Off the Beaten Path-El Camino Mongolian Barbecue

One of the greatest assets in college food diversity is a car, and luckily for me I had one this last week while my brother was on spring break! I took this chance to get a little further from campus, but still relatively close. One of the establishments really worth mentioning is El Camino Mongolian Barbecue!

What is Mongolian Barbecue? Well, it’s basically a style of cooking. Let me explain the process at the restaurant. First you get a bowl of meat and a bowl of vegetables. At the end of the line, two chefs take your ingredients and puts them on a really, really hot, huge, circular griddle. After only two minutes, you get to eat! Apparently, the Mongols used to cook this way with their shields over the fire. Mongolian Barbecues method of high heat and fast cooking causes the vegetables to lose less nutritional value.

One of the most daunting challenges at any Mongolian Barbecue restaurant is making a sauce. Enter John Seo, the happy owner of El Camino Mongolian Barbecue. He literally asks everyone who enters his restaurant if it is their first time. If you answer yes, you get a quick tutorial explaining how to correctly participate in his process. First, heexplains the reason you get two bowls. They cook the meat and veggies separately in order to preserve the vegetables’ nutritional value. Second, he actually tries to convince you to get a large amount of vegetables. Seriously, listen to him, it’s worth it. Finally, he teaches you how to make a great sauce, so you can try it on your own next time. He combines 7 different ingredients to form his “best sauce.” After the cooking process, your two bowls combine onto one plate, piled high with food.
The greatest part of tasting John Seo’s BBQ is that the sauce does not overwhelm, but compliments the natural flavors of the added vegetables. The vegetables are cooked all the way through, but retain their crisp and fresh flavors. The thin slices of meat add their own flavor, but its clear that the vegetables are the main focus of the dish. So, If you’re looking for something different and super nutritious, go the El Camino Mongolian Barbecue!