Gino B.
Yelp
" Pricey, Premium, Good Quality Meats... "
We walked into Jongro BBQ on a Sunday night and were able to score a bench booth at the rear end of the dining room. Most times, you will find that There is plenty of parking in the H-Mart anchored outdoor retail mall location where this " Gangnam Street BBQ " is located. We were greeted by a nice hostess who verified vaccination credentials and quickly took our seats while loud electro beats were banging loudly on the speakers.
Ambiance wise, if that is how a patio in the Gagnam district in South Korea is like, I will be booking a flight to Seoul soon! So, with all this hype and fanfare, why only the three stars? It is mostly for the service or lack thereof - which is a large part of the experience at a Korean BBQ. Our guests didn't know the menu or how to order and it was hard to find a staff member that didn't have a language barrier to explain the cuts of meats or how things work in English. Service is " you order by number, we serve ", almost like keep it brief and let's get on with it lol. If you forget about that, hard to but yes, in theory there is a tiny, small, very remote, potential, possible chance that you could, then everything is great!
The menu seems to have changed over the past year; we noticed to short rib beef soup and raw beef combo meat tray were no longer offered. In lieu, Trays of à la carte raw meat are ordered from a newer pictorial menu, then grilled and sliced table-side by Gongro staff. That part was fantastic and robotic, with little interaction. We ordered the pricey premium ribeye steak ($43), Kalbi ($39) bulgogi for two ($55) and the colossal shrimp scampi ($23), the assorted mushroom variety platter ($25) was way overpriced for what it is; we will skip that next time. Overall, The meat quality was very good; although for the price, the ribeye fat quantity vs consumable meat was not of good value. The staff at the grilling station were very attentive by cooking and slicing the meat for us; changing the mesh grill to a cast iron searing pan between kalbi and ribeye cookouts; while the marinated bulgogi tray and its fixings were simmering on the adjacent gas carrier. The colossal shrimp scampi were tasty and made for a Nice ending to the red meat fest.
With the exception of the very " mayonnaisey " macaroni salad, the Side dishes included spicy tofu soup, kimchi, marinated onions, broccoli, onion salad and sliced radishes; they were great and complimented the meats nicely. There were hand sanitizer dispensers at each table; nice touch!
Gongro offers a great festive ambiance and premium, pricey, good quality meats. BUT and yes sometimes there is always a BUT - so but; Gongro falls short on the service - to match.
We would definitely come back as long we don't have guests who need help to better understand the menu or needing a little communication in english for the ordering or cooking phases of the meal experience.