Details: Located at 40-52 Main Street, Floor 2, Flushing, NY 11354. Official site is http://www.gyu-kaku.com/
Gyu-Kaku is a chain of Japanese BBQ restaurants across America (perhaps even internationally). If you’ve ever had Korean barbecue, you’ll have a pretty good idea what you’re in for.
The one I went to was in Flushing and a bit needs to be said about that. Compared to the majority of restaurants around Flushing, Gyu-Kaku is expensive. There are a number of Gyu-Kaku’s in New York City, most of them are in Manhattan where people generally consent to paying higher prices. Flushing isn’t that way. Most of the people here are immigrants and the idea of paying around fifty dollars for a meal is a lot. To their credit, Gyu-Kaku has tried to address this. They’ve started instituting lunch specials during the week that cost around fifteen dollars for three meat options. They’ve also started instituting all you can eat meal options that range from forty dollars to around sixty dollars. Still expensive, but not accessible enough for most people living in Flushing. Unless Gyu-Kaku is receiving some incentives from the landlord, engaging in organized crime, or engaging in some other method of making money, I don’t see how a food oriented business can survive selling something this expensive in a neighborhood that doesn’t want to pay it. Time will tell as to whether Gyu-Kaku will survive. /endrant
Japanese barbecue is a lot like Korean barbecue. It’s communal. There’s a communal grill in the middle where everyone cooks their meat and by the end of the meal, everyone smells like the marinades they’ve been eating. It’s really fun.
Me and a friend ordered the meat lover’s special for a total of sixty dollars. That comes with two miso soups, two bowls of white rice, some edamame (which came steaming hot and salted, which I liked), salad, Japanese fried chicken, filet mignon salt & pepper, bistro hangar steak with miso, sweet and smoky bbq flank, New York strip steak garlic, yaki-shabu beef spicy, toro beef tare sweet soy, and s’mores. They ran out of the bistro hangar steak with miso so we got kalbi with bone instead.
Everything was really good. Service was really good. The space is really good and did a good job drowning out the frenzy from outside. I enjoyed everything. I only wish I had more food. I wouldn’t say the portions were small, but they aren’t large.
Worth mentioning is that during happy hours, prices are lower for most thing. We came during happy hour so we enjoyed cheaper drinks.
Overall, Gyu-kaku is great, but expensive. I don’t think I’d come back except for all you can eat. Even then, sixty dollars is a lot for a meal.
Score: 7/10
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