UYE Cray Cray Korean BBQ

Sorry it’s late folks, but I wanted to write just a few words of thanks to Jason S. for another great event and how nice it was to see a few familiar faces and meet some new ones.
It was definitely worth the rush hour treck across the boros to Flushing for this Meat-​fest. As usual with an ‘All you can Eat’ I took full advantage and filled my boots and what a great selection of food there was!
Good to see eveeryone and look forward to meeting next time.

Oh the beauty that is Korean BBQ. Jason, you don’t know how to fail, my friend. The event was awesome. This is my second official Cray Cray event and both gatherings have been a lot of fun. Our captain managed to snag us two tables for about 20 hungry Unilocalers. To be the voice of reason, the Kbbq here is pretty good, it’s especially more decent for non Koreans. I wouldn’t say it’s the most authentic, but who cares? Did you see how much meat was there? *que the dirty mind* lol P. S.- the slippery floors kinda freaked me out. Also, the waitresses do a great job swapping out the grills with new ones.
Shout out to Matt for being the grill master at the table, much appreciated
Shout out to Jando for the entertainment and the «interesting stories»
Shout out to Chun for bringing those damn amazing cookies again
So for those that haven’t been to or heard of Picnic Garden, it’s essentially a menagerie of kbbq items that is all you can eat for $ 30 beans. They have Kalbi, bulgogi, pork, chicken seafood etc they also have dumplings, Korean fried chicken and California rolls. This place is great for groups especially with all the variety of food you can choose from and the quantity you could pick at. If you have Korean friends, don’t bring them here, if you have non Korean friends, then it’s a great place. lol

On 05.15.14, my phone kept going off with notifications. TODAY WAS THE UYE Cray Cray Korean BBQ in Flushing!
I’ve had Korean BBQ before, but the magnitude of this gathering in terms of great food, great people, and a very cool venue surpassed my expectations. I walked into Picnic Garden and was immediately welcomed into the CRAY CRAY family.
We sat at a communal type table, there was a feast of various meats (pork, chicken, beef, fish, squid etc.) being charred on the embedded flame pits.
I was overwhelmed with FOOD!
Missed out on some sauces, veggies and rices but I’ll formulate my plan of attack per next UYE.
Action:
Meats were cooked in intervals and the server would periodically visit to assist with the changing of grills and carving of meats.
This was my 1^st time drinking Soju & I’m not a big drinker. Soju was the exception, just enough alcohol to relax everyone and open our appetites.
Unilocal Peeps:
–The fella with the cool name (Jason S.) set this event up with loads of time for me to plan to attend, and with my cray cray schedule, it’s hard or impossible 4 ME to do things with little notice. Thanks again for the great time J!
–Ron L. was the grill king @ our table. Thanks for taking care of us brother.
–I finally got to meet Nadia Z. from the Unilocal Talks. James Bond girl 4 sure. but she hates AT&T.
–Ben, Jando was kicking the Unilocal knowledge with some great conversation and it was great to hear every one’s backgrounds and lifestyles.
-& Chun, with those amazing FREAKIN cookies. I only had one but wanted to buy my own box.
–Lori, mad SKILLZ in the finance dept.
My 1^st Unilocal event: O)

Another cray cray adventure has come and gone. For a little while, I wasn’t sure Nadia and I were going to make it. I mean my sidekick Nadia Z was my ride to the event, and we were making excellent timing from Brooklyn to Queens, but then it happened. Nadia made a premature right turn and somehow we ended up in the traffic line for parking at Citi Field (the Mets were playing). So, we spent about 30 minutes creeping around the parking lot (therefore my check-​in @ Citi Field, I’ll probably write a review for the parking lot only). Eventually we navigated our way back onto Grand Central Pkwy, but in the wrong direction. This time her navigation decides to take us the scenic route around La Guardia (hence my check-​in @ LGA). Miraculously, we were back on track with 15 minutes to spare before 8pm. Then it happened again, but this time Nadia missed the exit. After us cursing for 10 minutes in Russian, and with navigation taking us the wrong direction (again), we took a random exit off the expressway, and ended up in some residential neighborhood. After a few minutes, navigation finally reroutes and it turns out we were just several blocks away from Picnic Garden. Whew.
We walked in exactly at 8pm, and after meeting-​and-​greeting all of the wonderful faces already there, the first thing I did was order up some soju shots, the perfect destresser and apéritif. Then it was time to get our AYCE meat on! The buffet was huge, and it took me a while to work my way around it, but my plate was stacked with all kinds of beef and pork cuts. When I got back to the table, I was amazed at how much meat there was everywhere… Literally, plates with meat stacked high taking up every square inch of available space. I just couldn’t believe all of this was just $ 29.99 per person!
Many thanks to everyone who came out — It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones IRL! Special shout out to the grillmasters (Ron, Matt, and Chun). These guys were selflessly grilling non-​stop, sacrificing their own eating pleasure. Special thanks to Chun for the cray cray almond cookies (you know, Chun, I think you started a tradition with them), and also my ride, Nadia Z. :)
More good times, indeed! Now time to plan the next cray cray installment.

