YC's Mongolian Grill

Added note: I had my first cataract surgery yesterday, 12/23 -- it went well, and I am doing okay, but my right eye is a bit blurry still. I had written a few posts ahead, which is helpful now! I'm hopeful that it will continue to clear over the next days!

----------------------------------------------

I had a doctor's appointment south of us a week or so ago, and we decided to celebrate the appointment being completed by going out to eat at YC's Mongolian Grill.

Store front location

You order the size bowl you want -- and then you fill it. Since the large is just $1 more, and it allows us to have leftovers for another meal, we choose the large.

The first selection is meat -- it is raw, frozen, shaved meat -- white and dark meat chicken, beef, and pork. The "secret" is to use the wax paper that they have and smash as much as you can into the bowl. If you just put it in with the tongs, you won't get much meat and your bowl will be full.

Then you add in the veggies that you want stir-fried with your meat - lots of vegetable options! Again, you can smash leafy items down to get more in the bowl.

Then noodles - lots of options. We try to go easy on the noodles to avoid extra carbs, but they are so good cooked with the meat and seasonings!

The last station before cooking is the sauce -- there are a LOT of choices to mix together for your sauce. There are example "recipes" of recommended sauce combinations. I always have one of the folks who work there create my sauce for me -- they ask, "spicy or sweet" (I like sweet), and then they drill down a little more and then gather scoops from several of the sauce options into a big bowl that I take with me to the cooking station.

The cook puts oil on the top of that big round grill, and then puts all the contents of the bowl you have packed onto the grill. While you wait, he then works it around with a big paddle, getting it all cooked. A little bit along in the cooking, he pours the sauce bowl contents over the top. When it is all done, he scraps it off the grill into a dish and serves it back to you. When they are busy, there are two cooks (and two grills) working at the same time.

After getting the cooked bowl of your selections, you can choose to get rice and soup to accompany your meal.

This was Carl's finished bowl...

... and this was mine.

As I indicated, getting the large bowl, and employing creative smashing techniques (and getting additional rice which adds carbs, but also adds additional content to the meal), we get enough to enjoy two meals. You never get exactly the same dish twice, but it always is tasty!