New Korean BBQ Truck to Serve Bulgogi Dogs & Korean Tacos
Even if Kogi BBQ does end up opening a truck in Midtown, as promised on Monday, they won’t be the first cart serving Korean tacos here. That distinction will probably go to a brand new “Korean BBQ” cart that popped up this week on 50th btw. 6+7th, in the same exact spot that used to belong to the Happy Well Being House Cart. More like the Bulgogi Cart on 49th than the Happy Well Being House Cart (which had fried fish, and grilled chicken), this new Korean BBQ cart has bulgogi and “shortribs” (or their boneless version of kalbi.) But what caught my eye was at the bottom of the menu: bulgogi hot dogs, and Korean tacos. Hello!
Sadly, though, the cart wasn’t ready with the hot dogs or tacos, so I had to settle for a standard combo plate of bulgogi and short ribs.
Both meats were fine, and the bulgogi had good flavor- but it wasn’t so much better than the Bulgogi Cart on 49th (which also gives you kimchi and japchae.) The Korean BBQ Cart tries to make up for that by giving you a single dumpling, along with white rice and salad- but the dumpling was not that good. For $6 it’s a tiny bit cheaper than the 49th street cart but not good enough, or different enough for me to get super excited- and HWBHC fans will still miss their beloved Korean fried fish cart. But clearly the bulgogi hot dogs and Korean short rib tacos are going to be the main draw of this cart. They hope to have both available by next week.
As for the halal vendors who intimidated the Happy Well Being House Cart out of the very same spot, the guys who run the new cart heard about that and seem to be ready. As to whether or not they’ll last, that’s a different story. I can say this though- as excited as I am to try their short ribs in taco form, my hunch is that Kogi has nothing to worry about.
Korean B.B.Q. Cart, 50th Street btw. 6+7th
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:30 am, June 10th, 2009 under Cart, Korean, Korean B.B.Q. Cart.
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9 Comments
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btw – i just checked and most of their $6 items are now $7… buyer beware
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The Halal guys need a good beating it makes me sick everytime I think of what happen to the Happy Well Being people.
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Awesome, glad to hear about another alternative to the midtown halal carts. I hope these guys succeed or fail on the food alone and not any bullying tactics by anyone.
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i just got their short ribs… although they may stand up to the bully tactics of the halal cart, i’m leaning towards this one failing:
1. you don’t even get kimchi with your meal! in my book, that’s a travesty.
2. they jacked up the price to $7 after ONE day
3. they don’t give you enough food3 strikes you’re out.
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$7 and not enough food. I might as well pass and go to the original Bulgogi cart then. :P
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The content sensitive ad on the left side of this page is for an asian dating site. Korean tacos indeed, ha ha.
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Got this today. Yup, $7, hotdogs $5. The bulgogi is in the same ballpark as Happy Well-Being Cart, but as noted prior, A) less food, and B) a buck more expensive. Closer than Cafe Duke or the original Bulgogi cart for me, I guess, so there’s a selling point.
Good hot sauce though, and the rice is sticky.
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X-posted from the Bulgogi Cart review:
http://midtownlunch.com/2007/01/24/the-bulgogi-cart-on-49th-st-finally-a-proper-review/So I did a in-depth look at the two carts side by side. Here’s my assessment:
As a Korean, I love the fact that Korean food is becoming ‘mainstream’ enough to serve streetcart style in Midtown Manhattan. Will they ever become as popular as the ubiquitous chicken & lamb halal carts? Probably not, but all of a sudden, 6th Ave has drawn two unlikely and scrappy competitors to the street meat scene.
Enter the bulgogi and kimchi cart (I’ll call it B&K for short) located at 49th & 6th and the Korean BBQ cart (I’ll call it KBBQ for short) just a block away 50th & 6th, in the vacated Happy Well Being Cart space (not sure if they’re related?). The proximity of the two carts to each other of course warrants a comparative review, so here we go!
The Bulgogi and Kimchi Cart (front):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3842518241/
The Bulgogi and Kimchi Cart (side):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3842513923/
The Korean BBQ Cart:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3843304900/I ordered the bulgogi and rice combo from both carts, each coming in at $7. Bulgogi, an extremely common entrée in any Korean restaurant and household, is thinly sliced beef, marinated in soy sauce, sugar, ginger, scallions and other seasonings. It’s usually pan fried (though sometimes BBQ’d), with scallions, carrots and other veggies.
With both bags in hand, the KBBQ cart was noticeably heavier. Upon closer inspection, the KBBQ container was a few micrometers larger than the B&K container.
Guess they source their bags from the same place:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3843312418/KBBQ on the right is slightly larger than B&K on the left:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3843322984/An inside look (side by side):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3843314924/An inside look (Bulgogi & Kimchi):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3842530355/An inside look (Korean BBQ Cart):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3842528131/Both meals come with a generous serving of white rice, bulgogi, and a small side salad. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Bulgogi:
Both bulgogi’s were approximately the same texture – slightly juicy, not too fatty, and tender. However, B&K upped the flavor quotient with a heavier hand of soy sauce and sugar marinade. If you’re averse to salt, this is probably a negative trait, but I thought it was overall tastier.Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi
Rice:
The rice bedding of each cart were nearly identical – slightly dry though still retaining the sticky and fragrant nature of a good short grain rice. I sampled the rice side by side multiple times and couldn’t come up with a clear winner.
Edge: TieSalad:
The salad category is where the carts truly started to deviate from each other. KBBQ’s salad was composed mostly of romaine lettuce, with a single wilted cherry tomato. The salad had been heavily doused with Italian dressing and left to sit for some time, so it turned into green mush. I didn’t want to take a bite of it, but for this reviews sake, I had to. It tasted like it looks – mushy, over-seasoned, horrible, FAIL. B&K on the other hand, had a delicately dressed salad of crisp mesclun greens. I finished the B&K salad with gusto.Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi
The ‘X Factor’:
Much to my delight, after killing the B&K salad, I discovered a hidden treat. A small, but very well made side portion of japchae. The noodles were slightly al dente (I prefer my jap chae to be a little more tender), but the flavors were good, and it gave a little more variety to the meal.B&K’s japchae!:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6sigma/3843321550/I guess you could give credit to the KBBQ cart for giving slightly more food for the same price, but both meals are very filling regardless.
Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi
The Winner:
Bulgogi & Kimchi is the clear winner with their more flavorful bulgogi, crisper salad, and jap chae surprise. Now everyone can stop whining about how there’s no good Korean food outside of 32nd st.Kamsahamnida!
Nice. Bulgogi is back. Woo hoo.
Are their portions even generous? Looking kinda average for $6…