Galbi - Korean BBQ at it's best

I'm absolutely addicted to samgeopsal (pork belly bbq) but that's a story for a different day :)

I love these restaurants with the raised, heated floors. You can eat and chat for hours on end!
And the whole concept of cooking your own food is fun.. which I suppose you could do at home, but it just wouldn't be as fun now, would it?? And you and your friends can take turns cooking. Although, if you're invited out for dinner by a Korean, they will expect to do the cooking for you because you are their guest.

A tip for the kitchen: Having a pair of "kitchen" scissors kicking around is so handy! I use them for meat (as seen in the picture), or cutting up chives/green onions, cutting up gim (dried seaweed), etc! I don't know why we don't routinely use them in Canada!

But anyway! Back to the topic on hand.
Galbi is marinated beef ribs (apparently it can also be pork ribs, but I don't think that's as common). They are marinated in a soy sauce base with garlic and sugar and then grilled to delicious perfection.
One of the best parts is wrapping a piece of meat with rice and ssamjang (a sauce made from fermented bean paste and red pepper paste). Things tend to get very awkward at this point when you try to stuff it all in your mouth at the same time! :)

As you'll notice in the picture above, the people are not wearing shoes. Remember to take your shoes off either in the restaurant entranceway (they usually have cubbyholes for them), or before you step up into the eating area. At this particular restaurant, the shoes are tucked neatly under the doorway where you see my husband in purple standing.
It would be considered very impolite and embarrassing if you were to wear them into the dining area.

If you're out and about and looking for something to do, I highly recommend galbi bbq. Grab some friends and eat until you're stuffed! :)