REVIEW | Sariwon Korean BBQ - quality over quantity with high grade cuts of beef ribs & sirloins

Korean BBQ is loved by everyone and there are so many places in the city that offers the tabletop grilling of the oh-so-popular marinated short ribs.  At most of those places I find that, while the food is delicious, the beef lacks quality.  That being said, when I want Korean BBQ for beef sirloin, I head to Sariwon Korean BBQ Restaurant!



A lot of restaurants offer kalbi (갈비), which is widely known as beef short ribs that is usually marinated.  I love those too, but if you're eating at Sariwon, get the non-marinated fresh boneless ribs.  You don't need marinate to be impressed as the quality of the beef will win you over.

Non-Marinated Fresh Boneless Ribs (생갈비) - $30.95 per person
Check out the marbling... dip these pieces (after being cooked, of course) in the sesame oil/salt/pepper mix or in the Ssamjang Paste - a piece of heaven in your mouth.

Lightly Marinated Sirloin (쇠고기 등심 주물럭) - $30.95 per person
These sirloin pieces are not marinated with your usual short ribs marinate that is sweet & savoury, rather it's seasoned simply with salt, pepper and sesame oil.  Again, you'll notice the high quality beef!

Note that $30.95 price includes all the side dishes, lettuce wrap for the meats and one bowl of bean paste stew (1 per 2 diners).  If one portion of meat isn't enough, feel free to add more, but that would be an extra $30.95 per portion.  I went recently with 3 others and it was enough to get full!

When you go to this restaurant on weekends, the chances are you're going to have to wait to get a seat - a lot of Koreans go here for food (mainly for their BBQ), so be patient!  They also tend to have a lot of group parties here but never enough servers to accommodate them AND the regular diners.  Service is friendly, but slow.  They do have the buzz at each table to call over a server but they're not the most attentive...

I live in the West End of the City so it is a bit of a drive to come here, but it sure is worth it.  You won't be wanting to waste your money on mediocre quality Korean BBQ after you check out Sariwon. As for their other Korean entrees they offer, which I've tried, I would come here for the beef BBQ and probably nothing else ;)

photo cred: www.yelp.ca