Gary I.
Yelp
AYCE Gogi in Van Nuys is an absolute deal at $31 until 3pm for lunch. Caveat is that obviously it's not a prime dinIng experience. It's the case of more is better; more quantity than quality in terms of ingredients & food preparation.
The service here is friendly & competent. The lady receptionist, who initially waited on us because the other servers were so busy, was especially kind & efficient at 3pm on Sat. Aug. 17 although our male server was also welcoming.
1) Presentation of 5 Banchan/hors d'oeuvres:
a) Tasty blanched green spinach dressed in toasty, nutty sesame seed oil, touch of garlic, salt.
b) Strangely refreshing, funky cilantro greens, onion, tomato rested in light oil dressing.
c) Bland parboiled broccoli, pulverized Tōfu, grated carrots.
d) Pasty, mash potato mayonnaise salad bits of red cabbage & carrot only for color.
e) Small rotelle/spiral tricolore pasta dressed solely with mayo.
2) Upon request:
a) Flexible, pliable, moist rice paper squares to make a "sandwich" for meat & veggies.
b) Ultra thin, sweet vinegar touched Daikon radish to wrap meats & veggies.
c) Sliced sweet onions with a mild crunch to enhance heavy meat flavours.
d) Won Bok/nappa cabbage pickled with garlic, mild, bright red chile powder.
e) Shredded cabbage salad in vague perhaps Miso dressing.
f) Corn cheese, Jalapeño also available
3) Meats:
a) Bul Gogi: Thin sliced beef marinated in extremely overly sweet soy sauce marinade that totally infused into the meat.
b) Bul Gal Bi: Thicker short rib meat that couldn't absorb the extremely sweet marinade was the way to go.
c) Attenuated lemon pepper salt was sprinkled over chicken pieces and the soy sauce marinade kept the meat soft & moist.
d) Daeji Gogi: Thin sliced pork marinated in thick, viscous Gochujang made of slightly fermented red chiles, rice, soy bean, vinegar, sugar was sweet-sour. However, meat was over marinated so the meat was mushy at the same time grainy.
e) Pork Belly: Two 3/8" thick with fat & meaty areas. There was no marinade to pep up the flavours so used the salty Kim Chi juice to baste while the meat cooked over the grill.
f) Tongue looked red & meaty, but again no marinade so sprinkling salt became the only alternative.
g) Garlic shrimp: I think the kitchen forgot to add in puréed garlic so basically tasteless.
h) Cajun ShrImp: Sprinkled with Cajun Crawfish boil spice mix that was so old that all the aromatics were long gone.
4) Side Orders:
a) Fried Shumai: Dumplings surrounded by wheat wrapper. Inside is a sweet, plush fish paste.
b) Chap Chae: Chewy, translucent pasta made from low calorie Kon'yaku root sautéed with bit of sesame oil, carrot, spinach, cucumber, soy sauce, sugar, sprinkled with white sesame seeds.
5) Complementary Frozen Yogurt with a light lemon taste with a pleasant, fermented dairy tastes like Yakult Probiotic yogurt drink.
Understandably, at this price point, all the meats are third tier & frozen for god knows how long. I don't think AYCE Gogi would be very competative in the heart of Korea town where standards are higher. However, not having to fight traffic, finding precious parking does make AYCE look more attractive. 3 1/2 stars
