Palace Korean BBQ -- With Pictures!!

So the sand festival ended up being a bigger hit than I could ever ever EVER have predicted.

He dug in the dirt for 6 hours.  6 hours!  After we left McGrath's we went back for what I figured would be a few minutes... and stayed 6 hours more.  I absolutely could not believe it.

The Critic joined us at the competition and we oohed and aahed over the sculptures for the standard 15 min. and then set to work finding a place to eat in Federal Way because there was absolutely no way I would make it home for my delicious planned meal of braised chicken in mustard sauce over noodles with a warm leek salad (sigh... I was really looking forward to that meal.  Now I have to wait until next week).

With no real options in sight The Critic hit a mental inspiration and searched for Korean BBQ.  And there is one in Federal Way!  Palace Korean Bar and Grill.  I actually have a Living Social (or is it Groupon?) deal for that... in Bellevue.  Guess we'll be going again at some point.

For starters, here is another food history connection.  Years ago we went to The Roadhouse in Federal Way and reached a certain level of devastation when they closed their doors.  And then, we found they still had their Everett location open and their was much rejoicing... until that fateful day.  The day that we found out they too, had closed.  So what's the connection between a midwest roadhouse that you throw peanuts on the floor and a Korean BBQ place?  The location.  Same building!  I suggested that The Critic not mention it to The Big Guy and he didn't seem to notice.  Hard not to... it really does look the same.

Until you get to the food.  A while back we went to a Korean BBQ place with The Critic's good friend JB and his cute little family.  And I forgot to take a single picture OR even blog about it.  So I've been wanting to go again to get some shots for the ol' blog here.

Korean BBQ is a weird cross between Tepanaki and fondue.  Basically they prep all your meats, bring them out raw, and you grill them yourself atop a charcoal thing in the middle of your table.  Along side are a host of side veggies and salads that has who-knows-what in them (probably someone who is Korean or at least knows a lot about Korean cuisine).  I usually try and sample each of them, find one or two that are pretty good, but the real star is the meat.  Usually without sauce or lightly marinated, its really about the meat flavor mixed with the grill.  At Palace they had an all-you-can-eat option that we went for.  Here are a few highlights:

Getting ready to cook!  Those thin beef slices were pretty good if you charred the heck out of them... crisped them right up and they were like meat chips.

Thin slices of beef and pork belly... at the bottom is some raw garlic that we grilled as well.

The stars of our show... chicken and these awesome short ribs.  Next time, this is all we'll get.

Normally grilled shrimp is a huge hit in our household.  These were not my favorite.  Too hard to clean and had a very gulfy flavor to them.  Still fun to watch them cook on the grill though. 

Ahhhh... meat coma.

McGrath's Fish House

No pictures but a fun lunch out with my Big Guy while the FIT is on a trip with his grandparents.  BG and I hit up the Northwest Sand Festival.  Who knew?  World championships and its in the parking lot of a mall... no where near the beach I might add.  The sculptures were pretty cool but the highlight for BG was digging, digging, and more digging in a big sand pit.  All that digging can work up an appetite for you, so we stole away to McGrath's Fish House on the opposite side of the mall.

McGrath's is a part of my own food history.  I went to school in Salem, Oregon, where the original McGrath's was located.  I think it has moved from its original location (or just franchised?  I don't know).  But even though that was "a couple" years ago I still remember their chowder.  Every time my family came to visit, we would eat there for lunch.  And dinner at Olive Garden.  Olive Garden was a big deal back then because it was very rare to find it.

This time around I opted to skip the chowder and try the seafood stew.  It was DELICIOUS!  Maybe this is just because I haven't had a whole lot of restaurant food since May (and I am officially 20 pounds lighter as a result).  We've had a BG birthday trip to Jimmy Mac's I forgot to blog about and I think I've done a Mama Stortini's run for gnocchi and marinara plus grilled chicken skewers (uh, YUM!).  But it really is hard to find food that fits with my low-cal eating plan.  This stew did the trick.

BG was thrilled as well because he got fish and chips, root beer (no diet coke for me means the root beer isn't  Barq's... which he can't have), and to top it all off, a scoop of ice cream.  Not just any ice cream... cotton candy ice cream!  That kid was in heaven.

A perfect little break to head back to the sand festival.

Edited to add...

I did not, I repeat DID NOT forget the Big Guy's birthday.  I just forgot to blog about it.  I think it's because that was a night of living in denial for me.  The Big Guy picked Jimmy Mac's and I planned to eat my favorite salad there and *maybe* one roll plus my big ol' Diet Coke, which isn't blog worthy since I already blogged about all those things.  BUT maybe, just *maybe* I had a couple more than one roll... with honey butter, and some of The Critic's salmon... and a taste of a rib... or two tastes.  Maybe.  And maybe I meant to block out the off-plan night.  But I did not, repeat, DID NOT forget my Big Guy's 7th birthday.

He's a picky eater, but he's pretty awesome.