Top 5 Korean BBQ in Mississauga

Mississauga might not have as many Korean BBQ restaurants as our friends to the east, but we have some pretty good ones. There is nothing better than barbequing your own meat right at the dinner table so you can prepare it to your liking. For those who don’t know, Korean barbecue is a Korean way of roasting beef, pork, chicken or even duck or seafood. Such dishes are often prepared at the diner’s table on built-in gas or charcoal grills.

Korean restaurants typically offer a traditional a la cart experience where you select the meat you want to BBQ. Some even offer an All You Can Eat (AYCE) option. Unless you are a huge eater, the AYCE format is pretty useless because the amount of meat you get a la carte is usually more than enough.

I figure it’s a great place for a date because you actually get to work together on the BBQ or see someone take control of it. Either way, you get to know each other on another level (you can decide whether their grilling skills are love-inducing, basically) and you both smell like Korean BBQ for the rest of the night.

Here are the top 5 Korean Restaurants:

5 – Seoul House

Seoul House is located behind the Sussex Centre and has been around for about 15 years. Seoul House serves Korean and Japanese dishes and half the restaurant has Korean BBQ tables. This place is AYCE and has eight meats to choose from. They have all the usual meats, including sliced beef and pork belly. The only drawback is that the grill is electric and they ask you to put parchment paper down for some of the meats rather than change the grill for you. Either way, the meat was marinated perfectly and the meal was delicious.

4 – Chako

Located in the Courtney Park Cineplex plaza is Chako Korean BBQ. This was once part of Wasabi Buffet, but I think they realized it was too big. This place is an AYCE Korean BBQ joint that has lunch and dinner options. Chako offers a wide selection of items to barbecue, including Korean-style short ribs, chicken, lamb, pork, ox tongue, thin-sliced beef, shrimp, calamari, tilapia fish fillets, mussels, pineapple, zucchini, red pepper and more. The items were marinated perfectly and the short ribs were absolutely delicious. The service was great and I like the fact that this place is very spacious and well-ventilated. We didn’t have to deal with that signature Korean BBQ smell. 

3 – Arirang

Arirang is located where all the good Asian food in Mississauga is — in a plaza at Creditview and Burnhamthorpe. This place is another AYCE Korean Barbeque joint and is actually pretty cozy and great for a date. Their AYCE menu has about eight meats to choose from, such as Kalbi and mussels. The service was very good and they changed our grill a couple of times so we would not be cooking on that black sludge. The meats were marinated to perfection and the meal was delicious.

2 – Man Doo Hyang

There is almost always a 5/10 resto on our top 5’s and Man Doo Hyang is the one for Korean BBQ. It’s funny that some people don’t want to journey to the other side of the tracks (in this case, the tracks at Cooksville) because they don’t think 5/10 is a nice area. If you think that, you are missing out on some of the best food in Mississauga. Man Doo Hyang is a fairly big restaurant that has been in Cooksville for nine years. They actually have a new owner who has only been at the resto for six months, and I know that because he went around making sure everyone was doing well. This place is a little different for a Korean BBQ joint as they give you a hot stone plate to cook your meat while also providing an in-table gas grill. You can tell how good a place is by how well they do the little stuff and the little side dishes we got that consisted of Kimchi and marinated radish were the best out of the top 5. This place is by far the best value, (whether it’s AYCE or not) as this massive bulgogi plate was only $29.95 and more than enough for two people. This place is very traditional, so the BBQ options do not veer to other selections. They have five huge hot plates to choose from, including pork intestine, two types of Korean BBQ pork bacon, bulgogi and BBQ Ribs. This place is better for parties bigger than two people, as each hot plate can serve two to three people and you can’t mix and match. Top it off with great service, this place is a 5/10 gem you have to check out even if you don’t live in the area.

1 – Miga Korean & Japanese BBQ Restaurant

Miga Korean Restaurant is located on Dundas West just past Erindale Park. When you walk in, you are greeted by a large and modern resto that has a BBQ hood over every table. We ordered the BBQ Combo #1 for two people. This came with Galbi, Bulgogi, spicy chicken breast and spicy pork Bulgogi. We also wanted to try something different, so we tried cows tongue. All the meat was very fresh and marinated to perfection. Also, Miga has 18 meats to choose from. The service was impeccable, as the server knew I sucked at BBQing and therefore helped us by telling us how long things should cook and how to know when the meat was done — no other place did that. Also, this is the only place that regularly replaces the grill so you aren’t cooking on a blackened, dirty surface throughout the meal. They also greased the grill with a piece of fat, which I thought was a nice touch. No one else in the top 5 did the last three things mentioned. One thing you have to know about Korean BBQ is that most places will only seat a minimum of two people, so bring a date or a friend. This place is top of the list because of the combination of service, selection and overall experience.          

1. Miga Korean & Japanese BBQ Restaurant
2. Man Doo Hyang
3. Arirang
4. Chako
5. Seoul House