Holy cow! Holy Angus cow! Watch out Las Vegas, Hobak is here to set the Korean BBQ scene on fire! Hobak is a Korean BBQ franchise/chain in Korea. This location is their first US location.
The interior is exceptionally clean. The way that they decorated the place reminded me of Asian outdoor food stall areas. In places like Hong Kong and Seoul, they have food stalls and there are tables around the area where the customers sit and eat. It's like a food court but outdoors. They also had old movie posters posted in certain places. What was best about this place was that the round tables were decorated as though you're around a huge barrel. In Seoul, Korea, there is this one hugely popular KBBQ joint where your party literally all stand around a barrel and cook your meat. There's charcoal in the barrel and you just grill it. So it's really great that Hobak gives you a little glimpse of that.
Before they sit you and your party, they'll prep the table for you. They'll set all the dished down with the banchan and they'll fire the grill up first. Now, this is the best part: when you get to your table, you'll see that their grills are gas based, however, they also put a few pieces of coal there. You'll have the temperature control of gas (somewhat) yet the smokey flavors of coal - now THAT'S definitely different. No other Korean BBQ joint in the city does this as far as I know. Also, the modern ventilation systems! Definitely a plus! The only other place that has it is Doh Korean BBQ I believe.
Their menu mainly consists of beef and pork. If you're looking for chicken, seafood, or the huge variety that a place like Gen offers then you're in the wrong place my friend. In fact, if you're looking for AYCE .. this is definitely not the place. Everything here shall be a la carte. Hobak in Korea is largely known for their marinated meats so of course two of their highlighted items would be their marinated skirt steak and aged/marinated short ribs. Aside from that, they also have combo meals.
For their combo meals, you either choose beef, pork, or combo. Each combo meal comes with bean paste stew, steamed egg, veggies, cheddar cheese, and dessert. My boyfriend and I decided to go with their family combo: it has two beef dishes and two pork dishes. It'll give us a good round about feeling of the place, their style, and their quality. However, there is a typo on their family combo .. the English part anyways. It says the combo comes with Angus boneless short ribs but it turns out that its supposed to be aged/marinated pork ribs. We didn't realize this until later on in the meal when the meats were out. Granted, if you compared the Korean symbols, you'll easily find the mistake ...
I typically don't care for marinated meats so it was a huge disappointment that all the meats in the family combo were marinated. Despite that, their marination was not overpowering and also not overly sweet. They definitely have a good control over that aspect. Their marinated skirt steak was amazingly tender and pretty much melts in your mouth. Their aged short ribs were really good quality. Their spicy pork belly was also a huge surprise: it was sliced thinly like they do for brisket. The pork belly was really really delicious. It just melted in my mouth. Although, I would feel as though the pork belly would be better without the sauce...you'll be able to taste the pork more. I tasted a whole lot more sauce than pork. As for their marinated pork ribs ... it took the LONGEST to cook but it was really good. Because it's not an AYCE establishments, they are able to focus on the pure quality of the meats.
The service was phenomenal. Our server was always close by and they actually cook for you. Of course, you have the option to cook the meat yourself and the server will ask you which you prefer. We decided to let our server cook for us. Might as well get some good ol attention here! Our server's name was Sim and he was really really friendly. We had some friendly chats with him about the restaurant, about Seoul, and a few general things. He even would cut some of the char off of the meat if it was too much! Hobak is probably the only Korean BBQ restaurant in Las Vegas to give me superb service like this. It's just unbeatable at this moment.
If it gets busy however, I can see how it'll get harder and harder for the servers to be as attentive. It wasn't a full house but they had a decent amount of people dining the night we went. It was pretty good for being their 2nd day in business. But no fear! There is a service button on the side of the table!
Being as new as they are, they definitely need to work out some kinks here and there, like fixing the menu. Despite that, my dinner experience was a five star experience here with their service and quality. Especially when you compare it to the other Korean restaurants in the city. Will definitely be back for their beef combo! :) I think everyone should give them a try!