Modoo Hansang — Restaurant in Bothell

Edited after the owner (or manager)'s response for clarification

We were a party of three, but they tried to seat us at a small table meant for two, even though there were larger tables available for four. I asked if we could sit at the bigger table and moved to a four-person table. Both the small table and another four-person table remained empty until we finished our meal. The owner said, "However, the server mentioned that there was some confusion because your party was three people, but you said it was for five. "

I never said five people would be joining us, and the server never asked when the others would arrive. Even when I requested a four-person table, the server didn't ask if it was for five people. So I have no idea where this came from.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, no one brought us menus or water, so I grabbed the menus myself. We looked at them for another 5 minutes, but still, no one came to take our order. -- The owner mentioned that "The server who assisted you is a college student and is still young." However, the server who initially seated us only assisted us at the beginning. Two other servers attended to our table after that, and they did not appear to be college students. In fact, one of them made a snide comment, asking, "Do you still want to eat here if you're upset?" It felt like they were suggesting we leave.

When I went to explain the situation, someone finally came to take our order. The server asked if my child needed a fork, and I said yes.

Our food arrived, but there was no fork. I thought they would bring it soon, but after waiting for a while, I had to go ask for it again. -- The owner said the fork was brought promptly, but that wasn’t the case. I waited quite a while before going up to ask for it, and even then, it took more time before they finally brought it.

Despite informing them of an allergy, they served us a side dish that contained the allergen. -- I mentioned the allergy twice. When they brought the side dish, I told them I couldn't eat it due to the allergy. The server responded, "Can't someone else eat it?" When I insisted that it be removed, only then did they take it away.

When the bill came, it was incorrect. If I hadn’t checked, we would have overpaid by about $20. -- The owner claims, "There was a billing mistake, which was immediately corrected." However, during our meal, the server suddenly brought us a bill that overcharged us by $20. When I pointed out it wasn't ours, they brought another incorrect bill. It wasn't until the third attempt that we received the correct bill. I'm not sure this qualifies as "immediately corrected."

Food: the yukgaejang was just average. The tonkatsu was disappointing, more like the cheap variety you find at a teriyaki place rather than the quality you’d expect at a Korean restaurant.

I was so excited to have a Korean restaurant open right near my home, but I’m really sad that it turned out to be such a mess. I had told my friends that I’d check it out and let them know if it was a good spot to visit in Bothell. Instead, I ended up texting them to stay away from this disaster of a restaurant.

**Regarding the owner's comment "While I understand your concerns, I feel that calling our restaurant a 'disaster' after dining with a party of three and ordering just two dishes (yukgaejang and tonkatsu) seems a bit harsh and possibly unfairly critical." -- We were two adults and one preschooler, and my daughter had eaten a late breakfast, so she wasn't very hungry. She only had a few bites of the tonkatsu. It’s disappointing that the owner seems to suggest that we didn’t order enough to have the right to evaluate the restaurant. The fact that they served a dish containing an allergen after I clearly mentioned the allergy makes it a "disaster" in my eyes, and that alone was enough for me to decide that this restaurant is off my list.

Honestly, I didn’t want to dwell on this, but after reading the owner's comment, I felt I needed to clarify. I hope this clears things up, and I don’t plan to...

As a Korean person, I really enjoy eating their food. I come here at least once a week! My favorites are their Beef Stonepot Bibimbab and Gungjung Kalbitang. Their bibimbap ingredients are so fresh and tasty, I almost prefer not to add any of their (also delicious) spicy sauce. I can really taste and enjoy each ingredient’s preparation and flavor. The stonepot that the bibimbap comes in is so hot that it makes the most perfect crispy rice that goes very well with all the other vegetables and meat. The galbitang has a clean but flavorful broth that complements the tender galbi meat and tasty mushrooms. In addition to the delicious food, the service is great. The woman who serves our food is so friendly and is there nearly every time we are there — she apparently works there 6 days a week! She also checks in on us multiple times throughout the service to make sure we are doing well and is attentive to any extra side dishes we may need.

After having read some of the other reviews about Modoo Hansang’s food, it seems like the lower ratings are because of people who don’t understand the proper way of eating certain dishes or the generally understood customs of Korean restaurants. If your rice dish comes in a hot stone pot and you don’t want crispy (or burnt) rice, you need to mix your bibimbap. There are people who order the stonepot bibimbap so they can have that crispy cooked rice! If you order a combo plate, I wouldn’t expect the same portion as a normal entree unless you want double the price.

I wouldn’t hesitate coming here for a comforting and...

Friend recommended this place, and it turned out really great! I think the best non-KBBQ Korean restaurant experience I've had, surprisingly.

We went at opening time on a Sunday (another plus is that they're open on Sundays). The interior is nicely decorated and decently large. Complimentary appetizer salad and banchan arrived quickly after ordering, just be sure to warn the server if you have allergies. They served peanuts in the salad but they were really kind and brought an additional alternative appetizer over for our allergic friend. They serve purple rice with beans. And we ended up ordering so much food (the bossam, combo with pork bulgogi, cheesy tteokbokki, and seafood pancake) that we didn't try asking for seconds of any of the banchan, but they gave us two of everything anyways for our party of 4 so, pretty generous!

They were good about coming by to check if we needed more tea (also complimentary! And really good barley tea), although they forgot us a bit when we needed the check after it started getting busy. Still, very friendly waitress as we paid (split check) and for Korean food that turned out plenty of leftovers, it was only $38 per person after tax and tip... That's a crazy steal, I don't know if the other reviewers just haven't tried other Korean restaurants? Maybe same thing applies to the complaints about service, if you're not used to "Asian manners", although honestly the service we got was impeccable even by American standards.

Looking forward to visiting again with my...