Sik Do Rak — Restaurant in Honolulu

First time there and definitely will be the last.

First off: We arrived at around 8pm on a Sunday Sept 24 2023, and there was two females (Korean) working with no line to wait for a table. My wife, daughter (2 yr old), and I was waiting to be seated when one of the females (taller one) was cashing out a party of 6. The party of 6 decided to pay separately and we waited at the entrance for the first female to complete their sale. Meanwhile the second female (short one) employee didn't even bother to seat us or acknowledge us.

Second: After being seated the taller employee asked for my daughter's age and when I told her that she was two that employee gave us a very awkward stare as if she was going to charge us for my daughter. FYI my daughter did not even eat a single piece of meat instead she ate some of the rice from my only bowl of rice.

Third: when it came to ordering meats they only allowed 4 meats at a time but when we would reorder the tall employee would stop us at three meats and place the order without even asking for the 4th choice. Every time the tall employee would bring our orders or switch out the grill, she would slam the plates or grill on our table.

Water was never refilled until we had to flag the females down.

Last is THE BILL: We only ordered meat and did not order anything else (side dishes or drinks). We only had two bowls of rice total (for wife and I) and the menu on the walls stated that adult price is $29.60. Our BILL came out to $62 with tax included. Not too sure on how it came out to $62 at the most it should have been $61.66. When it came to the tip I decided not to tip them (due to the service that I stated above) and the taller female had the nerve to circle the tip suggestions listed on the credit card receipt. I informed her of my complaint and left...

First time having AYCE dinner here due to all the great reviews. It is a small restaurant with less than 10 tables so get there early without needing to wait. We arrived around 4:30pm and people already started to come by 5pm. Three of us the bill was $93 then we added a 20% tip because the server was very kind to us toward the end. There were at least 10 types of proteins like....beef tongue, kalbi ribs both seasoned and not seasoned, bulgogi beef, pork belly seasoned with gojujiang, shrimp with shell, the seasoned squid was not available, beef brisket, seasoned chicken , and others. Banchans and rice all included. Our favorite was the beef tongue....sliced so thinly that it was so tender; the kalbi ribs , and the gojujiang pork belly. But most importantly, we loved the banchans....the seaweed salad, the macaroni salad, bean sprouts, and kim chee were so delicious. We had at least 4 servings of the seaweed salad and macaroni salad. The server (midlle aged lady) was attentative in changing the grill for us twice during our dinner and kept bringing out more meat and banchans for us. Initially when we entered the restaurant, the server was not too welcoming since it was her dinner time but after awhile, she became very helpful and kind to us. We appreciated her helpfulness so we left her a good tip which she was very happy. It also made us happy because we will be returning to this little restaurant. I think we were the only tourists at the time...

Each year when we visit Honolulu, we return to Sidorak for good quality Korean bbq meats. For dinner it is $30USD per person and you can only order 2 proteins at a time. Minimum is 2 people at a table as they do not take solo diners. This year we tried ordering 1/2 orders of some proteins so we do not get stuck with so much if we didn't like it. Worked out great! For sides, we had their macaroni salad, kimchi, bean sprouts, and fish slices. All were very tasty and we always enjoy their macaroni salad. Rice is also provided. As for proteins, we especially enjoyed the kalbi ribs, gojujiang pork belly, but most of all their BRISKET...fatty beef. our second order of the fatty beef came out looking like lean steak beef so we had to ask the server to switch to fatty beef brisket. We also enjoyed the beef tongue and the squid tentacles was tasty but only one piece in one order. We went early around 4:30pm so not too many diners yet but when we came home, we had to wash all our clothes due to the smell of the bbq smoke.

Now we know if we pay by credit card, there is a 4% fee that they do not disclose so next time, we will pay cash. They should be up front in telling their diners that there is the extra 4% fee if credit card is used.

Service was good but they get very busy so need to be patient and ask for things if they do not come by as frequently. The lady that served us was friendly enough. We will return to Sidorak again but...