Didi N.
Yelp
We saw on Instagram that they were now doing AYCE Korean BBQ for $27-$40 so you know we had to come try it! We've been here before and the food was great! The restaurant is small but cozy. The atmosphere is very mom and pop like and all the servers are super friendly! I never have a problem with service here! You do have to cook the meats yourself here, which we love to do!
When we came this time around, it was around lunchtime. Our waitress was super sweet and explained the AYCE options. Prices start at $27 and increase depending on the package tier. All the packages come with banchan (side dishes), appetizers, and meats. If you want premium meats, then the price goes up. I think the highest premium meats tier is like $40 per person. We decided on the mid level tier at like $30+ dollars. The table was set up with tongs and scissors to cut up our meats as needed. We were then given our banchan (which had kimchi, bean sprouts, broccoli, potato salad (my fav!), etc.) changed at every refill) and also dipping sauces (sesame oil and salt, soy sauce?, and ssamjang (soybean paste and gochujang). You can also ask for lettuce wraps and also rice to go alongside your meats.
For the appetizers, we decided on Korean fried chicken, cheese corn, kimchi jjigae, and japchae noodles.
Korean fried chicken: 8/10 - pieces were a good size, fried to a perfect crisp, and came with a gochujang dipping sauce! The flavor was good too and we enjoyed it! Wished our main dipping sauces came with gochujang though! Most restaurants provide it on the side as a condiment.
Cheese corn: 9/10 - I absolutely love cheese corn and this did not disappoint! The cheese corn was sizzling and came perfectly melted! Cheese corn usually consists of mozzarella cheese, corn, butter, and some mayonnaise on a sizzling, hot plate. If you haven't tried it yet, you definitely should! The corn cheese tasted creamy and you definitely get that cheese pull! It does get a bit heavy on the stomach if you eat more than one serving!
Kimchi jjigae: 7/10 - my friend got this and she said it tasted really good! It's essentially a stew and has tofu, kimchi, pork or beef, scallions, etc. I love kimchi jjigae as it's a very comforting and hearty stew.
Japchae: 8/10 - my friend got this and she enjoyed it very much. Japchae is stir fry glass noodles (made with potato starch) with veggies and beef strips.
Meats:
Beef brisket: 6.5/10 - it didn't have flavor at all and came frozen. We were a bit disappointed that the meat came frozen and not fresh. We had to dip it in our dipping sauces to get some flavor.
Pork jowl: 7/10 - I love pork jowl (pork cheek) because it literally melts in your mouth! These were good but it was a little tough. I'm thinking it's because these were previously frozen. It didn't have much flavor unfortunately, but it tasted better than the beef brisket.
Galbi (Korean short ribs): 9/10 - these were really good. The marinated meats in my opinion tasted much better! The short ribs were fragrant and had a wonderful flavor. As it was grilling, I could smell all the spices and aroma. I love they added onion as well too because the onion's flavor becomes sweet after it's grilled. The chargrilled flavor was chef's kiss!
Spicy pork belly: 8/10 - I enjoyed the pork belly very much and it was marinated nicely. Dipped with the sesame oil/salt mix, it was divine. I always get pork belly at Korean BBQ restaurants and this one definitely hit the spot!
Overall, a decent place for AYCE Korean BBQ, but some of the meats need a little bit more flavor. Also wished some of the meats didn't come frozen but we had a good experience here. Will definitely come try this place again!