‘Mongolian BBQ’
Once upon a time, the official Mongolian BBQ chain was like the coolest thing in the world. Pick your own stir fry with ridiculous flavors that always taste good together?! Not bad at all. And thus it was followed by other, similar spots like Gobi Mongolian Grill in Vancouver, Washington that tried to add their own flair to the concept. Knowing I needed a mess of food to put me to bed early, I decided to try the place out.
For a while now, I have been a devout member of Blackboard Eats, an email list that sends out some cool deals for restaurants like 30% off, a free dessert, a free bottle of wine, etc. One deal they sent out recently, though, caught my eye. It was 30% off for a place called Gobi Mongolian BBQ in Silver Lake. I’ve always loved me some Mongolian BBQ because you get to decide everything you want in your food, so if you don’t want any vegetables like a smart little unvegan, you don;t have to pick up any. Plus, they are all-you-can-eat; a big bonus for this guy. Or are they?
Some of you may be wondering where I got that amazing picture of a sheep in the back of a car. The answer lies in this entry.
Now, mutton isn’t inherently a strange meat. Lamb chops, lamb gyros and lamb meatballs can be found all over the USA. It’s most definitely one of the top meats consumed in the USA, but the mutton I ate in the far east wasn’t normal by any means.
My day in Inner Mongolia, China, began just as any other. My Chinese friend was cracking jokes as he always does, but this time he made a joke about how we Americans would be catching our own dinner that night. This was a scary thought, but as we embarked on our journey for the day, I forgot about it while lost in thought in the Inner Mongolian countryside. Now and then, we would pass flocks of sheep, walking around and eating everything they could see. Then, we stopped at one of the flocks.
“It’s time,” my friend said.