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| - So, I just came back from experiencing the AYCE Lunch Special ($14.95) and I have to say overall I was pretty happy. The options are more limited than the higher tiers but you honestly get your money's worth and my table really enjoyed the beef and spicy pork bulgogi (both are offered on all tiers of AYCE). We ended up getting multiple orders of that and to put this into perspective, at many of the Korean restaurants in the Tempe & Mesa area I've had to pay upwards of $18 for an entree of spicy pork. In addition at a lot of the restaurants the flavor of said pork can be tasteless. This pork was definitely not as spicy as I ideally prefer, but the flavor was great. Factor in the banchan, the lettuce, salad, and rice $14.95 for all you can eat of it that's pretty fantastic.
Additionally, I have to say the service was much better than some of the reviews that were initially posted, and that's expected with any new restaurant, I always expect it to be a hot mess when they first open. My server was attentive asking if we were ready for the next round of meat. Food came quickly. I do have gripes about the soybean paste (doenjang jjigae) soup, it was overly salty and I've had plenty of this stuff in my lifetime, it is not meant to be that salty. I wouldn't order that again even though it's part of the AYCE. But that's the beauty of it, order something, try it and if you don't like it, don't order it again! And then focus on what you do like. My second issue was with the mulnaengmyun which is the cold buckwheat noodles, it's not offered on my tier of the AYCE but for 3.99 and the triple digit hell we call summer, I was just craving some. Not worth it to be honest, and I'd skip it to save room for more meat.
The last reason I didn't give this place a 5 star, the bathrooms. Sweet Jesus. You can tell it was an older bathroom, there's this corner that looks like it used to be a shower, they removed parts of the shower but certain things remain (there's a built in soap rack still tiled into the wall). The sinks and toilets were not replaced and could use a good cleaning, bleaching and use of a pumice stone. I get that low flush toilets are expensive to replace, but a couple of sinks in the grand scheme would have been like a couple hundred bucks. You guys spring for fancy tile on the restaurant wall, brand new automatic soap dispensers and you can't be bothered to at least change the toilet seats? Ugh, that was like gas station gross.
Two last things, the smell of gas was strong when we walked in. And I don't mean the smell of BBQ, I mean the smell of straight up gas which needs to be addressed whether it be better ventilation and/or please check regularly to make sure there are no leaks in the future. The smell did go away with time but it could have just been I had been smelling it for so long that I was desensitized. Lastly, the music, especially during the day, I have nothing against K-pop, I recognized most of the music, I was jamming out, but as far as conversing with your table, you had to compete with the music. Turn it down a couple notches, everyone will thank you for it.
I don't know if I can see myself spending $30 plus for the prime tier of AYCE meat, but I might try the mid grade tier at another point in the future, I would like to try their ribs and other choice cuts of meat. If you find yourself hesitant, the $14.95 is the safest choice to try this restaurant for the first time.
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