HAN Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Indianapolis

My BBQ experience at Han Korean BBQ: 4/5 stars

My boyfriend and I love KBBQ and have tried many of the locations around Indy (K-Town, Bando, Mamas, Sisters). There are pros and cons of each one: grill type, sides (banchan) variety, meat quality, service, ambiance… We’ve been in search for a KBBQ place that meets all the marks and we were really hoping Han could finally check all the boxes. For us, there were some major misses that make it hard to say this is #1. 😞

Grill type: 2/5 stars. Electric flat plate grill that was sprayed with nonstick coating by employee. At the 2-person table, the grill plate is square and different than the normal grill that is round and convex, where grease runs off into little drain holes. Since ours was concave, the grease ran to the middle, which is the hottest part of the grill (i.e. the best place to get a good sear on your beef). Pair this with the meat that was slightly lower quality that other KBBQs we’ve had, and it was a grease party. Popping and pooling. If we go back, I’m going to request that we sit at a larger table.

Variety: 5/5 stars There was a very large bar with all different sauces and toppings. I really appreciated the hot bar with fried food like chicken, which is a stand out. I guess if you wanted all you can eat chicken wings, you could come for that 😂 There was only one type of kimchi available. I appreciated the free little cups of ice cream (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, raspberry sherbet and orange sherbet). Being able to grab your own lettuce and vegetables was nice, however the lettuce was running out of stock and it took 20-25 minutes for it to be restocked.

Meat quality: 3/5 stars The meat seemed slightly limp. The shrimp was good, the bulgogi more shredded than I prefer. The galbi (short rib, which is the main event for us) was really lacking, we ordered two orders and only got 4-5 strips of meat, 2 of which had very little meat on them, almost like the meat had been cut off and the bones were all that was left. Really sad on that one.

Service: 3/5 stars Our server was nice, but he was very busy taking care of larger tables. I had to ask for everything we needed, there really was no anticipation or proactivity to bring us things we would need. It also took a longer time than normal to get my card back after paying (made me nervous about my card info).

Overall, I likely will come back, mainly because I really enjoyed the hot bar with fried chicken, and the sauce selections, but the meat quality and the grill style for the 2-person table would really...

I have to say, this restaurant is one of my top tier favorites. As someone who has a high expectation for my foods and services, I was surprised by how wonderful the servers were. Not only was the hostess super helpful and patient with me when I asked plenty of questions as a first timer, but my server Juli was also lovely! She was always on watch incase I needed my grill changed and provided everything I needed to know as someone who has never been to an all you can eat Korean BBQ and Hot Pot place.

Another thing besides the wonderful service is the atmosphere. According to the servers, this restaurant has been open for about a month so all of the utensils are new. I really like the gold, red and black color combo of the interior design. It really upgrades the vibes of the restaurant!

As for the food? Absolutely fantastic. We decided to try the Korean bbq first so Juli recommended the Han short rib and the beef bulgogi for bbq. I have to say, it’s probably the most flavorful Korean short rib I’ve had and the bulgogi is delicious topped on rice. When I was at the sauce bar, a worker also recommended to me a ssamjang sauce for bbq and to wrap the meat with some lettuce. I tried it and was absolutely speechless. It was so so good. Thank you to the worker to recommend me that!! ILY

Last but not least, the drinks. Although they do have liquor such as beer, wine, sake and soju, I didn’t really feel like having any that night so I decided to try some of their fruit teas. I loved the pineapple passion fruit lemon tea and even took another smoothie to go. While I was at the fruit tea bar, I was able to see how they made it and safe to say, the fruit teas were deliciously made with fresh fruits and freshly shaken in front of me at the bar.

Overall, my experience here was fantastic and this is definitely a place I would come back to in the future with my friends and family when I’m in...

Updated review: We came here for lunch, and the experience was much smoother. Service was fast and accurate. Side dishes were fully available, albeit, many missing tongs to get them. Hot pot refills were offered. Everything was better, but still not 100%. That may not be the restaurant's fault. I prefer charcoal for grilling, but I know that many places no longer offer that. The split between lunch and dinner meat options were pretty significant. The meats that were available were not the best cuts. Getting bulgogi we got a lot of scrap pieces that couldn't really be grilled properly. But all in all, a much better experience and makes me willing to come back and try dinner again.

Old review: We made a reservation to come here and I highly recommend doing that before coming in. The broth selection isn't bad, and the flavor of the broth isn't bad. I was questioned when I asked for more broth when mine was boiled out. We also placed an order, and waited. We thought time was running out, so we placed 2 more orders. And waited. For an hour. We thought they were busy, so we asked about it. Our waitress said someone brought it out, and we refused it. We did not refuse anything and no one came to our table. She apologized and went back to get our order. Took about another 15 minutes. We were also told they weren't enforcing the time limit, so we were fine. Wasn't the most pleasant experience, but maybe a couple months just isn't enough to get the kinks out. Maybe another try in a few...