What Makes Gogi “Gogi?”
Quick. Healthy. Delicious. It usually goes, that when deciding on a restaurant, diners’ can only choose two of the three listed. However, Hoboken’s newest Korean barbecue spot, Gogi Grill, is out to change this notion. Located in the bustling heart of downtown Hoboken at 79 Hudson St., and just a few blocks from the PATH/metro station, Gogi is exceeding at rapidly delivering a deliciously healthy meal for a price that won’t break the bank.
The owner and founder of Gogi Grill, Inku, has taken what is a traditionally long sit-down cuisine and revolutionized it in a manner that still makes it quick and easy. “Korean barbecue is amazing, and a great cuisine to get with friends or colleagues, but it takes forever to cook, so it’s never just a quick option,” mentioned Inku. Shifting the focus from the customary grill-in-the-table format of Korean barbecue, everything is cooked fresh daily and ready to be thrown into a bowl, burrito, or taco at a moment’s notice. This further creates an atmosphere of quick-casual that un-clutters and minimizes the dining space.
The Meat Behind Gogi
When asked about the inspiration for the restaurant, Inku, stated that: “I grew up in western Massachusetts, where there were no options for Korean food, only what my parents cooked at home. Fast forward to after college, and I’d moved to NewYork City.Now I had all the Korean food I wanted, but mainly in restaurants. Since I didn’t speak nor read Korean, it was really intimidating to go into these restaurants. So this birthed the idea to make Korean food available to everyone. Rather than saying ‘no, you have to have this in your dish,’ we opted to offer an array of ingredients to make the dishes customizable yet traditional. Kind of a quick service Panera-styled Korean place.”
Needless to say, Gogi Grill has already become a Digest lunch favorite (we’ve ordered it twice since last week.) It won’t take long to become an overnight neighborhood staple for those seeking something delectably healthy and fast. Because they take orders online (ChowNow, GrubHub, Seamless), it’s as simple as ordering take-out from your phone and picking it up on the walk back from the train.
Graduating with a B.S. in International Business from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Ted spends most of his time with his head in the clouds pondering his next destination. Besides that, he can usually be found skating around New York City, or, during the winter, hitting sweet jumps on the mountain.