Hubby and I cruised into town early afternoon last Friday and decided to give Hobak a go. A quick call revealed that there was no wait. What! Cool!
The place is pretty neato looking....exposed ceiling, concrete floors and those cool pull-down exhausts. Although there's no wait, it did take a few minutes to get seated because they prefer to set up the table with banchan and water before the seat the guest.
We were starvin' Marvin so we got the small beef combo. I went to restroom while hubby ordered and the server asked if we were very hungry, hubby said always so we were recommended the ribeye and marinated short rib. I know some Yelpers really recommended the skirt steak but oh well!
Food came...brisket and rib-eye were amaaaazing. The short rib was incredibly tender ("How is this beef?"), likely because it had been aged and tenderized by the marinade. Hubby and I didn't much care for the marinade but it was still delicious beef.
Other cool stuff:
- Bean sprout banchan
- Pancake
- Disposable toothbrushes in restrooms
- Delicious bibimbap lunch box, shaken tableside like at Kang Ho Dong Baekjong
- Most amazing yet simple dessert of green tea ice cream with red bean paste and peanut powder on rice crackers.
- Service was great. There was a slight communication error simply because they were eager to serve. We told one guy to hold off cooking our meat for 10 minutes but right after he left, a lady came by and started throwing the meat on the grill.
Other notes: Rice is not included in the meal but THEY DO NOT CHARGE FOR IT. They just don't automatically give it to you but it is cheerfully offered.
Final note: If you have a large appetite, the small meal was juuuuuuust right. Hubby and I felt like if we hadn't each had a bowl of rice as well as the extra bibimbap lunchbox, we probably could have had another meal afterwards. For those with smaller appetites, I would say, this may feed 2.5 people.
Check it out!