Hello!

I had a question for anyone who could answer. How healthy is it to eat at a Mongolian Grill? I know you throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl and they grill it, but the sauces,,, are they fatty? For example....

Oyster garlic sauce
Garlic sauce
Soy sauce (I realize that's not to good for sodium)

and there are a number of others but I don't know what they're called. We have a new Mongolian Grill in town, and I want to make sure I'm picking the right sauces!!

Thanks

Marti

Hi, MNJ! I was curious and looked at their website, thinking it would have some nutritional info---but it doesn't. Still, I'd try it. Looks like a great idea and FAR healthier than some of the stuff out there. Let us know how you like it!

Marti: I would say the biggest thing is the sugar content. A lot of Oriental sauces are loaded with MSG and sugar. As for the food itself, it is always better on a grill than back in the kitchen being fried in grease! I looked at several sites and many said it was a good low fat meal, but again the sauces, so I would just ask them to cook it in light amount of sauce or just get some on the side and mix a small amount in yourself.

Thank you Eydie and Gma2one-

I've been to the place and it's soooo good. I loaded up on veggies and took only the chicken breast meat they had. They offer you another bowl to go another round, but I just can't imagine that!! I barely get what I have down. I chose to stay away from the soy sauce and went with the garlic and some kind of vinegar sauce. I didn't go overboard with it so I think it was all ok.

Anyway, thank you two for responding!

Marti

Hi Marti: I love the Mongolian BBQ by me. I just don't put as much of the oils in as they recommend. I only use one scoop of oil and one of sauce. Usually I do the garlic oil and the terriyaki sauce. You figure, some of it fries off in the process on the grill.

What I do try to stay away from is the rice and tortillas that they serve with the meal. I also load the bowl with alot of the veggies that they have available. The bok choy, baby corn, sprouts, etc. all that stuff is good filler and no/low calorie.

Even when I go Mexican now, I order fajitas and then just eat the meat with the peppers and onions and try to stay away from the rice and tortillas. That way it's still pretty low calorie, low fat.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out from what you already know about eatting healthy.

Ahh-- the rice. I'm horrible with staying away from the rice. Why don't the serve brown rice? Or is that even any healthier than the white? Looking back, I ate a lot of rice, so even if I did great with the other stuff,,, I piled in the rice. A lesson learned!! Thanks for the reminder!! Now the next time I go, I will not order the rice...even if it comes with the meal... just ask them to take it away!!

Thank you thinthinker!!

I also have to stop drinking soda when I go out!! I'm learning slowly!!!

Much of the weight I lost thirteen years ago was on the strength of my lunch-choices, and at that time Mongolian Barbecues were all the rage. I also eschewed oil and handed the cook my bowl and went on from there. Unfortunately, after about five months, they got wise to what some of us were doing, and took the oil off the buffet line and started putting it on the grill directly. Their contention was that frying without oil makes the grill harder to clean, and so they insisted on putting on a good amount of oil to keep their clean-up in line. That was the end of my Mongolian Barbecue days.

As long as they're not greasing the grill behind your back, Mongolian Barbecue is a rather good choice! However, as MNJ indicated, do without the rice.

Oh I appreciate all the responses I got here!! Thank you everyone.
Brian- I noticed that if someone hadn't put enough oils/sauces, that the griller added a little water! It cleaned up his grill nicely too!! So as long as the sauces are at the buffet,,, I will continue eating there.

Thank you everyone!!

Marti

I read this the other day and was asking what is a Mongolian Grill. There isn't one near where I live, but went to one when in Phoenix yesterday, mainly because I remembered this thread. It was very good. Thanks MNJ, because I never would have noticed it unless I'd read it here.

Oh I'm glad you found one and tried it. My sweetie took me to one years ago in a town miles from here, then at the beginning of summer they opened one up closer to us. I like knowing what is put in my food and how much. And watching them grill it is fun too. I have just always been worried about how much sauce/oils to put in my bowl. I just put two spoons of garlic and vinegar to give it flavor. I've seen others put 6 or more into theirs. It looks like soup afterwards!!
Anyway...glad you got to try out the Monoglian BBQ!!

Marti