Chubby Cattle

Monterey Park

Inside Chubby Cattle.

Kim chi, I think green onion hidden behind...

Wilted. Been out waaaay too long.

Stylin': a gas-fed, glass-walled fireplace as divider between the tables.

Some expensive disposasble chopsticks. Moo.

Moo.

Beef tartare was good if you don't mind bread.

Waygu sandwich not quite as good (although not bad) as the tartare.

Salmon carpaccio. Tasty enough but you don't come here for seafood.

Waygu roll was not bad either but definitely just stalling vs. the main course.

Appetizer spread. Inside.

Inside.

Time for the main course.

Rib meat.

Or was this rib meat.

Nicely marbled.

On the grill.

Brisket almost ready.

Sizzling away.

This one was meh.

Shrimp are good but you're here for beef.

Beef tongue. Usually sliced a lot smaller.

Skip the shrimp and stuff.

Brisket, untrimmed fat cap for more... uh... flames?

Shrimp cooking away.

Slightly different angle.

Outside.

Feng Cha.

Creme brulee topped cheese foam milk tea with boba. Logo.

Logo.

Inside.

Dragonfruit green tea with lychee jelly, half sweet.

This weekend's ride, 2023 Kia EV6 RWD.

Different angle.

Finally made it to the Chubby Cattle in Monterey Park, one of the newer locations of Chubby Cattle International's expanding empire.

I'm not particularly convinced that David Zhao and his group are elevating yakiniku and hot pot as much as they claim they are, but you do have to admire the stylish Japanese-modern-anime flourishes, the glass-walled fireplace running the length of the restaurant, and the crowds they draw. Friends got there before opening to get in line, and we juuuustttt baaarrreeelllyyy made the first seating on a rainy Sunday.

The appetizer spread from the mid-level gold menu (as of this visit, $59/person for "non-members") was overall solid, the green salad was wilted and sad, but let's be honest, no one comes here for appetizers or salad.

The mid-level gold menu has some of the higher grades of waygu on it in limited quantities. Most of those were good but not amazing, for the price it felt like a mixed bag. Starting off with the more ordinary waygu nigiri, things were solid. The regular beef tartare was okay, possibly better than okay. Waygu sandwich mostly felt like a way to stave off being hangry before the main courses came. Of the main courses (aka meat), the two grade A5 items were limited one each per person for gold menu customers. "A5 tender meat" was a complete waste of time, and the "A5 waygu ootoro" which was delicious but felt like it was cut just a smidgen too thick.

Covering more of the regular, unlimited (aka all-you-can-eat) items, the M6 brisket was only okay. They didn't trim the fat cap very much so you got a lot of flare-ups when cooking, which was showy but tiresome. Ditto for the M9 top blade, which seemed more fatty-flaring-on-fire than reasonable. Waygu skirt steak was a good-sized chunk of meat that was actually quite good, and there was something that looked just like the brisket-- probably M9 top blade-- that was also had an untrimmed fat cap. The beef tongue was served in long strips that didn't result in anything particularly memorable, even got a second order to see if it got better (it didn't).

Seafood: shrimp, squid, and scallop: were all not bad, but again decidedly not why you go to Japanese/Korean BBQ. Overall verdict was not bad, but not up to the hype, and the crowds/wait are still so crazy nearly a year after opening?? Mind-boggling.

Tea afterwards at Feng Cha, which was right across the street. Dragonfruit green tea with lychee was actually damned good.