Shoot to grill: Strategize buffet offerings at Mongolian Grill in Springville
The Mongolian Beef, Volcano Shrimp and Sesame Chicken at Mongolian Grill in Springville.
Abraham Quisoz cooks noodle dishes from a buffet for customers at Mongolian Grill.
Mongolian Grill in Springville serves both Mongolian and Chinese cuisine.
The Sesame Chicken at Mongolian Grill.
The Volcano Shrimp and Sesame Chicken at Mongolian Grill.
The Volcano Shrimp at Mongolian Grill.
Abraham Quisoz cooks noodle dishes from a buffet for customers at Mongolian Grill in Springville on Tuesday.
When approaching any restaurant buffet, it’s best to formulate a strategy before you enter, and Mongolian Grill in Springville is no different.
Clearly, there will be too many enticing options presented to try them all, so one must carefully consider the promptings from a hungry tummy before diving in. The Asian grill also has menu items for the casual diner, but for the intrepid eater, you’ll want to belly up to the Mongolian grill at this local eatery.
I did browse the restaurant’s extensive menu and began reviewing options for appetizers. As my mother would say, I just needed a little something to take the edge off. A cup of egg drop corn soup for $1.35 seemed to be the perfect portion to do just that.
Some choices in the appetizer section made my mouth water, but after requesting my top three picks, the waiter kindly replied they were no longer available. Darn.
The soup hit the spot and primed the pump with its chunks of carrot, corn and peas with streaks of egg whites floating in a thick, viscous soup base.
Another menu item caught my eye when I read “Happy Family” under the house specialties section. At $10.95, the entree mixed beef, chicken, pork, shrimp and assorted vegetables on one plate.
The portion size was generous, but it seemed odd to me to mix seafood with other meat items. The Baby Bok Choy and Bamboo Shoots were a nice touch for variety’s sake, but I couldn’t overcome the mixed aroma of the garlic shrimp and salty meats.
Setting the dish aside, I looked onward, determined to satisfy a curiosity sizzling in the corner — the large, flat circular Mongolian barbecue grill.
The grill
An open buffet is welcoming because you can always come back for more. My strategy consisted of several small food portions to allow my curious mind to experiment with 15 vegetable options, nine differently prepared meats and 14 varieties of sauces and seasoning toppings.
For those new to the Asian grill scene, Mongolian barbecue allows each patron to grab a bowl and fill it with chilled or partially frozen meats, an array of chopped vegetables and ladle on some cooking sauces. The patron then hands it to the chef, who tosses it on an enormous circular sizzling grill, cooking it using two long, narrow grilling sticks.
Since learning from my menu entree experience, I adapted my strategy knowing I would have a bowl with meats and greens and then return for a seafood combo.
I selected slices of BBQ pork, thinly cut swatches of beef and a few staple veggies like carrots, celery, onions and cucumber. For cooking sauces, Mongolian Grill lists examples of three combinations for hot/spicy, sweet/sour or teriyaki/BBQ flavors. However, I chose a sweeter combo of two ladles of pineapple juice, one of the house sauce, a half-ladle of lemon juice and one of a teriyaki sauce mixture.
If it’s busy, don’t be surprised if your sauces and some vegetables cross over on to someone else’s mix on the grill or vice versa. I walked away with a few extra types of vegetables that were not in my original concoction.
I suggest going light on the cooking sauces, so everything from your bowl doesn’t taste exactly the same. Mixing too much kung pao, with teriyaki with barbecue sauce can neutralize the natural flavors of your food choices. Remember, think small, and stick to your strategy. Keep going back for targeted hankerings according to the demands of your belly. Go with your gut on this one.
The fortune cookie
After wrapping up with my third and fourth bowls of food it was now time to forecast my future. We always look forward to the fortune cookie, don’t we? It is wise in the ways of the universe.
I cracked mine open as I walked out to my car after paying my bill and was shocked to read what the universe had in store for me. “You need not worry about your future,” it read.
“Huh,” I thought. I burst out laughing at my uninspired future, turned around and marched back inside. I needed a second opinion, and requested another insight into my fortune, and the waiter accommodated.
“You have an active mind and a keen imagination.” Now that’s a little better, but I would have liked to imagine a dessert menu to order from that would’ve given me a real tasty topper to round out my meal.
MONGOLIAN GRILL
WHERE: 484 S. 1750 West, Springville
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 11 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sundays.
PRICES: Lunch specials, $5.95-$6.95 and $7.50-$10.95 for dinner entrees.
BUFFET: $8.75 lunch, $10.95 dinner
INFO: (801) 491-8088