DC Dining: New Contender for Best Korean BBQ?
One of the best things of living in the Washington, DC area is easy access to amazing ethnic food. We have the best Thai food in the US, Dim Sum that can almost compare to San Francisco, great Laotian, Vietnamese, I could go on and on. I feel like every week I find some wonderful new place.
I love Kogiya Korean BBQ in Annandale — the meats are amazing and the dozens of sides they bring out are delightfully overwhelming and the coffee they offer at the end…wow.
But this weekend I discovered Iron Gate in Centerville. I was skeptical, but it was close, and better yet, had no wait times at 5PM on a Saturday. Like Kogiya, the interior is modern and metallic with loud Korean music videos playing on the walls.
As soon as we sat down they brought out the sides. More than Honeypig but not as many as Kogiya. A salad, several spicy pickled veggies, tart potato salad, and garlic and jalapenos.
Unlike Kogiya which has ala cart, Iron Age only offers all you can eat options. But where Kogiya (at least they used to) requires you to finish all of one option before starting on the next, Iron Age lets you have three at a time.
With option B you can have your pick of lots of food for $22, with option A, lots and lots of options for $30.
You choose three at a time and cook it yourself. Turns out this is the first time in my life where the more you cooked/overcooked the meat, the more flavorful it is 🙂
I sampled the beef bulgogi (thumbs up) and soy chicken (eh).
The Spicy Rice Cakes (my favorite!!!).
After two rounds of that we branched out and tried the Korean pancake — good but mostly greasy.
And the beef brisket, which arrived frozen, was mostly flavorless until it was grilled to the point of crispy bacon.
Sadly there was no orange or coffee option for dessert, but I was full to bursting anyway.
The service was great! They have a call button to get their attention if they don’t come by soon enough, but seemed like someone was checking in on us every couple of minutes and offering to help grill our meet when we seemed stuck.
Is it better than Kogiya? Tough to say. But it’s good enough that if it’s your closest option you won’t be missing out!
Every restaurant you reference is in Northern Virginia. If you’re truly as adventurous as you claim to be, perhaps you should venture in Maryland occasionally.
I’m always up to try new places so please feel free to recommend some!