Comments on: What’s Not Best: Small Bowls at Mongolian Barbeques

By: Luke Carlson

Luke Carlson — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:23:56 +0000

One thing that I do is take the frozen slabs of meat and fan them around the inside of the bowl. If put in the bowl first, this creates a larger bowl. This is hard to describe but next time I am at Khan’s I’ll take a picture.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:20:59 +0000

I like the small bowls. Our local MB is all-you-can eat, so I like to try a whole bunch of different combinations. I wind up making 5-6 trips.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:27:19 +0000

Peter: That’s something I haven’t thought of!

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:01:45 +0000

This post is old, but I’m just now reading it

Did anyone ever consider that the small portions make it more efficient for the guy who has to cook all that food for so many people? I could just imagine how I’d feel as a customer waiting in line behind the guy who has a punchbowl-sized portion of food stacked to the ceiling, knowing that this guy’s gonna bottleneck the entire cooking process…

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:58:33 +0000

The entire “create your own food arrangement in a bowl” concept is a crock. You go out to a restaurant and instead of the chef going, “hey, this is what works well together” and a waiter bringing it to you, you have to go “I wonder if this’ll taste nice together”. And then inevitably we flood the plate with too many tastes and flavours and everyone’s food tastes the same. A bit like when you put more than 7 or 8 different jellybeans in your mouth at once.

By: Zach Nielsen

Zach Nielsen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:46:13 +0000

It’s all about the pack. Pack it down tight and you’ll get your fill. Skillful packing and meat placement is the name of the game.

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:31:05 +0000

Actually, I thought of the smaller bowls as being part of “what’s best”. It’s all-you-can-eat (at least where I’ve gone) and I always see people waste so much food with their last bowl. It’s easy for my eyes to be bigger than my stomach at a buffet, so this cuts down on potential waste. And by having a smaller bowls, I can try different meats, sauces, etc without mixing them all together!

By: Nick Bogardus

Nick Bogardus — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:17:46 +0000

PS. Sorry, just in case you were curious where Mongolian BBQ came from, my best guess is a national dish called “tsuivan”. I say guess because it’s only ingredients, every time, are mutton, chunks of sheep fat, and carrots. No chicken, no beef, no sprouts, and certainly no sauce of any kind; just salt. Here’s a picture:

http://accel6.mettre-put-idata.over-blog.com/1/15/34/84/Ulan-Bator/Bouffe/DSCF7507.JPG

By: Nick Bogardus

Nick Bogardus — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:11:54 +0000

I’m living in Mongolia right now and let me tell you – - Mongolian bbq is a lie! It doesn’t exist out here. I don’t know how we got it but it’s not Mongolian. Let me tell you, when I first got here people looked at me like I was crazy when I was asking where the Mongolian BBQs were.

By: Chris Meirose

Chris Meirose — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:47:34 +0000

TWO bowls for the MEAT. Vegetables?!? Come on now!

By: Conibear Trapp

Conibear Trapp — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:41:16 +0000

Clearly the small bowls are to keep people from taking to much food. Our BBQ doesn’t charge extra for an extra bowl. I always use two.

By: Abraham

Abraham — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:10:31 +0000

Assuming it’s all-you-can-eat, I prefer small bowls. Smaller portions mean I’m able to go back for more more times. This makes me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.

I always feel like an idiot when I pay for all I can eat if all I can eat is only one or two helpings.

I guess what I’m saying is that small bowls are this user’s preference.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:55:30 +0000

Our Mongolian BBQ charges a different rate depending on the number of bowls you use. However, I’ve learned that with some good stacking practices you can get quite a bit in the bowl.

I once saw someone do something quite clever to add to the available volume. He used zucchini to make sidewalls on his bowl. This helped him stack better.