Cooking your own dinner at home is a great way to save money, but it can, at times, get a little boring… BUT, cooking for yourself at a swanky resto with a tabletop grill?! Nothing boring about that folks! Gyu-Kaku, with locations in the East Village (Cooper Sq @ 5th St) and Midtown East (3rd Ave @ 50th St) is a fun, interactive restaurant, which turns your grilling desires to reality.
Veggie Bevy
A few friends and I visited the East Village location – the ambience is upscale and the waiters are very helpful when it comes to deciding how much you need to order off the menu. We started with Tofu Salad (YUM), Tuna Volcano (a table fave), and Crispy Seaweed with Cream Cheese (which was… different). While we were eating our apps, they brought over the veggies we ordered to get them going on the burner, since they take a bit longer to cook.
Some of the vegetables come in foil packs (the Japanese eggplant was FABULOUS, and the mushroom medley was very good as well), and there’s also an assorted vegetable plate with veggies you can cook right on the grill. As for the meats, the ladies went with simple chicken and shrimp, which took a little longer to cook than our server mentioned, but I guess that varies depending on the intensity of the flames on the grill.
OMG: On MY GRILL!
Overall, the experience is the biggest selling point at Gyu-Kaku – it’s a unique thing to do and can be a great icebreaker if you’re just getting to know someone. That being said, this probably isn’t the ideal spot to go if you’re catching up with someone, just because it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in conversation and burn your food, and when you’re the chef, it’s not the kind of error you can send back to the kitchen. If you’re not that hungry, I suggest just going later in the evening to get dessert – the smores are AWESOME and you can order a side of marshmallows, if that’s what floats your boat. PLUS happy hour with ½ off drinks runs Mon-Thurs 9:30pm-closing.
Smores Galore
If you’re going with a group, it’s more than worth your while to book your reservation through Savored – it’s $10 to book, but you’ll get 30% off your meal which was $45 off for our crew. Enjoy, and get cooking kids!
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