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| - Ugh, I'm so torn. Immediately let me preface: Gen is currently the best KBBQ in the Phoenix area from meat quality and value. But having eaten at practically every California location, I hold Gen to a higher standard and they've disappointed me in more ways than one.
First the bon chon/side dish game was pretty weak. You see a lot of staples, mostly kimchi variants, and out of nowhere you see COLE SLAW! Just thought it was funny, the classic mayo sweet salad felt out of place. Also we had daikon but NO RICE PAPER!? And instead of the purple mixed rice I loved to eat, they just offered white rice which was just okay.
We ordered a carafe of lychee soju. I'm used to it being incredible sweet and delicious, but for some reason this had an incredibly harsh alcohol forward blend and we couldn't even finish it. Maybe it's a different mixologist who isn't trained since this place is new, who knows? Also might explain why it took us 10 minutes to get a server.
In terms of meats it was still an impressive spread, albeit slightly smaller around 35. A lot of the classics were there. Some of the more exotic jowl meat and large intestine wasn't present, and instead we had multiple variants of fried chicken. Crispy Cajun Chicken had good breading but was incredibly salty - pretty sure it was just blitzed in cajun salt. And the Volcano Chicken, while no BonChon, was pretty hot and hilarious to eat.
I don't know if my main issue was with inconsistent service or the occasional whitewashing of the already contemporary and accessible Gen. While excited a location finally opened here, I'm incredibly disappointed the ASU crowd can't enjoy the same experience we have across California. While that really only takes it down from a 10/10 to maybe a 7.5, knowing just how better it could be hurts the most.
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