The Seoul — Restaurant in Ann Arbor

I've been to The Seoul at least 20 times as a undergraduate living near central campus — call me loyal if you will. Most of the younger Korean servers are polite and professional, and I always leave a tip to support local Asian cuisine businesses, since many Asian restaurants like Bopjib and Moon Cafe closed. (Now I really wish they can come back.)

However, there's one older lady at the front (possibly the owner?) whose attitude towards me has consistently made me wonder: did I accidentally offend her in a past life?

Today I came in alone, said “Hi, table for one please” like any decent human being. At the front stood the aggressive older woman, who at first wore a perfectly professional smile that vanished the moment she actually looked up and saw my face. Then I was greeted with what I can only describe as a soul-piercing glare and a silent menu toss onto the nearest table. No words. The kind of vibe that makes you feel like calling 911 on yourself.

Later, while trying to order, she cut me off mid-sentence, grabbed the menu before I could even say “Diet Coke,” and stormed off. (Shout-out to the kind staff member who did bring me a drink — my only savior.)

Meanwhile, every white customer walking in was greeted with smiles and sing-songy hellos. Must be a special promotion: “Authentic Korean hospitality — conditions apply.”

Oh, and the Galbitang I got? Four bones with barely any meat, half of what I got last time as takeout. I guess I paid for the mood.

Left a $1 (5%) tip — not for her, but for the staff member who made sure I didn’t dehydrate into a raisin. Minimum 18% tip for this kind of service? Nah - tips are not obligations. I once tipped over 30% on a meal that spent over $250 because I enjoyed the service. You just don't deserve my bucks.

In summary: The service is very uncomfortable and disappointing - I can't believe, here in Ann Arbor, Asian's self hate and micro-aggression towards other Asians still exists. If you enjoy the cold stares, and the thrill of being treated like a criminal for dining while being an Asian — you’ll love it here. Might come back once I get plastic surgery to whitewash myself — just to...

Short version - the food looked good, but they were incredibly overwhelmed and seemingly short staffed. We were overlooked/forgotten, waited an hour for soup while everyone who arrived after us was served. *They do automatically add 18% tip to the bill.

Long version - We were walking in the area when my husband noticed a new to us place. We checked out the menu on the door, found something I could order that would work with all my dietary restrictions, and so we stepped inside. We were promptly taken to a table, then they changed their mind and we were taken to a different table. Menus were given, as well as some water, and then we were forgotten. We sat and watched as they cleaned up the other tables as people left, and as they seated three other tables. Our order was finally taken. I ordered dumpling soup. Another table was seated. We watched while three of the four tables received meals. They were checking in on other tables that had already been served. My husband's meal finally arrived. The fourth table that came after us received their orders. I continued to wait for dumpling soup. At one point we were told it was held up by a takeout order (not even sure what that meant). After an hour, still waiting on soup while everyone else in the restaurant had been served, we asked them to cancel the soup and to bring a box for my husband's meal. That's when all of a sudden everyone jumped in - they brought the soup and a take out container, apologized profusely, and took 10% off the order (leaving the soup on there that I told them twice I no longer wanted). We aren't sure if we'll try it again when they're less busy, or simply stick with the Korean places we already love. Those that did receive meals seemed content, and the food looked decent. It just landed on a very frustrating...

I went there with one of my friend to try out new restaurant in town. First impression was ignored by servers, it took us awhile to wait to get the table. They finally put us front of the BATHROOM! Even they have less than 5 tables at that time. We got super small table but we ordered 4 dishes from the menu. The presentation of dishes looked incredibly beautiful but the taste 😖. One of the salad have a powerful wasabi sauce that make us tearing, Jjajangmein(noodle with black sauce) was tasteless and Soondubu (seafood tofu soup) had very plain flavor. Only one out of four dishes we ordered was good, it was a mushroom salad or so. We are incredibly disappointed in the foods cause we love Korean foods so much and we told the server about our feelings with the foods(of course they ignored us). So we decided to not take leftovers home and asked for check, it took us almost 20 minutes waiting for our check (not to mention there was only 5 tables in the restaurant). We finally got our check cost over $70 included surcharge which for 2 people!! I’m not recommending anyone...