I generally don’t like to rant about food spots that are below average.  But tonight’s tale would be labeled as a two-fold failure.  Having read a yelp review about Khan’s Bar and Grill being as a makeshift dinner spot in lieu of Toki‘s long wait, I felt obligated to make a public service announcement:  By all means convince your friend, significant other or the party you’re with that Toki is worth the wait.  Don’t settle for Khan’s.

Tonight’s sad sad dinner began with plans to get to Toki Underground as soon as they opened.  Unfortunately, several obstacles had delayed the arrival time closer to 6:30 pm.  On a weekend, you can bet Toki will already have a queue of folks waiting to get in, get their ramen, dan dan mien or whatever special of the day Chef Bruner-Yang has been working on as of late.  As usual, Toki’s staff is really friendly and addressed that they will take down a phone number to call and gave suggestions of where to grab a drink during the downtime.  But unfortunately, my friend wasn’t down with the wait.  Hence the walk of shame to Khan’s Grill…

A peek inside Khan’s Grill, one would immediately notice the Mongolian BBQ styled gigantic flat top grill.  The space is really generous and the vibe is quite lively.  Foodwise, the star of Khan’s Bar and Grill is their “Create your own stir-fry” adventure.  However, the Mongolian grill shop also offers a variety of classic pan-Asian staples such as bulgogi tacos, gyozas (potstickers), buta-katsu (breaded pork chop) and even something called Buddha’s shrimp (this one is completely lost in translation).  With a failed attempt at getting some yummy ramen, my stomach was experiencing profound sadness.

To make up for the missed connection, I decided on ordering the gyozas while my friend chose the bulgogi tacos.  Adding insult to injury, both items were unappealing in appearance and taste.  Price wise, twelve potstickers for $8 dollars seems like a steal.  But when said potstickers came straight out of a frozen bag, quantity doesn’t mean much does it?  Especially when the first bite was still somewhat frigid.  My friend mentioned her bulgogi tacos seemed over-seasoned and extremely well-done.  We both left kinda unhappy.  But at least we figured out that Khan’s is no bueno.

Now I know how Paul felt when he missed out on Toki’s wonderful food a few weeks ago.

Khan’s
1125 H St NE
Washington, DC 20002
www.khansdc.com