Korean barbecue: the most fun and festive food experience I've had

Andy Hill

I had no idea how much fun Korean barbecue was until I’d had a few chopstickfuls of grilled pork fat and fermented cabbage. And not a few shots of soju.

I arrived in South Korea with zero understanding of its culinary traditions. I didn’t know what to expect. On my first night out in the coastal metropolis of Busan, I did not quickly take to the array of fermented vegetables laid before me, and definitely didn’t expect to fall madly in love with them.

But I did. In fact, I began to crave kimchi. Perhaps this is due to the belief that it cures everything from blindness to impotence to cancer, as Koreans are wont to tell foreigners, but perhaps it’s also because it’s just really, unexpectedly, genuinely, delicious.

But it’s not only delicious- Korean food, specifically their style of barbecue, is the most fun food experience I have ever had.

One of the biggest reasons that Korean barbecue is so fun is because you get to cook everything yourself. Often, the servers will just bring you a large platter of pork or beef, fire up the grill in the middle of the table, and let you have at it. 

The myriad side dishes, such as various fermented vegetables, raw garlic, greens, chili paste, and others are either had oneself buffet-style, or continuously refreshed by the wait staff.

And you basically get to do whatever you want with it. On the table is spread all of the different constituent elements, but there aren’t any serious rules about ‘how to’ eat it.

Traditionally, you would take a piece of lettuce and fill it with your choice of the different meat, vegetables, and sauce, but it’s completely up to you as to their ratio. It’s probably the most ‘do it yourself’ style of eating that I’ve ever encountered.

Part of the fun is the extraordinary amount of drinking that accompanies a typical night out of Korean barbecue. I have never had a dining experience where so integral was the activity of getting shit-faced. It isn’t about appreciating the alcohol or pairing it with anything.

It’s about doing a dizzying amount of shots of the Korean national liquor, soju, a distilled rice liquor that tastes about as delightful as it makes you feel the next morning.

If there is a Korean restaurant in your town or city, seek it out, and if you have no Korean friends, implore someone in the owner’s family to show you the ropes.

Just remember to volunteer one of your party to be the sober driver, and perhaps bring a wheelbarrow to get you from the restaurant to the car.