chicken. And it comes with a whole bunch of sides, which I think is one of my favorite parts. I didn't photograph all of them. I think Tom's friend already thought I was a freak for photographing the food at all, while the rest of you have become accustomed to my eccentricities. But here are the shots i did get. My favorites are always the spinach or beansprouts seasoned with sesame oil. and spicy cucumbers. Though the ones at Yasu are a bit too spicy for me. (always be careful with any red colored foods at a Korean restaurant.)Then the meat arrived. First we grilled the beef bulgogi. You'll notice in the pic above the meat being place on the grill. Leah didn't think the beef was sliced very well. And I'd agree with her if i actually ate beef. At any rate, it appeared to be way too thin and ended up looking a lot like the meat that should go into a cheesesteak (if you've ever had one of those.) So you take the meat, wrap it up in lettuce with some rice and bean paste and whatever little additions you'd like to add. Which is exactly what I did with the chicken below.
So the verdict. Mutual agreement among the two Koreans at dinner plus the girl who grew up eating Korean bbq in LA...Yasu was allright. Leah actually like it less than Koreana, the Korean BBQ place in Cambridge, which i don't really like at all. For me, in the two times that I've had Korean BBQ in Boston, the marinade on the chicken just hasn't been right. Koreana's was kinda muted and strange. While at Yasu I didn't like that the meat was marinate in a spicy sauce. I kinda like adding the spice by myself. Plus, I like doing the grilling on my own, and at Yasu, there as sort of this assumption by the waitstaff that we didn't know what we were doing, so they kept grilling stuff for us.

Ah well. It was a decent meal and worth a shot. I think i'll be holding out for Korean BBQ in NY or LA for future outings.