Royal Seoul House Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Context: Came with a large party (maybe 40 people?) at 7:30 PM on a Saturday.

Everything about this place was just good or okay. There didn't seem to be a lot of people at the time there, but we had a room reserved for us that fit us packed but otherwise comfortably.

Food: We had preordered food and so ended up not waiting too long. Most food was generous in portion size. I got a daegu maeun tang (spicy cod soup with vegetables and tofu) and also got to try the soyang gopchang tang (ox stomach and intestine soup). Despite the description on the menu, no other seafood came with the cod soup. This soup came with three steaks of cod (spine and bones in) that were incredibly dry and unappetizing, and some chunks of tofu (and some pieces of fresh vegetables). The soup was spicy but light, as a vegetable and fish broth, though. It was overall pleasant in flavor, besides the cod pieces. The stomach and intestine soup was funky and gamey like one might expect from an offal soup. It was spicier and fattier and had a stronger and muddier flavor than the cod soup, and the well-cooked cabbage in jt really complemented the heartiness of the soup. The soups (and all entrees) came with lukewarm and partially dried out rice. The food came with 4 banchan: a sesame oil soy sprout dish, a traditional cabbage kimchi dish, a sweet and spicy lettuce kimchi dish, and a sweetened potato dish. I've had better banchan and more variety at other restaurants, but I think these were all homemade, you could ask for more, and I did ask for more, so they were good overall.

Service: Besides giving us the food, the servers did not do a lot of serving. We had to go up to them to ask for more pitchers of water and banchan. We didn't have much interaction with them during the meal otherwise.

Prices: the soups were $18 CAD and $20 CAD, of which one was charged a dollar more than written on the menu price, which may have been an honest mistake or a sign that their menus online and in print are a little out of date. But prices seem reasonable for the quality and the amount of food you get - maybe a good value for tourists from the US or college students. Tax is already included in the menu price.

Bathrooms are located upstairs, which may be difficult to access for some. The bathrooms were clean enough, but the men's bathroom is kind of falling apart (in one stall and a urinal). But they had paper towels and soap, so it's sufficiently equipped.

Overall, it was an unexceptional experience. I acknowledge that we had a lot of people, and maybe the service and food was rough for that reason. But there really weren't that many other customers at the time, so maybe this is a typical experience. Food and value were decent. 3/5 overall, might come againi if I really wanted...

Being a long time customers from our entire family, tonight’s dinning experience was awful!

We asked for Yukke Bibimbap, they gave us Dolsot Bibimbap! We asked th server, then the manager said, “you can just order yukke, we have that dish here” totally irrelevant!

We also ordered Gamja Tang (pork potato hot pot), normally Korean restaurant will heat up the soup a bit and bring it over to the table and continute heating it up with the BBQ TABLE, while we eat rest of the other food, but tonight, they brought us a cold soup with frozen vegetables along with other raw onion/enoki mushroom, & cooked but cold pork bone, after we are in the middle of eating everything else! So by the time we are almost finishing up rest of the food, the pork soup is only beginning to warming up! So we end up not having th soup and had to ask for togo!

We also ordered Seolleong Tang(beef bone soup), they usually bring the soup over WONG with the salt/pepper/green onion, because restaurant typically does not flavour the soup for you, they let the customer seasoned the soup to their flavour! However, it was the second time that I ordered the soup without having the salt/pepper, again! So I had to ask the server for it, again! It’s just awful service that makes me feel they simply doesn’t not care!

Anyways, me and my wife were extremely disappointed since the last 2 visit, but tonight my mother wanted to go, so we thought maybe give this place one last chance, since we were quite loyal to this place 20 years back! But, after tonight, we will never...

In the sea of various KBBQ places in Vancouver, I was thankfully invited to Royal Seoul House for dinner with some friends! This place really commits to the experience with their decor and the dining option of floor and table seating. They also have a perfect sized menu that’s got something for everyone to enjoy from every category. I also really like how their BBQ Combos are set up! They are portioned for 2 people and I’d say are pretty fairly priced.

We ordered BBQ Combo C (marinated beef ribs, sliced seasoned beef, beef belly and pork belly) with Lettuce Leafs on the side, LA Galbi (marinated beef ribs), Sweet & Spicy Crispy Fried Chicken, and Prawn Tempura. Personally, I felt like their Banchan (vegetable sides) could have been better in terms of variety and quality, but I’ll enjoyed the Kimchi. All cuts of the meat in the combo were super fresh and filling. However, I will say that all the meats were just lightly seasoned. I would have preferred a much richer marinade and more salt. Although more tasty, same goes for the Galbi. But YO, I was shocked at the portion of Fried Chicken! It’s a HUGE plate. It’s super crispy and yummy too! And of course you really can’t go wrong with Prawn Tempura so that was obviously delicious.

Overall, I’d totally recommend this place if you are new to KBBQ. Their excellent service and desire to help you out, alongside their wide but easy-to-navigate menu make for a pleasant dining experience and the perfect place to bring a group of...