Crystal BBQ

My friends and I searched out Crystal BBQ with Korean Ribs in mind. That was all I wanted — some delicious korean ribs and some kimchi. We went into Crystal BBQ with fairly low expectations and came out happy.
We didn’t even look at the menu — we ended up having the all you can eat barbeque dinner, which was basically just every meat they could possibly offer, cooked right in front of you. The restaurant was dead, so we had one server all to ourselves (mostly) all night to help facilitate the cooking process, as cooking on the crystal bbq was tricky (as was figuring out which meats were which, and which were cooked or not!). The menu was huge, the waitress was very friendly and just said she would bring out a little of everything and we could try what we wanted before we ordered more. We barely made it through our «try» of everything before we were bursting at the seams. Tons of korean beef, beef ribs, pork, bacon, marinated chicken, shrimp, you name it, we had it. And it was actually REALLY good.
Along the piles of meats, they also served up korean dishes like kimchi, potatos, salads, veggies and steamed rice. The cost was very good, I think it ended up being something like $ 18 a person, including soft drinks.
The restaurant is located in a rather shifty area of downtown, just east of the court houses and slightly north of Jasper. It’s fairly nice inside and the staff were very accommodating and friendly. I can’t speak for the rest of the menu, but all of the meats we had in our dinner were seasoned just right and were super delicious. If you are looking to try out a variety of korean barbeque, I definitely recommend Crystal.
ONE RECOMMENDATION I HAVE: When this place gets busy and all the tables are cooking meats, the whole place can get very warm/​greasy very fast. I don’t recommend making this your go-​to date place or dropping in for a meal before going anywhere important, because you walk out completely drenched in the smell of the restaurant. Just a tip. If you have dogs, they’ll love you when you come home, if you know what I mean.

Crystal BBQ Noodle House used to be the Jasmine Noodle House — in fact, the original signage on the purple awning over the door remains, with a Crystal BBQ sign in the window. We were not sure at first we were even in the right place. Upon entering, our olfactory senses were filled with the smell of barbecue meat, and we saw a table of people cooking their own food on one of those little portable stoves. Were we in a noodle house or a barbecue restaurant?
Our menus indicated noodle house. The majority of the menu were the typical dishes expected in a Vietnamese noodle house, especially phở (noodle soup) and vermicelli bowls. I opted for a rare beef phở, while my co-​worker had a steamed chicken phở. For appetizers, she chose a half order of shrimp salad rolls while I had green onion cakes.
Our appetizers were brought while I sipped my jasmine tea, rich in flavour. My onion cakes were crispy and delicious. My co-​worker raved about her salad rolls. We both looked around and kept admiring the beautiful décor of the dining area. With anticipation, we looked forward to our soups arriving.
After a short while, two steaming bowls of phở were placed before us. My bowl was big enough, but did not seem to have as much broth as I am used to. There were loads of noodles though, and I dipped my spoon in to taste the broth. Alas, there was not much flavour — the only seasoning I could really taste was salt. I would have put some of the herbs served typically served to the side, but all we were given was a tiny plate with a few sprouts, a lime wedge, and a leaf that I had never seen before when having phở. The meat tasted good enough — all six slices of it, which were already cooked through by the time the bowl arrived at the table (rare beef phở is supposed to be served rare).
Colleen had a similar experience with her soup. Although she doused the broth with salt and soy sauce, she commented that it was flavourless. The tiny shreds of chicken tasted good — almost too good. We suspected they were processed or laden with MSG. Neither of us finished our soup, nor took home the leftovers.
The prices are slightly higher than other noodle houses, so I could not understand why the portions of meat were so small. While paying the bill, our server explained that they had kept the lunch menu from the previous owners, and the evening menu was barbecue. Judging from the rich, meaty smells that greeted us, I am willing to bet the barbecue is not bad — however, given how bad our soups were, neither of us are willing to return to find out.
Here is a suggestion: if you take over a restaurant, don’t try to be all things to all people. Either change the menu to what you do best, or learn how to prepare the existing menu items properly. Any phở lover would have been disappointed by their meal — we sure were.