Lunch at MooDaePo Rowland Heights, CA

July 27th, 2013

I have 29 food allergies or food sensitivities. I always have had tummy trouble, eating peppermints and raw ginger, drinking teas to soothe stomachs, even taking Tums and other stomach digestive aids. One day I had had it, and I was not going to suffer anymore. Went to a food nutritionist and i was tested for over 60 different foods and vitamins and 29 food allergies of them came back as an allergy. (tomatoes and peppers have too many varieties to name them all so I quit at 29).

Eating out is not an option for me anymore, everything from the bread basket or chip n dip they put on our tables, to the dessert I'm doomed to be allergic to something.

So I was very excited to get invited to MooDaePo Korean BBQ in Rowland Heights, CA and experience their new lunch menu, and some items from their all you can eat menu. MooDaePo's one year anniversary is on August 8, 2013, and they were trying to get the word out about it, by inviting local bloggers, yelppers, and business owners. 

When I arrived, we were set up in their banquet room, and each place setting has this waiting for us:

Here is my confession, I have NEVER eaten Korean BBQ before, this was my first time and I was so excited!!

BANCHAN (SIDE DISHES)

Banchan refers to small dishes of food served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. Banchan are set in the middle of the table to be shared. At the center of the table is the secondary main course, such as galbi or bulgogi, and sometimes a shared pot of stew. While the main course of the meal is sticky rice. Bowls of cooked rice and soup are set individually. Banchan are served in small portions, meant to be finished at each meal. They can be replenished during the meal as they are finished.

Left to right / top to bottom:

Sigeumchi Namul - Spinach Dish, Cooked Zaccuni in a spicy sauce, Potato Salad with Macaroni, Ggakdugi - Radish Kimchi, Kongnamul - Soybean Sprouts, Kimchi Fermented Cabbage

I completely fell in love with the potato salad with macaroni, it had sliced apples, peas, cucumber slices, and bits of carrots.  I ate the whole mini dish plate and didn't share with my table mates. Sorry gals!

First Course: Salad

Second Course: Bulgogi Soup with Rice Cakes & Vegetables

Third Course: Teriyaki Chicken

Fourth Course: Galbi (Beef Rib) Soup

Fifth Course: Kimchi Bokumbap (Fried Rice)

Sixth Course: Korean BBQ: Prime Beef Brisket, Prime Marinated Short Ribs, Flower Steak, Tiger Shrimp, Prime Pork Cheek, and Miso Pork Belly

My favorite entree was the Galbi (Beef Rib) Soup. After even just taking one taste I spoke up and said, okay I want the recipe for this. The broth was buttery and very mild. I tasted onion, beef short rib, it was a clear broth, and I was told by my table-mate this was a common "basic" broth that most Korean's use, probably similar to my chicken stock that I make by boiling the bones. Well I ate the other items, that were good, but was "heavenly". They took the big bowl away to make room for the other food, but I would be completely content with a huge helping of just that and the all you can eat meat for lunch or dinner anytime... 

**Hint** to anyone who wants to come over and make me a big pot of this in my kitchen** 

Next up my next favorite was the Miso Pork Belly, I'm amazed being the carnivore that I am that I don't recall ever eating this before... maybe I have been served it before, but no one told me what I was eating. Anyhoo, I could have eaten it all day long. It too was buttery, melt in your mouth. It looks like a pure fat meat, and then you put it in your mouth, and the world stops while the flavors burst into mini fireworks of flavor in your mouth. (Salivating right now as I remember how yummy it was). Our server Suzie, while very friendly and informative could not describe how it tasted, she basically told us we need to try it because it is "beyond" words, and I have to agree with her. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my face because it stopped my world from moving.

Their menu here. They do have lunch menu prices at the $7.99 price point, and their lunch times are 11:00 am-2:30 pm. (Monday - Friday) They told us they understand about people's lunch breaks, and can speed up their stellar service to accommodate lunch schedules. I remember working in the corporate world and what a big deal it is to be back on time from lunch break. So I thought that was thoughtful, although I can see how easy it would be to stay there all day and eat. I got there 11:15 am, we started being served about 11:45 am, and we were done eating by 2 pm, but after milling around, and taking pictures and such, it was almost 3 pm before I was out the door. 

My meal came from A2 - All you can eat $25.00, I will defiantly be coming back. Our servers were informative, and patient. They were all wearing headsets so they could communicate with each other, and better serve us, plus there was a button on the wall they we could ring if we needed anything, but I feel we were well taken care of. 

Attention

My mom thinks I do things to get attention as if I would curse anyone with my life, allergies, and my ex.

So much of our lives are spent vying for our parents approval. Am I making the right  decision, is this the right course to take?

I often wonder if I really do have autism, as my mom and ex say I do? I have been out on my own for awhile now... since I was 17 really. When I came out of the sheltered world I lived in. I didn't grow I was just there aging yes, but not growing. I started to make my own decisions that were right and wrong. Why didn't my many primary Doctors tell me to get tested. All those intimate answers we give our primary Doctors so they can prescribe up something to cope with our misery. The short span of time that I went to a marriage counselor, no comments about, "Have you thought about being tested for mental behaviors or disorders?"

After being fired from another job because of mouthing off to the boss, or being overly too honest with my opinion of how they are running their business into the ground. I have been told more than once that I was "ballsy" for making that comment by both my co-workers and former friends. I don't understand how telling your boss your true opinions when they ask how would you run the company if I wasn't around, or how would you have handled the account differently, during lunch in the conference room? Do they really expect everyone to kiss their ass and tell them what they want to hear? I guess so, because I have been fired too many times to count. The hurt and feelings of being betrayed. I start new jobs with many tall walls, and little by little the owners break down my trust issues, and then they see me all exposed, and then I am being told to leave the building and here is my last check, they told me I was an important person in their company, I was an important "facet" that made the company tick, and yet when they are telling me why I am being asked to leave, it was I wasn't a team player. They hired me already knowing I wasn't a team player.... but yet they kept me around anyways. They knew... they knew... what changed?

Why would I do any of these things on purpose to get attention? If anything I always feel like I'm in the spotlight, and I want to be out of the line of fire, out of focus, not on display.