Unpack your bags, this flight isn’t headed to Seoul.
Not everyone is familiar with Korean Barbecue, a troubling truth that pains my innermost being. I have been eating KBBQ for years and have fallen immensely in love with it. About 3 or 4 years ago, I indulged in the blissful taste of gogigui daily for 60 consecutive days. A friend and I would go to Furusato BBQ Restaurant in Gardena, CA If not there, we’d go to the heart of Los Angeles’ Koreatown where Road To Seoul is located. Whatever the case, Korean BBQ is one ethnic cuisine that has a permanent and valuable place in my life, taste-buds and cultural prowess. When I heard that Slater’s October 2013 burger of the month was going to be a Korean BBQ burger, my eyes widened in anticipation, my mouth watered at the thought and I yearned feverishly for a sweet-fire taste of grilled marinated beef and spicy kimchi.
The Bulgogi BBQ Beef Burger is an all-natural beef patty seasoned with red pepper flake and cucumber kimchi; topped with crispy wonton slivers, sauteed mushrooms, and beef Bulgogi drenched in Korean BBQ sauce; all piled high betwixt toasted brioche buns.
I love Slater’s 50/50 very much but I love Korean BBQ more. My mind and taste palettes expected something different, something more traditional. This burger’s sweetness caught me off-guard, leaving me baffled and confused yet pleased nonetheless. The taste was strikingly different from what my mind anticipated. My brain immediately thinks spicy-hot pickled vegetables, salty-sweet beef brisket and pork bellies when I hear Korean BBQ and kimchi. What I received could be best described as a teriyaki burger, a very good teriyaki burger, indubitably.
Understanding that many have yet to experience Korean BBQ, traditionally, I wish Slater’s 50/50 would have created a burger with more authenticity. Merely using spicy-hot cucumber kimchi would have made a world of a difference. An excellent attempt at a fusion burger, but no cigar.
Slater’s 50/50 Huntington Beach
8082 Adams Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 594-5730
Hours: Sun 9:30a.m. – 11:00p.m., Mon-Thurs 11:00a.m. – 11:00p.m.,
Fri & Sat 11:00a.m. – 12:00a.m.
Breakfast is back every Sunday, starting at 9:30a.m. during regular football season!
This review was written and paid for like every other one on this site: with my own money, no sponsorships, no comped meals. If it helped you decide where to eat, a coffee helps keep it that way.
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