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DC Dining: New Contender for Best Korean BBQ?

a meat being cooked on a grill

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.

a table with plates of food

a glass of brown liquid with ice and a spoon

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.

a close up of a plate

a group of bowls of food

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.

a menu with different korean writing

a menu with different korean writing

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).a meat being cooked on a grill

The Spicy Rice Cakes (my favorite!!!).

a plate of food with sauce on it

After two rounds of that we branched out and tried the Korean pancake — good but mostly greasy.

a pancake on a pan

And the beef brisket, which arrived frozen, was mostly flavorless until it was grilled to the point of crispy bacon.

a plate of sliced meat

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.

a red and black circular object on a granite surface

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!

Full Disclosure: I may receive affiliate credit from links in this post or on this site which will help fund my travels. Thank you for your support!

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2 Comments

  1. 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.

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