There’s something about the waiters here. They look like pop band members, and they’re chatting to us as if we come here every weekend. Before we even get a chance to show some hesitancy around our barbecuing ability, there they are; flipping our ribeye at the right time, dexterously cutting our galbi (marinated pork or beef ribs) with scissors, and explaining that the slab of pork belly that just crisped on the grill is best eaten with a dab of ssamjang (fermented soy bean paste) in a lettuce wrap.
There are a lot of Korean barbecue options in the CBD, and it says a lot that this place is one of the busiest. The waitstaff are no doubt a part of that, but to talk about just that would be completely ignorant of the price here. Pretty much all 13 barbecue options (the usual mix of steak cuts, ribs and pork loin plus the addition of lamb cutlets and soy-marinated baby octopus) are a few dollars short of the prices you’ll find elsewhere in town. Beer starts at $8, and a 360ml of soju is just $15.
The cuts of meat tend towards the cheaper end, and the rest of the menu isn’t much, just a page of simple stews, bibimbap, a particularly fine seafood pancake, and cold buckwheat noodles to clean your palate post-meat fest. But that doesn’t matter in the slightest; you’re not here for that. You’re here for cheap, fun night of barbecued meat, maybe a bit of somaek (a shot of soju in a beer). It's so good, you’ll probably have to wait, if it’s a weekend, anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes.