Cuisine type: Mongolian, stir-fry
Atmosphere: casual, austere
Meal: dinner
Price range: $10
Overall grade: 6.9
Ben
A highly efficient mongolian grill. A basic selection of ingredients, including meats: chicken, beef, pork, lamb, shrimp. Good looking cuts of meat, though pork and lamb were frozen while on the buffet. Additional ingredients included fresh looking: broccoli, corn, carrots, bean sprouts, zucchini, chinese noodles. About 6 sauces with suggestions for mixtures. Cooking was done very quickly, with no wait time at all. Chef pours water over hot plate to simultaneously steam ingredients while grilling. Served with options of egg drop soup and rice, and soft ice cream dessert at no additional charge. They offered a limited selection of bottled beers including domestics, Heineken, and Tsinghua.
The selection of ingredients and sauces was much smaller than other Mongolian grills I have visited. Additionally, the environment is efficient and cafeteria - like. The servers will respond promptly to requests but will not interact with you otherwise. What the restaurant lacks in flash and romance, it makes up for in excellent food at a great value. I made a dish with lamb, chicken, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots and chinese noodles under their "Spicy" mix (a mixture of oil and chili, soy, bbq, kung pao sauces) and found it to be the best tasting mongolian grill I've had - I did not miss the more obscure ingredients. The chef does not dance or sing, but has mastered his timing and technique. The high temperature grilling / quick steaming combination was perfectly executed: meat was very tender and not overcooked, vegetables were perfectly heated through while remaining crisp. Gobi Grill is not a place for birthday parties or romance but is an excellent choice if you are looking for a quick stop for a delicious meal using fresh ingredients, in an unimposing atmosphere and at a very reasonable price.
Food 8
Drinks 4
Atmosphere 5
Service 7
Value 10
Nina
Tonight was the first night we spent in the Bay Area, after concluding our month long, cross country road trip. Tired from the drive and the hot sun at Lake Tahoe, we decided to begin our food adventure at a low key, no fuss restaurant close to our hotel. We chose Gobi Mongolian BBQ, since we always enjoy a good stir-fry and the liberty of assembling our own plate from raw ingredients. After a quick stroll down the street we walked into this small, minimally decorated restaurant, that got right to the point: a buffet line starting from the door and ending by the hot plate, where a chef was waiting to cook each customer's order.
When it came down to the food, it was quite amazing - exactly what a Mongolian BBQ should be. The selection on the buffet line was extensive, with several types of meat (chicken, beef, pork, lamb and shrimp), many kinds of vegetables and a good variety of sauces. The food was cooked on a screaming hot plate with the sauces I selected (garlic with a splash of spicy cooking oil) and an addition of water which created a flash-steaming effect. As a result, my food was done much faster than at any similar restaurant I've even been to, and the end result was a juicier, more tender dish than I expected. We had steamed rice on the side, though it wasn't really necessary as the stir-fried food with noodles was both rich in flavor and filling on its own. The restaurant also offered vegetable egg rolls along with the dinner, which were good (though greasy, as expected) and came with spicy mustard (mustard with wasabi) and sweet and sour sauce. The egg-drop soup was served with tofu, though it didn't impress - too watery and lacked the richness that I appreciate in this type of side dish.
Food 9
Drinks 3
Atmosphere 5
Service 5
Value 10
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