Korae Korean BBQ - Best Korean BBQ Buffet in Salaya, Nakhon Pathom
Yoi Tenki was a favorite of mine back in my University days, If only Korae had opened back then.
My fellow Mahidol University Alumni will remember this amazing hot pot place by the name of Yoi Tenki that closed sometime during the Covd-19 crisis, well YOI TENKI IS BACK BABY! Well not really… But Korae Korean BBQ by Yoi Tenki is seriously the best bang for your buck Korean BBQ buffet you’ll find anywhere in the lively university town of Salaya in Nakhon Pathom.
If you are looking for some more amazing eats in Salaya, I highly recommend Santoku Ramen, while I was studying for my Computer Science Degree at Mahidol Univeristy, Santoku had been a godsend for those hungry late night coding sessions.
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Don’t Judge a Book by it’s Cover
NewJean’s OMG blasting in the background strangely elevated my eating experience.
Korae Korean BBQ may look simple on the outside (and inside) due to its minimal industrialist design with a hint of vintage retro fever, but you don’t judge a Korean BBQ restaurant by its decor.
The interior was quite small actually, with only a handful of tables for seating. And I especially like that they have this big metal retro stereo that they don’t use, instead they use a futuristic glass stereo hooked up to a MacBook to blast K-pop music.
I’m not judging though, I quite enjoy a bit of BlackPink while I’m grilling my Samgyeopsal.
Korae Korean BBQ’s Menu
One thing that annoys me in Thailand is that they sprinkle in random English text everywhere but only just a sprinkle.
A warning to my Mahidol International Students but the menu at Korae is al in Thai with the exception of a few English headers here and there.
Anyways, the Korae menu is pretty simple with 3 types of pork. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Korae Korean BBQ (and to be fair Korean BBQ in general) is mainly an all pork affair.
The types of pork are:
Samgyeopsal (Pork belly) - with choice of plain, spicy marinade, or gochujang marinade
Hangjuksal (Pork neck/jowl) - only plain available
Moksal (Pork chop) - with choice of plain, spicy marinade, or gochujang marinade
Chang (Pork intestine) - marinated in spicy sauce
There are also a few side dishes you can order some of them are:
Fried chicken cartilage - drizzled in a spicy gochujang sauce
Rice balls - mixed with seaweed and other spices
Ramyeon - Korean instant noodles
Tteokbokki - rice cakes mixed with cocktail sausages and a spicy sauce
Cheese - A quintessential addition, wrap your grilled meats in oozing cheese
Soy Sauce Shrimp - raw shrimp pickled in soy sauce, chilies, and garlic
Your drinks choices are:
Classics - water, Pepsi, Sprite, etc…
Soju - various types of soju flavors
Beer - various types of beer
And of course, free AND refillable Korean side dishes or “banchan” are also included with your meal.
Pricing
Being located in near a University, you can expect the prices of the restaurants around there to be quite affordable and Korae Korean BBQ is no different. The price is 350 THB not including drinks, for an all you can eat buffet I would say this is worth it, you could find cheaper but the amount of food you get here is plenty compared to the cheaper places.
Starting off with the Banchan
The Banchan spread is very colorful and vibrant.
The hallmark of Korean BBQ is the banchan, often you can tell which Korean BBQ spot is worth a damn by the attention they give to their banchan side dishes.
The banchan at Korae Korean BBQ is “just alright” to be honest. While you’ll spot classics like Kimchi and boiled spinach greens with sesame oil, there are also some random things that I’ve only seen at Korae.
The little clams in spicy sauce is something you’ll only find at Korae, they’re quite tasty too. All of the banchan tasted just “ok” not bad, not great. but I was really hungry while I was there so I just scarfed everything down.
Something I really appreciate is that Korae serves you some extra green chili peppers and garlic to eat with your meat, I really love garlic so this is a huge win for me.
For the sauces you get 2, a really runny ssamjang, and a SALT AND SESAME OIL sauce. Guys I don’t know what’s wrong with the Korean BBQ joints here in Thailand, barely any place gives you sesame oil + salt as a dipping sauce. I don’t know if it’s an authentic Korean thing but I swear this sauce goes so so well with the juicy grilled meat.
Some Side Dishes
While banchan are side dishes they aren’t technically side dishes. So I had to order some.
Tteokbokki Rice Cakes with Cocktail Sausages
I’ve never seen cocktail sausages in tteokbokki but I’m all up for it.
