BeWon Korean BBQ Adelaide — Restaurant in Adelaide

I used to be a big fan of BeWon Korean Restaurant, and I still remember how much I loved their fried chicken and army stew. So when I saw their advertisement on social media, I didn’t hesitate to give it another try. However, this turned out to be one of the biggest dining disappointments I’ve had. It feels like BeWon has completely destroyed its original brand with the recent changes.

First, don't trust any reviews older than a few months—I believe they’ve changed management or something major. The beautifully plated, high-quality meats they used to serve are no longer available. Instead, they now offer a $29.99 all-you-can-eat menu, but this is not what it seems. Most of the meat options, including better cuts and seafood, are not part of the deal, and you have to pay extra for nearly everything, including vegetables. They even charge $2.50 for a small bottle of water as they don’t offer complimentary table water. I’ve attached a photo of the menu for reference—there are only 9 meat options included in the all-you-can-eat, and any better-quality meats come with an extra charge.

As for the quality of the meat, as a fan of Korean BBQ, I have to say BeWon now ranks among the worst in Adelaide. The marinated meats lacked depth—it's as if they just dipped them in sauce on the surface. It doesn’t come close to the flavorful experience you’d expect from a Korean BBQ restaurant. On top of that, the service was chaotic. They give you 90 minutes to dine, but you’ll waste so much time waiting to order and receive your food. With only three staff members working, service was painfully slow, even on a weekday evening. Only one staff member could take orders, and by the time the food actually arrived, more than 10 minutes had passed between each round, so you’re just sitting there with an empty grill for most of the meal. I can't even imagine how bad it would be on the weekend.

At the 60-minute mark, we were already reminded to place our last order, which felt rushed, especially considering the slow service at the start. To make matters worse, when we first sat down, it took over 10 minutes for anyone to acknowledge us. The most common thing I heard from the staff throughout the night was "sorry," as many customers, including us, kept asking about missing dishes. And their once-great fried chicken? I would honestly give it 0 stars—it was bland and overcooked, as you can see from the attached photos. If they don’t improve, I definitely won’t be coming back, and I can’t recommend this place to anyone.

Some might argue that $29.99 is a cheap price, but with all the additional charges (like $2.50 for water and $2.50 for vegetables), you're quickly paying $35 or more. At that price, I would strongly recommend heading to Gangnam Korean BBQ in the city. Their price includes most meats, seafood, and even free soft drinks, making it much better value for money. Honestly, BeWon is now the most disappointing restaurant I’ve tried in Adelaide, and I don’t think it’s acceptable to offer poor service and food quality just because the price is lower. Customers deserve much better, and I really hope management takes action to fix...

DO NOT GO HERE!!! BeWon Korean bbq is by far THE WORST RESTAURANT WE HAVE EVER BEEN TO!

The customer service was non-existent and staff were rude from the moment we got there as we arrived late due to first arriving at BeWon Korean restaurant on the exact same street before staff advised us they had another restaurant for the bbq further down the road. Once we arrived the staff told us we couldn’t keep our table unless we quickly ordered, ate and left.. we kept getting reminders of this and being rushed by staff throughout!

We were denied water and for our purchased drinks we were told they don’t serve ice so our drinks sitting next to a bbq plate didn’t last long before they were warm.

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING FOOD!!

Plain, no seasoning, no vegetable options except lettuce and spring onion.

THIS FOOD MADE US FEEL SO SICK!

UNSAFE FOOD PRACTICES!

Staff have no food hygeine and we’re cross contaminating raw and cooked meat food utensils repeatedly in front of us and didn’t understand why this would be a problem.

AN ABSOLUTE MONEY GRAB!!

Raised the price from $30 per head to $35 per head once we were already dining and did not advise us earlier. The menu only showed $30 and had no mention of different prices for different days!

THEY WILL CHARGE YOU $15 PER PERSON FOR ANY FOOD LEFTOVER, not just large amounts… ANY FOOD AT ALL!!!

It states $15 on the menu if food is wasted however, we had to leave early due to becoming ill rapidly from the food and we cleaned up the floor from our toddler and placed the floor scraps in a napkin (a mix of baby food brought from home also). As I went up to pay the manager pushed passed me and sifted through our plates, cutlery and rubbish and then stated we had not eaten everything as there was food scraps under a napkin, we tried to explain that the small amount of food left was bit due to over ordering but as we did not enjoy the food and we’re feeling very unwell however, the majority was on the floor and we had cleaned up to assist the staff out of courtesy but the manager was yelling that we had to pay $30 extra on top of all of this!!!

THE MANAGER WILL VERBALLY ABUSE YOU IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE ADDITIONAL SURCHARGE!

We agreed to pay the requested amount however stated we would not return and immediately the manager practically chased us out of the restaurant yelling at us and making sarcastic comments stating “ you shouldn’t waste food“ and “you shouldn’t have been late”…

We can’t even believe how disappointing and disgraceful this entire experience was or the disgusting behaviour of this business owner and it was extremely aggressive and unprofessional behaviour to say the least.

We quickly rushed and exited the restaurant after this confrontation as we were extremely uncomfortable and our little one was subject to this also.. we didn’t even have time to clean her up from eating.

We had multiple conversations with other customers throughout the night and it is very clear this restaurant will not last long and doesn’t deserve anyone’s business or hard earned money.

DON’T RUIN YOUR NIGHT BY GOING HERE, YOU...

I recently had a very unpleasant experience at this restaurant that I feel compelled to share. This restaurant operates on a self-service grilling system, with a strict dining time limit of 90 minutes, which we were fully aware of. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we arrived 30 minutes late for our reservation. When we were seated, a server assured us that our time would start from the moment we placed our order, so we believed we still had ample time to enjoy our meal.

To our surprise, about 20 minutes into our dining experience, the manager abruptly approached us with a rude and unprofessional attitude. She informed us that we only had 10 minutes left and that it was already time for the "last order." Her demeanor was unpleasant and made the situation quite uncomfortable. We tried to explain that the server had told us our time would start after ordering, but the manager insisted that the countdown began from our original reservation time, disregarding what the staff had communicated to us earlier.

As if this wasn't bad enough, when we went to pay the bill, we inquired whether there would be any discount given the poor experience. The restaurant owner scoffed at us, condescendingly asking, "Why would there be a discount? It’s not expensive anyway." Her attitude was extremely dismissive, leaving us feeling disrespected and frustrated.

Overall, the service was abysmal, the staff seemed untrained, and there was a total lack of professionalism in handling customer concerns. I will never return to this restaurant, and I strongly urge others to avoid it as well. It’s simply...