I gotta say, I really like Soot Bull Jeep for what it is. An old school charcoal spot with good marinated meats, decent banchan, a fun vibe, and rarely a wait. Definitely doesn’t belong in the Gwang Yang or Parks pantheon of purist, high-end cuts of meat, but it’s fun and enjoyable.
TonyC steered me and a large group to Eight KBBQ recently and we all absolutely loved it. Again, not a purist type place, but tasty meats including lots of pork belly iterations, and mind-blowingly good endless grilled kimchi. Plus, they take reservations for large parties.
It’s Korean temple food, not unusual at all. I’ve found it at both Ranch 99 and at Galleria Market. No creatures, garlic or onion. Like I said, you just need to read the labels, or ask someone for help.
Not really apt to compare SBJ to Parks. The former is probably 1/4 less expensive than Parks across the board, more on some items (like the bulgogi and the short ribs)
I don’t go to Sushi Gen and complain that it’s not as good as Ginza Onodera.
Eight is good. Soot Bull Jeep isn’t good, at least on this last visit. Food, service, banchan, smoke, everything. There was a big line but that’s understandable for saturday. unmarinated meat was shockingly unfresh.
There are tons of places in this range, many with better meat, but unfortunately they’re one of the few with the charcoal (which i swear is being used to cover up them buying cheaper meat)
“Cover up” might be a bit harsh for a low price point. You want cheap with charcoal? The meat might be a bit cheaper / worse than the gas-fuel competition.
I don’t want cheap! I paid $39 for stinky galbi. And they were very busy so it’s not like they weren’t turning product over. That’s not low price point