Nick K. W.
Yelp
When it comes to Korean BBQ, I have to be in a specific mood for it -- most of the time I always go for other options for my meat fix, like regular BBQ or elsewhere. But when the craving strikes, it strikes hard -- and there's a lot of KBBQ places here in town that for me personally, tend to either miss the mark entirely or get it right. Arirang is one of those places that, for me, hits the mark each time.
Full disclosure: this is admittedly not the first time I've come here! It was quite some years ago, but back when I went to UNLV as a college student Arirang was one of my regular places to go for good food. It was only after some odd years -- and my mother being quite curious about this place -- that I decided to return, and write a proper review for it on Yelp.
The restaurant itself is located on that odd stretch of Flamingo Road between Maryland Parkway and Spencer Street, which doesn't look all that inviting -- never did look safe back then, and it hasn't exactly gotten any better -- but the restaurant itself looks impressive. With tables containing grills everywhere, and overly sugary K-Pop blasting on the TVs -- that's exactly what I think of when it comes to KBBQ. lol
The main reason we're here, though -- the food, of course. The servers come out with an array of dishes to start, including a salad with a soy-ginger dressing, various types of kimchi, potato salad, fish cake -- you know, the usual KBBQ side dishes. As for the meats on offer, you can pick from three different price points: one of them is offered only during lunch, and the other two cover the entire menu. It just depends on what you feel like and what you're willing to pay. The meats we ordered included the classic bulgogi, brisket, and beef tongue -- along with their marinated squid and their marinated chicken.
Everything was just as delicious as I remember -- the servers were quite attentive and would regularly check up on us to make sure that we were doing okay, if we needed anything, can we get more water and napkins, and so on and so forth. We ordered some additional items that I didn't cover up above in the description, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely. My mother in particular, who's not one for Korean BBQ, is a convert -- she considers this place one of her favorite KBBQ spots of all time! As for me, it was a great way to remind myself of why I enjoyed coming here during my college days.
Not only was it a great way for me to reminisce about my college days, but coming out here was one of the best KBBQ experiences that I've had in recent memory. The food, the service, pretty much everyone was spot-on and just as great as I remember. If you're ever in this part of town and are craving some good KBBQ, come out to Arirang! You won't regret it.