Peaking through the grill slats, it looks like they are using real ($$$) binchotan–not the composite stuff. Impressive. This should be tasty.
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I may just brave traffic (whatever it may be in the current conditions) to try this. Looks amazing.
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It’s 6 - 9 PM so you can probably avoid traffic by going late?
Many people will probably be watching the debate anyway.
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I eagerly await your One Of Everything review!
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Spotted our lovely @TheCookie in the wild.
Everything was generally grilled well and very smoky. I personally would’ve preferred more variation in flavor with different marinates but this simple approach did let the ingredients shine. On a side note, I wish there they would’ve grilled some char siu over binchotan. 
oyster mushroom | scallion oil, spicy salt
smoky and meaty but scallion oil flavor was lost. still tasty though.
chicken wing | jidori chicken wing, scallion oil, spicy salt
grilled quite nicely as you can tell in the picture. try as i might, i couldn’t quite taste the scallion oil since the smokiness took over.
pork jowl | salmon creek farms pork jowl, black bean sauce
my favorite of the night. love the “crunch” of pork jowl. nicely rendered and delicious. the black bean sauce gives a nice punch on every bite flavor.
beef | snake river farms american wagyu, curry oil
i was told that this cut is blade/lifter meat. nice beefy flavor but a bit chewy. i didn’t eat this till well after it was grilled so that could’ve been part of the reason.
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Damn char siu would have been nice! Didn’t even think.
Ranking for me goes mushroom, pork jowl, beef + chicken tie. But I always choose mushroom.
The beef wasn’t too chewy and I ate it fresh.
Also they’re doing it again next Tuesday!
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Awww! And he brought homemade treats! Dark chocolate sorbet! I’d show y’all a photo but we polished it off. 
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Oh, good! (b/c I couldn’t make it out yesterday, unfortunately)
My impression from @moonboy403’s report is that a lot of pieces were a bit overwhelmed by the smokiness. What did you think?
That pork bowl black bean does look pretty damn good.
Somewhat related note, I asked Chef if he would do Sorrowful version and his response was he likes to keep it simple. Maybe @euno can talk him into a off menu binchotan grilled char siu or sorrowful char siu
Keep in mind that this is just one out of many data points. Others could find the level of smokiness just perfect. Overall, I thought everything was tasty but not quite perfect which is what every chef strives for.
I think it would’ve been fine if I didn’t see the mention of scallion oil on the oyster shroom and wing. With that said, when I spoke to Chef Wong, he said he’ll try to minimize flare ups during grilling to and blend in the scallion, rather than infuse it, into the oil to bolster the scallion flavor next time. We also had a great conversation with regards to Chinese food in general.
I’m interested to hear more from @butteredwaffles and @TheCookie!
Indeed it was! That black bean pungence!
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Okay, okay. Such a nudge.
I completely forgot about the scallion oil and didn’t notice any at all. I didn’t miss it on the mushrooms but am curious about what it would have added to the chicken if more prominent.
Interesting @moonboy403 that you say Chef will probably blend the oil vs infuse it next time as I often find infusions come across as way too subtle when actually incorporated with other elements.
I think smoke came through more in the chicken than anything else.
But also not sure what time y’all got there. I picked up at 635. I noticed no flareups though there was the expected amount of smoke. I wonder how many charcoal changes Chef had to make and if the weather played into effect.
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I was also expecting the sauces to be more bold based on the menu descriptions. I could tell that the chicken was enhanced by something other than salt and smoke, but I couldn’t discern the scallion-ness per se. Pork was the only case where the sauce came into the foreground a bit, and even then I wouldn’t call it distinct. In the end, I think the sauces did do their job in the background. I didn’t mind the more meat-forward balance of things, given the quality of the meat and how well it was grilled. All four came out really juicy and tender, full of their own flavor.
The take-out format did make things a bit difficult, since you get your order all at once, and it’s all cooling off pretty quickly. I ate about half of each in the car, and took the rest home. The chicken and mushrooms did ok under a broiler, but the pork and beef were better cold (esp the beef). If I ever go back at a slower time, maybe I’ll see if I can get the skewers one at a time.
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Bummer. This phenomenon calls for a new FTC abbreviation: ERTAT (eat right then and there)…
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A Needle Pop-up at Needle
I 
grilled meat.
When I saw Needle was sidewalk grillin’ we hightailed it over there. Okay, no, we didn’t hightail it… I ordered online the day before and was given an available time-slot then we hightailed it over there.
Salmon Creek Farms Pork Jowl w/Black Bean Sauce
Grab your Omegas. It’s porky, fatty, slightly crunchy and delicious. 
I didn’t think it was too much char, just a little uneven.
Snake River Farms American Wagyu Beef w/Curry Oil
I was excited about this. The photo of the raw beef looked very nicely marbled. But I’m coming to the conclusion that I might not like Wagyu or still haven’t had the right cut. Does it always have a lot of chew? Seasonings were slight w/a little curry flavor and not much spicy salt.
Also Oyster Shrooms w/Scallion Oil & Spicy Salt - undercooked, kinda’ chewy and not much scallion oil & seasoning.
Jidori Chicken Wing, Scallion Oil & Spicy Salt
The meat was moist, but skin was not so much crispy as unevenly charred. I’m a chicken lover and cook it a lot. Wings aren’t easy to get right, especially grilled. Marinating would be good, but at least a little slower on a lower fire for evenly crisped skin and to tenderize the chewy rubber-band-like thing, all while keeping the meat moist. Tall order. But trying to cook them fast on a high fire is not the ticket.
Crisped & Rendered
I worried about reheating because they seemed on the verge of becoming stiff. Nope. A skosh of oil, a little broth in the pan, covered for 5 minutes then uncovered for a few more, sprinkled with Maldon Smoked Salt. Everything rendered a bit more and they were pretty good. 
Thoughts: All things do not grill the same. More marinade, oil or moisture and possibly a slightly lower fire was needed and more punchy flavors all the way around. I actually didn’t find anything to be overwhelmingly smokey.
This was only their first night but based on their perfectly par-cooked DIY Char Siu you know they can nail this too… we’ll do an update visit. 
Chef Ryan & Mrs. Wong are very friendly, professional, super efficient, ordering is online and I like that they don’t finish your order until you arrive so it’s not sitting in a bag steaming. Plus, they keep it simple and don’t bite off more than they can chew - they’ll “add more goodies” as time goes on (quality control).
TBC!
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probably haven’t had the right cut or it wasn’t prepared with the love it needs.
I’ve had wagyu that is like toro where it melts in your mouth and you can use a spoon to cut through it.
Keep researching/ trying more!
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Uh yumm! I’m trying to remember but think I had a good piece at CUT once, but that’s it, it’s all been rather chewy.
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Ditto.
Kind of clunky (maybe Eat At Once?), but useful.
PRD Pork Bun ERTAT
Howlin Chicken ERTAT
Tempura ERTAT
Oliboli Donuts ERTAT
the list of things that can wait to be eaten might be shorter, haha
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