Kalbi House

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 2
Price: 3823 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: 2 different yakiniku lunch sets, a vegetable set, and ox tail soup
English Menu: Yes

Kalbi House is a bit down the road from us, but my wife and I had the car the other day for lunch so we headed down to review it.  I had been before for lunch with people from work, so I knew they had lunch specials that took the fear and trembling out of ordering yakiniku.  Our experience with yakiniku has been less than the best in the past, so anything to make it easier is helpful.

Mixed set

They have an English menu (not pictured), which makes ordering very easy.  My wife picked a set, and I picked one.  Total it would have been about 2000 yen if we had stopped there (which we could have and been satisfied).  But I wanted more vegetables so I ordered a vegetable set (lettuce and some other veggie things), and then I spied the ox tail soup, which had to be mine.  So our total was a bit more than strictly necessary for lunch.

Vegetable set

My set was a mix of several types of meat, most of which I liked fine.  The beef tongue gets tough for some reason when cooked, so I didn't care for it.  I *love* beef tongue when prepared the Mexican way for burritos, but that involves a lot of boiling.  Also my set had some sauces and marinades which added to the flavor of the meat as I cooked it.

Beef set

My wife's dish was a set of straight up beef, nicely marbled, no sauce.  She liked it fine.  Each set came with soup (Korean soup that tastes a bit like the ocean...your mileage may vary), salad, rice and small kimchi bowl.  Plenty for lunch.

Ox tail soup

Dinner dishes are more a la cart (and expensive!), which is why we generally avoid yakiniku.  But we enjoyed our time at this place and I think I'm willing to give it a Very Good.