KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Jersey City

I was craving some AYCE bbq one day and remembered that there was a K-Pot in JC. I’m always down for hot pot, so this was perfect. Plus, I had been the to location in New Brunswick and really enjoyed it.

Unfortunate, the quality is not consistent. We arrived at around 3 pm on a Sunday and it was pretty packed at that time but thankfully, the tables are far enough away from each other. We gave them our number to text us when a table was avail, which was about 5 minutes.

I’ll start off by saying service was good. Our server was super attentive and efficient. As soon as we sat down, we placed an order for a few items. We went to get our sauces, came back, and some food was already there. But speaking of sauces, the selection is a bit lackluster. It’s not as good as most AYCE hot places I’ve been to. Masks are required at the sauce station but I still feel some type of way with anything self-serve during Covid. Hopefully, it was fine.

Hot pot is pretty standard. I had the tomato broth which was okay. We got the typical items of fatty beef, shrimp, fish, fish balls, etc. We also got crab and the first round of it was nice and meaty/firm, so we ordered a second round but that time was mushy. My hot pot heater also kept auto shutting so I kept having to turn it back on every 5 minutes, which was a bit annoying.

The BBQ was just not that good, which was disappointing since that was what I was looking forward to the most. It’s an extra $5 and everyone at your table has to do it (which was fine for us since it was just the two of us). The menu is very pork heavy. I think there were four different varieties of pork belly. The only thing about the BBQ I liked was the short ribs. It was surprisingly tender. But overall, everything was pretty salty. Maybe they purposely do that so that you have to chug a ton of water and end up being too waterlogged to eat. We also had some garlic shrimp which I thought was good at first but the more I ate it, the more I realized it had a bad aftertaste (one that lasted several hours…blegh). Our server did change our grate pretty often so I’ll give them that, but I feel like that’s more props to him rather than the restaurant.

Bottom line - if you are looking for hot pot and don’t mind the basic/limited sauces, this is an okay option. But don’t come if...

UPDATE from former review!

For 3 years running, this has been our go-to place for korean bbq because of their Marinated Short Ribs, bulgogi and fish tofu. We dined again last night after not having dined in for months…

SAD TO SAY: Everything went poorly.

We were excited to eat and order but once you do get a chance to sit down and look at the menu on their tablet, you see some items that have a limit. Although this may be understandable, it’s very disappointing that the portion sizes for each order has also changed. I.e. one order of short ribs is 1 piece (used to be 3 for one order).

The tablet-to-order system is a little buggy. Once you place your first order, you can’t place new items for your next round. They brought out beef brisket and there was 4 pieces in one order, it may have been the wrong meat to be honest.

THE WORST OUT OF ALL THESE… Food quality has gone downhill. -Marinated Short Ribs: there was a very distinct unpleasant aftertaste that you can’t quite explain what. Someone in our party had to spit it out after taking a bite. -Bulgogi: it had the same flavor, sort of bitter-sour and not from the charred bits. -Lettuce: poorly washed, I had some that was gritty and realized there was some dirt still. -Sauce station: the sauces have also changed flavors, the consistency was gelatinous and flavor tastes old? -Strawberry lemonade: tasted like sugar water, no lemon at all. Overall food experience: it was just not appetizing at all.

If we had to find redeeming qualities; pork belly if cooked right is nice and crispy, they have new appetizers (don’t expect much from it though, typical fast food items), the server and host were nice. Price is not too bad but it is very much not worth it for what you’re going to get.

BOTTOMLINE: Kpot is not what it used to be anymore. This made us not have any desire to come back again. It was a bitter goodbye to one of our jersey city staples. We may have our biases from what it was before, I can still confidently say that I do not highly recommend this place anymore. Thank you for the learning...

DID THE MANAGEMENT CHANGE???

I have been going to this restaurant for the past couple of years, going with dear friends, family, and colleagues. Before, every time I went, we all had a great time and wonderful service. HOWEVER, this week, I went with a dear friend whom I have been coming with for years.. and the experience was HORRIBLE.

As soon as we got in, we ordered the same orders as usual BUT ALL THE ORDERS came out as ONE serving EACH. It wasn't a problem at first because of course we could just order more but when we "reordered" more servings, they kept giving ONE SERVICING EVERY TIME! We did not complain but just politely kept ordering the same order as we always have.. but a different server came every time and stated EVERY TIME that they charged a fee for food that was left over.. PLEASE MIND, WE HAVE NEVER LEFT FOOD IN WASTE. It was such a degrading feeling, where we haven't even eaten and the staff repeatedly stated the "fee" over and over again. Thus, we just kept politely telling the servers, what we had ordered. PLEASE ADVISE, we kept getting ONE SERVING the ENTIRE TIME! Then, a "manager" (who was manning the front) came to our table and said that the servers were new and that they had a 1.5 hr policy and that it was one the menu. It felt like they were forcing us to end out of our meal when they have kept giving us ONE SERVING, delaying our meal the entire time! When we asked for our check, the first server came to our table saying "WOW YOU GUYS ATE A LOT," this was RIDICULOUS when they kept giving one serving and WE ATE HALF of what we normally would have! Seriously a mortifying experience..

My dear friend and I without even discussing it, both agreed that something had changed, whether it be management or something, but FOR THE TIME BEING I WHOLE HEARTEDLY DON'T RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!! SUCH A...