Cho Won Gal Bi

This place is incredible! We were driving through this area of queens originally looking for another restaurant that we found out had since closed. I found this place via my Unilocal iPhone app and read just the first sentence of someone raving about the place, but not the second sentence warning that ZERO english is spoken here! Hahaha! The waitress looked a bit panicked when she saw two roundeyes walk through the door, we asked if they were open for lunch and she bolted to the back and grabbed the spanish dishwasher brought him out and pointed at us. We asked him, he said «oh yeah sure, sit down.» It was hilarious. As communication seemed to be a problem we just told the waitress «Galbi» she smiled and nodded and proceeded to bring us out a seemingly endless procession of «banchan» appetizers followed by the best Korean BBQ I have ever had in my life. She basically just kept bringing us food until we said «stop» all for a mere $ 20 a pop! (A price that would have included a bottle of soju had either one of us been drinkers) The whole time we were there we were the only patrons, we even watched the staff have their shift meal together which was nice, they looked like a big happy family! I know a lot of people would deduct a star for the whole language-​barrier, but I honestly think it added a little to the experience a little bit. Not to mention it did not hinder our waitress’ ability to be sweet and attentive. All in al this place is a gem, definitely a spot to take some out of town buddies if you want to look cool and freak them out a little. Oh, did I mention the live eel tank? Yeah, there’s a live eel tank.

Be forewarned, you must have a Korean speaking/​reading member in your party to enjoy this amazing, down and dirty Korean BBQ joint that transports you back into the crazy delicious world of seedy bbq/​drinking establishments in Korea! They have a galbi/​soju special — an order of galbi and a bottle of soju for $ 20, get one for each member of your party.
They do serve other items (there’s an eel tank right when you walk in), but I’ve never had the desire to order anything but the galbi when I come here. It’s just… that… good.
Every galbi order comes with the customary banchan — small dishes of Korean «tapas» that compliment your meal! When I went with my family of 3, they overloaded us with banchan that we barely had enough space on our table to eat. They even gave us extra egg stews and dwen-​jang-​jigae as we scarfed ours down way too quickly!
GREAT thing about this place is that they do a true bbq — with WOOD CHARCOAL. We attacked our meal with such ferocity — I was the only person who paid attention to the interaction of a poor LIRR commuter who had walked by, saw us digging into our AMAZING grilled meat, and stopped by to check out the place. Unfortunately, the sweet women who cater to the crowds of drinking and eating Korean men do not speak a word of English, and told him in halting English that they did not speak it nor did they have a menu with any English in it. I would’ve jumped in to help him if not my mouth was full of rice and kalbi and lettuce leaves and chili paste and raw garlic. YUMMMMMMM!
This has become our new favorite galbi establishment in all of New York, and completely worth the trip, and a great value for what you get! Cannot wait to head back and dig in again. Go and visit and bring a Korean friend with you! Or wait until I head back to NY again and we can dig into the best Korean galbi I’ve had since my trip to Korea!
PS — they’re right by the Murray Hill LIRR stop (Port Washington line) and open ’til 4AM!