Gen Korean ‘Cue, Global Cuisine Tour:Chapter 2

well, well, well. as you can see i dont work here, i dont know someone who works here, i dont own it, nor do i have any financial interest in this place.
i do not think this place is that great. the price is very high for what you get.
–remember guys you have to eat within a 2 hour window.
–you get charged for anything left over.
i think the service was so-​so. when you want them no one is around, when you dont need them, everyone is asking if they can replace the grill. oh man, no one seems to just pay attention to the actual grill to figure out if it needs to be replaced.
if you get the wrong meats, it might not fit your taste buds. some of the meats i got was good and some was just not worth it but you end up needing to eat it all cause youll get charged for it even tho you cant just test out some small samples first. its all or nothing people.
i went there on a day that they could have posted to say the lunch pricing was not going to be in affect. so when we all sat down we were then told the dinner pricing would be going on all day. poor way to scam because most patrons will not get the whole group and leave once they have spent about 20 mins waiting to be seated to find out that they are going to be paying a lot more than expected.
so it might be one of those places that people will try just once or want to show off to that special person but for a regular meal its not worth the price.

I believe this was the first of Rodney’s Global Cuisine Events held in Orange County and it was an excellent location. Gen Korean BBQ is a little hard to find if you don’t know where to look, it is next to the Lazy Dog Café on the corner of Beach and Washington in Westminster.
Unfortunately. we were running late for the event and didn’t arrive until 20 minutes after it started, but we quickly said our «hellos» to Rodney, Sherry K., Bing T. Monique N., Hai and Jason A. (Jo H. showed up a little later) and started perusing the menu. Rodney had coordinated free drinks (nonalcoholic) with the management which was a pleasant surprise and appreciated. The server came immediately and took our drink order and gave us some time to look over the menu. It did take a while to get our drinks, I know this because at least (2) other servers asked us if we wanted drinks before they were delivered to our table. The menu is all-​you-​can-​eat and runs about $ 20 per person.
The Banchan is laid out in a circle around your grilled which included kimchi, Korean potato salad, assorted vegetables, something which resembled a rice tortilla and a salad with a vinaigrette. I tried the potato salad, I didn’t like the consistency and in my opinion it was bland. The salad was just greens, but I enjoyed the vinaigrette. You have the option of ordering a bowl of rice with your meal which my better half and I both chose to do. There was also a variety of sauces to choose from including a brisket sauce, a spicy chili sauce and sesame sauce with salt. There were seasonings available for those cuts of meat which were not marinated.
The restaurant lets you select up to four meats at a time so Laina chose the Kobe Chadol (American Kobe Brisket) and the Bulgogi (Thinly Sliced Marinated Prime Rib Eye) and I chose the Hawaiian Steak in Sweet Teriyaki with Pineapple and the Saeng Galbi (Black Angus Short Rib). My wife loved the Kobe Chadol and I loved the Hawaiian Steak! The Bulgogi was good, but the Saeng Galbi was a disappointment. In my opinion, the pieces of short rib were cut too thick, they didn’t cook very well and were a little tough to eat. We were sharing with Sherry and Bing as well, I am not sure of everything they ordered, but I enjoyed their choices. I enjoyed everything so much, I couldn’t look at food until the mid-​afternoon of the following day. Perhaps enjoyed isn’t the right word, inhaled may be a more descriptive adjective. I thought for sure they were going to need to cart me out of the restaurant!
One complaint would be the gratings over the fire needed to be changed regularly, because of the charring of the meat. I went through a whole me at a Japanese BBQ and the grating didn’t need to be changed once, so I found this to be a little annoying (not to mention having a hot grate flying past your head). The staff did make the changes quickly, applying a nonstick to the grates would cut done on the changing of the grates. I don’t think I am the only person who found the grate changing annoying and on the long tables there is no way to change them without bringing them past someones face.
My other complaint is directed at all the people who said they were in to this event and decided not to show.
Rohlinism: If you commit to something, then you make every effort to keep that commitment or cancel in a timely manner.
Rodney is a nice guy and he won’t say anything about this … me I can be a real asshole when I so choose and I am choosing so! Rodney had to make reservations, reserved two tables (one of which he had to relinquish), arranged for free drinks for everyone (I am sure management agreed to this because it was expecting a larger group) and over half the people who were supposed to show up flaked. This may have not be an organized Unilocal event, but by not showing up you still made Unilocal look bad! You also put Rodney in a very compromising position and if I was in his shoes I would be calling you all out in this review. Fortunately for every one of you, it wasn’t my event, so it isn’t my place. You should be ashamed of yourselves for embarrassing him, embarrassing Unilocal and embarrassing yourselves!
The event itself was 5 stars, but the restaurant, in my opinion, has some issues I would like to see addressed. It was really nice meeting up with some Unilocalers I already knew and making some new Unilocal friends in the process. Thanks for coordinating the event Rodney!

