Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Palace BBQ - Oldie but Goodie (Sunnyvale)

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Before I moved to Los Angeles, before I got involved with Yelp, and before I got into food so much that my friends has started calling me a "food snob (I prefer foodie)," Palace BBQ was my introduction to Korean BBQ. From my mom, my college buddies, former buddies, etc, Palace was the place for us Nor Cal people to hit up for some AYCE (all you can eat) action in the Silicon Valley. (On a side note, I really miss the gloomy weather of Nor Cal. The weather in LA is too...perfect?)

Prices

As the picture above shows, the lunch time prices are fairly similar to the ones found in Koreatown in Los Angeles. However, the dinner prices can be as high as $25.99 during weekends sans any additional soju or hite beer you may order. Pricey? Probably. Tet, with the lack of AYCE Korean BBQ establishments in Nor Cal, what can you expect? Supply vs. Demand I guess. Onto the meat!

Dining RoomGrillBest Meat at PalaceShort Rib w/boneCookingCooking

I could have showed the various meat located at the meat bar (instead of having the meat brought to you like most of the LA restaurants, you actually get the meat yourself at the meat buffet bar), but the best meat there is the kalbi. Not the usual "LA kalbi" found in most restaurants, but this is the bone-in kalbi. Sadly, it's only offered during dinner, as being the good Asians we were, we only ate the kalbi. Multiple plates later, we finished off the night with some octopus and marinated squid. The kalbi was delicious. One of the better meat found at any AYCE KBBQ around.

All in all, Palace BBQ is a truly solid Korean BBQ experience. Besides the meat bar, there is also a panchan, hot cooked Chinese/Korean bar, and a salad/dessert station as well. Sadly, I was too hungry to bring my dSLR over to those stations as I was concentrating with the food. While Palace probably won't stand out compared to the Yi Ssi Hwa Ro or the Road To Seoul of the world here in LA, for a fun experience on the streets of El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, you could do a lot worse than Palace BBQ.

A shoutout to all of my buddies in Nor Cal, the better part of California. Go Kings!

1092 E El Camino Real # 1
Sunnyvale, CA 94087-3777
(408) 554-9292

Palace BBQ in San Francisco

6 comments:

Unknown said...

you forgot to get those spiced crab in ban-chan section??? omg that's like the seriously best combo with the galbi...... gg

Aaron said...

Now that's the galbi I'm used to seeing in the Bay. So is LA galbi really LA as in Los Angeles? Is it unique to Los Angeles Korean restaurants? I ate those cuts of ribs before in the Bay, just not as galbi.

Gastronomer said...

What a great trip down memory lane. I like seeing where the young KFP used to eat.

Btw - The weather in LA is perfect. I hated the gray skies of Nor Cal.

glutster said...

Awh....the good 'ol buffet day's.

I still haven't been to any all you can eat korean ones in L.A though, have you?

I do recall being stoned and going into a Hometown Buffet once when I was 16, ate 5 plates of food, 3 desserts, and then 2 more plates of food. Ugh.

...don't even want to get started on my Bellagion buffet story.

Exile Kiss said...

Hi Kung Food Panda,

Nice. I've never tried any Korean BBQ restaurants up north yet. How does Palace compare to your favorite So Cal Korean BBQ restaurants? Thanks. :)

Kung Food Panda said...

Yo: I got lazy with taking pic over at the banchan station. I was ready to eat whatever you put in front of me. GG indeed!

Aaron: I was told from Christine the bone-in galbi is different to what we've been used to in LA at the AYCE place, but I think you can find the bone-in galbi at places like Park BBQ

Cathy: I started eating here prob starting college. Though I miss the weather in Nor Cal, the weather in LA is great, despite the smog in the air.

Javier: Don't like Hometown, sorry :(. Been to quite a few AYCE KBBQ in K Town, so I do have my favs! :)

Exile Kiss: I'd put Palace towards the higher ends of the AYCE places in KTown, although it is about $10 more than places here. However, I've yet to see bone in galbi served in LA, so I guess it is what it is :)