QingHeGu Korean Restaurant(청학골, 靑鶴谷).Uptown — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

For the price, I think the food was average. The grilled beef was the star, especially tender and juicy, with an abundance of flavour. The grilled pork, however, was lacking in tenderness and was also hard to chew. The size of the grilled meats were also quite large, requiring two mouthfuls to finish, almost causing be to choke in an attempt to eat it all at one go after being informed by my family members that the texture of it was quite hard. Overall, I think that it could be improved by cutting the meat into smaller pieces, especially for tables with children dining. The gochujang pork belly from the lunch set was rather delightful, with a wonderful texture, though lacking in taste. Adding more marinade into the process of marination or marinating it for a longer period of time, may increase its deliciousness even further.

For the 4 colour pancakes, I have to say, it was quite a disappointment. The only acceptable one was the seafood pancake, with a distinct flavour between all the pancakes. The rest of the pancakes had about the same flavour profile. The kimchi pancake was just a pancake with kimchi inside, while the mung bean and vegetable pancakes were so similar that we could not differentiate between the two. The texture of the pancakes were also not very crispy, mostly soft and chewy.

The dolsot bibimbap was decent, nothing out of the ordinary, which can be improved if a larger size of meat was given. The kimchi jiigae was also not something very special, was well as the steamed egg, which was fine, but slightly oversteamed.

The side dishes provided were also very basic, with only 7 selections, pumpkin, aubergine, kimchi, beansprouts, sliced fishcake, sliced radish, and a salad. I personally think that the pumpkin was a little to sweet, while the beansprouts and and radish were slightly flavourless. The salad had, in my opinion, too much dressing, while the aubergine was okay in flavour. The kimchi and the sliced fishcake were excellent though, as we kept having to ask for refills. The way I see it, I think that a group of diners only allowed to have one serving of a side dish at a time, is ridiculous, especially for larger groups of people. Though I do think that it is a good practice for F&B establishments to take the plate currently being used to add on food, as it reduces the time and resources being used in the kitchen for cleaning.

Although the food here is still acceptable, the service here was exceptionally poor. When we asked for a jug of hot water, we were served cold tea, and when we made another request, cold water was given. Our meat was grilled by the waiter with extreme unattentiveness, as he immediately placed the meat and vegetables on the grill and walked away, not even batting an eye towards our table. Only when we requested for a waiter to come, they came back to proceed with grilling the meat. If it were not for us, the meat would have gotten burnt and the money would have been wasted. Saying that your staff have more knowledge at grilling the meat than your customers cannot be true, if they just disregard their jobs like that.

When we requested for refills of side dishes, they did not come back with any, only saying yes and leaving without any response. When we ran out of the vegetables given with our grilled meat, we asked for a refill, but instead, got ignored by them. The second time we requested for it, they kept pushing it, asking us to wait. All in all, I think that the service was horrendous, disregarding their welcome and their farewell.

The atmosphere in the restaurant, personally, was very noisy and disturbing, with words being said within our table unclear to us though we were seated so closely. The volume of the music should be decreased, so that customers can converse with each other freely without shouting and screaming.

Overall, I think that the service and atmosphere of this restaurant could definitely be improved, and that the quality of their food should most certainly be higher, given the...

Korean BBQ spots are now almost everywhere in the Klang Valley, and they are doing good business. So what sets QingHeGu apart from the others that continuously drive the crowds there?

Located in the Damansara Uptown area, parking is more a miss than a hit. You're better off parking at The Starling and walking over, and it's not a long walk at that.

It's recommended that you book a spot at least a day ahead in order to avoid having to endure a long wait outside the shop. Waiting time can be as long as 45 minutes to an hour!

Inside, the nicely spaced and slightly upmarket decor gives a sense of heightened anticipation as the aroma of the indoor bbq by the other guests hits you. The service staff here are super attentive and service is very, very quick.

You have a choice of either cooking the meats at your table yourself, or you could always get the restaurant to BBQ for you instead. Unless you're with first timers, I find that letting the restaurant do the cooking results in less hassle and wait time, plus the added benefit of not smelling like BBQ when you walk out.

The banchan is very varied and every single one is delicious. Of course you can refill your banchan to your hearts content, but save enough stomach space for the meats or main dishes. I also highly recommend ordering their pancake as well, which QingHeGu takes it to another level!

The meats are superb. Especially the marinated ones. Doesn't matter whether it's pork, beef or chicken, they are all very well cooked and taste incredible.

Prices are reasonable, though pushing a little on the higher end of reasonable, but hey, there's free all-you-can-eat ice-cream thrown in to round off your meal, and you can't go wrong with that.

I am not surprised as to why there are always long queues outside this place. It promises, and delivers the best Korean BBQ I've eaten in a long...

Disappointing Service and Rushed Experience

I had dinner with my wife here tonight, and I must say it was a truly disappointing experience. From the moment we entered the restaurant, we were met with poor service and a rude attitude from the owner. It's disheartening to have such high hopes for a meal, only to be let down by the overall experience.

We arrived at around 7:30 pm and placed our orders promptly. However, the food didn't arrive until 7:45 pm. This is not an issue. But throughout our meal, we felt constantly pressured by the owner and the staff. They repeatedly asked to clear our table even though we hadn't finished eating, which created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

To make matters worse, when we finally finished our food around 8:25 pm, we decided to finish the meal with the advertised complimentary ice cream. However, at precisely 8:30 pm, the owner abruptly approached us with the credit card machine, insisting that we pay and leave immediately because there were customers waiting. This left us bewildered and questioning whether we were even allowed to enjoy the promised dessert.

While we understand that restaurants can get busy, it's important to prioritize customer satisfaction and provide a welcoming environment. Rushing customers out without any reasonable explanation or time limit is simply unacceptable. The lack of basic courtesy and respect for customers tarnished what should have been an enjoyable evening.

I strongly believe that good service is a crucial aspect of any dining experience, and unfortunately, QingHeGu failed to deliver. I hope that the management takes this feedback constructively and improves their service to ensure that future customers do not face a similar ordeal as I saw quite a few of similar experience in the...