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| - I'm really loving the increase in excellent Asian restaurants to the East Valley! We came here around 5:45 on a Tuesday and there was no wait for a table of 5. Yes! As we left though it got a lot busier and there was definitely a line and a waitlist for tables.
The interior is modern and quite swanky with dim lighting and glowing blue accents. When we got seated one of the servers brought over some water and took our drink orders. Since we wanted to eat RIGHT NOW we already knew what 4 items to initially start with so we placed them immediately (One table can order up to 4 items at a time). In general, the servers will keep track of what time you sat down and you have a time limit of 2 hours to inhale all the delicious BBQ your stomach can handle! With 37 items to choose from you have quite a lot to decide on! We probably did about 7 rounds before we tapped out and declared mercy on our digestive systems. As soon as our meat order arrived we'd order another round to keep the flow going. I ate and ate and ate... I was sitting in the farthest corner of our booth a bit out of reach from the grill. My friends helped me out by placing random pieces of food on my plate from it so after a while I didn't even know what I was eating but it sure tasted great! Just keep eating, that's my motto!
Out of all the items my favorites were the smoked garlic pork belly and galbi. I was also impressed by the steak. If you order it, they will literally deliver a whole entire steak right to your table! We oohed and ahhhed over the sizzling sounds, the mouth-watering BBQ aromas emerging from our grilled paradise. In general I enjoyed all the meats we ordered and I have to say I think most of the meats and marinade tasted better than at regular Korean BBQ restaurants here in the Phoenix area.
Most of the items are raw meat that you cook, but they do offer foods such as Korean fried chicken which tasted more like General Tso's chicken but it was still delicious with crispy fried batter. The japchae was also interesting, it was plain clear noodles with no additional mix-ins and had a different flavor profile than what I've had in the past. One thing to note is that if you order the volcano chicken, prepare for Mt. Vesuvius to erupt onto your gustatory senses! My mouth was on fire and after the spiciness died down, my palate felt a bit numb as if the food had chemically burned it lol. It's basically the same battered fried chicken as the KFC, but doused with a nuclear hot sauce.
Some minor points. While service was very friendly and for the most part attentive (Which is much appreciated if you're on a time limit), there were some small annoyances such as not receiving any tongs for the meat or an extra plate of sauce even though they were requested. No worries on our part since we just grabbed them from the nearby service cart. One of the servers was considerate enough to let us know about the uneaten food policy near our 7th round of food (Perhaps this is a sign we are incurable gluttons), that there is a charge for any uneaten food on your plate.
Even the banchan was quite tasty and very plentiful. Your AYCE experience also comes with a big bowl of rice which was nicely cooked, a tray of 3 sauces (Green tea salt, sesame oil, a sweet brownish sauce) and a light salad.
Overall we all had a good time and I'd love to go back again for all you can MEAT!
4.5/5
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