Grace A.
Yelp
I went here during their soft opening with my husband and I wasn't really expecting much because I knew they were just testing everything out. I'm just happy there's a kbbq and hot pot on this side of town so for all those people who are hating on this place, I think it's best to give them more critical feedback rather than hate. We want them to stay here, but just improve their service.
With that being said, yes, the wait staff and the hosts are very young and could use some more training.
As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a nice young man and he explained the concept of the restaurant, which was nice. It's good for those who've never been to a kbbq/hot pot spot.
The place is massive! Bigger than what it looks like on the outside and it was clean. There were two sides. The side on the left had some arcade games and a bar/lounge area where people can wait. The right side was more restaurant and not as bright. Towards the front is the kitchen. There were cute little Bella cat robots roaming around, taking food to the respective tables.
I was excited because we were able to get seated immediately, but the manager then told the hosts that the section they sat us in was actually closed. So they asked us politely and apologetically to go to the waiting area. The hostess looked very nervous and unsure of herself. So I think she just needs to build up her confidence and she'll be great. I've worked as a hostess before at a Japanese restaurant in CA and we always knew prior to opening which areas are open for seating and which were closed. Another thing I noticed was that there were a lot of hosts. I don't think it was necessary because it just looked like a bunch of young kids asking each other what to do.
When we finally got seated, we were right next to the condiments/sushi/dessert bar. It was THE perfect spot. The one thing I found lacking was the usual sesame oil and salt that I would use to dip my brisket in. How do you not have that??? It's a staple in kbbq. They also didn't have brisket for kbbq. However, they did have brisket for the hot pot.
Our server looked like she was underage and she also seemed very timid and shy. She was, in fact, under 21 so when my husband ordered a beer, she had to have someone else serve it to us.
We only ordered kbbq, we didn't do hot pot that day. There was a small selection of meats for kbbq. It was just way too hot for hot pot, but there were items (frog legs, mushrooms, cabbage, etc.) on a refrigerated conveyor belt for hot pot that you can reach in and grab.
The meat for the kbbq came by trolley on a track above the conveyor belt. It stops right in front of your table and you can grab it. This is a pretty cool feature because it minimizes the number of carts going around and potentially bumping into each other. It's a good use of vertical space.
We ordered pretty much all the red meats. I loved the fact that it was fresh and not frozen meat. I've gone to a bunch of kbbq spots where the meat had icicles forming on them. Not this place. We ordered beef bulgogi, short rib, Hawaiian steak, beef steak. The Hawaiian steak was probably my favorite. Short rib was second, beef bulgogi and then beef steak. Beef steak would've been nice with some sesame oil and salt.
Overall, it was a decent first experience during a soft opening. I would go here again to try the hot pot and hope they have brisket for the kbbq.