What the heck does that mean?
Well there is this style of restaurants becoming fairly popular in the US, at least in the Michigan area called Mongolian Barbeques. Basically it is where you select various meats, veggies, noodles, etc and throw them in a bowl, select some oils, sauces and spices and then some crazy kid chases the food across a big giant fry pan while everyone stands around and watches. It is generally interesting to watch and recall how thankful you are for being in a line of work other than one that puts you over a big giant frying pan that is obviously way hotter than say, a computer keyboard.
So my all time favorite place is a place called bd’s Mongolian BBQ. It used to be incredibly great, now it is just great. It was really great when they weren’t being as cheap as they are now and allowed you to put your own oils in and didn’t change how they handled sauces. I used to go with a bunch of friends from XYZ widget making company at least 1-2 times a week, sometimes 3 times a week. I love stir fry, something about stir-fryed mushrooms and miniture corn on the cobs and pea pods and calimari, oh and don’t forget chicken. Whip that all together with garlic and soy sauce and you are in for a good not-boring eating experience. Plus it is generally pretty cheap, around $8 USD and you can be pretty full. If you are veggie only person you can lop a dollar off of that too. Anyway, now I go with the same friends from XYZ widget making company but now only about once per month, both because BDs is just great and not really great and because each time I go it means 70 miles of driving round trip – not that my friends aren’t worth it. I have no issue driving that far for friends, for really good friends, if they were on the moon, I would still visit.
So today, it was decided to try out a new Mongolian place in the area called HuHot Mongolian Grill. A friend of mine name Jack recommended it, he said it was quite comparable to bd’s and the fact that it was literally just down the street (about 3 miles maybe) it was decided… What a poor decision. That place SUCKS next to bds. First off, all of the meats are frozen when you load them into the bowls. First thing that went through my head was the sauces and spices are not going to permeate this food as well and second I hope they actually cook it all the way through… There were other issues as well which I could spend 10 minutes on but I won’t, it doesn’t deserve the attention. It sucked next to bd’s and it is clear that I would rather have to drive a long way to bd’s than be able to fall out my front door to get to HuHot. In fact, if I had to walk through a HuHot to get to bd’s, I would have no problem doing so.
I would tell Jack he is on crack and that the place sucked but he is one of my few friends (actually husband to one of my best friends who is practically a sister) who is licensed and in fact required to carry a gun around with him and has extensive training in actually shooting people with it. He is, if you have not guessed, a police officer, drug enforcement actually, so I tend to be pretty nice to Jack. While I only know of one creature that he has shot in the line of duty (A squirrel – long story, don’t make me go there, he had a choice, shoot a squirrel or an old lady[1]), I don’t want to be on that list.
;o)
So, if you have a choice between bd’s and HuHot, make your own choice, but I would recommend bd’s.
   joe
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More info:
http://www.bdsmongolianbarbeque.com/
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[1] I question the choice. 🙂
Maybe the “drug enforcement” activities have ruined his sense of smell and taste?
Kind of ruins the whole “dip your finger in the white powder and taste it to see if it’s drugs” image you see on TV.
I’ll second that. Here’s an email I just sent to Huhot about our recent experience
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The difference between what’s right and what’s wrong.
I visited the HuHot franchise in Fargo, ND last night 10/12/06.
I happen to work a couple of blocks from this store and frequently visit with co-workers, and occasionally with my family. Our stay last evening progressed and we found ourselves with salads and fresh hot stir fry from the grill, our children had just received their chicken strips. The server stopped by to see if their was anything else we needed, and we advised him that he forgot our steamed rice. His response surprised us, “I’m sorry but our machine is broken so there isn’t any rice” he stated, and then turned and walked away. Both my wife and I commented to each other that the stir fry wasn’t the same without the rice and that we were very disappointed in the fact that there wasn’t any notification, by the host, the server, or any notice posted at the entrance.
Continuing with our disappointment, I stopped a woman walking by our table named Megan. I asked if she was the Manager, and she stated that she was. I explained our disappointment with the rice and that we had been there many times before and always had rice. She explained the whole situation again and told me that there was a part being shipped, there was nothing she could do. I then advised her that I didn’t expect to pay full price if the meal didn’t include the rice. “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to do any comps” she said, and walked away. Very unhappy with this answer I proceeded to ask the hostess for a menu, confirmed that the menu stated that the meal comes with steamed rice, and then asked to talk with Megan again. At this point it became a difference between doing what’s right and what’s wrong.
As a customer, I expect that I receive the items that I pay for. If it happens that HuHot can’t deliver this, I expect to be notified of this ahead of time, and I expect to pay only for the items I receive, because that’s the right thing to do. I informed Megan that there were two options at this point, either she would agree to take $1.00 per/meal off our tab for not providing rice, or she would agree that we will pay for our drinks and the children’s meal and leave. Megan decided that rather than doing the right thing, she would comp (I thought she wasn’t allowed to do any comps) both of our meals and let us walk out the door. The choice was $2.00 and happy customers, or $23.00 and all of the business lost by us and all of the friends, family, co-workers, and internet users that we will share our disappointing experience with. Megan chose the second choice, the wrong choice in any self-respecting customer and any HuHot franchise owner’s mind.
I understand that situations like this arise. Unfortunately for them, this particular HuHot franchise in Fargo does not understand how to deal with these situations when they do arise. Wronging a customer will not fix their rice machine. In the end it will leave all HuHot franchises with less revenue to pay poorly trained Managers, to fix their broken rice machines, to exist as a franchises.
Wronged in Fargo
Totally agree with Brian. We have been going to the Fargo HuHot for a couple of years, despite all the burnt food and poor wait service.
Well, yesterday was the last straw. My girlfriend and I each received two plates of burnt food (the second plates were more burnt than the first). I asked the waitress what kind of discount we could get on our meal because of the poorly grilled food and she informed me that she would get the manager. That manager shouldn’t even be managing a McDonald’s, he was rude, uncaring and disinterested in our dining experience. With an attitude he offered to grill me a plate himself, which was fine, I figured I’d at least get one good plate of food for $20. Boy, was I wrong. After an hour or two of burning food on the grill, I’m sure it’s impossible to cook a plate of food without getting a bunch of black char scattered about in your food…gross.
The short of it is, HuHot is banned. I’m sick of spending money on burnt food and I’m not going to support the salary of a non-professional manager.