Mapo BBQ
“I love the fact that they use real wood charcoal and the galbi is always cooked so perfectly.”
“Small Cozy Restaurant in Queens, Predominantly Local Koreans (Good Sign) Not that much room but looks bigger due to Window wall.”
“It is worth taking the 7 Train or LIRR out there…or don't so there will be more space for me!”
Mapo BBQ
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Came here again for galbi and it was pretty solid. It's $38 per order, geez when did galbi get so expensive, but it's a good amount of meat. It's cut a bit thicker than other places so it doesn't seem like a lot, but I think it's comparable. The side dishes are okay and the service was typical of Korean restaurants. Not sure if it's the best, but probably one of the better places to have galbi in the Flushing area.
The line to put your name down is an absolute cluster – walk to the very back and give your name; the lady will give you a number but that number may or may not be in order…just be sure to hang around and pop your head in once in awhile or they'll skip right over you.
Besides that, the service was amazing, the sides were plentiful and the meat…oh gosh, the meat.
This was my first foray into the infamous Flushing area for food. And I had the Grand pleasure of doing so with some friends & fellow Yelpers Cindy L., Pat F., & Steve M.
I need to say thank you to Yelp, because where else can you get a group of strangers to meet each other in a totally unknown place to any of us, for a delicious shared meal?! Then we had the nerve to continue on to bar down the street for some cocktails, football & a few games of pool!
The place was a little tricky to find but when we got there Cindy had already gotten us a table. It was a small place & simple in Decor. What I loved most was that it was real hardwood charcoal grills in the middle of the table. It really gave the meat an amazing flavor, oddly it wasn't smoky, just really really good.
We started off with the Pork Belly & Kalbi, only to be told we had to order 2 meats for the grill..Huh?! Isn't that 2 meats?! The waiter went on to explain(Thank goodness for Stevie because his Spanish helped us with the waiter) that the Pork Belly gets cooked on an electric grill so that doesn't count. Oooooh ok, no problem we'll take an order of Pork Ribs also then.
Of these meats I thought the pork would rock my tastebuds, but NOOO! They were good, don't misconstrue my meaning. But the GALBI or is it KALBI?! Holy Geez Moley! Talk about tender & flavorful! I cannot say I've had a better cut of meat more tender AND flavorful. My mouth is watering just reliving those moments.
And the Side dishes were OFF THE CHARTS! I don't know the proper name for them but we had a table full of yummy goodness. Favorites that come to mind are the roasted peppers with small dried fish, maybe tiny anchovies not sure but that was my favorite out of all the side dishes. Then there was the steamed eggs dish that came out bubbling hot, so fluffy, so differently delicious. There was macaroni salad, I wasn't a fan but my table mates enjoyed it. Grilled Corn, Kimchee Pancakes, Boiling hot Tofu Seafood soup(AWEsome!), multigrain rice, roasted garlic, onions, fried eel lacey stuff, Kimchee, Lettuce, etc.
After all of that yeah we still wanted more, Hey! We're Yelpers! Would you expect anything different?! So we ordered the Beef Tongue & another order of the Beef Galbi/Kalbi. Sooooo Scrumdillyicious!
I will say the food was great, but the best part was spending time getting to know my fellow Yelpers. What a privilege it is to be blessed by Yelp with such great cool people. And the bill came to $57 per person including tip, not cheap but we ate well & it was worth it!
So please come here. Even if you don't get to eat with my crew the food will still be good.
$40 a head for galbi, some really well seasoned and tender beef. The best galbi I've encountered so far. A decent portion, but do not assume that beef is the main source of food.
Instead, the banchan is plentiful. Multiple kimchis, radish, fish cake, roasted corn, soft shell grab, sundubu, greens, and more. Work on these many little plates the meat is cooked for you by the great service.
I was thinking the same exact thing as my lunch partners; is it Kalbi or Galbi? Such novices we are. I also pondered if that juicy, tender, charcoaly, marbled meat that we kept ordering was Kobe or the likes thereof, but it's called Kalbi/Galbi. Oh, what the heck do I know? I'll just google it later.
