Moo Dae Po
1841 Orangethorpe Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92833
Okay, I admit it to all of you that read this blog, I have never had Korean BBQ before. I am not sure why this is. I love to eat BBQ. I like trying new and adventurous food, but I have yet to try Korean BBQ, until now. Both Katie and I were recently invited to the new Moo Dae Po restaurant in Fullerton for their 1st Annual Friends and Family BBQ.
Before the food came out, I wandered around Moo Dae Po a bit. I was struck by how large this restaurant actually is. The restaurant does not seem big from the outside, but once inside you can see how cavernous this 13,000 square foot restaurant is. To match the big restaurant, they also have a large display of all the wines that they offer. I was also struck by how clean the tabletop grills were.
After being seated we were treated to a slicing exhibition by the chef at Moo Dae Po, along with Moo Dae Po founder and owner, Brian Chong. They cut all of their meats here by hand, and this chef cut this meat with surgical precision.
The city of Fullerton, along with Fullerton City Council Member, Bruce Whitaker presented Brian Chong and Cindy Chong with a Certificate of Welcome from the city. With all of the presentations done, it was now time to focus on the food.
Before getting to the main course we got these appetizers, which are known as, Banchan. These included the Korean staple, kimchee, a green salad, macaroni salad, fish cake, a yam, and tomatoes. I really enjoyed the macaroni salad and the fish cake the best. The macaroni salad had some apple cut up in it, which I thought was different and worked out quite well. The fish cake was actually cut into strips and had a nice mellow fish flavor. It was a major accomplishment for me to eat all of this with my chopsticks. I was very proud of myself.
Now it is time to bring on the meat! At Moo Dae Po they are an "all you can eat restaurant", which features different menus and prices. Prices start at $16.99 for a menu that features 19 different kinds of meat, and the menu that features 31 varieties of meat, is an incredible value at $24.99. Everything we ate here was so good. I must thank our, "table chef", the fantastic Kat, from Kat's 9 Lives, without whom we would have been lost as to how to eat any of this stuff. She doled out the meat with great authority. She even taught us the correct way to eat the meats. You need to place the meats in the provided rice paper, then add any of the sauces you would like. It was a messy process for me, but one I look forward to refining in future visits. See Kat, I can actually be really nice sometimes! My favorite meats here were the Beef Brisket and the Pork Belly. Really good pieces of meat.
Round two of the meat was the assorted marinated selections. We got chicken and short ribs. These were marinated in a sauce that did not overpower the taste of the meat but enhanced it. Here again, Kat did a great job of cooking the meats to the right doneness. You know this is killing me being so nice to you Kat, just don't get used to it!
This Bulgogi is only served at lunch, but they gave us this steaming hot bowl of it to try. I think it is finally cooled down enough to eat. Man, it came out roaring hot! This was my favorite thing of the night. It was like a comfortable beef stew with scallions and noodles. Really tasty, with a great flavor. I was very happy with this and kept eating this in between bites of the meat from the grill.
I was very happy that Moo Dae Po introduced me to Korean BBQ. We really enjoyed our time here, and I look forward to eating here and other Korean BBQ places soon. Moo Dae Po is opening in a few weeks in Rowland Heights, it will be their fourth location. I am sure that the restaurant will be a hit as well. We would really like to thank Brian Chong and Mary Chong of Moo Dae Po for this special event. Also, special thanks to the staff, including the waiters, bussers, and hostess staff for the wonderful service they offered us this night. One last group of thanks goes out to Jennifer Chung, Michael Wong, and Mary Park at Kollaboration Creative and Marketing for the invitation to this great event. Thank you very much.
Moo Dae Po does not have a website, but you can find directions and info about them here: http://www.facebook.com/mdpfull