Gobi Grille: Mongolia Moves to Wichita
Review: Gobi Grille
Rating: Two and a half stars out of four
Where: 2319 N. Ridge Road, 316-425-7999
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Type of food: Mongolian grill
Alcohol: Full bar
Smoking: Not allowed
Web site: www.GobiGrille.com
Patience, Wichita! This should be the last of the Mongolian grill reviews . . . for now.
After somehow existing for decades without a single Mongolian grill restaurant, Wichita has gained three of them in the past five months.
Two of them have already been reviewed in this space - HuHot at 2035 N. Rock Road and Genghis Grill at 111 S. Rock Road. And now that we've visited the latest, Gobi Grille at 2319 N. Ridge Road, the tour is complete.
Gobi is the only non-chain (and the only west-side) of the three Mongolian grills, which allow diners to assemble their own Asian stir-fry dishes using raw ingredients, then watch as they're cooked on giant round grills.
Gobi opened in early April in the former Victory Sports Grille, but there's no sign of the sports bar in its slick new reincarnation.
ON THE MENU: As at its two predecessors, diners at Gobi are given a small metal bowl and invited to fill it to capacity and beyond at a buffet line filled with fresh meats, veggies, spices and sauces. Gobi's raw offerings stack up nicely against its competitors. The protein choices are plenty, and its shrimp and scallops are actually the most substant ial of the three restaurants. Veggie choices include snow peas, mushrooms, onions, peppers, celery, carrots, spinach and much more.
The bar also includes a variety of spices and sauces, which may be the only spot where Gobi falls behind. In terms of quality, those spices and sauces don't seem to offer as much flavor as those of its competitors.
At the end of the line, diners chose a starch - white or fried rice, spiral pasta or tortillas.
Really, though, a meal at any Mongolian grill is only as good as the diner who assembles it. And Gobi has a nice wall of recipe cards that offer novices assembly suggestions.
DON'T-MISS DISHES: We assembled a variety of concoctions and were mostly pleased with the results.
One mixture, which we've made at all three grills, consisted of shrimp, beef, snow peas, onions, mushrooms, egg and a ginger sauce. Gobi's version was good - especially because the shrimp were good-sized - though we couldn't detect any ginger flavor, despite having included a whole serving of the sauce.
We assembled several other bowls, including one with chicken, one with scallops and one that included fajita-type ingredients, which we rolled up into a tortilla.
Our main complaint about Gobi is the same one we had about its east-side competitor, Genghis Grill. The food is practically incinerated. It's not quite burnt but has been cooked either too hot or too long. The ingredients are charred, and all the nice crisp vegetables are rendered limp and colorless.
It seems like a problem, though, that's correctable.
AMBIENCE: The remodeling of Victory is quite impressive, both inside and out. The redesign includes classy signage, lots of tile and interesting artwork on the walls. PRICE RANGE: A single trip at lunch is $7.99, and unlimited trips are $9.99. At dinner, a single trip is $9.99 and unlimited trips are $11.99.
SERVICE: Our server was knowledgeable and efficient.
This story was originally published May 15, 2009 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Gobi Grille: Mongolia Moves to Wichita."