Beware the Mongol Invasion! (of BBQ)

The cuisine known as Mongolian BBQ is making the mother of all culinary comebacks.

Legend has it that Mongolian BBQ was invented in the 13th century by
the army of Kublai Khan when the cooks fried up shredded meats and
vegetables on a warrior’s shield placed over a fire. Reality may be a bit more prosaic (it’s actually Taiwanese), but that hasn’t stopped the PR departments
of several new Mongolian BBQ chains from resurrecting the myth.

For the uninitiated, Mongolian BBQ is a mix-and-match, do-it-yourself, stir-fry buffet. At its most basic, there is a meat station (beef, pork, chicken), a vegetable station (traditionally shredded cabbage and maybe carrots) and a sauce station (garlic-soy based, usually hot or mild). Grab a bowl, pile high
your choice of meat, veggies and sauce, and hand it over to the cook
for stir-frying on a giant, round 600°F iron griddle.

What makes traditional Mongolian BBQ unique is the preparation of
the meats. The meat is frozen into solid blocks and then shaved into
thin strips. Piles of these frozen meat chips are then made available
on the buffet.

Legend states that during winter the Mongol warrior’s hunting catch
would be frozen by the time they got back to camp, and they would use
their razor-sharp swords to shave off pieces for faster cooking. But in
reality I think it’s mainly a matter of presentation and cleanliness.

As an added benefit for those with health concerns, there’s no
hiding a dirty kitchen in a Mongolian BBQ restaurant because all of the
food and cooking surfaces are right in front of you in a kind of DIY mise en place.

I first experienced Mongolian BBQ in the late eighties in Los Angeles when I frequented Colonel Lee’s Mongolian BBQ on a then-decrepit block of Hollywood Boulevard near Western Avenue.

Famously patronized by B-list actors and members of the Red Hot
Chili Peppers in between recording sessions, Colonel Lee’s was a real
hole-in-the-wall run by a tiny Korean woman named Miss Lee and
purported to be a reformed “lady of the night.”

Patrons would form an orderly line at the buffet, pile high meat and
veggies, and then come face-to-face with Miss Lee manning the sauce
jars. Then, in a Seinfeldian Soup Nazi kind of way, she would lock her
gaze on you and blurt out “SPICY OR NO SPICY!” Regulars knew there
was a third way and would often retort “MEDIUM SPICY!” resulting in a
nod of approval and a ladleful of sauce from each jar being doused onto
the bowl and the whole thing tossed on to the griddle for cooking.

Alas, some years later the L.A. transportation authority did what
the health department never could — it shut down Colonel Lee’s for
good when it built a shiny new subway station on the same block.

Many years later and back in Houston, I was relieved to find a traditional version of the cuisine at Hans Mongolian BBQ in Webster. Located in a down-at-the-heels shopping center at the
intersection of I-45 and Nasa Road 1, Hans is presided over by a
gregarious but curmudgeonly Taiwanese-American gentleman who is not shy
about informing you that Mongolian BBQ is neither Mongolian nor BBQ,
but rather Taiwanese stir-fry. Don’t let the shabby decor fool you —
every time I have been there it has been immaculately clean. And as far
as I know this is the only Mongolian BBQ in Texas that uses the frozen
and shaved meat preparation.

Up north, the new Mongol on the block is an outfit called Kublai Khan’s Crazy Mongolian Stir-Fry (mercifully — or perhaps wisely — they didn’t spell “crazy” with a
“k”). Located at 290 and Hollister, this locally-owned restaurant takes
the Mongolian BBQ concept to the next level.

The Kublai Khan buffet offers a dizzying array of meat, seafood,
veggies, fruits, nuts, spices and sauces in an upscale atmosphere.
Skipping the traditional frozen and shaved meat preparation, their meat
is presented raw and unfrozen (though fresh and clean in refrigerated
bins).

Every time I have been to Kublai Khan the service has been friendly
and helpful, and the buffet clean and well-maintained. The quality of
your food is, literally, up to you. It may take a few trips to find the
best combo of ingredients. The staff is always willing to help out if
you’re not sure where to start.

So which Mongolian BBQ is best for you — “old school” with Hans or “hip and happening” with Kublai Khan?

Both of these establishments are well-run local businesses that deserve our patronage. I recommend you try both.

As for me, Hans evokes the most memories of my Mongolian BBQ glory
days in Los Angeles. Every time I go there and sit down in one of those
cracked vinyl booths, I half expect to see Anthony Kiedis and Flea
chowing down a few booths away, serenaded by the voice of a tiny Korean
woman bellowing out “SPICY OR NO SPICY!”

—J.C. Reid

Hans Mongolian BBQ
20814 Gulf Freeway
Webster, TX 77598
(281) 332-6348

Kublai Khan Crazy Mongolian Stir-Fry
13708 Northwest Fwy.
Houston, TX 77040
(713) 690-2244