This review is both for the effervescent Rodney S. (for his event really) and the restaurant Gen Korean. Good times, good people and good food. Unilocalers Unite!
The staff at Gen Korean were awesomly helpful, bringing out plate after plate of meat and making sure my iced tea was refilled, with ice. I really didn’t cook much, the fabulous Sherry K. did most of the cooking for me… wonder where she is cooking next? I finally got to meet her main squeeze Bing, what a great couple!
I tried numerous types of meat but my favorite was definitely #4, Kobe Chadol, American Kobe Brisket. I love white rice, so a bite of white rice filled my gullet with each bite of meat and I was so full I literally was barely hungry at 1:00 the next afternoon. The dinner menu for ayce is $ 19.95 plus tax and tip and well worth it. Rodney worked wth management at Gen Korean so we all got freebies on sodas, so kudos and cheers!
Damn! A picture of myself where I look pretty, albeit a bit porky, and Rohlin decides to not smile and act like he is on some blind date and he «can barely stand to have his arm around me and take a pic» :(
Yes, my hubby is being called out on this photo!
Special shout-​out to Monique N. for inviting us all for free, tasty dessert treats at Snow Monster, courtesy of her friends who run the place. Thanks again Monique!

One of Rodney S. s. Awesome events. 2^nd one I’ve been too but its been great great FUN!
He made reservations for 20 people but only 9 showed up. Tsk tsk. Cmon’ now. If you can’t make it at least give him a heads up either on Unilocal or a phone call ya-​know! We had this big o’ row of table that was empty. Sad face.
I wasn’t new to the Gen Kbbq scene but many of those who were attending this event were. AYCE for $ 20. This includes the vegetable plate, rice, soybean and spicy tofu soup. Which reminds me I’m craving some right now!
Anyways, the meats here are as equal to the ones in Tustin; however, there are also some other meats here that are special to this place only. The service was great and with great company had lots of great fun!
After a roughly 2 ½ hour feast – I had asked everyone to try this shaved snow place that I’ve been going too. Couple people didn’t want to go since they were so full but it was well worth it since this place exceeded everyone’s expectations.
I’m glad I went and I hope more people come to these events so we can try some more delicious foods!

I missed the first chapter of Rodney’s UYE adventures, so I knew I wasn’t going to miss this one! To those that RSVP’d but didn’t show — how rude! I understand things come up, but at least have the courtesy to let the host know you can’t make it! Still, for those that did show, there was a lot of awesomeness in store.
We met at the new Gen KBBQ location in Westminster, which I’d been wanting to try since it opened up recently anyway. I’d been to the Tustin location and loved it, so I was prepared for nothing less than greatness here, and I was not disappointed.
This location is very nice inside, even prettier than the Tustin location, and we were seated at a nice big table with several grills available for our use. Laina and Rohlin were KBBQ first timers, and it was a lot of fun showing them the ropes and discovering new cuts of meat with them.
After stuffing ourselves with a few steers worth of meat, we all headed over to Snow Monster, where the very nice Monique N had arranged a shaved ice/​belgian waffle tasting for us. Stuffed as I was, I didn’t think I could possibly eat another thing, but I managed, and it really was a great end to a fabulous night out with friends both old and new :)

Can you feel it? In the air? All around you? It’s Unilocal love, toots!
Second stop for this crazy train called the «Global Cuisine Tour». Gen Huntington Beach recently opened up and provided the locale for my latest event. The staff had to «batten down the hatches» for the whirlwind of gluttony that was about to happen.
Calm, before the storm–
Unilocalers showed up w/​appetites in tow
Rohlin & Laina (Aw, so cute!) —
Monique & Hai (Aw, so sweet) —
Sherry & Bing (Aw, que romantica) —
Jo (Better late than never!) —
Jason & I (ready for the carnage to begin) —
The banchan were all good. I low-carb’ed it, so no rice paper or bowl of rice for me. I did enjoy the other banchan consisting of kimchi, broccoli, turnips (or was it radishes?), potato salad etc.
On to the meat — Jason, Jo & I annihilated Gen’s meat supply last night. All the servings I ordered were good, but here’s a rundown of what I had–
Beef Belly — Very good, Thin & fatty. Not as fatty as pork belly, which when cured becomes bacon. Tasty.
Beef Tongue — My favorite of the night! Thin slices of well-​marbled cuts of tongue. If you’ve never had tongue, do yourself a favor and try it. Cut thick, it’s the most tenderest pot roast you’ve ever had. Sliced thin, it’s like meat candy. Yum.
Bulgogi — The staple of KBBQ. I enjoyed it, but I prefer savory over sweet. I thought it was a little too sweet for my personal taste, but no complaining here.
Brisket & short rib — Other staples. So very good! Sliced thin, so doesn’t need much time to cook at all. Dipped in the oil & seasonings = Pleasure Town.
Pork cheek & large intestine — These were delicious! Pork has to be cooked well done, otherwise worms in the tummy, so these took awhile before being ready. However, they were worth the wait! Cutting them into smaller pieces helped expedite the process. Thanks, Hai. I’d have these again in a heartbeat.
Of course, the other reason to attend these shindigs is to take a pic with «Captain Unilocal».
Bromance (I think Hai’s eyes are about to pop out of their sockets ;P) —
Grattitude to the staff at Gen for providing great service. We had people checking in on us all the time to see if we needed something — change of grills, refills on drinks/​banchan, more orders of meat. Couldn’t ask for more. The meat quality is definitely top-​notch. It will be hard for me to frequent the cheapy $ 9.99 KBBQ’s again, after experiencing Gen.
Of course, grattitude to all that came last night. I had a great time & I hope you all did, too. I enjoy making these events happen so we can all hang out, enjoy each other’s company & stuff ourselves while doing so. The afterparty at Snow Monster was fun, too!
Great food, even greater company. Hugs to all!
Excelsior!