Big Wok Mongolian BBQ — Restaurant in Manhattan Beach

We were driving down the street near our hotel looking for something different, something from L.A. After seeing this place, we stopped and I did a quick yelp search to make sure there wasn't anything super bad about this place.

The parking lot was crowded, so that was already a good sign.

We walked in the door and it was very loud in there, but I guess we adjusted quickly because I did not notice the loudness so much later.

We did 2 all you can eat, unlimited trips, which I believe were about $12.45 each and then a kids type, which ended up being noodles only. I believe that one cost about $7.45 or so.

The great thing about this place is the unlimited trips. You don't have to pack the meat down, which is frozen in thin sheets, in such a way that you feel you are getting a lot of meat, but once they cook it, there's hardly anything. Still this is a great way to have the right amount of meat in your dish.

They had the usual meat offerings, chicken, turkey and beef, and the bonus was they had lamb! I believe I read on the menu that you can get other meats for an additional charge of around $2 or so.

They had all the usual fixings, and once you were done adding your meats, vegetables, tofu, noodles and sauces, you stood in line to have your items cooked on one of the 2 large woks. When the line was long, there were four people cooking, so the line moved fairly well.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good everything was, and we were not starving when we came here. Talking about it now is certainly making me hungry though.

Our waitress, who took our drink order, was really nice and kept checking on us.

I'm glad we were able to try a new place and we liked it. We are in LA quite often, so we will have to swing by here again, hopefully in the...

I give it 4 stars but I wish they would not rotate around the grill dragging your food around with other people’s food when the chefs cook your food. By pushing and dragging your food around the round grill with others in front of you, the sauces of other people’s food gets mixed into yours. They cannot keep all the sauces from going into yours and my food is sometimes too spicy. Yes they do have the note saying tell the chef if you have any allergies issues with spicy food. And they will wipe the grill only if you ask them so that your food can be cooked on a clean grill, but it would be better if they could just cook in one spot that’s not an issue if they also wipe the spices off… and they’re always busy they have a lot of people waiting around the grill so I hate to be “that guy” that stops them and asks for special attention lol! So I don’t. That’s my own fault I guess. I just wanted to write to give you tips- The meat is mostly frozen in shapes of a tube round and will take up a lot of space in your bowl so put on plastic gloves and cram the meat down, crush it down to make space. Then add the veggies, and no need to pile all in one bowl- go ahead and use 2 bowls and do not listen to the suggestions for sauces, 1 spoon full is NOT enough. I use 3-4 spoon fulls of about 6 different sauces. And if you don’t it’s going to be very bland. Don’t be shy with the sauces. If it is the first time then make a light bowl and try it out then go back and make your bowl again you will get the hang of it and know what you like the second time. Also the spinach cooks down to NOTHING so trust me you will need at least one bowl piled high of just spinach if you want to see any green in your finished dish it truly disappears I don’t know where it goes. Bon...

Damn, you've got a Big Wok!

Big Wok Mongolian BBQ, serving AYCE enthusiasts for years. Diners have their choice of chicken, pork, beef ribeye, turkey and lamb.

Round up your choice of meat, pile on all the veggies your heart desires, slather some of the seasoning oils all over that bad boy and hand it off to the cooks.

Awaiting at your table, are a complimentary bowl of white rice and sesame bread. The sesame bread was crispy on the outside, yet soft on the inside. I can see how diners eat about 47 of these at one sitting.

In regards to the meat, my favorite was the lamb. It was moist and tender. The beef ribeye, which is one of my favorite cuts of beef, was rather tough. I didn't have the chicken, turkey or pork because I wasn't feeling them that day.

Service was good. The cooks were friendly and didn't mind my really bad Spanish ;p 2 grills are available with up to 6 cooks at your beckoning to whip up your custom Mongolian BBQ creation. The waitstaff made sure our drinks were refilled and our plates taken away promptly. Sufficient seating but the restaurant can get quickly packed during peak hours. A few flatscreen TV's are available for your viewing pleasure. Parking is decent in a shared private lot.

Big Wok Mongolian BBQ is a good lunch spot in the area. The prices are reasonable for AYCE meat, noodles and veggies, not forgetting the rice & tasty sesame bread. Beer is available with a BOGO 1/2 off offer. I wouldn't go out of my way to dine here, but if I'm in the area, then I wouldn't mind once again packing in the calories with a stop...