KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Columbus

This was mine and my girlfriend's first time at this restaurant! She had never had Korean BBQ or Hotpot before and I had only had Korean BBQ once. She prefers a vegetarian diet whereas I love steak, and this was a great option for both of us. I also have many food restrictions and this was a good place for me since anything gluten free was clearly labled. Since I can cook everything myself, I can control what goes in better than in most restaurants.

Zahraa was our waitress for the experience and she was very sweet and friendly. She made recommendations, asked if we had been before, and when we explained we had not she helped us understand how to order and all the rules involved. She also let us know which desserts were good and helped with any questions.

You come in, they seat you, and you have one grill per table. It looked like they can sit up to a party of 6. You decide to do hotpot, BBQ, or both for the table. You can't choose to do different options for different people, which makes sense in an all-you-can-eat. If you do both it's just the cost for BBQ+$5, so it's super reasonable. We went for the weekend so dinner menu. If you go for weekday lunch, some items available at dinner will not be available. During the weekend, all items are available at all times.

The wait staff gets your drink order and the order for the broth you want for the hotpot. This location has mocktails, too, which is fun. After that, anything you want can be ordered via the tablet at the table which is an awesome experience. It lets you take your time, talk with everyone at the table, and see exactly what you want. You can order as often as you would like and they are quick to bring things out, so it's good to start slow. There is a charge of $13/lb of food you order and do not eat, and it takes quite a lot to get to that point so it's a very fair rule to keep people from being inconsiderate.

You get 2 hours to be there. Some things are best made in hotpot and others on grill. The app on the tablet shows you which items are best where and there are indicated suggestions on how long to cook things. There is a section where you mix your sauce, and they have a wide range of options. They also have appetisers set buffer style and desserts are the same. There is an ice cream freezer with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate individual servings that are individually sealed.

We set dishes aside as we were done with them, and the staff was quick to pick things up as well so the table always stayed clean. They gave us ladles for the broth, two tongs for the grill, and grill scissors. We used one tong for raw and one for cooked. It's best to have one or two people doing the grilling rather than everyone grilling for themselves. It can get a bit warm sitting by the grill and hotpots as well, so I'd suggest dressing with that in mind.

The two of us went and were done in a bit over an hour, and that's taking our sweet time and eating ice cream for a long while at the end. It was a really nice experience well worth the price. We got to eat many different things cooked exactly how we like without having to worry about any of the cleanup, and at about $36 per person with apps and dessert included, that was a good value. Drinks are extra but that's normal. Super fun experience 😊 definitely recommending it for team lunches and...

I don't normally go on anywhere to complain especially about new restaurants, but I feel my experience was so awful that I probably should. The menu is confusing. The only price I saw was $30.99 and then $5 addition per person. Perhaps I read it wrong, but everyone at the table also read it that way. However, the menu was inaccurate as it came to $30.99 per person. When asked, the waiter just said, no its 30.99 per person...no explaination given for what I read on the menu for $5 per additional person. I figured the BBQ option (and as it was half butt explained to us) was more of a shareable thing, but nope. I remembering making that assertion in front of the waiter, but she didn't correct me.

The staff while friendly, didn't explain anything hardly at all. There were no instructions given for food preparation. I didn't even know what the temperature was set for the stove. The food was mediocre at best and definitely not over a $100 worth, and I just feel like I was taken advantage of. The shrimp was awful and didn't cook well in the BBQ. The selection for meats and vegetables were meek. It was either bland raw meat or marinated in hot sauce. I would have loved to try a salmon, but it was all marinated in hot sauce. I've been to other Korean hot pot restaurants before while traveling where they explained everything really well and the pricing system was fair. I had to have the job of explaining to my parents about how all of it works, but even I didn't know very much.

The place was way too loud and not enough lights...just a bunch of neon signs lighting your way. I couldn't hardly see anything or hear people at my table without belching or yelling. I will never go back. I do hope that they will fix their menu to make everything more clear and/or have their staff explain things better. They kept asking if we had any questions, but its like what do I even ask because I don't even know what to ask? I figured the ONE price with the $5 per additional person I saw on the menu was accurate. Honestly, I wouldn't have cared so much about the price if they were more up front about it. I feel like I was taken advantaged of, and because of that I will stay far away and will advise others of my...

The food was very good, however the high waste is alarming. I don't eat much and visited the restaurant for the experience as my first visit to a Korean BBQ restaurant. Everyone at the table is required to choose the same service level, so I ordered the roughly $40 all-you-can-eat. I didn't finish my plate thinking I could just take it to-go, but you're not allowed to take home your leftovers. I'm sure this is to prevent people from abusing the system and ordering in excess, but it was still very frustrating. There is a fee per pound of excessive food waste, but this fee really only serves the restaurant losing inventory and not the true victims of food waste - people struggling with hunger. At best, it is a deterrent for some. The restaurant should consider allowing people to take home a "reasonable" amount of food (ie one plate/bowl) for those who can't finish their meals. Nice restaurant but I probably won't go back knowing the amount of food I can eat in one sitting isn't worth $40 and so much goes to waste. I was honestly devastated to know the food would go into the trash.

The servers also seem overworked and nearly all shared the same baseline character trait of being annoyed by the presence guests and were just generally uninterested. I saw a few servers make faces and comments under their breath as if other people can't see or hear them. They're all young college-aged kids so who really cares, but it was...