Rockville Eatery Serves Real Korean BBQ
Iron Age Asian Grill is in a non-descript plaza along Rockville Pike, but what awaits inside is anything but usual. The Korean BBQ restaurant, located at 1054 Rockville Pike, Rockville, in the space formerly occupied by Sam Woo and Hwaro lives up to its name with an industrial motif including metal covered walls, wooden tables with built in grills where the servers cook your meat and cement floors. TV screens everywhere play K-Pop.
The interior of Iron Age Asian Grill on Rockville Pike.
Two all-you-can-eat meat choices
The dinner menu is simple and all-you-can eat: Gobi A for $18, which includes chadol (beef brisket), samgyuopsal (pork belly) and dweji gui (marinade pork belly), or Gobi B for $22, which includes so galbi (boneless beef short ribs), so deung sim (ribeye steak), toshi sal (skirt steak), so joomulluk (marinated beef) and so mak chang (intestine) plus the three selections from Gobi A if you want and all-you-can-drink soda. The meal also comes with four dipping sauces, garlic and jalapenos to grill with your meat.
You also get salad with a slightly-spicy red pepper dressing and banchan (side dishes) that include a miso-based bean paste soup with meat, veggies and tofu; a steamed egg soufflé; potato salad; paejon (a spring onion pancake); daikon raddish kimchi; and thinly sliced daikon the size and thickness of small tortillas to wrap around your grilled meats.
The servers will bring you servings of the meats you choose and cook them at your table. When you need more, you push a red button at one corner of the table, and your server reappears. They will also keep your sides refilled. If you want more of something, just ask.
Party room, lunch menu also available
I joined a group of mostly Korean-American friends at the restaurant for a birthday party. They all liked it. And boy did we eat a lot of meat. I lost track of the number of trays our server brought us. There is also a room for small private parties that holds about 20 or so, but they automatically add a 20 percent tip to groups of eight or more.
Iron Age has a lunchtime menu too that isn’t a buffet and includes shabu-shabu. Shabu-shabu is a hot pot made with a chicken/beef stock that includes an assortment of vegetables such as bok choy, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, fish cakes, dumplings, rice cakes and beef.
Meat on the grill at Iron Age and the many sides you get.
How many heals does it get?
Meat eaters can rejoice that they don’t have to drive to Annandale or Ellicott City any more for their Korean BBQ. The restaurant is fun and the staff hip. They are very attentive and helpful, keeping your soda and meats refilled. Although the music is Korean, it is fun with the K-Pop videos from Facebook being played by the staff. The restaurant is open 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday and unitl 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
My Rating: 4 Heels
Article by: Mark Heckathorn, Executive Editor
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.
