Mirak Korean BBQ Restaurant — Restaurant in Federal Way

So, my son's been bound and determined for years to introduce me to the Korean BBQ experience he enjoyed at such places in L.A. Problem is there aren't any such places 'round where we reside. Besides, I've cooked my own Korea BBQ dishes on my charcoal kettle grill. Isn't that the same thing? Well, today I learned, it's not.

He found Mirak on Yelp and it looked great to both of us based on reviews and other factors. We had no idea how great an eating experience it would be. It's an unassuming place when you walk in. All the tables were empty since it was not long after the time the place opens for business. We chose the table to sit at and our server brought us a menu along with two empty bowls and two sets of chopsticks. She also brought a set of shears for slicing the long strips of cooked meat into more bite-sized portions, undoubtedly for smaller-sized mouths than ours.

The reality was, with the large portions of the two plates of meats delivered to our table and all the Banchan (side dishes)--which are also refilled AND the bowl of white rice--also refillable--well, all we could eat quickly turned out that we ate all we were ABLE to eat. In other words, we were full--and it didn't even take a full hour.

We chose beef brisket and beef bulgogi. The USDA Prime brisket was unrecognizable from what I've bought and cooked with for years. It was sliced thin like pork belly and it's look and texture were unlike the beef brisket I love. Not sure what cut of meat the beef bulgogi was made because the menu didn't specify and the marinade hit its true identity. But I tell you, it was uniquely great grabbing meat with the provided tongs and draping them across the hot gas grill on the table. You quickly learn how to long to leave it in place to give it a nice sear before flipping it over to cook the other side.

Now when I tasted the beef, I told my son it was under seasoned, because it was. "Dad," he says to me," that's what the dipping sauce is for. Oh yeah, the server had placed a small plastic cup of dark sauce in front of each of us. I dipped the meat into the sauce, shoveled the meat into my mouth, and tasted true gastronomic heaven. The sauce, which was a combo of soy sauce, chopped jalapeño, sugar(?), and possibly some type of vinegar somehow caused the meat to explode with flavor in the mouth. I would've been stunned but with only 90 minutes to finish eating, I didn't have the time. The beef bulgogi was similarly joyful to eat and if anything, even more tender than the brisket--which was exceedingly tender.

The Banchan selection of eight small side dishes were an amazing potato salad with chopped broccoli, the best potato pancake I've ever had, wondrously delicious fishcakes that looked like sliced water chestnuts to me, kimchi cabbage, sprouts and small cucumbers and other stuff I have no idea what they were. Just call it all exceedingly delicious and we're good. Our server also brought out a large bowl of mixed green salad. It would've been just OK, but the soy sauce-based dressing made it truly delicious.

More customers walked in as we ate and we saw how popular this place is with locals who know Korean BBQ. This place has been here since 1982 for a reason.

Our server did a great job of checking back with us. She had a friendly personality and was genuinely appreciative of our compliments on the food. Yes indeed my son and I plan a return visit. We just gotta try the pork belly and Pork Kalbi. And if we go during dinner service, the menu opens up, offering even more...

We came here to take out a friend from out of town on a recommendation from my friend. And off the bat, our whole experience was overshadowed by very bossy and forceful Korean Oma. She didn’t wanna leave a menu at the table. She would not let us turn the grill up so we could cook the meat faster. She got mad at us because we didn’t “make space on the table in her area for her to set down things.

Our first two orders of brisket the brisket looked normal in a rolled fashion and looked like brisket that you would get at any other Korean barbecue place. The portions all looked the same.

Towards the end of the meal, we ordered more brisket and it looked 100% different like a different cut and those portions were the same smaller but it was totally a different meat and it was leaner and cut in a disc shape.

During our last call, we asked for two more orders, thinking that they would be in the same small portion. They were indeed not they were overwhelmingly large. And being it was the end of the Meal we had trouble finishing at. It was the first time I ever could not finish Korean barbecue. It was weird that the last portion they would give us would equal out to four of the portions that the meat look like in the beginning.

The waitress guilt tripped us and was complaining, even though there is a food waste fee that we were willing to pay which was supposed to be five dollars or five dollars per person (per the menu). I told her that she could charge me for it as if it were a dish And that I would take the rest home so it wouldn’t get wasted. Somehow it ended up being $37 which seemed high and I couldn’t find it on the menu.

It was somehow more than a one person all you can eat charge…. I’m not how they sure they calculated that and it didn’t seem fair and too high but I just paid for it without a word cause she was being over dramatic. Everyone in my group throught the waitress was too much. She would constantly come turn our grill to low so it would take 20 min to cook Kalbi and even the thinner meats cause she claimed it was Smokey which it obviously wasn’t. I think they do it so you can get to the 90 min faster. I don’t even think the vents were on. Overall she killed the experience. She was more aggressive and bossy and full complaints more than any other OMA I’ve had to deal with in all of my kbbq experiences. I think she could have been the owner too.

I can see why most kbbq places are doing buffet style now so grab what you want on your own and you don’t have deal with an overbearing Oma and save on labor.

The more I think about the experience the more I wouldn’t even consider going back. I rather pay a little more to have a more positive experience.

Pros: good value for AYCE $25 lunch (minimum 2 people)

Cons: -controlling Korean lady kills the vibe -Korean lady wouldn’t let us turn up the...

FOOD - 5/5 PRICE - 5/5 SERVICE - 5/5 VIBE - 4/5

This is our favorite AYCE KBBQ we've found in the Seattle area! The flashy ones like Meet or Exit 5 are nice, but when you want a chill setting with high quality food, this is our first pick.

FOOD: We've tried both AYCE and ordering some a la carte items, and everything is really good quality. Our go-to judgement is the brisket, and it is perfect here! Sometimes we get AYCE and just get the brisket, and maybe a half order of kalbi at the end. The banchan is great (we even got seafood pancakes as one of our banchan dishes once!), and the steamed egg/egg souffle is delicious and silky. We always end up asking for more sauce because the amount in the cups in the beginning is pretty small.

PRICE: As far as AYCE goes, the price is pretty standard. But for the quality that you get, the diligence they put into making sure you get a good amount, and the offerings they have, this place is set apart from almost everywhere else in Seattle.

SERVICE: Everyone is friendly, quick, and super attentive. From the moment you walk in the door to when you want to pay the check, we never felt like we were waiting around to flag someone down. We've been when there is nobody else in the restaurant, and when every table was full, and the service was always great.

VIBE: The place is pretty bare bones, but honestly we like it that way. They're not pumping up the place with crazy music, setting dark mood lighting, or seating you at beautiful booths, but the focus is on the food- as it should be. It's clean, simple, a bit dated, but we're there for the food and not the atmosphere. It's also great to be able to hear your conversations because of the lack of music; some of the KBBQ spots around Seattle have so much going on with all the grills, vents, music, and large, close seating, that this is a nice reprieve from all the extra noise. The only reason I docked a star in my breakdown is because I wish they had some sort of booth situation rather...