The tteokbokki was your typical Korean rice cake stewed in some spicy gochujang sauce. There are some cocktail sausages thrown in there as well which was nice.
The tteokbokki was soft, bouncy, and chewy as it should be, this was a nice appetizer overall.
Rice Balls with Seaweed
Rice Balls.
The rice balls came in pairs, eaten alone they weren’t very good, eaten combined with meats and/or banchan they still aren’t very good.
I don’t know it it’s meant to be like this but the rice balls felt like they were made using left over rice. Now I know some dishes, like fried rice, insist on using left over rice, but these rice balls tasted so stale.
Feels like they have been frozen and then left to thaw at room temperature before being served.
Not great but just edible.
The Star of the Show, the Meats!
The grill was a bit slow in the beginning, waiting is painful when you’re hungry. :/
Finally we have arrived at the meats of Korae Korean BBQ! My girlfriend and I were very hungry so we ordered quite a bit, in fact we ordered 2 rounds of food with about 3-4 plates of meat each.
The first round we opted to order the the the plain Samgyeopsal and 2 types of Moksal, plain and sauced.
If you asked me what my favorite cut of meat is for Korean BBQ I would always say the Moksal or Pork chop. Blasphemy! “Why would you choose anything over the pork belly” you ask?
Yes, the pork belly obviously has more fat and we all know that fat equals flavor, but hear me out. The Moksal, even though it doesn’t have as much fat, is incredibly flavorful and porky, especially if you cook it properly. Trust me.
Just let the Moksal rest on the grill to develop a crust, and flip it only once or twice. cut it up and dip it in the sesame oil and salt dipping sauce. Chef’s kiss.
Moksal is so underrated.
It looks like a flower, can anyone tell me what kind of flower this is?
The meat was very good, regardless of what cut you prefer. It’s not melt in your mouth tender but the porky flavors and juices explode in your mouth.
Now you can’t eat at a Korean BBQ without making yourself a Ssam, basically a Korean lettuce wrap filled with delicious grilled meat, banchan, garlic, chili, and the all important Ssamjang sauce.
If you are health conscious then making a Ssam might ease your worries as you’ll be eating a lot vegetables, but if you’re asking me if it is actually healthy, then I wouldn’t be able to answer you.
I don’t think it’s healthy. I think we all know it’s placebo.
Well, it’s certainly more healthy than your hearty Texas BBQ.
Guys, I’m running out of ideas for these captions.
For our next round o Korae Korean BBQ, we ordered more Moksal, spicy marinade Samgyeopsal, Hanjuksal, and spicy marinade Chang.
for the second round I kinda felt cheated as the pork belly and pork neck that we got was like 80% fat, barely any meat, and I wasn’t about to clog my arteries with fat.
All I wanna do is just go back to Korae and eat some more intestines.
A delightful surprise was the intestines or Chang. Korae makes some pretty damn good spicy intestines. If you’ve never had intestines before, they come in two types: large and small with each having a different flavor and texture.
Large intestines (Daechang) are more tender and fatty, they’ll have more flavor and are really good if the fat is charred a bit.
Small intestines (Gopchang) are chewier and rubbery in texture. They taste a bit more funky compared to your large intestines.
Korae Korean BBQ serves Daechang and they are very delicious, the spicy sauce helps to mask the funky flavors that you might get from eating organ meat.
Conclusion
Pros
Affordable pricing for an all you can eat buffet.
The meats are all very good and they serve you large portions as well.
The staff are attentive, even going as far as cutting the meats into bite sized pieces for you.
Cons
The Banchan and side dishes seriously needs some work, some of them don’t taste all that good.
Drinks are not included in the buffet pricing, costs can quickly add up if you are planning on enjoying soju or beer.
Overall I would recommend you visit Korae Korean BBQ if you happen to be around Salaya or are currently studying at the nearby Mahidol University. The pricing is affordable and the quality you get is well worth the price, not to mention the amount of food you are getting as well, incredibly good for the value.
What is not that great is the various side dishes and banchans, you might thing that’s a small thing to fuss over, but these side dishes are actually a key player in your enjoyment at a Korean BBQ, because you’ll be pairing them with your grilled meats.
Korae Korean BBQ | 8 / 10
Phone: 098 589 8935
Location: 47/1259 Salaya, Phutthamonthon District, Nakhon Pathom 73170
Opening Hours: 3:00PM - 10:00PM | Mon - Fri & 11:00AM - 10:00PM | Sat - Sun
Pricing: 400 THB | $$
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