Originally I was on my way to Parksanbal which is on the next block but i passed this place on my way and saw there were a decent amount of people dining in so decided to try it out. Thats always a good sign on a Saturday night prime dinner time around 5:30-6. Upon entering we were quickly seated. The waitstaff brought us a cold large bottle of what I believe is barley tea and 2 large cups. We also got 5 side dishes which are all fairly tasty and fresh, really good kimchi. Environment is nice.
For 2 people, I ordered the P3 (beef hot stone rice) which comes with a small bowl of egg drop soup and a small dipping sauce. My partner ordered the cold noodle combo with bulgogi and a bottle of soju. We planned to share. We were starving so finished the banchans fairly quickly. When our food came we asked our waitress for a refill but it never came. I really liked my hot stone pot rice but I'd say the portion is a bit underwhelming, same goes for my partner's bulgogi. It's significantly smaller than all other Korean restaurants we've frequented over the years. Just a bit surprising since the markup here is a lot higher. The cold noodles and bulgogi were ok, tasty but we've had better. By the time we finished our food, still no banchan refill we had asked for 20min ago. I understand there's only 2 waitstaff and they seemed busy with both dine in and take out so I was patient. My partner still had some soju left and we already finished the food so he needed a few small side dishes to finish it off so I asked again when one of the waitstaff was nearby if we can get a refill of the banchans and she said ok. But she went off to do other things. 10-15 more minute still nothing and we felt it was time to go so he polished off the soju and asked for the bill. I think if the restaurant doesn't offer refills they can just tell us instead of saying ok then nothing 2x.
Everything came out to be $75 for 2, pretty pricey for the amount that food we got and basically no service. My partner wasn't happy about the experience, I was treating the meal and he felt due to lack of service $10 tip was enough not 18% but I never tip less than 15% so we left it at that.
The Google reviews make this place seem much nicer than it is, maybe we just didn't get the same service or came on a rather lackluster day. I won't be coming back unfortunately. I'll stick with the solid Parksanbul ($20 for a big bowl of slow stewed beef bone soup + unlimited sides) and better cold noodles at Guk Su Jip which also nearby (best hand made noodles in all Flushing / Bayside area). read more