Hot pot Meets BBQ — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

This is one of the premier dine-in restaurants in the area. It's well-worth the price ($35/person for 2 hours of all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ – hot-pot costs $5 extra)

Everything here is of superb quality – starting with the spacious, contemporary interior, to the high-quality seating, tables, and cooking implements; the excellently-stocked sauce bar; the exceptional, swift, and friendly service; the delicious options of cocktails, soju, draft beers, and non-alcoholic beverages; right down to the prime attraction: the well-marinated, juicy cuts of meat that are offered.

My review will focus on the Korean BBQ portion, as I did not partake in the hot pot.

This restaurant utilizes tablets with a streamlined interface for placing your orders: simply choose the meats you want served and submit the order. A waiter will typically serve them within 10 minutes, usually less.

The cocktails are delicious, with many tropical flavors to whet your appetite (I'm partial to the Malibu Bay Breeze and the Blue Hawaiian). As with any good korean restaurant, there are flavorful Soju options. Be sure to try the Yogurt soju!

All the meats here are exceptional: you truly cannot go wrong, unless you overcook the meat you order. I'm partial to beef and bulgogi, and I can wholeheartedly recommend: the spicy beef bulgogi, the kalbi (beef shortrib), and spicy salmon. I did try plenty of other options, including the beef tongue, the beef brisket, the angus chuck, and the prime rib, but the first three are my favorites.

I am sure the chicken, pork, and other seafood offerings are just as delightful, but there's only so much an individual can stomach in a single sitting. (Just so you know, this was my one meal for the day)

For sauces, I leaned heavily on the chili dry rub, the sesame oil, the gochujan (korean spicy sauce), and sesame seeds. These paired perfectly with all the meats I tried. Be sure to take time picking a few sauces suited to your tastes! They have a plethora of options.

They also have small appetizers and eats, like dumplings and INCREDIBLE in-house kimchi to tide you over as you get cooking.

The equipment is clean, and the staff regularly come around in-between rounds to switch out the hot top for Korean BBQ for a new, clean top. This ensures the burnt residue from your last round doesn't get caked in and you're always cooking fresh.

Tongs, scissors, and plenty of dishes are proffered at the start to ensure you've always got the utensils to cook. The staff are also attentive and quick-to-attention in case you need anything more.

Overall, I am simply blown away by the quality of this fine establishment. I hail from Rochester, where there was only one Korean BBQ offering, and this establishment in Ithaca is definitely superior in the quality of meat, equipment, and service.

You can't go wrong here. Just make sure to bring your...

Was so excited to go here with my youngest on the 8th for her birthday mom and me time. When we first got there , we where greated by an amazing young man with outstanding customer service. Then things started to go down hill. First all you can eat ? We paid to do both hotpot and BBQ. So let's take are time and enjoy ... in the beginning yes thanks to the young man then, along came the damn near bold woman with no people personality ...... she kepted complaining and turning are heat down cause we did not want are food rare and well done . It's my child for God sakes , they like and eat what they will .... remember birthday. So now my child' is feeling like she is upsetting the place and people and feels horrible. That beautiful smile was erased from my child's face on her day. so we try to carry on and the same woman keeps coming over and messing with are food like we can cook . My daughter wanted this experience and everytme she was happy and smiling again . Herr comes the lady to whipe the smile and happy moment away .... so I decide to pay my almost $70 dallar lunch for us and try to leave and fix it all with ice cream thoughts and as I was waiting to pay , here come the woman again saying we wasted to much food and that they do not allow it. We'll now my child ,feels more and more like a burden cause of this woman. And even if it wasn't her birthday no child or person should be mande to feel less of a person. Mind you if it tastes off , they don't like or they are full, I will not and I repeat will not force my child or an adult to over eat or be dissatisfied. (Buffet) . So after all that my child did not want to finish mommy and me birthday fun smh. So needless to say don't think I'll ever go back,and I am not a Karen, I never do this and have been fight myself but someone needs to correct this and not destroy another person day or special time. Keep your thinner then paper food and bad service. But huge thank you to the young...

AWESOME, JUST AWESOME!! The long overdue AYCE hotpot / kbbq Ithaca has been missing is finally here. Had dinner on their grand opening day and it surpass my expectations in so many ways, was too busy eating and forgot to take pictures unfortunately.

Food: Great selection for both hotpot and kbbq. Similar to most AYCE spots, certain items are only available during dinner (i.e., Kobe beef for hotpot and short ribs for kbbq). Personally I wouldn't mind going for lunch hotpot since fatty beef and most items are available, but will probably only do kbbq during dinner. They also have a self serve area loaded with appetizers (e.g., kimchi, spring rolls, seaweed salad, etc.), fresh fruits and desserts (e.g., coconut saga and sweet fugus soup). The sauce bar includes everything you would need to build your own sauce for hotpot, and seems to be a bit lacking for kbbq (i.e., no ssamjang) but with all the options you can definitely put together something, I did salt + sesame oil for example.

Service: Friendly and attentive staff, food is serve rather quickly and were offered broth refill and grill change multiple times throughout the night. Almost all items except alcohol can be ordered through the tablet, they even have a "service" section in the system where you can ask for things like "broth refill", "extra napkin", and even the check.

Price: Very reasonable - As of 7/26/2024 it is $22 for lunch (until 3pm I think), $32 for dinner, and an additional $5 if you want both hotpot and kbbq. Note that Saturday and Sundays are all day dinner.

TLDR: Very solid AYCE place with great food options, service and price. Given how they are still in soft opening, I can imagine the place will only get better with time. A must come back...