Gabose {Photos by Han Okcuoglu}
Gabose is hands down the best Korean BBQ restaurant in Broward since 2000. We went again, and everything was so consistently excellent that we ordered some dishes twice.
Since they don’t accept reservations, we always start diagonally from the restaurant where they have their themed bar called Gabose Pocha in the same plaza. They offer very nice mixed cocktails, 15 different flavored soju, and some handheld bites, such as the Korean BBQ tacos with spicy kimchi, which are excellent. This bar turns into a karaoke bar starting at 10:30 pm.
The restaurant itself is modest in size, but well-maintained and tidy. Although the front section is for regular diners who don’t desire the Korean BBQ self-cooking experience, we always choose to go to the back section and cook our own food. There are optional tables that feature traditional Japanese wooden screens for added privacy. They have a great ventilation system to eliminate odors, and the heat from the small circular charcoal pit at each table is not overwhelming at all.
The menu is massive, and despite ordering a lot of food, we barely made a dent in it.
We started with the Goon Mandu beef dumplings ($16). Very salty, but in this case, that’s a good thing. The inside mix of beef and veggies is generous, and they offset each other nicely.
Goon Mandu beef dumplings.
The Yook Hwe raw beef ($35), which we ordered three times, is that perfect. The egg yolk coats the high-quality beef short rib tartare, allowing a salty, almost cinnamon-like taste to start rolling around on the tongue. Then you add miniature Asian pear spears and pine nuts. It’s such a delectable mix of savory and sweet.
Yook Hwe tartare.
Another must-have item is Kimchi Jun scallion pancakes ($21). The portions are crepe-like but on the borderline of crunchy due to the proportion of egg and flour. These are giant portions. The scallion cuts are very large, which works in conjunction with the crisp and soft crepe and carrots. A dip in the house soy sauce and you’ll keep coming back for more.
Kimchi Jun pancakes.
For the BBQ, you have all sorts of proteins like chicken, various cuts of beef, beef tongue, braised pork, and seafood like Tiger shrimp and baby octopus. For the more adventurous, there are organs like the esophagus and Asian blood sausage. All the cuts are fresh and fantastic. The options feed the whole group of four and range between $33 and $39.
Cardamom chicken.
The boneless chicken thighs were marinated in a house spicy sauce that tasted like cardamom. We tried some more short ribs to experience the Gabose BBQ glaze, which turned out to be sweet but very understated.
The grill at Gabose.
We tried the Bimibap ($19) served on a hot stone. It was above average. My one gripe is that you have to focus your sole attention on it when it’s served and constantly keep mixing if you’re not ready to eat all of it right away. The stone was a bit too hot. On the side was a very good red spicy paste, and we asked for salty sesame oil, which livened it up a bit more.
There was no room for dessert after that Herculean effort by us. We even cleaned out the accompanying sides, such as radish paper, kimchi, and white rice. As always, everything was as I remembered, and I’m happy to go back as soon as I find another group with a giant appetite.
Gabose Korean BBQ
4991 N University Dr
Lauderhill, FL 33351
Mon – Thurs: 11:30 A.M. – 10 P.M.
Fri – Saturday: 11:30 A.M. – 11 P.M.
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