My Bowl Runneth Over at Genghis Grill in Cordova

My Bowl Runneth Over at Genghis Grill in Cordova

Last year, while on a derby trip to Evansville, I ate at a tiny, family-owned Mongolian Grill called Charlie's. The concept was awesome: put whatever raw ingredients you want (meat, veggies, noodles, eggs, etc.) into a bowl, hand it to the cooks, and watch them fry it on a table using two big sticks.

The protein bar at Genghis Grill, Memphis, Tenn. The protein bar at Genghis Grill, Memphis, Tenn.

The Genghis Grill in Cordova comes closest to replicating my Charlie's experience. Your server brings you a bowl, and then you fill it up with meat, veggies and seasonings from their all-raw buffet. At the end of the line, you fill up a smaller bowl with the sauce of your choice (they've got about 10 to choose from) hand it to the guys standing in front of the big, flat grill. They dump your bowl out, add the sauce, cook it with noodles or rice and deliver it to your table. It's sort of like YoLo, but with stir fry.

My finished bowl at Genghis Grill, Memphis, Tenn. The end result!

The selection at Genghis Grill is a little overwhelming. I crammed as many chunks of crab meat, bean sprouts, tomatoes, bell peppers, scallops and pineapple chunks as I could into my small bowl, then precariously balanced a raw egg on top. It didn't look like a lot of food when I handed it to the grill guys, but when it came to the table, the portion had grown kind of ridiculously (partially because the grill guys add the noodles or rice).

Genghis Grill is (so far) the only Mongolian barbecue in Memphis. It's a franchise restaurant, meaning that it's part of a national brand, but it's locally owned and operated. If you're going to try it, you may want to go at off-peak hours - the space isn't huge, and it's super kid-friendly.

The meals are priced per bowl, with one adult dinner bowl at $10 (and endless bowls for $13) and kids' single bowls (called Future warrior bowls") at $4.99. You can make a to-go bowl for $9.

Go There:

Genghis Grill

2362 North Germantown Parkway
Memphis, TN 38016
(901) 584-0412

Genghis Grill on Urbanspoon

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Jen
Yum, I love it there! You're right about going off-peak hours since it's small. We went one Thursday night and had to wait in line forever.
January 5, 2011 4:05pm
Laney
It's one of our go-to place, especially since it's open till 10 p.m. on weeknights, a bit later than most restaurants in that area. Lunch is a bit cheaper ($8, I think) and they'll let you do an "endless" bowl for $3 more (although I've no idea who would do that, it's a ton of food already). My only problem with it is that what you had wasn't really crab -- it was "krab", which I try to avoid. All the other ingredients are great, though, and always really fresh.
January 5, 2011 4:11pm
Memphis88
There's another one opening up in the new shopping center on Poplar by the Ridgeway Loop.
January 5, 2011 4:18pm
Jonathan McCarver
That's not the only place to get mongolian barbecue. Several buffets around town offer it. I had it at China pan buffet on winchester at least 6 years ago.
January 5, 2011 4:19pm
Ridgeway
If you're a vegetarian, do they stir fry in a veggie wok? I know that my veggie wife is sensitive to that. She wouldn't want to have her veggies fried just after your beef.
January 5, 2011 6:42pm
Crystal
We use to have a place like that here in Birmingham & loved it! But it closed. We are moving to Memphis in a few weeks. This gives us another new place to try!
January 6, 2011 3:10am
Kerry (admin)
They cook everything on a big flat surface that's cleaned after each use.
January 6, 2011 9:57am
Claudine
My boyfriend and I went on Monday. We also went on Wednesday. and he also went today. You can also get (what I like to call) a frequent bowler card. Keep your eye out for those pro-bowlers. Quite impressive. Enjoy, Kerry!
January 7, 2011 7:42pm