[REVIEWS] Palace BBQ

Happy father's day!

To celebrate, my family went out for dinner to Sunnyvale's Palace BBQ. After all, what's a father-related holiday without a good grill or cook-out?

This restaurant is an all-you-can-eat East Asian buffet, featuring, of course 갈비.

That's pronounced, "gal-bi," like, "GAH, just let me BE, so I can eat my heart out!"

At least, that's the sentiment you should hold when you enter this place.

So. Much. Food.

There are three buffet tables, offering a wide selection of dishes.

The first one (below) was split between Chinese and Korean food.

Lots of 반찬 ("ban-chan," or the side dishes for which Korean restaurants are known), and lots of 김치 ("kim-chi," the most famous "ban-chan" of all).

There were even little bowls of 냉면 ("naeng-myun," or cold noodles. Think of it as the Korean version of soba.)

The Chinese food consisted of the usual... chow mein, fried rice, egg rolls, etc.

Nearby, cauldrons of soup lined the wall:

Yes, the sign on the far right says, "Seaweed Soup." It's actually my favorite type of Korean soup, but I didn't try it here. Numerous fitness magazines have informed me that soup fills you up, so you can eat less.

Um, I'm at a buffet. No thank you.

Moving on, the next buffet table displayed salad, sushi, and dessert:

Being among the first in the restaurant means that I get see the entrees first, when they're still pristine and sparkly!

Maybe sparkly is an overstatement.

But then again, you may change your mind upon viewing a close-up of the sushi:

Sparkly, right?

The sushi closest to you is California rolls drenched in sauce and tobiko (fish eggs). The others are tempura rolls, another variation of California rolls, and unagi rolls, which ran out first. My favorite was actually the tuna salad rolls, peeking out from the left side of the picture.

If you're a sushi purist, this place is not the one for you. You're better off at an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, or a genuine Japanese sushi bar.

If you're a barbecue lover, however, then you're at the right place because the next buffet table was...

the BBQ table!!!!

Meats and seafood galore!

There was beef brisket, beef tripe, seasoned beef, whole shrimp, baby octopi, some others, and, of course,

GAL-BI!

Now, for those of you who are new to Korean BBQ, here's a short lesson on how to eat gal-bi the proper (aka delicious) way.

--


How to Eat Gal-Bi:

Step one: Put the meat on the grill that's planted in your table. Pretty straightforward, right?

Step two: Assemble ingredients (like baking, hah). Here, I have both white rice and Korean brown rice, whose mixed-in beans provide a richer taste and stickier texture than regular brown rice.

Step three: Hold the lettuce in one hand, and add the meat and rice. Much like a low-carb taco.

Step four: Roll the lettuce up, and pop into your mouth! Or take a bite, since the wrap will probably require multiple.

Optional: Add a dollop of 된장 ("den-jang," or soybean paste) for a bit of sweet, a bit of salty, a bit of spicy, and a whole lot of savory.

Mmmmm!

--

After many, many repetitions of this, I was fully satisfied and ready for dessert. Back to the buffet table!

On the other side of the sushi was a whole selection of fresh fruit:

I was a bit skeptical about the quality of fruit offered by a BBQ buffet, but I loaded up my plate anyways.

My goodness!

The fruit was amazing. I was so surprised. One or two of the cherries were a bit off, but the rest were sweet and juicy... just like the ripe cantaloupe, pineapple, and strawberries - the best part. It was a great way to round off a large, carnivorous meal.

Lately, Yelp has been angry with Palace BBQ because it changed its menu. The restaurant used to offer gal-bi for its lunch buffet, and long rib gal-bi for its dinner buffet (think short pieces of bone, wrapped in long ribbons of meat).

To be honest, my family and I were disappointed at the absence of the long rib gal-bi, too, since that used to be the main entree that drew us here.

But the upgrades in the other buffet selections, as well as the slightly lowered price ($26 / person), were more than enough to keep me happy.

Plus, it's still all-you-can-eat barbecue, in a venue that's much cleaner than other buffet restaurants.

It can't get much better than that!