Mongolian Barbeque¹ is a style of cuisine where noodles, vegetables, and thinly sliced meat are cooked upon a special metal-topped Mongolian Stove.² The legend goes that this style of cooking was developed by Mongol Warriors cooking on the underside of their shields.

In a modern Mongolian Barbeque restaurant, one is seated and served appetizers. These can be such things as breads, soup, egg rolls, or won-ton chips. After your appetite is whetted, you get up from your seat and make your way to the food. Grabbing a bowl, you go down a buffet-style assortment of noodles, meat, and vegetables. After you have made your selections, you will cover them in cooking oil, and other oils and sauces of your choice. Typical choices may include teriyaki, garlic chip oil, cooking wine, sweet and sour, and usually there is a “house” sauce. Now your meal is ready to be cooked. Handing your bowl to the Mongolian Chef, he will proceed to cook it on a huge (typically 5-8 feet in diameter) griddle³ heated by a gas flame underneath. Your food will be fried on the griddle as the cook keeps the food in constant motion by walking around the griddle, pushing and stirring the food with oversized chopsticks. An especially good Mongolian Chef will do this with much flourish and showmanship. The quality of the Mongolian Chef can be determined by how fast and far he flings the food off the griddle once it is cooked, and how well he catches it.