mr bbq | fullerton

Recently Jake, T and I headed up to Orange County for a little excursion. Jake wanted to buy a Funko Pop collectible from someone in LA who met us halfway in OC and to convince me to go along, Jake suggested we hit up a place for Korean BBQ. He let me pick the spot (as usual) and I picked Mr BBQ. Mr BBQ is rated #27 on Yelp’s Top Places to Eat in the US for 2016 and the menu had lots of options.

We headed up on a Sunday morning at got to Fullerton early – just after 10AM – and wandered around some shops before hanging outside Mr BBQ (which opens at 11am).

We were the first in line! A few other people showed up just before they opened their doors. 

Top Places to Eat for 2016.

The funky bathroom signs. I seriously had to stand there for a minute to remember which one was for women. 

Plenty of seating! I read on Yelp there’s usually a wait if you come in the evening but if you come right around opening time there’s plenty of room.

Fresh, clean grill. I had to ask for a fork since my chopsticks skills are not that great. I can at least somewhat use chopsticks now, but I’d rather use a fork for eating banchan and rice. 

[lunch menu | mr bbq]

The lunch menu is only good for the weekdays (11am-4pm Monday through Friday). They also have lunch specials if you don’t want to stuff your face with barbeque’d meats. 

[dinner and weekend menu | mr bbq]

On the left are all the items included for $23.99 for the dinner and weekend menu. On the right are the additional items if you get the more expensive premium menu for $31.99. We stuck with the regular menu since it had plenty of options! 

[bbq combos | mr bbq]

You can also opt for a combo. If you want to.

[dipping sauces]

You get this split dish to start with. On the left it was filled with seasonings and salt and pepper. Our waitress asked if we wanted sesame oil added to our spices and we all said yes. I don’t remember what the regular dipping sauce is on the right but it was quite delicious with all of our BBQ.

[banchan]

They have a lot of banchan here at Mr BBQ! 

My favorites were the Korean potato salad, the macaroni salad, corn, and broccoli. I got 2 refills of the potato salad since it’s my absolute favorite side dish. It’s really creamy here at Mr BBQ with a nice touch of sweetness and bits of veggies inside it. It’s almost like a cold mashed potato salad! The macaroni salad had a bit of tang to it (tasted a bit mustard-ish). 

[spicy salad]

Salad is included. I had a bit of this but quickly abandoned it since it was pretty spicy! 

[portuguese hawaiian sausage with mustard]

We started off with a couple of meats. One was this Portguese Hawaiian Sausage which was split in half and came with a side of mustard. The boys ordered a second round of the sausage later in the meal. We had forgetten about the mustard the first time around and the second time T made sure to try the mustard, which he really enjoyed. The sausage had a really nice flavor and we let it stay on long enough to get a nice crispy texture. Our waitress came by and cut up the sausage for us when she noticed it was done cooking.

[premium beef belly]

Beef belly is new to me – I haven’t seen this on any other Korean BBQ menu so far! It’s similar to brisket but it was a little fattier and a bit more tender than brisket. It can get a little heavy though because of the extra fattiness but it’s melt-in-your-mouth good! 

[black angus prime chuck eye steak]

They also have a full cut of steak on the regular menu – how awesome is that! It looked nice and marbled as well and came with a mushroom chunk on top.

Our first round of meats seaing on the grill.

Mmmm.

 

The beef belly after it’s been seared on the hot grill. Nice crispy bits and fatty bits all together for some truly wonderful flavor!

Our waitress also cut up the steak for us which made it easier for us to stuff into our mouths. The steak was so tender and juicy! It was cooked to a nice medium and was an incredible cut of steak. The seared sausage is on the right. 

[spicy marinated pork belly]

For our second round, we ordered some spicy marinated pork belly. Our waitress told us it wasn’t really that spicy.

[beef brisket]

And we ordered beef brisket this time, though it looked fattier to me than the beef belly (maybe we just happened to get some really fattier, marbled cuts though). 

Sear away, you beautiful meats! Our waitress changed out the grill for us right before we started. She actually changed it out for us every round we ordered so we always had a fresh, clean, grill to start with!

Here’s the cut up pieces of pork belly. We might have seared it a tad too long but it was actually really delicious. It also wasn’t too spicy which I really appreciated. Most of the time I never manage to eat the spicy pork belly since it’s too spicy but here at Mr BBQ it was really just a nice flavorful marinade. 

[bulgogi and teriyaki chicken]

The bulgogi was a little too saucy for my tastes that day and I didn’t even try the chicken, but the boys seemed to enjoy it. 

[premium waygu finger short ribs]

I remember liking this! I think I only had a bite. 

In addition to what we tried there’s also some seafood available such as squid, mussels, and shrimp as well as intestine and tongue for the more adventurous eaters. 

The boys, grilling to their heart’s content. They got a couple extra rounds which I didn’t document nor participate in. My belly was filled to the brim with delicious meats and banchan. 

[vanilla ice cream]

At the end of the meal our waitress offered us complimentary ice cream which we all got. It was a cool, creamy, and refreshing way to end the meat-laden meal. 

I really enjoyed the sheer number of options here at Mr BBQ. There seems to be more options overall than most Korean BBQ places I’ve visited. There’s a ton of meat options and also a ton of different banchan as well. We didn’t partake in the housemade bean paste stew, spicy tofu soup, kimchi noodles or steamed egg but those are also included with your meal if you ask for them. 

Mr BBQ
305 N State College Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 441-0000