In this strip mall, one of many on Convoy that have at least one or more Korean businesses and restaurants...
We got there before opening time, which was 11:30 am.
I'd heard about this place from my godson (he's 24). He and his friends really like this place and later on, I could see why.
We'd never gone to a Korean "AYCE" (all you can eat) place before so we didn't have any preconceptions about what to expect other than the foodblogs I read (links posted at the end).
We were originally going to go to Taekugki, the new AYCE place at the end of the Zion supermarket building but I balked knowing that they had some sort of policy where if you had leftovers, they would charge you. Fk that. Well, I read that Jeong Won had that as well, but it was a $10 charge for "excessive leftovers".
We both thought Jeong Won had the best deal in that their set up is self-serve and not ordering a particular plate of a cut of meat that you might not even like.
Empty now but TOTALLY packed when we left one hour later!
It's dark and a bit cramped in here, especially the food serving stations. You can read Kirbie and DD's posts for a better description.
I thought the restaurant decor was very cluttered and random. Lots of decorations and religious and inspirational quotes printed out on paper and taped on the walls, some in plastic sleeves or laminated.
I have to say that the service here is very attentive. The young guys working here came to check up on us every so often. They were so nice and very laid back. The lunch hour got noisier and noisier by the minute, especially a table near us that had young children.
The self serve area had sauces (not pictured), plus sides (the banchan) which had the lid closed (duh on me)...I didn't really get a lot of sides here other than the potato salad, seaweed and eggplant. I'm not into Korean pickles or kimchee either.
There were so many kinds of meat here. We liked the top sirloin and the pork belly. No tongue though.
I also got a few shrimps and one frog leg (just to try). There were more cuts of meat that we got but I don't remember it all.
Being the novices that we were, we didn't pile our plate high. We wanted to try a little of what we wanted first and then play it by ear.
They give you soup, rice, and a fried Korean pancake,w hich I really liked. The pancake, not the soup, which was bland. I didn't even bother.
I didn't take a lot of photos of our food since it was pretty dark in there and it didn't look that exciting. Here is Bert grilling up our meats. The grill by the way is superhot. I was afraid we'd singe off our arm hairs, just kidding. I read on reviews that the meat here isn't as good as Manna's. Never having been to Manna, I wouldn't know, but I could tell that some of the cuts were a bit too chewy or fatty.
It was $19.95 per person which is worth it if you are a total carnivore. If you're not a carnivore, then this is not the place to go to.
I like that you can select the sides and meats that you want instead of having it pre-selected in a certain quantity. We were pretty conservative that day and only got a little bit at a time.
Who else went to Jeong Won?
The Diligent Diletante first went here during their opening - November 2010
Followed by the gals from Convoy Conquest - December 2010 along with Kirbie - a few weeks later. I liked that she compared her first visit (when they didn't have the buffet) to her subsequent visit when they had the buffet.
Jeong Won Korean BBQ Buffet
4690 Convoy St.
San Dieog, CA 92111
(619) 292-4670
They do not have a website
One thing, they do offer soft serve ice cream here which is nice I suppose, but we didn't get any. We wanted to save room for dessert at another place afterwards.
Previous lunch outings for Bert:
2012 - Slaters 50/50
2011- Bert's Birthday Blackout, and his late bday lunch at the now defunct Craw Island plus a birthday dinner with our neighbors
2010- Bert's Birthday dinner at Kemo Sabe (which is now closed)
2009 - Parkview LL Madness, Bert's 40th...
2008 - I know we did something, but I didn't blog a lot during that year...
2007 - Celadon
4 comments:
Happy Birthday, Bert! This looks like a great choice for a special day; we've passed by and thought about going several times.
Thank you from Bert!
It's worth going at least once.
Actually, Taeguki's policy for charging is also pretty laxed like Jeong Won. They will only charge if you go super overboard. If you have some meat leftover they don't care. I haven't been to Jeong Won in so long. I think Taeguki has some lunch special so maybe you and Bert can go during lunch next time if he still wants to try other Korean BBQ places.
Thanks for the clarification Kirbie. I don't think we'd be super gluttonous and incur the extra charges, but i'm sure there are people that do, which is probably why they have that policy in the first place. we will def. check it out during lunch this year.
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