Gen Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Edison

Been Twice Already and Definitely Going Back

Gen Korean BBQ in Edison is one of those places where you could go over and over and still not get tired of it. The menu is massive — they have everything. All kinds of beef, pork, chicken, seafood, and even more unique options like ox intestine or beef tongue if you’re in the mood to try something different. There’s so much variety that it’s honestly hard to decide what to order first.

What makes it even better is everything is unlimited, so you can try as much as you want without holding back. I went for the Premium option (it’s an extra $20 per person), and it was absolutely worth it. You get access to all the top-tier cuts and dishes:

• Premium Marinated Long Bone Short Rib Steak • Premium Marbling Center Cut Marinated Short Rib (limited to two orders per person — make sure to get it!) • Premium Wagyu, buttery and incredibly tender • Premium Cajun Shrimp, packed with flavor • Al Pastor and Carne Asada, both well-seasoned and delicious • And the Premium Taco Sampler, which comes with Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Pollo Asado, and Cajun Shrimp, plus unlimited tortillas to build your own tacos at the table.

They also have a bunch of cooked appetizers, which is a great way to start. I tried the crispy calamari and the fried pork tonkatsu with cheese inside, and both were really good. The tonkatsu especially stood out — crispy outside, with the melty cheese inside giving it such a nice twist.

I ended up making my own stir-fry at the table too, using the assorted vegetable platter and the Premium Wagyu. It came out so good that people walking by actually stopped to ask me what I made. It’s fun to play around and build your own combinations while you cook.

They also offer a build-your-own K-Ramyun, which is like Korean-style ramen. I added cheese, jalapeño, and dumplings to mine, and it was seriously comforting. Spicy, cheesy, and a perfect balance to all the grilled meats.

On top of that, they bring out traditional banchan (side dishes), which adds even more variety to the table, and they have a whole range of sauces you can order to mix things up.

The service has been great both times I’ve visited — the staff is friendly, attentive, and keeps everything moving without feeling rushed.

And for dessert, they serve this Korean pancake that’s crispy on the outside, dusted with powdered sugar, and has a dense, chewy inside that reminds me of mochi. It’s filled with warm brown sugar, and while it’s not fluffy like a zeppole, the texture and powdered sugar give you that same kind of feel. I liked it so much I ordered a second one right away.

Overall, Gen is just a really fun place to eat. The unlimited options, the chance to get creative with your food, and the great service make it a spot I keep wanting to go back to. I’ve already been twice, and I know I’ll be...

This restaurant was appallingly bad in almost every way - even though all four of us were starved when we arrived, we all unanimously vowed we would NEVER return - before we even finished our first plate!

Here are the most notable failures:

Rice was so undercooked that it was almost as hard as coming right out of the bag. RICE, not a complex dish ... yes rice, the worst I have ever consumed. The wait staff started with the flame for the grill set so low, that I was almost able to touch the metal surface with my bare finger. I finally turned up the heat so that our meat would cook faster, but every time the staff came to our table, they turned the flame back down. I had to tell them to please not turn the flame down, so our meat would actually cook and we wouldn't get sick from a food borne illness. My family and I even made a game of it, laughing as the waitress would come "check on us" and turn the flame down as if we didn't notice, then I would turn the flame back up as soon as she left! Although this restaurant is described as "all you can eat", simple Korean sides such as kim-chi were extras that you needed to pay for, and at least for the sides we ordered, were the size of a four-year-old's hand. They didn't offer barley tea or burdock tea, unlike any Korean restaurant we have ever visited. (if you don't believe me that this tea is traditional, believe Google --- "is burdock tea traditional Korean") We had to ask the wait staff multiple times for every item we wanted more of. This is not a traditional buffet where you self-serve; you need to ask the wait staff if you want more of something. We had to ask multiple times (2, 3 or 4) for many of the foods we wanted to have some more of. The beef bulgogi was almost definitely not bulgogi. My Korean mother-in-law was staring at the "bulgogi" and laughing, saying she actually thought it looked closer to ground beef than bulgogi! The food was incredibly salty, so salty that we all needed extra water for hours afterwards! When we complained to the manager, he did apologize, but then proceeded to call it "Americanized cuisine". I'm sorry, but Americans expect better than this for the price they were charging. It was actually insulting to be told that this awful food was "Americanized", as if it was the customers' "expectation". Horrible!

Oh and the blue lights, at least in my opinion, did not provide atmosphere. It was just an excuse to keep the restaurant poorly lit.

The previous buffet that was here, Picnic Garden, was superior in every single way. What a shame Picnic Garden was replaced by this stinker of a restaurant! Please save your hard-earned money and...

Overall experience is just ok, nothing special to rave about. This place hasn't been open for all that long so we purposefully waited a bit before going. Upon arriving on a Friday night, we were seated immediately. I was surprised that it wasn't all that busy as I'm used to new places being packed.

The waiter explained to us how there were 2 menu options for all you can eat; the regular dinner for around $30 or for an additional $20, there was a deluxe menu with higher quality meats like bone in rb and wagyu.

Since this was our first time, we opted for the regular dinner because my thought process was, if a place isn't at least decent for the regular price, i would not pay for deluxe.

When ordering, you were only allowed to order 4 meats and 2 appetizers at a time. We thought that would be ok but when they brought out the meats, the portion size was so small that we thought they should of allowed us to order more.

The meat flavorings weren't anything special compared to other buffet places. We were excited to see that they had korean fried chicken as one of the appetizers but when it came out, we were very disappointed. Pieces were small and overly coated with sauce, not to mention that a lof of the pieces were nothing but fried breading. They also did not have the option of having lettuce to wrap the meats in which made eating just meat to be quite heavy. The only options they had were radish and rice paper but they had run out of radishes.

Our waiter was very nice but in regards to service and being that they weren't all that busy, i thought it could of been better. It took a while for us to flag down our waiter to order more food and the fact that each order was so small, it really turned us off from wanting to return.

Overall, not a very good experience for a place that we were super excited to try. Especially since the place it took over, Picnic Garden, was one of my favorite places. It would be nice if they had some self serve options, especially for the sides.

As for ambiance, the interior is nicely decorated and clean. There are plenty of booth seats and well as big tables and the best thing was the huge exhaust system they had to pull out all the smoke. That was one thing that I...