BUT. I came upon the answer because I realized I have been hyping up this one place to ANYONE who's asked me about good places I've tried recently. Have any of you tried 678? It's this Korean BBQ place off of Satellite Blvd. My sister had been talking about this place for a while, but I had never really given it too much thought due to my love affair with Iron Age.
Side note - how many Korean BBQ places are there now in Duluth/Buford Hwy? I think I've lost count. I've tried a couple, but for me it's kind of a once you find your place, nothing else tastes as good. Iron Age used to be that place for me, but lately I've been craving it less and less. I do think it's a great deal -- there are some shall-not-be-named restaurants out there that are seriously overcharging...that little plate of meat for nearly 30 dollars? With wilted lettuce? There better be gold flakes in that marinade -- and I do love the side dishes there.
Therefore, I was not exactly hyped to try 678, particularly after reading some Yelp reviews. The AYCE option there is only for the pork belly, which seemed to be the main complaint. But pretty much everybody was agreeing that the quality of the meat is good, and the charcoal they use adds great flavor, so that was heartening.
AND YOU GUYS. It was SO good. Take it from an AYCE specialist, this place is amazing. I would actually advise not to get the AYCE since the part of the meal I didn't love the most was probably the pork belly. Get the beef! My family of four ordered their $100 platter of beef as well as a plate of pork belly since we thought the platter wouldn't be enough (false. So false.). It's not inexpensive, but I really feel that for all that you get, the price is worth it.
The Platter of Beautiful:
Cooking:
As you can see, they put the grill over charcoal, and the beef gets so nice on the outside while remaining tender. Actually, my mom kept frantically trying to get all the meat straight onto our plates once it cooked "Don't let it burn! Don't let it overcook!". On the outside of the grill, they have kimchi, corn and cheese, and a liquid egg mixture that cooks until it becomes like a chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg). Delicious. We got seconds of all three.
Things I liked: The server grills the meat for you. I didn't think I would like it, but they're really attentive. Also, they give a nice medley of "wraps" for the meat, cabbage, different kinds of lettuce/leafy greens, the radishes...very good. And they make their own soy paste as a sauce which is really nice! At the end of the beef platter, they brought a huge pot of kalguksoo (we ordered the non-spicy for my mom, but I'd love to try the spicy version).
So, yes, this place is a little pricier, but I think it's well worth it. Plus, it's a chain that was opened by the Korean comedian/ex-wrestler Kang Ho Dong! Tons of his pictures all over the restaurant, which I loved.
*Mini break while the Braves give me a second heart attack but WHOOHOO Heyward rocks it out*
Another place I recently tried is Sobban, the Korean-Southern fusion restaurant that took over where Kitsch'n 155 used to be in Decatur. This is their opening week, so their full menu isn't available yet. The food is good and the space is nice (albeit a little small, particularly when you take away the outdoor seating). I don't know. I like it, and I'll probably be back again, but I think my expectations were a little off mark. I think maybe I don't understand Korean fusion food. But no disrespect, good food, good service, and considering the amount of people trying to cram in that little space, they did pretty well!
We got the seafood kimchi pancake, the smoked bossam, the chicken kalguksoo, the donkatsu, and the sobban bingsoo. I hear they will be having a light night menu with ramen and hot dogs, so will definitely have to try that at some point!
