Shin Myung Gwan Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Aurora

This Korean restaurant is a must visit OnHavanaStreet and in Aurora, CO. This is a destination Korean bbq spot. There are so many Korean restaurants and barbecues in this area, however this is one that most of the Korean community recommends every time I asked where they like to eat when they miss home. This is a restaurant that cooks recipes, uses spices from Korea (owner flies to LA Korean markets or Small towns in Korea to purchase the hard to source spices) and the chef here cooks like your Korean mama or grandma is in the kitchen! The amazing recipes are authentic flavors & I was told by friends in the Korean community that the menu items are more for a Korean family's palate and not Americanized. I had the awesome opportunity to eat here on 5/7/2021. The restaurant was recently closed to survive the pandemic challenges for five months and re-opened on 5/1/2021. Customers were thrilled and craving the delicious eats from their menu. We began our meal with some Mandoo and Korean Kloud beers! Kloud is like a version of Bud Light and a slight bitter after taste like Heineken to me. I grew up in Hawaii and people in Hawaii typically love Bud Light and/or Heineken I loved their Korean dumplings with the beer and the assortment of ban chan. Yum! Also if you ever go to a Korean restaurant you know that the banchan is a huge part of the meal. I loved every bite of every banchan I ate tonight. I really enjoyed their version of kimchi, cucumber, purple sweet potato with honey) and fish cake. I ate all the banchan with my hot rice, which by the way I had to share is so good! Shin Myung Gwan uses the GOOD RICE. This Japanese girl appreciated the quality rice In addition to all the Ban Chan we also enjoyed the BBQ Galbi, LA GALBI, so tasty with thick cuts of short ribs with grilled peppers and onions served on a sizzling hot plate. It's extra tasty when the kitchen GRILLS the meat over the fire and brings the bbq to the table. However it is sometimes fun to grill your own meats at the table too. The owner recommended to order the Agujjim ( Braised Monkfish). The braised monkfish is highly popular in Korea. The white flesh fish was tender, and the crunchy soybean sprouts nicely complemented the fish with a burst of robust flavor! Some say that monkfish is like the poor man's lobster. I don't know if I agree with that, but it was so delicious. The dish also had some muscles and shrimp. The owner recommended that we eat the fish with a little bit of soy sauce and a side of wasabi. So many layers & so many flavors! It was GOOD! To end the delicious feast we enjoyed some Korean coffee. I loved it! This is a restaurant that I will bring more friends and family to. It's a must if you enjoy good, quality and authentic KOREAN bbq and food. This restaurant is also located in the Yale Place shopping center (Havana & Yale) next to Yum Yum Cake and Pastries (Korean bakery) and across from Milkroll Creamery. So after your super full from the Korean bbq feast definitely try to stop by the bakery for some goodies for later or share a rolled ice cream at Milkroll. Both are also awesome and also a couple of my favorites...

짜증나다. 낙담하다. Disappointed and Frustrated are two words used to describe my latest visit to Shin Myung Gwan BBQ Korean Restaurant on July 3rd, 2023. I’ve been here multiple times and introduced multiple new families to this restaurant. To be fair, my visits prior to July 3rd were pleasant and I found the food to be fantastic. However, on July 3rd I discovered a major flaw, and that was food consistency. The Pork bulgogi 돼지불고기 in the past was AMAZING; now it’s not. It used to be spicy, now it’s bland and flavorless. When I asked the server, who I suspect was the owner of the restaurant, why the bulgogi was different, she snapped at me (and I mean SNAPed) and proceeded to tell me it’s never changed and perhaps I’m thinking of a “Chinese” restaurant. She basically intimated that I couldn’t tell the difference in food or people from Asia. Before and after this interaction, the server was incredibly rude to our entire table; but especially to me. And if you ever got to know us, you’d realize we’d be the last family you’d ever want to be rude too; cause we’re nice. (I even debated about writing this review because it feels not nice to do it…)

We went to Shin Myung Gwan for my son’s 14th birthday. Although I told the server what we were celebrating, she didn’t even acknowledge it was his birthday; ever once. I wasn’t expecting anything other than for her to say, “Oh, Happy Birthday…”

We had a party of 6 and spent over $320 here. Spent $320 for sub-par food, rude service, racist undertones, and lasers blinding me the whole time. I found the whole situation extremely frustrating and will never spend another $ here; I’d encourage you to do the same. If you’re looking for Korean food in this area YOU HAVE SO MANY OTHER CHOICES. Don’t choose Shin...

The food here is absolutely delicious! One of the best I've had on the Havana strip by far and I'll definitely be back for a special occasion at some point. SO flavorful!

Not going 5 star simply because the prices are pretty high in comparison to other places nearby (though you get a lot of food for it in fairness) and because the server insisted on coming over and cooking the food for us. Part of the reason you do tabletop is to cook it yourself but the staff seemed to think we weren't capable, lol. While it was hilarious that every other time we touched the grille the server would appear to repeat what we just did or to chastise us for having "too much" meat on the grille/letting it cook longer than they themselves liked- It did kind of kill the vibe a little. But it was done out of good intentions and kindness so ultimately, very funny more than anything. I'll definitely be back! (After studying up on what is approved method of placing meat on a grille and stirring it around until cooked. lol!) Highly recommend folks...