The birthday where the food is the thing people remember
Most birthday catering is chosen not to offend anyone. Korean is chosen because someone wanted the party to be about something, and it is the menu guests talk about afterwards rather than the one they politely finish.
It earns that without being difficult. Korean fried chicken wings and bulgogi sliders are immediately legible to anyone — including children who have decided in advance that they do not like new food — while galbi short ribs and dak galbi give the meal a centre. Japchae and kimchi fried rice do the work rice and pasta do elsewhere.
All beef and chicken, zabiha-sourced, with no pork and no alcohol anywhere in the kitchen — which for Korean food specifically is the part most caterers cannot offer.
- Korean fried chicken wings and bulgogi sliders — the two nobody needs convincing about
- Galbi short ribs and dak galbi spicy chicken for the centre of the table
- Japchae glass noodles, kimchi fried rice, steamed rice and banchan
- Mandu dumplings, hotteok sweet pancakes and a mochi assortment
A build-your-own bibimbap bar is an activity, not just a dish
At a birthday this earns its place twice. Guests assemble their own bowl from rice, vegetables, marinated beef and sauces, which spreads service out and gives people something to do in the first half hour when a party has not warmed up yet.
It also quietly handles the dietary spread. A vegetarian guest builds a full bowl from the same line rather than being handed a side salad, and the heat lives in the sauces at the end rather than through the dish, so anyone who wants it mild gets it mild.
Order the wings generously and the banchan wider
Two things consistently run short on this menu at a party. Korean fried chicken wings go faster than any other item we send, at roughly double the rate of a comparable fried item on the American board. And the banchan spread — which is cheap per head — gets trimmed first when a budget is tight and is then the thing people keep returning to.
Order the wings at the top of the bracket and put the banchan out in more places than feels necessary. It is the least expensive way to make this table look generous.
