Gyu-Kaku

Heylo everyone. Looking at the dumping picture from the Myung Dong post, I like how it fits in with the background color of the blog. It's the little plastic steam tray that works so well with that debbie downer blue pastel.

During the winter break, my cousins and I went to visit our cousins' new place in Pasadena, and they ended up taking us out to Gyu Kaku for dinner in Old Town. Thanks guys! I'd never been to either before, and I was kinda surprised that Old Town was just like any other. I was expecting something like Cannery Row. Gyu Kaku is a Japanese bbq place, where you cook it yourself on a grill over coals. I was pretty excited coming here because I had read and heard about Japanese bbq, but never had it before.

We went on a Sunday night, and having no reservations, we had to wait for 20 minutes or so. There is a little bar area, and so we got some Asahi Super Dry beer to start off. The weird thing was that there was a faint saltiness to it. My cousin also said the same thing. I think it was our cups...


They had some special going on, or was it happy hour? I don't know, but it was buy one, get one free on alcohol. They also gave us a free pitcher of Sapporo for not having the sake that we wanted. What this sake was called, I had no idea, but it was delicious.


One thing I don't like about Japanese places is how you have to pay for the side dishes, like the Kimchi shown here, and rice. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but when you're used to getting everything free with your meal at Korean places, it kinda sucks to have to pay.


We ordered the kalbi, ribeye, and tongue, along with the vegetable dish, which came with baby tomatoes, onions, two kinds of mushroom, corn, squash, and green pepper. It was my first time trying tongue, and it was delicious! I really liked the chewiness of it. Also not shown was steamed asparagus, which came out wrapped in foil.




Meat grilling on the charcoal.


Spicy chicken miso. I wasn't very impressed with this, and it was mediocre. Not very spicy either.


My cousin (in-law) was able to get us some free smores from our waiter. Nice. A fun way to end the meal.


My cousin's sandwich, nicely cooked.

The meat quality was good, but the portions are a bit small and pricey. The service was decently attentive, and we got some free stuff. We had some trouble with our coals (they weren't hot enough), but they replaced it for us. They've also got some specials for all you can eat, which might save you some money. How much it was though, I don't remember. You can check yourself on their website, since they got various locations.


70 W Green St
Pasadena, CA 91105


Had to stop by Pinkberry for dessert. They got some new flavor: pomegrante. It wasn't very good imo. I opted for the half and half with mochi as the topping. I kinda wished I had gotten some fruit in it though because it was too much mochi. I think their green tea is pretty good here. The self serve places are nice for their variety and cheap prices, but a lot of them don't have the recipe right for the plain or green tea.

Pinkberry
19 S Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105