First Look: Gogi En Korean BBQ, Opening Friday Dec. 29 in Solon

This summer, the team behind Sushi En restaurants in Cleveland, Columbus and Twinsburg took over the Solon property long home to Akira Sushi and Hibachi. The former hibachi restaurant was the ideal starting point for their next project — a Korean BBQ concept — because of the existing hood systems installed throughout the dining room. On Friday, Dec. 29, the company will open the doors to Gogi En (6025 Kruse Dr.), the first Korean barbecue restaurant in the region.

Korean food in general is trending in the U.S. thanks to contemporary pop-culture media. Manager Mark Chun attributes the rising popularity of Korean food to bands like BTS, movies like Parasite, TV shows like Squid Game and social media like TikTok, all of which highlight the food.

More specifically, Korean barbecue (KBBQ) is having a moment. Locally, we're seeing a proliferation of these restaurants, where the communal cooking experience is attracting a whole new generation of diners. While some mom-and-pop shops still rely on tabletop burners, more and more places are going high-tech, with built-in grills and proper ventilation.

While the exhaust hoods are the same, the grill tables are all new. More than a dozen tables feature built-in cooktops imported from Korea. But unlike many others that use metal grills, Gogi En's cooktops are outfitted with large flat stones that are not unlike the earthenware bowls in which bibimbap is served.

The modern dining room will pump K-pop through the sound system, air catchy music videos on various screens, and present the artwork of notable Korean photographers.

"We're hoping for a lot of immersion, which keeps people coming back and keeps people in tune and present when they're here," Chun explains. "We'll show landscapes and cityscapes to try and get people immersed in a Korean feeling."

The menu offers a pretty typical lineup of meats bound for the grills. There's galbi (marinated beef short rib), bulgogi (marinated ribeye), spicy pork bulgogi and marinated pork rib. An a la carte section of the menu lets diners select from more than a dozen beef, pork, poultry and seafood items ranging from thin-sliced pork belly to marinated shrimp. A handful of combos merge three different proteins.

Gogi En also offers a lengthy and creative assortment of gimbap, the Korean rice rolls that resemble sushi rolls but without the raw fish. From a former sushi counter built into the restaurant's lengthy bar will flow colorful rolls filled with items like fish cakes, bulgogi and shrimp tempura.

Korean stews — or jjigae — starring brisket, pork rib and kimchi, and soft tofu join the ever-popular bibimbap served two ways. The first is a classic presentation in a hot stone crock. The second, described as "deconstructed," arrives on a hot stone slab.

A lunch menu will offer quick-serve meals like a gimbap and ramen combo.

Gogi En has a full bar and will be offering a nice selection of beer, wine, cocktails and, naturally, soju.

Despite the relative obscurity of KBBQ in the area, Chun and his team are confident that if you deliver a unique and immersive experience, people will respond positively. 

"We've never found an issue with trying to introduce people because when you talk about something passionately people love to listen and people love to learn about those things," says Chun. "Anybody who is coming in here probably wants to learn a little bit about the food if they don't know about it already."

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