Korean BBQ at the Kauai Marriott
Last Saturday we celebrated Dan’s birthday at the Kauai Marriott Resort’s Kukui’s restaurant. We went for the first night of their new Korean BBQ, which is available every Saturday night. The kitchen staff cooks outside on a patio that has a view of the ocean.
There are tables near the cooking area but we decided to sit at the bar and enjoy the company of bartender Mark “Woogie” Kracht. Since we were celebrating, we asked him for bartender’s choice. Woogie created a lot of cocktails on the fly (10!!) and each of them included fresh ingredients. A favorite was made with muddled fresh lime and mint, rum, coconut cream and citrus fizzy pop.
The all-you-can-eat buffet kept us from getting snockered, and we piled up on house-made kimchee, bean sprouts, cucumber and diakon slices with Korean red pepper powder, thin and tender strips of beef kalbi, Korean BBQ chicken, spicy koo gee jun with calamari, grilled eggplant and zucchini, tofu stir-fry, pork and shrimp pot-stickers, and a green tea cream cheese ginger cake. Seoul BBQ Buffet ($37 per person) is every Saturday night from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kukui’s on Kalapaki Beach.