Steamboat & Korean BBQ Takapuna Buffet — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

Our party of four dined in early March at 7pm on a Saturday night. The restaurant was very busy, staff attentive, premises were clean and pleasant decor think Korean Cafe style dining. This was my first dining experience at a Korean steamboat 'buffet', in most places the raw food is brought to you by servers. A few details to help first timers: The buffet is on the opposite end from the dining area. Far side was cooked soups next was red and white meat options, then seafood and vegetables. There were lots of infused oils and spices at the front of the buffet - add them to your BBQ for that extra taste sensation. Also, use the tiny dishes for sauces - they're very handy and take up less room. Dessert was chocolate cake, ice cream and fruit salad. Pros: Servers were friendly and attentive Vegetables, beef, lamb chops, seafood was lovely and fresh. Great prices for budget conscious diners. Clean and tidy amenities Cons: Parking: we drove around two or three times to get a park close to the restaurant, but it was a busy Saturday night in Takapuna so probably not an issue other nights. For a group get 2 BBQ plates and use one plate for veg, one for seafood and so on. The table is not large enough for multiple dinner sized plates of food. Dessert was nice but only basic offerings at the buffet. Lovely dining...

I tried to remember why I don’t want to come back to this place and tonight it gave me a dejavu. There’s no other cut selections for non marinated beef and the only available was thinly sliced beef. The as the pork as well, there was only pork belly cut for non marinates pork and did not felt like I chewed a pork belly cut —maybe the black grill liner is affecting its taste and texture. Their korean fried chicken has a lot to improve and I would not recommend eating it. I’m not comfortable with the table as well it’s quite small. You can only choose either hotpot or grill and we chose the grill however my partner loves hot pot so we have to add $10 for it. I think the broth was not a natural broth, its only seasoning/powder, I saw from other hot pot restaurants there is leaves/herbs/lemon grass...

You know when you're parents say, "I'm not angry I'm just disappointed"?

Well now I know how my parents felt, high hopes due to the high reviews but I've never felt this upset from a Korean BBQ since Stonegrill in Browns Bay

Should have seen the red flag from the "get a free jug if you leave a good review" sign at the desk...

I wonder if that jug would be as flat as the mixers they used for our $14 house spirits

I've been looking for a great Korean BBQ ever since Biwon shut down but I guess I have to keep looking since I can't trust reviews

Maybe I'm ranting a bit, maybe I am getting angry at the fact my buddy has been talking non stop for the last hour about how terrible our experience was

The sweet n sour pork was pretty dope so I'll end this on a high note I...