When you need a quick and easy meal, Costco’s deli section houses a variety of enticing options. However, despite the hype these dishes tend to generate, the warehouse’s prepared meals still get their fair share of criticism. The most recent meal shoppers are complaining about? The beef bulgogi.
This week, Costco members took to Reddit to share their thoughts on this deli item after one customer announced the dish’s return to their warehouse. As depicted in the uploaded image, this meal includes ready-to-cook USDA Choice beef and sliced onions in a Korean barbecue sauce.
While some shoppers expressed their fondness for the beef or desire for it to return to their own warehouse, others aired their grievances. Many of those who critiqued the dish highlighted its excessive sweetness.
“It’s way too sweet to the point that it’s overpowering and ruins the meat. If they halved the amount of sweetness, I’d buy it regularly,” one commenter wrote.
“It was actually inedible for me. I soaked it in water to try to get the sugar out and it was still inedible,” another one added.
Keeping this complaint in mind, several Redditors shared recommendations to counteract the beef’s sweetness. Some suggested adding other ingredients to the dish, such as mushrooms, scallions, cabbage, and more onions. Others said they incorporate additional condiments like gochujang and rice wine vinegar.
Meanwhile, a few Reddit users said they prefer to purchase bulgogi from an Asian market instead of Costco, with one advising, “Get it at Hmart. They have the good stuff.”
In addition to this beef option, Costco sells another bulgogi offering: Bibigo Beef Bulgogi Mandu (280 calories per serving). Sold in three-pound bags, these fully-cooked frozen dumplings have been praised by customers and are filled with Korean-style bulgogi.
The deli department’s bulgogi isn’t the only item to recently receive criticism from Costco members. Shoppers have also been reporting issues with the Kirkland Signature Bacon (90 calories per serving). While some have said the meat is too fatty, others have expressed their dissatisfaction with the bacon’s flavor and thickness.
Brianna Ruback
Brianna is a staff writer at Eat This, Not That! She attended Ithaca College, where she graduated with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Communication Studies. Read more about Brianna
