Chris V.
Yelp
If it ain't broke, don't add too many inconsistent and/or poorly thought-out items to the menu.
Master Kim's Korean BBQ is arguably a chain of restaurants and not arguably finding sustained success over three locations. This spot is in a plaza just south of Town Square and is neighbors with several other restaurants and one Total Wine & More.
I went with a friend for a late dinner, and we were able to be seated almost right away. We quickly agreed to splurge on the AYCE menu C ($44.95 per person) and got down to ordering.
Iced green tea (+$2.50) was a low bitterness, smooth green tea that will cleanse your palate and help stave off a food coma. Other nonalcoholic beverages looked pretty affordable too, so don't shy away from grabbing one.
Brisket was the first meat on the grill. It cooks up quickly and crisps up well, and it's delicious with just about any of the sauces on the table. The New York Steak (1 per person) was better than when I tried it at their fraternal twin restaurant Mr. Kim's, and I preferred dipping it into the oil and salt. The last part of that first order was lamb bulgogi, one of the new menu items added just last month. It seemed to stick to the grill a lot, but I still enjoyed the charred thin pieces of lightly marinated lamb.
The big misstep was the Tenderloin (1 per person), another new menu item. It didn't come out tender, and every piece of it tasted oddly liver-y. The wagyu tri-tip (also new and also 1 per person) was a better choice, with more unctuous character and tenderness. I'd recommend including the tri-tip and not the tenderloin in your order.
We eventually realized that the two portions of LA kalbi (1 per person) hadn't come out and probably wouldn't without intervention. Our server agreed that we had no bones on our table or plates and soon sent out the star of the meal. Three of the slabs were thin, moderately marinated, and very tender. The fourth was oddly huge and ended up actually being mostly fat. When the limit on the item is so restrictive, that's still a significant miss.
We ended up getting one lamb chop out of curiosity. It is indeed lamb on a stick (i.e. bone), and it's a little too thick to cook efficiently on a hot grill. We eventually managed to get it done, and frankly it was a bit boring without any marinade or spices.
They've moved away from preloading the table with banchan, which is understandable for economy/efficiency but a bit disappointing for the experience. Also, they didn't specifically ask if we wanted any additional orders of the sides which we did get, and it was easy to forgot about those when distracted by the grill and by impending food comas.
I did enjoy both the standalone kimchi and the kimchi stew quite a bit even though they were challenging in capsaicin level for me. The cilantro salad was also interesting, consisting of mostly cilantro plus some carrot and red cabbage. The regular steamed egg was about as fluffy as expected.
Dessert was included for us, and I opted for the pineapple sorbet. It was actually very creamy and had small bits of pineapple dispersed in it. If you like pineapple, then this is a must-try.
Our server was attentive. Grill changes were timely and we never seemed to have to wait to place an order. The restaurant space is kinda massive and yet the K-pop music videos on the TV on the far wall were quite visible (and audible). The ventilation is built into the sides of the grill and works well enough.
I still like Master Kim's, but the tenderloin issue and some other items weren't as impressive as I would have hoped. I'll just have to fine-tune my ordering the next time I step into one of their establishments.