3136 W 8th St
Los Angeles
213-387-3865
Having been a couple "all you can eat" Korean BBQ places, like Manna Korean BBQ and Road to Seoul in Koreatown, I wanted to try a non all you can eat, Korean BBQ restaurant. So I went to Soot Bull Jeep.
I've heard about Soot Bull Jeep, because they are one of the few Korean BBQ restaurants that use charcoal instead of gas grills. So, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to have lunch at Soot Bull Jeep.
Everybody tells me the major difference between all you can eat and ordering off the menu, is the quality of meat. The meat at the all you can eat places are a lesser grade of meat compared to the order off the menu places, or they are suppose to be.
I was surprised at how limited Soot Bull Jeep's menu is, they had about 13 meats listed, but that included two different types of beef, squid, and pork, a short rib, chicken, honeycomb, beef tartar, and eel. Where is the pork belly?
BBQ Pork, $18.99. This was marinated with some paprika, soy sauce, and salt and pepper, it had a bit of a kick. (I was rudely informed that they use chili flakes, not paprika. But, a closer look at the meat, I think they use chili powder, not chili flakes. I don't see any flakes on the meat, but I certainly tasted the spiciness.) This was pretty good, but it had it's share of gristle and fat. I mean, $18.99 for a good sized portion, but the meats is about the same quality as all you can eat?
Ok, the charcoal added some flavor but not worth this price.
BBQ marinated sliced spencer steak, $19.99. Spencer steak are suppose to be from the rib eye, which means not that much fat or gristle but plenty of marbling. Well, this wasn't a spencer steak, it wasn't from the rib eye, more along the lines of sirloin and it was a cheap grade of beef, select.
This was marinated in a sweet sauce, maybe some honey or sugar, and tasted very much like bulgogi. But, again this wasn't any better than the meat from the all you can eat places.
Service was pretty good. The server was nice and friendly.
Honestly, I wasn't impressed with Soot Bull Jeep at all. Ok, the charcoal is different, but everything else is about as good as the all you can eat places I've been to. I can't believe I paid about $40, for two meats, when I could have paid half the price, and gotten more meats that were the same quality!!
There is no reason for me to comeback to Soot Bull Jeep, overpriced, average quality meat? Why bother!!
