LITTLE ROCK — The day after my first trip to Genghis Grill a little over a year ago, I got very sick and was prescribed three weeks of bed rest that ended with the birth of my daughter, Tallulah.
It’s now been a couple of days after my second trip to Genghis Grill, and I feel just fine. Good to know there was no connection between the food and my high blood pressure, especially since the concoctions custom-made for each diner are so good even 5-year-old Beans snarfed down his meal.
When we arrived at Genghis, we first noticed the sign on the door assuring hot and healthy food fast, with fast being the operative word because the aforementioned 5-year-old was fatigued, fidgety and famished after a long day of playing at Grandma’s.
We were seated after only a couple of minutes, although during that time I couldn’t help but overhear the young man in line behind me telling his friend he had been hit with a Taser gun in a pawnshop. I don’t know the back story there, and I’m trying my best to give him thebenefit of the doubt. But I noticed him returning 1-yearold Tallulah’s grins and gazes, and I think I might have to have a talk with her about the kind of guys it’s OK for her to flirt with.
The restaurant was loud and lively, a good thing because as soon as Tallulah was in her high chair she began making a lot of noise about the two big red paper lanterns - sporting advertisements for a Chinese beer - hanging over the dining area. They were quite exciting, I must admit.
At Genghis, the server brings a stainless steel bowl for each person at the table with instructions to go through the buffet line of raw ingredients and fill the bowls with whatever suits your fancy. Once you’ve chosen from the raw meat, spices, vegetables, fruit (pineapple and mandarin oranges) and sauce on the expansive buffet, yougive your bowl to the guys at the grill, who cook it and send it to your table.
There are some logistical problems with taking a baby to Genghis Grill, but we overcame those by taking turns going through the buffet line as one grown-up waited at the table with the youngest member of our party.
I found I was quite squeamish about all that raw meat on the buffet. I tried not to think about how much crosscontamination goes on as tongs and spoons from other foods inevitably touch the meat before being put back into their respective containers. My concerns would have been completely impossible to ignore if I had been holding our 1-year-old, who cannot resist plunging her hands into everything within reach.
I started with marinated steak and added seasoning mixes of citrus-garlic (tangy and delish!) and ginger. Then I added broccoli, snap peas, green onions and cilantro followed by a little cup of stirfry sauce.
Beans, a purist, wanted only chicken and broccoli in his bowl, but he was torn between adding fried rice or brown rice.
I asked the perspiring man at the hot grill (who tookour bowls and noted our rice choices) if we could get fried brown rice - why not, right? He seemed confused by my question and I decided it was too loud in the line for me to effectively get my point across. Beans settled for brown rice, and I got the fried.
Back at the table, I dugthrough my bag for some hand sanitizer, and while I disinfected our hands, the Dad went to build his bowl. (He told me later that I had missed a dish full of sanitizing wipes on the counter where we gave the cooks our ingredients.)
Beans and I got our food first, and the Dad informedus that we hadn’t put enough in our bowls. We’ll know next time to add more; I guess I was thinking the stainless steel bowls were the same kind our dinner would be served from and that we would need to leave room for the rice. Suffice it to say, the big red serving bowls can hold much more than I thought.
The Dad didn’t make that mistake. His bowl was packed with shrimp, scallops, potatoes, cilantro, green onions, tiny corn on the cob, water chestnuts, citrus-garlic seasoning, ginger and honey soy sauce.
Beans was one satisfied customer. He lapped up nearly every grain of rice, shred of chicken and floret of broccoli, and announced he was still hungry.
So we pondered the dessert options, which include Khan’s Choklate Chunk Brownie, Khan’s Oreo Kookie Bash, Princess Pineapple Coconut Cake and a raspberry cheesecake ($5.49 each). After some waffling, he asked for the brownie. Thankfully, it was delivered with two spoons. He and I conquered it, ice cream, chocolate and caramel topping, fudgy brownie and all.
Genghis Grill Address: 12318 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, (501) 223-2695 Hours: Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m.
For the parents: More than 70 ingredients to build your ideal stir-fry, including protein like steak, chicken, shrimp, tofu, pork, scallops, pepperoni, sausage, white fish and a few others; seasoning mixes like lemon pepper, Cajun, yellow curry salt and granulated garlic; a bunch of vegetables including yellow squash and zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, bean sprouts and mushrooms; sauces such as barbecue, roasted tomato, red curry peanut and ginger citrus. Bowls come with white, brown orfried rice. For those who just don’t feel creative enough to choose ingredients, recipe cards are available to help as you move through the line.
Cost: Lunch bowls are $8.99 for one serving or $10.99 for unlimited trips through the line; dinner is $10.99 for one serving, $12.99 for unlimited trips. There’s also a full bar.
Kid-friendly food: Spaghetti, macaroni and cheese or quesadillas ($2.99 each) or they can fill a bowl ($4.99).
Highchair report: Clean, functional wood ones.
Hire a sitter? The tables are a bit close together, so there’s not much room for restless kids to stand, but the atmosphere is very family-friendly.
Family budget: Our bill was about $40 - not too bad.
- Kimberly Dishongh
Family, Pages 30 on 06/23/2010