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| - I was going to give this place 2* because I have had better but it seemed a little harsh considering the food was alright, just not as good as some of the more standard Korean BBQ houses (run by Koreans, that is).
I brought two friends here a couple of nights ago due to our cravings for Korean BBQ. I normally go to Seoul House on Steeles (which I think is still one of the best places for KBBQ) but a friend suggested I try Piggy's if we were to have samgyupsal (or in this case, ogyupsal). Apparently Piggy's is a chain from Korea, and with a name like that, it seemed a fitting option for pork BBQ. I read a few reviews just to be sure, but ended up going anyhow as I needed to see for myself...
When ordering BBQ, typically you have to get a minimum of two orders per meat, but because there were three of us, we ended up getting two orders of ogyupsal ($16 each) and one bibim naengmyun + LA galbi ($17) for variety's sake. I'd been to Piggy's before and had the latter, so I knew that their LA galbi is really good, but this time it was really fatty and undercooked (but still tasty!). I'm not a medium-rare kinda girl but this was OK. The LA galbi meat is quite tender and in this case, was moreso due to all the fat. It didn't make sense to send it back to cook more as it probably would've come back out too late. The ogyupsal was decent but cooked way too quickly and I didn't like that no coals were used--just a flat iron griddle. The heat distribution was pretty lousy so that one half of the pork strips would sizzle and char away while the other half was still almost raw so it took some shifting around of the meat pieces to get everything cooked properly. There was some kind of seasoning brushed onto the pork strips (three thick pieces per order), including bay leaves! What it was I couldn't say as the flavour was lacking. The ssam lettuce was kind of lifeless and maybe a handful of leaves were brought out so I had to ask for more before we got down to business, along with perilla leaves (not the freshest that night) which are the best with pork ssam! Anyhow, it was just OK.
What I found odd but is seemingly becoming slightly more common these days was that you had to order rice separately ($1.50 for steamed rice - white or purple/black) whereas it's usually included with BBQ. In Korea, it would be considered an insult to expect customers to pay for things like rice or kimchi, but I guess not so much here. If you order rice, they bring you a small hot stone bowl of jjigae which I couldn't really tell what it was. I think it was supposed to be miso (dwenjang) but it was way to salty and spicy (with a layer of grease on top) to be able to discern. That was a fail. At the end of the meal, they served soojunggwa (chilled cinnamon ginger tea -- good for digestion) in these tiny little sauce dishes which helped to get rid of the grease lining the inside of my mouth! A little more would've done the trick...
What I liked about Piggy's the first time I went was the banchan, and was part of the draw for going back the other night. They had a number of items I'd not seen in other Korean restaurants, like the mashed squash, and this time there was an iceberg salad with this wicked black sesame dressing -- so yum! The kimchi they brought to the table was older, aged kimchi which is not for everyone, unless you're an old Korean person!
We were there during peak dinner time. The place was pretty much packed and everyone was having BBQ, quite a few with soju. There were many tables of Koreans, young and old, a couple of tables of old Chinese ladies, some younger non-Koreans--in other words, a real mixed bag, but all having a ball it seemed. Service was very prompt and attentive considering how busy it was. Staff were quick to bring us whatever we needed. I found the prices to be a bit higher than other Korean BBQ houses, and I'm not sure it's totally worth it given some of the other choices in that area. I know I'll be back at Piggy's eventually, but definitely not for table grilling.
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