Wow! This may be one of my new favorite restaurants in Charlottesville. I like Korean food already but haven't found KBBQ nearby so I am glad they opened and we got to try them. I would say in general the food is pretty high quality probably a 4-5/5 stars but the staffs friendly service definitely makes this a 5 star experience to dine here. Our server was personable and friendly and did an awesome job. The hosts were also very nice and someone else working I think likely the manager came to check on us as well and everyone was so so nice. We felt so welcomed. The service definitely takes it up a notch. The ambiance is modern and trendy and feels elevated. My partner noted how cute all of the utensils and bowls were lol.
For the food we got the combination A for 2 which is basically just like the cheapest combo option for 2 people. We hadn't been before so we didn't feel the need to try something with more bells and whistles yet but likely would in the future.
The combo A comes with 4 meats that are cooked one after another. You're served all your sides to start and the server can refill these while you eat. For two people, it is a LOOOTT of food. The banchans included broccoli (3/5) just kinda plain), pickled daikon (4/5), pickled collared greens (5/5), kimchi (2/5 - sorry, I like mine spicier!!), cucumber kimchi (4/5), pickled bean sprout (5/5) - and that's on top of the steamed rice, salad (5/5), egg soufflé (4/5), stew (5/5) and cheese corn (5/5). As you can tell, the majority of the sides were unbelievably delicious and well prepared. Each side is made in house and really only the broccoli felt kinda plain and even that had some sort of sesame oil on it. So none of the sides are just plain veggies you're getting fully seasoned carefully crafted food and LOTS of it.
As for the meats, we thought they were quite good and went from our least favorite to our most. We started with the thinly sliced fatty beef brisket which, to be honest, was quite dry and a bit flavorless. It wasn't terrible but definitely was just kinda meh and needed the sauces they provided to elevate the flavor. This was maybe a 2-3/5. The next meat was the fatty pork belly. This was a 4/5. I don't LOVE pork belly as it is but to be honest this was seasoned and cooked quite well and I enjoyed it. The next two meats were totally amazing. The pork collar was my absolute favorite. Our server let us know that it can be a hard meat to cook and he did a fabulous job with it. Whatever the marinade was took it over the top and this came out perfectly tender, flavorful, and SUPER juicy! 10/5. I could eat this all day it was so good. The last meat was the spicy bulgogi and it was a 5/5. I loved it and my partner who is spice sensitive also liked it.
A note on the spicy food - my partner cannot tolerate spice (yt man problems) and there were a number of things that did or could include spice. The only thing he couldn't eat because of spice issues was the spicy soy paste stew. Everything else (spicy bulgogi, kimchi, etc) was tolerable. So if you're worried about the spice level, don't be. The sauces provided were not spicy either.
So, as far as the food went, we were very impressed. We also ordered drinks - I had pear juice which was kinda just 3/5. I didn't expect pulp so that's on me. My partner had the royal court cocktail. 5/5. This was pear with black tea and some spices and it was amazing!
I couldn't keep eating it was so much food but my boyfriend didn't want to leave unless we tried dessert lol. So the server recommended the tiramisu and my boyfriend raised his eyebrows at me. This is one of my all time favorite desserts and so I am quite picky. The server said they make a Korean version with soy bean paste mochi and some other alterations. I was pretty skeptical because again I am super picky about traditional tiramisu as it is and I just in general don't love sweet stuff. This tiramisu I am not kidding it is a 10/5. This might be one of the best desserts I've ever had. I didn't really care for the mochi on top but the almond topping combined with the tiramisu was amazing. It has just the right amount of savory in the sweetness, the texture was perfect and the espresso flavor was nice and strong. Totally amazing. Our server told us that the servers who work here love it so much they had to be banned from buying it on their shifts because they would run out so often and I see why! I will dream about this dessert for many days to come...
For two people with the combo drinks and dessert it came to about $150ish with taxes and tip. Totally worth it imo. It's definitely a nicer night out at the price point but you will not be disappointed. I am SO excited for the next time we come back! Thank you Bulpan for your awesome food and service - we are looking forward to forward to dining with you again. 감사합니다! read more