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2016-06-11
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Stopped in with a friend for a late lunch (2pm) to avoid the office lunch crowd. Luckily we were seated without much wait. The place is nicely decorated with a modern feel. Was not too thrilled with the wooden utensils, which although a nice traditional contrast, are not known to be the most hygienic.We ordered a variety of dishes. First off was the kabli hotteok. It was like a warm donut with meat filling. Kind of like a meat pie, but made with what I believe is rice cake. The meat insid
The place is nicely decorated with a modern feel. Was not too thrilled with the wooden utensils, which although a nice traditional contrast, are not known to be the most hygienic.
We ordered a variety of dishes. First off was the kabli hotteok. It was like a warm donut with meat filling. Kind of like a meat pie, but made with what I believe is rice cake. The meat inside was minced beef with a traditional kalbi korean marinade. The dish came with a nice creamy tartar type of dressing. Overall was quite excellent and would say this was by far the best dish we had. The downside was the portion was extremely small, the size of a small donut. For two of us, it was just two bites and we were done.
Next was the fried chicken. I won't write much here because honestly, there wasn't much unique about the dish. Sure it was good and met our expecations of "korean fried chicken", but I guess we had expected a bit more from the "fusion" element of the restaurant.
Lastly came the Kimchi and Tofu ball. Presentation A+. It came in a cute small black traditional korean bowl/plate. Taste, average. It was braised/stewed kimchi with a tofu ball on top. Unfortunately, I can easily make the dish at home. I suppose again, we expected something a bit more unique, but this one seems to be created by the restaurant to just for the sake of offering something with kimchi in keeping align with the korean concept.
Sadly, here comes the not so great part of the experience. After only about 20 minutes of having the food served, the waitress stopped by and told us we needed to finish and LEAVE the restaurant before 3pm. Mind you, we entered at 2pm. No word about this when we first entered the restaurant. This was unfortunate, as we were only half way into our meals and only had about 10 minutes left to finish and get up. Typically, a restaurant would let its patrons enjoy their meal at least 10-15 over the closing time. This was not the case here. What was dreadful was the waitress came by every 2 minutes with reminders. The last reminder came when 2 of them reminded us together. We simply paid our bill and left remaining food on the table (rather than stuffing our faces). We noticed as we were leaving, the staff were already packed up and leaving with us in the elevator. I guess they were in a rush to leave on their break before dinner. This was 3pm sharp.
Overall, I'd say the food was generally good, but generally overpriced. The "donut-sized" hotteok cost $82 for the small portion (price of a full entree at other restaurants). The fried chicken was $230 (almost double you'd find at other korean restaurants). Service in regards to the serving of food was fine. It's just the last piece about booting us out of the restaurant that does not sit well and hence my negative review. Overall experience left a "bad taste in our mouth".
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