Omi Korean Grill — Restaurant in Boston

Was super excited when I heard there was another AYCE Korean bbq opening up in Massachusetts. Luckily they were taking reservations early and I was able to reserve for two people. A few days after opening, they changed it minimum 6 to reserve a table.

First impression walking in, poor ventilation... it was pretty smokey... you definitely will leave smelling like kbbq lol

Love the service. We were fortunate to have a lovely waitress. Definitely forgot her name but she had glasses. She was very attentive and made sure our orders were correct.

The grill itself is electric. Cooks pretty well so that's a plus. I see a lot of comments regarding getting the grill changed. They get super busy. It doesn't hurt to ask them to change it because they will instantly.

Food - my favorite was the marinated Galbi. Very flavorful, great quality. Serving size definitely is served minimum and not by how much is in your party. It's probably a good thing to limit wasteful food. Also my favorites were the pork belly, beef brisket, steamed egg, and takoyaki (AYCE is crazy I had 2-3 orders lol). The whole menu was decent but my two complaints was both the bulgogi and the seafood scallion pancake... definitely something off with the meat. It was both just too mushy and not flavorful. The pancake was way too thick and had too much bell peppers in it. Felt like I was eating a thick slice of pizza. I was also kind of disappointed in the banchan spread when I went. . In other pictures, other parties were served bean sprouts, spicy cucumbers, and quail eggs. Seems like our banchan was very limited and boring. 😑

Overall, for $40 per person, I definitely think it's worth it. Not sure if it's better than Sura in Medford. Sura have a parking lot, Omi is street parking only. And if you know the area, it’s very hard to find parking lol not saying I won’t come back because I 100% will. Will definitely give this spot another try.

Tip - It gets super busy due to the location. You'll see a lot of college kids coming because NEC and Berklee College Music is literally down the street. So expect a wait if you don't have a...

Meat is good quality, but more than half of our group got food poisoning (basicaly if you ate the bulgogi either directly or ate something in contact).

Banchan was really mediocre and not really a good korean variety. I expected to at least see some 무 but it was pretty generic. Kimchi itself was pretty weak too. Meat quality itself is good, but the cuts were bad. The 차돌백이 (thin brisket) was no where near the thinness I would expect from that cut and disappointing considering how little would come out per order. The 삼겹살 (pork belly) was a bit thin for the regular and too thick for the thin too. The servers were great and fast considering our large group, but it is mote than frustrsting to have to reorder multiple times over to get the amount we initially ordered because they only brought out small plates. The 갈비살 (short rib) was too thick for the cut which made it hard to chew especially since we couldnt cook fast with the weak grill.

The grill is electric and takes a long time to heat up especially if you had to change the grill top out. Fine for one or two people, problematic for a full table and for cuts of meat that rely on fast cooking.

The soju is the cheap kind that is cut with vodka. The yogurt one was straight up a diluted vodka with no rice wine content at all which I would not have ordered if I knew (the menu implied it would be the cheap brand that does taste good). I wish the brand was more obvious so at least I knew what I was getting ahead of time.

Overall I was a bit disappointed. If the food poisoning didnt happen, i would probably rate it a 3 for koreans cause its a bit americanized but like 4 for americans cause the...

So a few things here….the number one issue I had was the service. I know the restaurant just opened so I don’t really care too much about this and I am sure as the restaurant continues their business their service will become phenomenal, but right now it’s sub-par compared to a lot of other kbbq places I’ve been to. Just for now.

Second, I was surprised at the different cuts of meat. Yes, there were a lot of options to choose from, but to me the cuts were too thick and lean for me to fully enjoy. This is just my personal preference! But on a good note the appetizers were very good, especially the seafood pancake and steamed egg. Good job on those. I just wish the cut of the beef and pork were better. (Less lean, more fatty, thinner slices).

Third, the ventilation seems to be an issue in the restaurant. It’s not the worst but I think it could be better.

Fourth, I would say the price is just…ok. Pretty reasonable for Boston. But for $50 per person after tip I would be more inclined to go to an a la carte kbbq for higher quality meat and better cuts. However it’s also understandable since they have seafood on their menu. Also, I don’t think they serve alcohol here either which I think would be a good addition!

Overall, it’s an ok experience. If I was craving kbbq and didn’t want to go far I will come here to satisfy my craving. Other than that, nothing super striking. If they can improve this restaurant over time it would be better! Giving an extra star for...