Joule UrbanBBQ week #3: Korean BBQ grill

Urban BBQ at Joule, originally uploaded by jlrose70.

Perhaps it was because of the first sunny Sunday in recent memory. Perhaps it was because of Father's Day. For whatever reason, this week's installment of Joule's Urban BBQ was such a success that they ran out of food between lunch and dinner. For those of you who missed out, here's a quick recap.

Urban BBQ at Joule, originally uploaded by jlrose70.

The menu:

• Korean BBQ platter (shown upper left) - kalbi (Korean short ribs), spicy BBQ pork, rice, and lettuce (for wrapping up meat, rice, and hot sauce)
• Tofu soup (off camera to the left) - tofu, potatoes, and squash in a miso-like broth
• Calamari/scallion pancakes (shown upper right) - also known as pa jeon in Korean - fried "pancakes" with chunks of calamari and onion
• Shiitake/soy vermicelli (shown bottom) - also known as chap chae in Korean - clear noodles with slices of mushrooms, carrots, and scallions and seasoned with soy sauce
• Hot dogs and potato salad (not shown) for the kids or Korean food–phobic.
  

There were also assorted sauces for dipping pancakes or seasoning your lettuce/meat wraps, plus some kimchi and whole cloves of garlic for the hardcore eaters. Also the usual array of canned, bottled, and self-serve beverages* including a corn tea, a grape "shrub," and some sort of herb-infused beverage we didn't try.

All the food was delish, apart from some slightly underdone pancakes at our table. The snow cone flavors sounded interesting, particularly the one Korean-inspired concoction, but the crowd was getting thick, so we high-tailed it out of there with only a bag of root beer–flavored cotton candy for dessert.

The lesson from today? As we swing into a genuine summer, consider sampling the Joule BBQ earlier rather than later in the day if you're at all worried about getting your fill before it's all gone...

(P.S. Molly Moon's also had a line out the door this afternoon. Things are heating up in Wallingford!)

* Note about the beverages: This was our first go at the self-serve beverages as opposed to the canned/bottled drinks. As it turns out, most of their drinks are served in concentrated form—you're supposed to pour a nearly full glass of ice water and then splash a little of your chosen flavoring in. You were not supposed to fill up a whole glass of the grape "shrub" (which turned out to be equal parts grape flavoring and vinegar) and take a swig. Remember that.