Patrick D.
Yelp
We went as a party of six (five adults and one toddler) to give this new kbbq spot a try. This was their opening weekend, and we went at 4pm so that they weren't too busy.
They sat us down at a table for six with one grill. While disappointing, this is something many Korean bbq places do, and it shouldn't matter as long as the portions are big enough and delivered to the table in a timely manner. After all, you're on a 90 minute time limit if you decide to get the all you can eat option.
I don't like to rag on servers having worked in the restaurant industry myself, but our waiter was not cut out for the job. From the get go, it seemed like he didn't understand English enough to answer my question about what the difference between two of their steaks were, so I gave up after a few attempts. After that, every round of orders that we put in had something wrong. From missing items, to incorrect variations of items, to items that we didn't order, things just didn't seem to click.
On top of that, his other tables were on the opposite side of the restaurant, so his stops at ours were very infrequent. After we were done cooking every round, we'd sit there with an empty grill for 5-10 minutes waiting for him so we can put in our next order. Thankfully the 90 minute limit wasn't enforced for us, but we were there for over two hours until we were satisfied. Not because we eat a lot, but because of the time it took waiting around.
In the middle of our meal, we realized that we were seated directly next to a giant pot filled with grill cleaner, as servers kept opening it to place dirty grill plates in, making our area smell. They even dropped a big holding lid for one of the grill plates right behind our chairs, leaving it there for at least half an hour, essentially blocking two of us in.
After our last round was ordered, our waiter just disappeared completely, and we eventually had to go to the front desk to ask for the bill.
The food was alright. They take the route of strong marinades to make up for okay meat quality. For the price, you can do better, though you'd have to go out to Rockville or VA. The portions were tiny for a table of 6, even when we ordered double portions (8 shrimp per order, 4 or 5 pieces of brisket per person, etc). Though that may be attributed to our waiter's mistakes. Our favorites were the spicy pork bulgogi and shrimp. The banchan were great though, and the sides were decent as well.
The sauces left a lot to be desired, with the three options being yum yum, sweet chili, and some thick sweet dark soy sauce. There was no light option and since they were all a paste consistency, they all felt "heavy" both physically and taste wise. There needs to be a simple salt and sesame oil option, or at least a "lighter" soy option.
Overall, this was a disappointing experience for us, which is a bummer since it's the only Korean bbq spot in Frederick. Hopefully these are just the woes of a new restaurant, but they have a lot to improve on.