Kings Restaurant (Korean Cuisine) — Restaurant in Fridley

This is my second visit to King's. The first time having been blown away by the quality and flavor of their kimchi, enough to convince me take home two containers of it ala carte, I had to come back for a second helping. I went with the most common dishes this time, bulgogi, japchae, and ddeokbokki, standards I can judge fairly, having a great deal of experience with all.

The bulgogi was good. Completely traditional. You won't regret this choice. Not too heavy on any one ingredient, nor underwhelming in the slightest. Bold, well marinated, sweet and juicy. The only improvement to be made would be fire searing. Once you've had bulgogi grilled, there's no going back.

Their japchae was better than last time. Previously it was far too heavy on the sesame oil blend while seriously lacking vegetables and meat. It may have been the dregs of the pan. This time it was far more balanced. Still, 3 out of 5 stars based on consistency and comparative quality.

The ddeokbokki was outstanding. The best I've had. Nicely sauced with a generous portion of fishcake and perfectly spicy. This is a dish many if not most fail at, like bad Spaghetti-O's, but King's was able to create a delectable flavor that was fully complimentary unto its nature.

The kimchi was a little different this time. Not quite as good, but still better than standard. $10 a pound is a bit much though.

So why only three stars? Three reasons:

I brought my two very respectful sons, a teen and tween. We weren't treated unkindly exactly, but we were ignored often and didn't receive nearly the cordial experience as everyone around us. It was confusing and as a half Korean person, for the first time I actually felt prejudice, as if we were too white or too young and my $105 wasn't as important. I've never been overly sensitive towards these things, but it was a repeated impression I couldn't shake. It made me sad.

When I asked for another serving of banchan (side dishes), we had only one, I was informed we would have to pay extra. That was a shock. Never in my 25 years of Korean dining experience have I been charged for additional sides, especially when we have a party. Had we all come in separately, there would have been three servings of bonchon. I opted to pay for the additional plates.

The cost. I have been to nearly every Korean restaurant in Minnesota and this is one of the most expensive, though I'm not sure why. The quality is similar, serving portions aren't any greater, and the service is no different. The cuts of meat aren't a higher grade, there is no table grilling service, and their bonchon is fairly limited at five dishes. Frankly the cost is extravagant and not in line with any other ethnic or American fare of the same measure.

That being said, the second visit...

I came here last week with my girlfriend cause I've yet to find a good Korean spot in the Twin Cities..This place is no different than any of the other places I've tried. The food was meh and menu was way overpriced..I wanted to try their galbi or bulgogi..but it was WAY too expensive after looking at how little they give you. It was like $20+ for galbi and bulgogi for a small sizzling platter...

Now onto the review.. My girlfriend wanted Sundubu (soft tofu soup)..but after all the experiences of sundubu in Minnesota.. I was terrified. Let's just say this place didn't change my view of it. We ordered the mushroom sundubu and it was quite disappointing. The tofu was all grounded up so it's hard to even tell it's tofu. There was barely any soup..as you can tell from my pictures. I found it interesting they also add jalapenos in their tofu soup....that's a first.. It did not match with the soup at all. Overall, I wouldn't recommend the tofu soup, especially if you've had good tofu soup in California or New York. It was definitely the worst tofu soup I've had in my life.

I ordered the Jjamppong, which is a Korean seafood noodle soup dish. This was disappointing as well. The soup was very bland and lacking flavor.. The ingredients they used were cheap as well. They put in a lot of shrimp, but it was the tiny cheap and frozen type.. The mussels, squid and octopus were okay though. One good thing is they give plenty of noodles, so you'll get full for sure. It may not be good..but you'll get full.

Lastly, we shared the japchae noodles. This was probably the only decent thing we ordered. It was strong tasting and had lots of good meats and vegetables. The noodles were good as well.

Banchan (Side dishes) - It was decent.. came with the usual: Fish cake, potatoes, broccoli, kimchi, and some other stuff. You also get free refills on them.

I'll give other Korean spots in the Twin Cities chances, but the options...

I have been to this place a few times and always loved the customer service. However, it was a disappointing experience yesterday, and I will never return.

I ordered a seafood pancake, and I even pointed on the menu to show the waitress what I wanted. She said okay. She left and a few moments later came back to confirm that I ordered the seafood one (number 5). I said yes. Later, she brings out a pancake and leaves. I took a bite and realised it was kimchi and not seafood. When she came back, she brought a seafood one too. I told her that I only ordered seafood but got kimchi instead. She showed me she wrote down kimchi AND seafood pancake on her paper. I said no I only ordered seafood. She took the kimchi one away. Later, a young guy waiter came to our table, and my table asked for straws. And instead of giving us our straws only, he dare had the audacity to say that he took the kimchi pancake off our tab, but we need to be more careful when we order food next time because they end up throwing away food we dont eat. Excuse you, but there won’t be a next time.

I was disappointed. It was not any of our fault that the worker was incompetent and wrote down the wrong things. For him to say that to us was very rude and unprofessional when it was the worker’s fault. I understand if I did order the kimchi and refused to eat it, but that was NOT the case. And here is something: I dont even like kimchi, so why the heck would I order a kimchi pancake. Ridiculous. Never going back. Train your...