Gyu-kaku Japanese Bbq New York City

I have a conundrum: I like to cook, but I have no cooking skills. Coupled with a miniscule kitchen and testy fire alarm at home, I’m fairly certain that the universe does not want me to cook. That’s where Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ comes in.

Gyu-Kaku has everything you’d want in a summer barbecue: good friends, great food, plentiful amounts of cheap beer. The differences being that the grill is built into the middle of the table, you’re grilling well-seasoned meat instead of chewy hot dogs, and you’re in a lively restaurant instead of your backyard. The restaurant offers various course menus according to the number of people in your group and what they prefer eating. For our diverse group of 11, we chose the “Yokozuna” course – suggested for 10 people – that includes an assortment of foods both hot and cold.

Everything was more delicious than its predecessor. Appetizers for the table – Hakusai kimchee, fried calamari strips, and hot oil-seared salmon – came out first, and their vastly different tastes, temperatures, and textures made them a perfect start to the meal. They were quickly followed by individual house salads, cups of miso soup, and bowls of bibimbap, a signature Korean mixed rice dish with vegetables and chili pepper paste.

After we devoured all of the pre-cooked dishes, the grill portion of the meal began. Two different vegetable dishes were introduced: the assorted veggies – including peppers, mushrooms, onions, corn, and zucchini – and the mushroom medley, which was cooked inside a foil wrapper to preserve and enhance the flavor (Side note: The mushroom medley dish introduced me to the enoki mushroom, a long, thin, white mushroom used in East Asian cuisines…delicious!). Protein aplenty followed; Kobe-style flap steak ponzu, Kalbi short rib tare, Harami miso skirt steak, pork belly shio, basil chicken, and garlic shrimp circulated the table, all accompanied by a specified cooking time, as indicated by our server. After consuming more meat in one setting than ever before, we were presented with marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers with which to make s’mores, a fittingly familial end to our group dinner.

Between the well-prepared appetizers and self-prepared entrees, everyone at the table left satisfied. With no shortage of options (or happy hour sake), Gyu-Kaku is a fun, vibrant place to share a meal with a great group of friends.