Ma Po Charcoal BBQ Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

We live locally in Belmore and me and my husband have been visiting this place for lunch once a week since COVID and working from home even they had a few price changes. Like a normal weekday, we went in again today to have lunch and we ended up deciding not to go back again. I wasn’t feeling very well and didn’t feel like eating so I didn’t order anything today but my husband ordered his normal beef soup. When he finished up with his side dishes and asked for more like we normally would do, the lady refused to top up the side dish for my husband because I only ordered rice not any main dish on the menu like I normally would. The strange thing was that my husband went there by himself the week before and they were able to top up his side dish for him. The lady explained to us that it’s their policy to top up the side dishes only when each customer has at least ordered one dish. However it wasn’t stated on the menu. But I understand it’s not economic if we always just go and order one dish to share and ask for more side dishes however we’ve always been loyal customers at this place and this was the first and only time that I didn’t order because I was feeling sick and didn’t want to order and waste food. The other comment my husband had was that each time we visited them, the quality and taste of the mains were not constant and the price were sky rocking so we’ve decided not to go...

Used to be a regular here before covid, when the previous owner ran the place. And he ran it so perfectly, always giving VIP treatment to his regulars. Sadly though, Post-covid its UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. We ordered 5 meats - portions were very small and the pricing is very steep, here is a breakdown of our order for 4 people:

$35 for 2x beef ribs' $22 for 2x pieces of chicken thighs $27 for 4x thin strips of pork belly $26 2x pieces marinated pork $27 for 4x thinly sliced pork loin

The free sides were very frugally portioned out that we ended up asking for more of the salad which they gave us another one.

However the next time we asked they said NO and were not even nice about it even though we offered to pay for it. I asked the server why not? He responded that they couldn't do it but could not give me a proper reason. Also the staff there are not very good at speaking english, you have to repeat your question more than once and they give you a quizzical look - not sure if they truly understand or are playing dumb?

The old owner was very generous and also knew us because we always spent BIG so he knew how to cater to us and was extremely friendly.

In future for Korean BBQ we will be heading to Strathfield, Chatswood Bankstown or Campsie for All you can eat buffet and get our moneys...

Food was ok. Not the best quality meat but not the worst either. We come here often as it was convenient n spacious (as I have young kids and pram). The reason for 1 star is due to tonight's service. There were 4 of us including 2 young kids. I asked if we can sit in the bigger table as I'm worried my toddler would touch the bbq if we sit in the smaller ones and also there weren't enough space for all the food. They said no as there were only 4 of us. I would've been ok with this if the restaurant was even half full. But it was empty on a Fri night 6.30pm. There were only 4 tables occupied out of at least 20ish tables.

When our orders came (meat + soup), they didn't even know where to put it. In the end we managed but with alot of struggle and it was hard to enjoy my dinner when I'm constantly making sure my toddler doesn't touch the bbq and moving dishes around for space. When we left at 8.30pm, the restaurant was still empty.

Sadly they just lost a regular customer. The food isn't good enough for me to come back after tonight's treatment. Too many kbbq out there so definitely would go to others...