Will Genghis Khan Win the War Over Other Mongolian Places? - CLOSED

Genghis Khan

23615 El Toro Road

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Kevin and Sara suggested that we all go out to dinner before they left for London. We were so happy they were leaving that we let them pick where we should go. They opted for Genghis Khan in Lake Forest. I have been told that Genghis Khan has been around for over twenty years, like a record in South OC. It can be hard to find; it is behind Fuddrucker's and tucked in the corner of the shopping center.

I visited another Mongolian barbecue restaurant, Big Grill, in Mission Viejo. You can read that review here. The basic premise of Mongolian barbecue is that you stuff frozen curls of meat, vegetables, and noodles into a bowl, then add oil and sauces to adjust the flavor and spiciness. It's a simple concept. Let's see if all Mongolian barbecue is the same.

Here are two quick pictures of raw food. This restaurant was more careful when refiling the ingredients that would become your entree. Meat choices included beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. The veggies were fresh, even with noodles that could be added to your bowl.

The sign above gives you the amounts of oil and sauce to add to your bowl. I had three helpings of this and tried all the different sauces, but I could not tell the difference between them. The only thing that made my bowls of meat spicy was the hot pepper sauce you put on after cooking.

Before you hand your bowl over to the cook, it should look like this, (I will admit that these were not mine. I usually only fill my bowl with meat and onions, but these pictures made me look like I was eating healthy!).

Now, the finished product. You can see by the absence of vegetables that these were my bowls. After getting your food from the cook, it is super-lava hot, so it is best to let it rest for a minute or two. Depending on your preference, you can eat this straight out of the bowl or stuff it in the pocket biscuits pictured below. Both ways were good, but I like eating it right out of the bowl.

These pocket biscuits were better here than they were at Big Grill. They were bigger and could hold all of the contents of your bowl.

The all-you-can-eat meal also includes soup or salad. These were just average and very forgettable.

Genghis Khan is not a place to go to impress anyone. The decor is no-frills, the wait staff is average, and the side items are just fair. You will get a very filling meal made with fresh ingredients at a fair price ($12.50 for the all-you-can-eat option). I don't know which Mongolian barbecue place is better. I would have to concede that all Mongolian barbecue is created equal.

So out of five Omar Sharifs (because he was in the 1965 movie Genghis Khan), five being best to zero being worst, Genghis Khan gets 3 Omar Sharifs.

For more information about Genghis Khan, head to their website here: https://www.gkmongolianbbqlakeforest.com/