Palace Korean Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Bellevue

I'm going to go ahead and rate this a 2 star. Why? I'll tell you! We had great experience until the end. So here's what happened. I'm from out of town and came here because i have never tried Korean BBQ but heard good things about it. So I wanted to try it out. I may not have had Korean BBQ before but I've seen people talking about it on youtube and had an idea what it's about.

We got there about 10 minutes early for our reservation. Restaurant was not terribly busy so they sat us right away. Staffs were very friendly. The menu selection is kinda weak IMO. But it'll do. I noticed that the price is pretty insane. $40 per person? Plus $5 fee if there's any leftovers? I feel like we are paying for the DIY experience more so than the food. So everything went well and I like the friendly servers. Then when we ask for a check. The total was just under $270. This is for 5 people. $40 × 5 = $200. Then I remember WA state charges sales tax. Duh! But still... I look at the receipt. Turns out they charged us for leftovers (there were 3 or 4 pieces of bite size meat we didn't finish) and they addeded tips for themselves as if they did a great job! Now, I don't know if this is a state law to add tips automatically or what. But I didn't think it was worth 18% considering they never came by and asked if we wanted more water or napkins. They gave us one napkin per person btw... my friend and I split the bill. The lady brought us two handheld credit machines. Mine was broken or I somehow turned it off? So I was waiting for the lady to come back so I can tell her I haven't paid yet because the machine is off and I don't know what happened. But after a few minutes and she didn't come back, so I started messing with it and found out there's a button on right side to turn it on. So I did and I asked my friend how much. I entered the price and inserted my credit card. And I tried to press the print receipt button and it wouldn't let me. So I gave up. The lady came back and looked unhappy. Not even sure why. She asked me to show her my credit card, so I did. She reprinted the receipt and handed to me, no word, no eye contacts, no smile. Like I scammed her or something. As we were leaving, I could see her speaking to another server while doing something to that machine. Made me feel like they thought I did something shady. Like what the hell? I paid my share 100%. I wasn't going tip them when they tipped themselves already. I would've give this restaurant a 4 star for the friendly servers but overpriced food. But because they decided to tip themselves, charged us for the 3 pieces or meat that we didn't finish, the interaction with that lady, and worst of all... they didn't bother explaining the bill when they brought it to us (normally they shouldn't have to but if they are going to overcharge us... at least have the courtesy to explain the bill. Otherwise, it seems shady on their end) so because of those things I mentioned, I knocked 2 stars off. So 2 stars for me. I WOULD give them 1 star but I enjoyed how nice they were before the bill...

Got here just before the dinner rush (just around 6pm) so there was not a long wait time which was great. Was seated and promptly ordered and was given water. Ordered a two-person BBQ meal. When it arrived at the table the waiter dumped a bunch of meat on the grill right away while asking if it was OK which we then had to say yes to I guess. We attempted to cook the meat ourselves which I know at some places they cook the meat for you and some places they don't, this seemed to be a mix where the waiter would come by and make sure we always had meat on the grill so that it "wasn't smoking" but otherwise left us alone. This feedback wasn't quite clear because we wanted to cook things one at a time so we could savor them and eat them while they were hot however letting things rest on the side of the BBQ and enjoying our meal meant we got told to add more meat. We ended up just cooking all the meat and then waiting to eat it at the end. After I did cook all the meat the waiter came by and approved of the way that I had done this although it was not to our preference. Then after cooking but at the start of actually eating another person brought over the bill which we then paid but then sat and kept eating but felt like through the cooking process and now the bill we were being rushed for some reason, perhaps because we came in right before the dinner rush however had only been there for maybe 15-20 minutes at this point and this place actually has a lot of seating inside the restaurant so we were a little confused. After the grill was turned off and we were ready to eat the food was then cold and now there was just a cold breeze blowing on us from the hood/vent above us that was designed to draw the smoke out but now just made us really cold.

Overall we came to enjoy some Korean BBQ and were excited and had been recommended this place. Unfortunately this place was not as expected, on this visit at least, however we likely will not be back and will try another place next time. We at least had a Groupon for this visit because this adventure was not worth the $45+ ticket for two. The waiters were not rude or anything but it just seemed the atmosphere is not what we were looking for or expecting which would have been a cozy and warm Korean BBQ experience. The meat and the sides overall were not that appetizing to us, perhaps because they were cold. We enjoyed the pickled radish and a few of the meats served, but overall were not that impressed with...

A buddy brought me here about six years ago and I loved it. I had actually been making Kalbi myself with another buddy for a huge annual cookout we used to throw every year for a long time before ever setting foot in an actual Korean restaurant. I suppose if you have actual Korean friends who will cook for you, why go to a restaurant? He had brought the original recipe but I modified it a bit and it seemed to go over well because we were pulling progressively higher attendance numbers every year based on word of mouth. We ran it for about five years until someone new was put in charge of budget oversight for it and decided it was too big a hassle. That was a total shame based on our success but my point is that good Korean BBQ is a treat and if you make it, people will come. These guys have been the main game in town for quite a while but I live in the north end and a bunch of worthy (and sometimes better) competitors have popped up in the Lynnwood/Edmonds area.

Since I have options closer to home now, I only come here when I'm meeting up with people on the east side but it still holds a special place in my heart for all the happy meals I've had here with buddies and my kids over the years. The food is standard Korean. It's a LOT of meat that you cook on a grill built into your table. There are a bunch of interesting side dishes like Kimchi, bean paste soup, rice, sprouts, etc. I actually love the bean paste soup but for some reason, this isn't included under the "all you can eat" heading. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. It's got to be cheaper to let a guy like me who loves good soup fill up on that rather than gorging on straight meat. Maybe they should reevaluate this.

The price to get the option with Kalbi has gone up significantly since I first ate here so I hadn't come as often. I suppose it's not unreasonably high given inflation over the past decade but it is about a 70% price hike and it's just one more thing on top of the drive. The service is pretty bad but I think a lot of the has to do with the language barrier. That barrier shouldn't prevent them from getting back to my table more often than once every 20 minutes though. If you're in the neighborhood and looking for a good Korean meal, you won't be disappointed unless you base the bulk of your personal reviews on the service. If you do that, you're probably not going...