The Bulgogi Cart on 49th St. (Finally, a proper review…)

Who says 4 posts about a mediocre Bulgogi cart is overkill??? (Clearly you didn’t see me the week Chipotle opened in my building) Well, I said on Monday I would post more info about the food- but I promise this is the last one (until the $1 “bulgogi sandwiches” arrive in a few weeks).  I wanted to post some real pictures of the cart, and tell you a little bit about what they’re doing along with a proper +/-.  Despite the $1 Bulgogi Sandwiches not being available, what they are serving is a pretty amazing deal.

They have Bulgogi (Korean BBQ’d beef) or Chicken, served with rice, & salad for $5.  But here’s the real kicker… they throw in a drink for free!  (Soda or water)  It is a pretty amazing deal.  The menu has spicy and non-spicy versions of each of the two dishes posted, but if you order it “spicy” they just give you a cup of red hot sauce to pour over it yourself.  They also give you a very small cup of kimchi (fermented cabbage), which is a real nice touch.

What I ordered, a picture of the not yet available $1 bulgogi sandwiches, and the +/- after the jump…

The first weird thing I noticed about the meal was the rice.  It is yellow.  I’ve never had yellow rice at a Korean restaurant before.  Very strange.  It would have been forgivable if the rice hadn’t been crunchy (and not in that good Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap kind of way).  I’m not sure if they undercooked it, or if they scraped it off the side of the pan- but it was pretty bad.  Of course, it was their first real day of business, so I’m sure they will iron out that kink as time goes on.  The bulgogi had a nice flavor, but it was not chopped up very well, so it highlighted the poor quality of the meat.  (Bulgogi is made with fatty meat, but you need to chop it up into little pieces to mask that.  They didn’t do this very well).  There was also no onions or scallions, which was a bummer. 

The salad was pretty good, and the kimchi was a welcome addition.  They don’t give you a ton of it, but it was of a pretty good quality.  The hot sauce I wasn’t so into.  It looked like the red bean paste sauce you get with Bi Bim Bap (Gochu jang), but it had more of a red chili pepper flavor- like something you would get at a BBQ joint.  It was really spicy, and really strange.  I had one bite with the sauce, and then tossed it.  If you like your food super spicy, you may like the sauce.  I believe it is called ssamjang.  I’ve never had it at a Korean restaurant before, but apparently it is authentic. 

All in all, for $5 it’s a great deal (especially with the free soda)- but I can’t help but thinking Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart on 46th St. had better Bulgogi.  Sure you don’t get a free soda or kimchi, and it’s an extra $1- but sometimes that extra buck is worth it (you get white rice, and there are scallions in the bulgogi).  I haven’t given up yet though… it’s only their first week, and I’m sure it will get better.  PLUS I have high hopes for the $1 Bulgogi Sandwiches.  I’m sure they don’t fill you up, but from the looks of the picture, I’m thinking it may end up being the greatest snack of all time.

 

 

THE +

  • $5 gets you bulgogi, rice, salad, kimchi and a free soda (or water).  A better deal cannot be had in all of Midtown.
  • The flavor of the bulgogi is spot on.
  • The kimchi is good, and a nice addition (although they don’t give you that much)
  • If you like your food super spicy, they give you ssamjang on the side to add to your bulgogi

THE –

  • The rice was terrible (but it was their first day, so it will probably get better.  If you try it, feel free to comment on the progress below)
  • The low quality of the meat was highlighted by the fact that they didn’t cut up the bulgogi well enough
  • The hot sauce is not the sauce they give you with Bi Bim Bap so be careful if you are not into red chili pepper spiciness

The Infamous Disappearing Bulgogi Cart, 49th St. btw. 6 & 7th

25 Comments

  • After reading about the cart yesterday, I decided to try it out since I am in the same bldg. I thought it was pretty damn tasty. I agree about needing to chop the meat more but expecting low quality beef anyhow (hey, $5!), it didn’t bother me so much. I agree it needs scallions – cause I like scallions. I like spicy so I used all the sauce, yummy. The yellow rice was weird, but mine was not crunchy. The salad was good and crisp. The included soda is a nice kicker. I didn’t get the kimchi! Overall, I’ll be back – but I hope someone gives a copy of the initial review to these guys so they can fine tune the product. 3/5

  • I would advise to hold off on going today (1/24/07, after 1:30). They’re out of salad, and my plate of half rice, half meat looks a little sad. But there are onions in the meat. Also, the hot chili paste is quite good!

  • The sandwich looks like those uncrustables, but with bulgogi! And LOTS of tomatoes (I love tomatoes, tho not sure about with bulgogi). Yummmm cheap eats! Sending this link on to my friends!

