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| - Allow me to share my Star Karaoke adventure. During a trip to the Savoy 16 Theater, I spotted this strange building as I was pulling into the lot. From a distance, I could only make out the more prominent part of the building's sign: "BBQ & PIZZA." I shrugged it off as a typical family restaurant, but a friend told me later that it was actually a Korean karaoke place. This piqued my interest. With an upcoming birthday, I thought I would investigate Star Karaoke as a potential venue, especially as I have an appreciation for quirky spots.
After some investigation through the Internet, I was able to confirm that Star Karaoke was a true Asian karaoke place; that is, the setup they offer is not the standard single stage that you see in American bars. Instead, the building holds many separate "booths," or small enclosed rooms. Each room has the requisite big screen TV and equipment (microphones, song lists, etc.) so you can fulfill your karaoke dreams. If you're someone who is easily embarrassed by your singing abilities, this is an ideal setup as you can karaoke with your friends in the comfort of a private booth.
I also found a "food list" while searching the Internet. Do not expect to find American-style barbecue and pizza if you come here; all of the food is made with Asian cooking techniques and flavors. According to one website, Star Karaoke sold food items like "ricecakes covered in lava." Yikes?
I called a week in advance to reserve a booth for my birthday celebration. With a party of 10, the employee offered us their largest booth, which cost something like $40 per hour. The price seemed pretty expensive, but was not too bad if you consider splitting it between 10 people. For whatever room you intend to rent, just anticipate paying around $4 to $6 per person.
When we got there, she led us to our booth, which had a large table, plenty of seating, and a miniature disco ball on the ceiling. (Don't forget that these are still fairly small rooms, so prepare to get cozy.) For anyone interested in just trying the food (not the karaoke), I also saw a separate, large dining area that I assume is for dinner guests only.
We ordered beer and several dishes to share, including bulgolgi (Korean-style barbecue), sweet potato pizza, seafood pancakes, and the previously mentioned "ricecakes covered in lava." Most of it was pretty mediocre and did not stand out too much in my mind. The sweet potato pizza was interesting, though the cheese and crust were a bit hard and bland, a pretty amateur attempt at pizza. I enjoyed the seafood pancake with its crispy edges and flavorful dipping sauce (I think it was everyone's favorite dish). Unfortunately, nobody really wanted to touch the ricecakes covered in lava, which was indeed spicy, but also tasted a little weird and came with a single, huge boiled egg (?).
Although this karaoke venue is owned by Asians, the provided song lists had both Korean and American tracks. I didn't look at the Korean list, but the American song list was pretty extensive (probably 300+ songs) and had all of the favorite karaoke tunes, including (surprisingly) some pretty recent hit songs from the previous months. The equipment was easy to use and the staff only interrupted us to deliver food, pick up dirty dishes, and take additional orders.
Overall, the experience was a good one and while I would consider going back for another celebration, I probably wouldn't make this a permanent hangout on Friday nights. I docked points mostly because the facilities seemed a little outdated and the food wasn't too exciting. For anyone who hasn't had the Asian karaoke experience, though, I would suggest trying Star Karaoke at least once.
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