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Khan's Mongolian Barbecue

My Favorite Twin Cities Hidden Gem

By Diana R. JonesPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Picture taken pre-Covid. They all wear masks now.

In the depths of South Minneapolis, past Eat Street, past the Midtown Global Market, past Minnehaha Creek, lies the sleepy neighborhood of Richfield. A straight shot, 20 minutes by car and maybe a 45-minute bike ride or bus ride from Downtown, straight down Portland Avenue a full 72 blocks from where the Derek Chauvin trial is happening, in this sleepy neighborhood, is my own little piece of heaven.

Many of you reading this have been taught what makes a good restaurant from television chefs like Gordon Ramsey and whatnot. Many would argue that this place wouldn’t qualify for any recognition from anyone in the industry worth following. If you are one of those people, this restaurant is not for you. And that’s fine. We don’t want you here anyways.

But right here on 77th and Portland near Roosevelt Park, where I used to smoke weed in high school, is Khan’s Mongolian Barbecue. I have no idea how they managed to survive not only the pandemic, but also the insane amount of racism and hatred the Asian community has been experiencing lately, but I couldn’t be happier that they did.

The whole place is an experience. A very truly “Midwest meets Far East” vibe. I’ll walk you through the whole experience. The restaurant itself is situated between an auto body shop, a tire alignment place, and a private building that I’m 90% sure is used for metal scrap storage (judging by the trailer outside made out of an old pickup bed.)

When you arrive at the building, the first thing you’ll see are the signs. The first one you’ll see is on a pole and it simply reads, “Khan’s Mongolian Barbecue: An Oriental Dining Experience.” Some of you might wonder when the last time you heard the word “Oriental” used in a sentence. Some of you might not. As you approach the entrance, you’ll notice the second sign. It’s colored an odd shade of orange and uses a font that I have never seen anywhere else. Don’t be turned off by either of these.

When you walk inside, you’ll be greeted by a lovely host who will seat you and give you the rundown of how the whole process works. You listen patiently keeping your eyes on the buffet and fade in and out of paying attention. Finally the host will leave you alone and you’re free to go!

It’s kind of like a buffet, but not. During Covid, they pick the food for you, but usually you pick it yourself. It’s all raw and some of it is frozen. You put whatever the hell you want into your bowl and then at the end they have a seasoning guide and about a dozen different Asian sauces. The nice thing about the Covid model is the workers know exactly how to season the bowls so they taste amazing, but I’ve found that winging it has generally worked out pretty well for me as well.

Next, you bring your bowl of raw food up to the cooks. They have three separate surfaces where they stir fry your meal as you watch. It’s truly a beautiful experience. You’ll (hopefully) be so impressed that you throw a dollar or two into the cook’s tip jar. You’ll notice a gong placed right next to the tip jar as well. You can bang it (as long as you tip) and the staff will unanimously yell, “Thank you!”

Finally you sit down at your table, drink your sake, and eat your bowl. Hopefully you'll toast to me and say, “Thank you, Di. This has been a fantastic journey.” But if you don’t, that’s fine as well.

Now here’s how they get you. If you only have one bowl, the price is relatively low. But you won’t have just one bowl. The people who have one bowl at Khan’s are the same people who can put their bag of cocaine away until the following day. I’m sure they exist, but I have never met one. When you get a second bowl, the price goes up, but that’s it. After that, every bowl is free. I’m sure some of you are saying, “Well maybe I’ll have two bowls… but three? FOUR? Absolutely not! I have some self control.” To those people I say, “Okay… Whatever you say!” And I wink. Because I’m a Midwest girl and I don’t like to argue.

At the end of your experience you will be uncomfortably full. Your host will bring you a fortune cookie. You’ll force yourself to eat it and pay your tab. On your way out, you’ll tip the cooks again and ring the gong one more time. Moving will be hard, but you won’t care because the whole experience was worth it.

All of that and a tokkuri of sake just ran you less than 30 dollars before tip.

Bon Appétit! Or should I say, “Сайхан хооллоорой!”

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About the Creator

Diana R. Jones

Just a small town girl. Living in a lonely world.

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