MEAT! SMOKE! SOJU! FRIENDS! MEAT! SMOKE! SOJU! FRIENDS!
Keep on repeating until stuffed to the gills! OMG, Jason outdid himself on this one! When we first got there, it was a bit awkward with folks not knowing what, really to do until everyone showed up. Once the 20 or so did however, it was a bacchanalian orgy of meat, booze and friendship!
We were all at a big, long table with at least 10 of us on each side. The 20 of us all got up to go to the buffet to procure raw meat, spicy Korean vegetables, fried mandoo and other stuff you could not even imagine. By the time we all got back, the grills had been fired up and the raw meat flew fast and furious!
Jason started by ordering multiple bottles of traditional soju (the stronger stuff, not that watered down, yougurty crap!). That set all our stomachs’ paces for the food orgy that was about to come. By the end of the night, I thought I was gonna die! And I STILL had to drive back from Queens to the UWS! Glad to say I made it without having crapped my pants, though.
Chun recommended sweatpants and I just about relented, but even *I* have too much pride for that. I *did* wear my fat-​boy jeans though. Was thinking about leaving my belt at home but last time I did, my pants actually fell down! The 3XXX shirt did help.
Was great to catch up with old friends, most notably my old bud, Jando, Lori, of course, the inimitable Chun, and the lovely Laura. Was great to meet wonderful new friends, such as Jerry, Laura’s BF, Hai Tao and best of all, my new bud, Jason S. Got good vibes from all the rest à la Gilligan’s Island, too.
The best part though, was I had the best seat in the house — sitting next to Unilocal’s lean, mean grilling machine, Matt L! This guy, as soon as the multiple pounds of raw meat hit the table, he just went to town on the cooking like he was possessed! Within five minutes of the grill being fired up we had like 3 lbs of cooked meat on a plate in front of us all, thanks to him. He kept it up all night until the very end when we were all in a total meat coma too, God bless him! Honorable mention goes to Hai Tao too, who was brave enough to procure a whole mackerel from the buffet to grill — it was my night’s highlight, it was so delicious!
Compliments of the Mighty Chun, we had scrumptious almond cookies from one of the best bakeries in Queens to top it all off. Not much of a sweet eater here, but as soon as my teeth sunk into one of these toothsome wonders, I wanted the whole damned box he brought! Thanks, Chun!

When this place first opened up and I could eat just gross massive amounts of bbq’d meats and not care, this was the place to be. Haven’t been here in ages so was soo happy to come when Jason S. chose to throw another successful UYE here! I like coming here during the week vs. the weekends because you don’t have to fight the masses to get some marinated short ribs on your own personal table top grill.
Everything from marinaded short ribs to marinaded chicken to marinated pork to fresh pork belly to pork shoulder to sausages to lamb to beef intestines, to chicken gizzards, to shrimp to squid was to be had for your meat grilling desires.
The sides «banchan» wasn’t bad, they had a tray of what I think was california rolls, some japchae: potato starch cellophane noodles with some veggies in a soy sesame sauce, some batter and fried squid, kimchi, scallion and veggie pancake, and sliced pigs feet as well.
Staff was really quick and efficient to come over and cut up your meat into bite size pieces for the table and bring over whatever beverages you requested with the quickness. Met some amazing new people sitting at our table which made the evening that much more awesome!
Looking forward to the next UYE Jason!

This is one of those nights that I just profusely indulge with MEAT.
We crossed three boroughs of NYC and the state of New Jersey (to pick up a non-​yelper friend) to come over to this sumptuous and delirious UYE Korean BBQ event.
It was well worth the trip! Hands down to Jason S. for organizing the event. It was one of my best BBQ dinners in years.
Chun M.‘s toothsome almond cookies really sealed the deal.
It was lovely to see a few familiar faces and meet some new ones.

Obviously when Jason S throws a UYE Cray Cray event, it will be a five star event. What a gathering! About 20 fasting (for the day) Unilocalers basically skated and slid to the second dining room and sat in what became one super-​long communal table. And yes we did learn how to properly skate that greasy floor to keep our balance. I don’t know how the women in high heels managed this LOL! It’s all part of the Korean BBQ experience.
There were so many varieties of meat, prawns, squid, fish to chose from at the buffet. We just kept going to the buffet and bringing raw meat back to the table for grillmaster Chun to grill for our section. The meats all looked wonderful raw but kind of hard to tell what was what once cooked. It didn’t matter. Everything tasted delish! The sides were good too, especially the kimchi salad and another item I had no idea what I was eating.
It was fun getting to know other like-​minded Unilocal gluttons. Dropping stinky clothes off at my Korean cleaners I wondered if they are in cahoots with Picnic Garden? Anyway, the event was truly Cray Cray, and I know we’re looking forward to what Jason S can come up with next!

