Chris R.
Yelp
We went to Dae Jang Keum yesterday for some Korean BBQ. We got the "Jang" meat tray of beef brisket, beef kalbi, pork belly, and spicy pork shoulder. It was eventually brought out by a cute robot with cat ears. There's little more that I can say positive, though.
The service and amenities left a lot to be desired. The first red flag was when I asked for ice water with lemon and was told that there was no ice. My daughter ordered a lemonade. There was ice in it. So, at a restaurant where we're spending WELL over $100 for 3 people, they won't pay for ice since the drink was free. Additionally, the lemonade was bland and watered down even after my daughter shared some of her ice with me. Later, she asked for more napkins for the table, and we were gicen 2 napkins for 3 people. It's insulting and cheap.
My wife ordered a seafood soup. It was light on seafood and flavor. The waitress also didn't bring the included rice out with her, apparently seeing that we all had rice, but it's included in the price of the soup.
The banchan was also pretty bad. The salad had wilted spots and some of it tasted underwashed. The kimchi was bland. The fishcake had no flavor and even lacked texture. The only thing that tasted good was some pickled cauliflower mix. We didn't ask for refills, but we also didn't get offered any.
When we got the check, I nearly double-tipped because the gratuity was added for having a barbecue table. I normally tip more than the 18%, but not being told about it either beforehand or afterhand left a bad taste in my mouth. I crossed out the second tip and left it at 18%. I was not happy, and I'm normally pretty easy to please.
Overall, I would say that this restaurant gets by with a primo location next to H-Mart. Otherwise, avoid it. It's just not that good and shockingly bland.
The korean bbq was good, though. Credit where it's due, but it's pretty hard to mess up freshly-cooked meat.