  • Yvo, you must not be very experienced in the way of the cart if you think you’re getting 8 slices of tomato with a $1 bul gogi sandwich…

  • hey bulgogi is not supposed 2 be chopped up, where’d u hear that. if it was chopped up it, u prolly got the leftovers after the real pieces were gone. as for ssamjjang, that is made with soy bean paste and not that spicy at all. it doesn’t look like ssamjang in the pic.

  • Finally got around to trying the bulgogi today — it was very good, and the rice was fine. Plus they threw in a stick of minty gum, I guess to kill kimchee office breath.

  • Bulgogi sandwiches have arrived!!! It breaks my heart to say it, but… they’re not so good. Allow me to describe: it’s a scoop of beef bulgogi placed between two slices of white bread (generic american white bread), and placed in a wierd UFO-shaped sandwich press that somehow makes them come out round. I had hoped they would be baked, even fried, but alas… just pressed. Think of it as a Korean panini. With white bread. It doesn’t make much sense, does it? It didn’t make much sense in my mouth either… the bread was soft and crumbly and didn’t hold up very well against the meat. & so the wait ends in disappointment… though the staff (down to 3 today!) is still insanely friendly.

  • PS – bulgogi sandwich does not come with tomato.

  • Hold your tongue!!! It is not as bad as you describe… I too had the infamous Bulgogi sandwich- and will post about later in the week. Stay tuned for the pics… (you ruined my surprise!!!)

  • I love your website. I live for your reviews.
    I personally didn’t dig this cart. Bulgogi was basically ground beef with hot sauce squirted on top over white rice. I can totally make that myself in 20 minutes flat at home with my hand behind my back and one eye closed. LOL. Seriously, I didn’t see what the big deal was about. Maybe I got a bad day.
    The guy at the cart was super friendly. Worth handing over your $4/5 bucks to support the nice guy!

  • They stopped giving the free soda! And the “free Kimchi”, turned into “free sample of Kimchi” while they offer you to buy the larger, non-sample, version…
    So does that mean that the free kimchi will also go away??? Without the soda and kimchi this will not sound as a great deal anymore…

  • Finally I tried the $1 sandwich. It was the same boring ground beef I got the other day in the lunch meal- in whole wheat bread pressed in a sandwhich press. I asked for spicy and it was bland as can be. I dub thee Korean hamburger.
    I agree, though, the man who tries to drum up business there, while his lady cooks inside, is super nice.

    They even printed out menus handouts. Like you need a menu to promote a choice of 4 items.

    I will not be returning to this cart.
    But it was fun to try. Thanks for mentioning it!!

  • I’ve been going on and off for the past few weeks and I’ve noticed that the offerings have definitely paired down. Portion sizes are smaller, with more rice and less meat. Soda disappeared, but you still get a bottle of water. When I asked for the usual container of kimchi (which had about 3 small pieces), the guy pointed to the single small piece in the tray.

  • I gave this cart a shot today because I was in a hurry (it’s right outside my building), and I’m always up for something new. I agree that the guy was really friendly, and that was an added plus. Not having read your post about it, I ordered the Bi Bim Bap, which I am kind of regretting. There’s no egg, the sauce is too spicy for me, and I cannot figure out one of the ingredients, which is a little unnerving. I can’t decide if I’ll give this cart another shot yet.

  • aside from the friendly service; the $5 “bargain” was a little too obvious:
    1. a penny size amount of kimchi- seriously, i wish i had a camera..when i asked the man where it was in the meal, he asked me to open the container and fish around the massive amounts of lettuce to find it
    2. bulgogi it is NOT- ground up low quality beef with some not-so-spicy sauce. Even the menu states it should be thin slices of meat!
    3. Where are the veggies like the menu photos portray? scallions even? i KNOW those are cheap.

    hey, i love cheap carts; and i try to give them slack for the bargain..but man, i felt more than ripped off with each bite. those poor people who dont know korean food will have such a horrible impression.

    BUT–>next time i will do the sandwich; at a $1 a pop, it cant let me down.

     

    Um… I wouldn’t bet on it.  Even the $1 sandwich is sort of disappointing (and now I think they’ve raised the price to $2.  I gave up on this cart a long time ago… -zach

  • Quick update on this place and its ever-evolving “bulgogi” combo platter … the cheap ground beef is now served over white rice (which is actually a plus for me) and the “spicy” sauce is kind of bland. My sides included some kind of soba noodle, cart salad and a smattering of kimchee.

    At 6 bucks it is cheap, but it’s still not really worth it …

Leave a Reply

You must log in or register to post a comment.