NADEFO — Restaurant in Mexico City

Our family regularly enjoys Korean BBQ in Texas. It's a time for us to be together and be grateful for our blessings. We were visiting family in Mexico City. A Korean BBQ buffet is appropriate for these occasions. So we chose to eat at NADEFO with the expectation that it would be comparable to our recent experiences at Ling Ling and Contramar.

It was a big mistake to spend our last night in Mexico City here. The experience was so disappointing. We ordered 3 adult buffets for $600 per person, 1 child buffet for $400, and a la carte of saba (fish).

We were informed midway through our dinner that we were limited on how much meat we could order. We could not reorder a specific meat we enjoyed, which was LA Galbi. After the second reorder of the LA Galbi, we were informed that we couldn't reorder just the LA Galbi. We had to order ALL the meats each round. When we placed the next meat order, we received 2 slices of the LA Galbi instead of the usual 4 slices.

When we requested for additional banchan, we were informed that we could only have two rounds of banchan including the first one brought out before the arrival of the meats. We reordered the kimchi, egg, and the stringy vegetables once. We were informed that we couldn't order anymore when we requested more kimchi. Oh wow. I was shocked 😲.

The service was so poor. It's comparable to the lowest level of service I get in Cantonese dives where I had to flag down the server for everything we needed. The restaurant was nearly empty.

I'm not one to spread negativity, but I feel disrespected in this restaurant. I think the owner(s) must not be happy and it shows in his/her restaurant. NADEFO affected my family's moment of celebration and joy. I urge the owner(s) to reconsider doing something else. Life is too short to hate what you do even if it makes you money.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE SERVERS: We are all struggling with life in one way or another. If you're not happy and/or believe in what you're doing, look for alternatives. There are always viable options. If your boss trains you with respect and values what other people bring to communities, it's a good opportunity to grow and you stick with the good boss until you outgrow him/her. If the boss diminishes your worth because he has a negative outlook on life, get away from it. The price you pay to be around it is much greater than the money you make. If you're interested in improving your skills as a server, I recommend you dine at Ling Ling and Contramar to learn what excellent service is. The servers at these restaurants seem happy with their work. We tipped 20% on about $4700 at Ling Ling. Earning potential is...

We have eaten at Nadefo over nine times since November 2021. At first, panchan was legit and since gone downhill in quality and variety, kimchi is super salty now, the serving size of rib eye got smaller, and service went from ok to horrible with high turnover. Twice we went and they were doing construction during dinner time - loudly knocking out the wall next door and metal work near the kitchen.

Tonight the waiter first sat us at a table with dirty seats, then we waited while the waiter came to our table - without saying another - went to another table and took their order, came back and took our order, went to the counter - came back and asked us twice what we wanted. He came back a third time (mind you, still no banchan or drinks served) and told us we had to order more than one serving in order to have coals and bbq at our table. If that is the new policy — TELL your customers before they sit around for 20 minutes wasting their time. Print your requirement on the menu or hang a sign. The waiter also had his mask hanging below his nose.

Every time we have visited, the grumpy owner/아저씨 just sits in the outdoor area, drinking with friends. Will never return. Treating any customer, especially local return customers like this is not a way to run a business. I don’t expect special treatment as a Korean, but this is ridiculous. Walk two doors down and eat...

At Nadefo in Reforma, you can expect a good K-BBQ for CDMX standard, an unfussy environment and lack of customer service. Let me explain further - the meat and menu selection is decent, portion size is generous and the banchan are tasty but customer service is a major issue.

After you are served majority of your meal you realize - hey how come I am missing some banchan the table next to me has more or where is my bowl of rice that I ordered. Frenzy moments like these whilst grilling your meat and trying to get the waiter's attention are common. You can wave, say excuse me, hi, hello, hola, oppa, serious non blinking eye contact but the waiters will ignore your gestures at all cost.

It was a cinematic tense moment, I knew he felt my eyes on him and saw my dramatic wave and he knew I felt his lack of acknowledgment. It was a matter of who gave in first - I am not a quitter and I want my banchan and rice so I was prepared to play the long game. Classic Nadefo moments.

So, before you go ask yourself - Is a consistent meal worth inconsistent...