bd’s Mongolian Grill

bd's Mongolian GrillAside from Chinese buffets and fast food restaurants one of my favorite places to eat lunch during my workday is at bd’s Mongolian Grill. If you’ve never been to a Mongolian barbecue I’ll give you a quick rundown of how they work. You start off with an empty bowl and then walk around filling it with various meats and vegetables before bringing it up to a giant iron griddle where your dish is cooked in front of you.

A lot of Mongolian barbecues are all you can eat, but bd’s gives you the option of purchasing a single bowl of food for a few dollars less than their all you can eat price. If you know how to fill up your bowl correctly though you can easily pack enough into it to get you completely stuffed to the point that paying for anything other than a single trip up to the grill is almost pointless.

With all the different meat and vegetable options deciding what to fill your bowl with can be quite the daunting task however, and that’s why I’ve come up with a few simple steps to to maximize the amount of food you can fit in your bowl.

The DudeFoods guide to getting the most out of your Mongolian barbecue experience:
Step 1
– Layer the bottom of your bowl with heavy flat meats such as steak and chicken.
Step 2 – Cover the bottom layer with whatever vegetables you want. At this point you might be tempted to add things like noodles to your bowl, but don’t do it! They take up way too much space and it’s just an overall waste; kind of like filling up on salad at an all you can eat buffet.
Step 3 – Cover the vegetables with even more heavy meats to weigh them down.
Step 4 – Use smaller foods to fill in all the gaps in your bowl. Items like tofu, mushrooms and meatballs are great for this!
Step 5 – Take your bowl over to the giant iron griddle, watch the cooks fry up your delicious creation and then take it back to your table and dig in!

8 Comments on bd’s Mongolian Grill

  1. Amanda
    May 26, 2011 at 10:27 am (13 years ago)

    I. Love. Mongolian. Grill. !!!! Other tips-

    -stay away from spinach and the like because it cooks down to pretty much nothing and takes up a lot of bowl space.

    -some places (Flat Top- locations in Madison/Chicago/other places) will bring you a bowl of noodles/rice on the side so you don’t need to take up valuable bowl space.

    -Flat Top allows you a small separate bowl for meat- even more space!

    If you haven’t tried Flat Top I highly recommend it and I consider myself a Mongolian Grill aficionado. 🙂

    Reply
    • Nick
      May 26, 2011 at 10:30 am (13 years ago)

      Oh yeah, I forgot to point out the fact that at bd’s you can also get a bowl of rice on the side to mix with your food once it’s done cooking.

      There’s a Flat Top Grill pretty close to my house that I’ve been meaning to go to since they opened, so I’ll have to give them a try sometime soon.

      Thanks for the tips!

      Reply
  2. Robert
    May 27, 2011 at 7:30 pm (13 years ago)

    Yeah the Genghis Grill we have down here you get to pick your starch (noodles, rice, tortillas, etc) on the side and they do it at the grill.

    BUT many places do have really long skinny asian noodles. Pile them (and the spinach) on the very top after you are done with the all important MEAT

    Reply
  3. Vina Sestonari
    July 3, 2014 at 6:25 am (10 years ago)

    > At this point you might be tempted to add things like noodles to your bowl, but don’t do it! They take up way too much space and it’s just an overall waste;

    I’m going to have to go ahead and disgagree with you there. Some of us happen to LIKE noodles. Adding the proper amount of noodlage is key to a perfect Mongolian BBQ 🙂

    Reply
  4. Cheryl
    March 30, 2016 at 9:56 pm (8 years ago)

    haha thanks for the tips, i will save for my travel to Mongolian this May

    Reply
  5. Joseph Sovoda
    January 15, 2018 at 6:32 am (6 years ago)

    I was wondering is it unusual for single guys to eat there by themselves? I am thinking about going and getting me some good food. If you would let me know I would appreciate it. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Nick
      January 15, 2018 at 7:24 am (6 years ago)

      There’s a bar area so I’m sure it would look totally normal if you just ate at the bar.

      Reply
    • Sally
      February 11, 2018 at 10:33 am (6 years ago)

      Absolutely NOT. No. It’s NOT ok to be single. You are an aberration. I am quite sure they ask at the door if you are single and can detect a lie in an instant. They will NOT allow entrance. And if they did… everyone would stare and lose their appetite. REALLY Joseph??? What a silly question!! GO EAT SOME GOOD FOOD ALONE! YOU HAVE PERMISSION. IT’S O.K.

      Reply

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