When I come back to Mapo BBQ, I will try to find parking immediately, which is hard to do, 'cause everyone has a freaking car and residential and commercial street parking sucks! No, maybe I'll just take the LIRR, because it's directly across the street from Mapo. Yup, that's what I'll do, I'll take the train instead. That way I'll get to the restaurant faster and then get to sit my derrière down quicker and then get to order nothing else but that Kalbi/Galbi and maybe I'll include that awesome seafood pancake while enjoying the assorted banchan. Yup, that's my plan for my next visit, which will lead me to being one very content woman who will need nothing else and if you follow my lead, you won't either.
RATINGS:
Price: Above Average (If you keep ordering more meat and a bunch of everything else like we did)
Service: Way Above average (We lacked nothing)
Atmosphere: Average old school cafeteria-like
Food: Above Average
Yelp Peeps: Way above average
I would be remiss not to mention that thanks to Yelp I had the opportunity to share this meal with some L.I. Yelpers, Christina J., Cindy L. and Steve M., cool, easy to talk to fun bunch.
I went here tonight for kbbq. We got 2 orders of the marinated galbi for ~$38/39 each. As expected for the price, the meat was tender but the marinade was quite sweet. They also only had lettuce for wrapping and not the radish. Service was also not that great. Instead of refilling side dishes, they just take it away. My friend ordered naengmyun and never got it. Waitress finally realized it after we practically finished. At the end, they also rushed us with the check and was rude about signing the tab. We obviously know to sign, give us more than 30 seconds while we decide to give tip on card or cash okay? Goodness. Worth it? Nah. I'm not coming back. I usually like going to hahm ji bach down the street and I'll stick with going there over mapo any day after this first experience here.
I stopped in here for lunch with my girlfriend and I don't think I would've ever found this place on my own. You need a Korean friend or a real local to find this gem. The prices are a little high but he quality of the food is what you pay for. All the meats are super fresh with ample amounts of "small dishes" to compliment the meats. I ordered the kalbi and nam myung (cold noodles) which were perfect for hot and humid days.
Also the fact that there was a table of Korean women behind us making dumplings made the entire experience all the better. Best part of that was, we got to taste the dumplings seconds after they were made.
Great Korean barbeque restaurant, but 1st you have to find it. A little buried away in a small section of Korean barbeque restaurants. Finding parking is a nightmare, but fortunately they contracted out private valets to park your car if you so desire, listen, use them, it's worth it.
The place is very small but gives you the illusion that it's bigger by lining one side of the wall with mirrors. One of the big draws of this place is the use of wood charcoal and cuts of Angus beef kalbi. After ordering the banchans start arriving at our table, they give you plenty of little plates of deliciousness that literally covers up every square inch of your table. We especially liked the Korean steam egg (Gyeran jjim)
The smoke from the wood really infuses a nice light smoky flavor. The beef is tender and tasty. They give you plenty of romaine lettuce for you to wrap up the kalbi and fill it with all the sauce, paste and banchans around your table to wrap up a delicious pocket of yumminess!
We ordered the pork belly as well, though not as flavorful as the beef, the variety of banchans and sauces woke up the flavor of the pork belly. As a note the pork belly is not cooked on the wood charcoal, but instead on a portable gas stove top pan. The Service staff here is top notch, our waitress not only took our order but cook and cut up the meats for us as well. Our waitress was grilling the kalbi with one hand and grilling the pork belly on another grill with the other, she was a multitasking beauty.
We also ordered a casserole of seafood tofu. The tofu was silky smooth and the kimchi broth was delicious. The casserole had clams, shrimp, squid and of course tofu. It went well with a bowl of rice. A Great big shout out and thank you to the guy's who help set and take away the wood charcoal pots.
Now get ready to dish out some dough because the meats are not cheap. The price you see on the menu is a serving size for 1 person, not 2. You don't get a lot of food for the price, so if you're really hungry, get ready to shell out some good money. The quality is there and you're going to pay for it. A definite winner though when it comes to Korean barbeque.