The Cray Cray series brings us to meat in Queens, The next pit stop of gluttonously delicious All-​You-​Can-​Eat (AYCE) decadence that is Picnic Garden. Jason S, the organizer’s third event, Kudos man! This is the second event that saw Chun M’s famously yummy almond cookies!
The star of the show was, of course, the meatttss. Short ribs are my fav, but pork-​get-​in-​my-​belly was a close second. Make no bones about it, Kalbi, with the bone-​in flavor is the best part. You pick your meats then slap it on the grill– a full range of culinary delights to choose from whether it be beef, chicken, pork, seafood, and *gasp* veggies to suit your dietary needs! Cooked/​prepared foods –They’ve got seafood pancake, dumplings, finger foods, and salads to pick from. The secret also lies within the sauce, which you make on your own to dip your meats into. Whether you fancy ketchup, spicy bbq, sesame oil, or just hot sauce, they’ve got it. It was so good, I had trouble stopping myself from eating continuously (yes, I had the pleasure of grilling too, but it was to save the meat from destruction!)
Yep, all my clothes are going into the wash. That’s how strong the aroma is the day after… and the bottom of my shoes are weird. Fantastic having new faces join us as well. Thanks to Lori for taking on the book splitting challenge that always seemingly stumbles large groups. Thank you for joining in Jason, Steve! It’s great having you guys!

Roll clip «Life of Unilocal»:
So I was sitting there quietly by myself when all of a sudden, I was mobbed by a boisterous horde of Unilocalers yelling/​chanting their tribe mantra, «UYE! UYE! UYE!» I was carried along with the tide of humanity, chained to a hot grill and made to cook whole carcasses to feed all the hunter/​gatherers that brought bloody animals back to the fire. Sometime during the night, I swear a tiger named Richard Parker ambled by, looked at us and shook his head. He then sat down with us to have a soju and proceeded to eat all my cookies.
This is the honest truth and I’m sticking to my story. I just woke up from my kalbi-​induced food coma, so you can’t blame me if that’s the way I remember it. And I didn’t even have any soju!
Jason, DUUUUDDDE! You da cray cray MAN! Don’t worry Nadia, the KBBQ smell will eventually fade and then it’ll be time for another one anyway! You boys from Brooklyn (Will, Howard, John, Jerry & Reggie) are nutz! That’s why we gotta hang out more! And Jando was busting on me all night because he still hasn’t forgiven me for busting on him during last year’s Pineapple Express contest or the foodtruck crawl CMYE. Payback has no statute of limitations and is best served piping hot on a table-​top gas grill apparently (Luv ya, Big Guy!)

Upon waking up this morning, I took a whiff of yesterday’s clothes and the smell of smoky, savory Korean BBQ still lingered.
But, let’s backtrack: Jason S. set the third event (of his «Cray Cray UYE» series) at Picnic Garden, an AYCE Korean BBQ restaurant located in the Murray Hill neighborhood in Flushing. It was definitely an event I was looking forward to, as I haven’t had much KBBQ beforehand, and the promise of a (hypothetically) unlimited amount of freshly grilled meat was quite the temptation. Late on Thursday night, ~20 Unilocalers and friends gathered at this (in)famous eatery. Greetings were exchanged, seats were found, and when the grills were turned on, what followed was several hours of non-​stop grilling, eating, and overall gluttony.
I’ll spare you the unattractive details, but the clear winner of the night was the kalbi (short ribs). Accompaniments of rice, japchae, and salad (with a kimchi vinaigrette!) helped round out the meal, and left most of us in a severe state of food coma.
So the kudos must go out to:
+ Jason; for coordinating and organizing yet another awesome get-​together
+ Matt, Chun, and Ron; for being our main grill masters
+ Chun; for bringing cookies for us to finish up an epic meal
+ The entire gang for making the trek out and ensuring that there was plenty of good company.
Until the next one!!! :)

You all know who throws best events in town — yep, that guy over there. Thank you to my favorite Kazakh for another awesome get-​together!
So. Much. Meat. I am in food coma.
I never been to Korean BBQ before, so this was all new to me.
Ok, here what I learned so far:
— my GPS does not know squat about Queens and keeps running in circles. We were late!
— It is fun to cook your own food. Well, actually Ron did all the cooking for entire table. ~bows~ thank you to our impromptu chef.
— do not wear heels to Korean BBQ, floor is slippery enough to do pirouettes on it.
— you will need dry cleaners to get smoke out of your clothes next day (and tip them well)
— Chun knows best bakeries in town. ~sits next to Chun~ thanks for the cookies, buddy!
— Lori not only takes exceptional pictures, she is crazy good with counting money — what’s up with that? Thank you for helping with a bill, love!
— AT&T sucks. Jason, get Verizon, seriously.
That’s all I got for now.
Wait, one more thing…
I am missing couple hrs of sleep, but seeing all old friends and gaining new ones rocks.
You all rock.

Jason S. Did it again, bringing together, a big, beautiful crowd for a festive night in a unique venue. I cannot believe how much meat we all put away! I loved catching up with some of the people I’ve recently come to know through Unilocal and meeting new people too. It’s a great thing when things like this happen!