Ssam Original Korean Barbeque — Restaurant in Berlin

big disappointment, 1. no korean beer no korean personal 14 euro for 1 bottle of soju WTH mini side dishes, you ever eat korean before? 10gramms of micro kimji and you have to pay extra for more RIOT 5 korean pancake, i swear i had it before on former visits, they had og korean pancakes, now you get 4 mini pancakes super ripoff 6 i been there once a year, and always was somewhat happy, it never been that bad before. 7 half of the menu isnt korean anymore, entrecote bulgogi??? looks like a mashed something of beef not even really sliced what even was that? 8 maggoli no more traditional served, it comes in a whine decaf glass like what? 9 salad you know, you supposed to fill the salad with the meat and other stuff, you cant do, its tiny salad leaves, i dont know why they even serve these its hilarious, just shows they never been in korea before. 10 110 euro for 2 persons, man what a ripoff, doesnt even explain it, so overall, i dont know what happened, maybe owners changed or whatsoever, there is nothing korean no more, its just some weird restaurant now serving overpriced food, does not feel korean at all, i was so disappointed probably never go there again. addition pork belly, 3.99 pork belly they sell to you for 25 euro which is fine, but its not marinated or anything raw pork belly. toilets 1 pissoair taped and closed other overflowing, dirty sink, no soap nothing to dry your hands. Its end of november why there is flies flying around the table? thats like what? they have a growing operation going? Honestly i wonder why the Gesundheitsamt doesnt close it down. And if your read some other reviews, i agree on the personal, no service at all. Enough rant, i just warn you and advise to maybe look for other korean...

Okay hands down i give it to SSAM 👏👏 their food is amazing! If you are just beginning to dig Asian food and want to try some Korean cuisine or you are die hard Asian food lover, this place is perfect for you! Also the excitement of grilling your own meat is definitely not overrated especially when you are in good company. Mind you it gets pretty warm when your grill comes on.

The meat (chicken, lamb, beef etc) are well seasoned and marinated with a delicious flavour. Trust me if you don't like spicy food you are definitely in luck. We had a completely spicy free meal! I think my best part is the radish. That damn radish was so good I asked for seconds (and yes it is free) you can ask for vegetables refill and it is free. Did i mention it also comes with rice you are not charged for? Omg the rice was amazing. You get two sauce dips with kimchi, cucumbers, zucchini, beetroot, peppers(not the hot kind) mushroom, onions, carrot and a bunch of other stuff. I kept telling my friend "we have to get the full experience" I ordered the famous "SOJU"- if you are not much of a vodka fan. I don't advice this. Service - 5 stars! They were kind enough to tell us the best way to enjoy our meal the Korean way i.e. making the wrap and the dips to use. They actually have someone going around to see if someone needed anything and if we were enjoying our meal. I think it's super nice of them. All my friends 100% certified they had a great time. I was happy because I was kind of the one that really wanted to go there. P.S. Please don't forget you are in Berlin. Cash only! Oh I also have before and after...

I was here 4 years ago and I thought this was my favorite Korean restaurant! Yesterday I got back with some friends and, even though we have enjoyed the food, there are some things I definitely didn't like:

the music first and foremost! The most random playlist I've ever heard... now there is a jazz lo-fi song, now there is some random pop from the 2000's, now there is a rock music, now a piano song... It is hard to find a mood but also to decide what is the volume of your voice when the music is so eclectic

the payment: our bill was sound 182€ (we were 5 people) that we had to pay with cash because there is no card payment available. If the food wasn't good, this review would have been one star only because I think it is UNACCEPTABLE that in 2022 we are still using filthy cash to pay, especially in a restaurant with such prices

the service is good but not great. We ordered a fish BBQ and I asked our waiter "sorry, do you think this is cooked" and they have shrugged at me, as if they didn't even know what I was talking about - and then they smiled and left. I am not expecting the waiter to tell me what to do with my fish, but at least they could have said "I'll try to ask a colleague" instead of just shrugging and leave.

In the end the food was good, so we had a nice dinner time, but there are quite a few things to improve in my opinion. Hopefully I will go back soon and see some things have changed - especially the...