Koreana Restaurant — Restaurant in Ottawa

Update Went here for lunch on a Thursday for the first time, as opposed to on a weekend; different server, completely different experience. She was attentive to our needs, very present, and let us know that if we wanted more of the all-you-can-eat lunch or anything else, we should press the button by the table- I had no idea that those were even working! What a difference a single server can make!

My dad and I have gone to Koreana's all-you-can-eat lunch on a few occasions now. There are some good things, and other things that are not-so-good.

The good: The food. All items on the AYCE lunch are delicious: the miso soup, the side dishes (kimchi, potatoes, daikon radish, etc.), the dumplings, the seafood pancake, the marinaded meat, etc. Sometimes in AYCE situations, the quality of food is not great; here, this is great food and there is lots of it.

The not-so-good: The service. To echo a lot of other Google reviewers, the service is pretty dire. The restaurant is usually quite full for these AYCE lunches (a pretty sure sign that business is good) and yet the staff seem to be completely flustered and overwhelmed. Usually there is one young waiter taking care of the tables and working the cash, and the owner (elderly man who is pictured with Pierre Elliott Trudeau at the entrance of the restaurant) is typically helping out. You can go a LOOOOOONG period of time with empty glasses and plates before the staff will come around to your table unless you deliberately flag them down. Often, when you ask for something specific (e.g. a beverage other than water) your request may be forgotten in the fray. There have been some instances where, even though this is AYCE and I could still stand to eat more, I have chosen to leave because the service was inadequate.

Difficult to say whether or not I recommend it. It's honestly really good food, but you do have to put up with substandard service....

I've been going to Koreana for a few years but after my experience tonight, I will definitely never return. I noted that their customer service has been going downhill the last few years, especially with the new waiting staff but I've always been forgiven, despite the cocky attitude of their young waiters. However, there is a limit! People who pay to go to a restaurant wants decent food but also a decent service! At Koreana, the staff make you feel as if you are begging for free food.

The restaurant was busy tonight but not overly crowded as there were still some empty tables. We were greeted after 15 min of waiting at the entrance by an unapologetic waiter who would tell us to wait upstairs but to not expect any service before waiting another 10min (he literally said that!) We went upstairs, waited for over 10 min and when our server appeared, we asked him if we could order (BTW, we had to grab our own menus). He responded no because he didn't have time. He made us feel as if we were bothering him and we actually even apologized! Weirdly enough, there was also a waitress on our floor tending to everyone else except us... The people who arrived after us, got served promptly by her. They even got their food. When I demanded her attention, she said she'll be back and vanished.. After over half an hour, we didn't got a drop of water! We left and I made a point to the owner's daughter (I think she is) who apologized while the waiter was cowardly pretending to not hear us behind the cash register. The waitress upstairs was also pretending to not hear me when I told her goodbye. They really didn't care!

Sadly, Asian restaurants have a bad reputation when it comes to customer service... I know as I'm Asian but when a restaurant like Koreana allow their staff to treat customers this way, and that management actually don't even do anything, what can be expected? Very...

Went in February for my birthday dinner. Called to make a reservation for 8:30, I believe they close at 9:30. We, party of 2, arrived ten minutes later due to poor weather conditions making it difficult to find safe parking (that’s on us). Walked in and was immediately interrupted by one of the workers before I could say that we had an 8:30 reservation and give an apology for our tardiness, saying that we could only get one thing off of the menu if we wanted to still eat there. That was fine by us, but the attitude wasn’t necessary. They closed at 9:30. I worked in a restaurant and I understand the urgent desire for people to be out by closing, but it’s not like we arrived five minutes before closing. Anyways, we were seated and served relatively quickly. We each ordered a main dish, a drink and two sides. Both drinks never arrived and both sides never arrived. We were urged to leave around 9:20, and so we got up to pay. They had the audacity to charge us for the items we never received and then ARGUE that we received them. Pointed to our table to show that there were only two empty dishes on it, from our mains. Then, had the audacity to prompt for a tip (I know it’s the machine that now prompts it automatically which is a whole different growing issue, but it adds to the frustration we endured).

Restaurant didn’t seem clean. Food seemed safe, but the restaurant itself seemed poorly maintained. Great food, at least the food that was delivered to our table.

Will not be returning. Rude and impatient staff that really ruined the...