Lunch at Gen Korean BBQ

June 12, 2024

Lunch at Gen Korean BBQ

My husband and I dined at Gen Korean BBQ located inside Westfield Southcenter. This is the type of spot where you cook your own meat at your table on a large grill. At Gen Korean BBQ, it's also all you can eat, so if you don't bring your appetite, you won't get as much out of the experience.

I was a little hungry, but not overly. For the price of $24.99 for lunch, you can choose four meats and four sides. When we ordered we forgot it was all you can eat. When our server asked if we'd like re-fills we said no as we were getting pretty full. We still had plenty of food left over. When I asked for a box, our server said they don't do that here. I felt bad wasting the food. I felt like since the food was on our table and we were paying for it, we should be able to take it. But upon looking at their website the next day, I did see a notice at the bottom about no leftovers. This seems like something the server should have mentioned.

The service felt a little spotty. Since the host and our server asked if it was our first time in and we said no, we felt like they should have explained the way everything worked, but we had to figure it our ourselves. The server came over to clean our burner, which is located in the center of the table. But then he forgot to turn it back on. I was wondering why our Honey Chicken was taking forever to cook.

I did like the loud music and vibes in the dining room. They have a nice cocktail menu, too. I enjoyed a Lychee Martini and my husband ordered a fun, blue cocktail. The sides and meat started arriving around the same time. When we sat down, there was already bowls of white rice and bowls of Kimchee. I don't recommend eating much rice, as it will fill you up, and you'll have to leave meat on your table when you leave.

For our meats, we chose Honey Chicken, Beef Bulgogi, another beef, and Korean Fried Chicken. The Honey Chicken was dark meat and tasted just ok. The other beef was also fine, but nothing incredible. The KFC were chicken nuggets with a spicy sauce. These were actually delicious, but very filling.

For our sides we chose the Fish Katsu, Japchae, and Hotteok for something sweet at the end. We also had a side that were white sticks with a red sauce, which I can't find on their website. The Fish Katsu was a nicely fried fish patty served with some creamy tartar sauce. The Japchae is stir fried glass noodles, which I only took a bite of and would like to have eaten more. And the Hotteok are Korean sweet pancakes which had a yummy brown sugar filling.

This was only my third time going out for Korean BBQ, and my husband's second time. We've never been hungry enough to really enjoy the dishes and get our money's worth. One time in Vancouver, BC we dined with my in-laws, and they were actually upset because we didn't eat enough of the Korean BBQ. I get full easily when I dine out, and love being able to bring my food home to enjoy later. I need to remember to not eat at buffets or all you can eat places for this reason!

Have you ever tried Korean BBQ where you cook your own meat at your table? Leave a comment below!