food | one scoop kimchi

I should really have serious problems with a place like Gyu-Kaku.

According to the magazine cut-outs that line the walls at the entrance, about 8 or 9 years ago this Japanese restaurant chain was all the rage with the Hollywood elite. Billed as a “new” concept, Gyu-Kaku’s pull was that you could grill your own food. At your own table! It’s not that this was not even close to being a new concept, or that the concept had been ingrained and beloved in Korea for decades (hundreds of years? thousands?), it was that the items on the menu so obviously aped the basics of Korean BBQ, and billed it as a uniquely Japanese dining experience.

It hasn’t changed much. It’s extremely popular (not sure if Leo Dicaprio is still an avid customer) and the menu still features all the items familiar to K-bbq fans: kimchi (you have to pay for it separately!), cuts of kalbi, even miyok-guk and kalbi-t’ang. There are tons of Japanese-style items for sure, but for K-bbq aficionados like me, the menu feels rooted in Suwon, not Tokyo.

So I should have major issues with Gyu-Kaku…but I don’t. At all. It’s fantastic and I would just as soon take someone there as I would to a classic K-bbq jip. The menu is extensive, the portions are small enough that you can choose more than a couple of cuts of meat, and there are innovative items for the grill like corn and other veggies. We ordered 5 cuts and a pesto chicken cheese fondue that was perfect. We arrived at 6:30, just as Happy Hour (all menu items included!) was ending, but our waiter let us order everything at Happy Hour prices. Best of all—and this is key—the grills use charcoal, not gas, a huge rarity for indoor bbq places in Hawai’i. The only other place I know of is Migawon, which appears to have closed in the past year or so.

Big thumbs up to Gyu-Kaku. It was nearly perfect. Now about charging for kimchi…