KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Miami Township

Lengthy review here, with some pros/mids/cons.

Pros: Hostess staff was great. Told them it was our first time here and they explained the concept well. We were just going for hot pot and they explained the initial options. Got seated at a half booth/half table which my wife liked (she does not like booths). We arrived ~4:30, so while it was busy, not super full. Our first waiter (we got another one later, I assume due to shift change) was very welcoming and accommodating and explained the ordering process, although I forgot we order the broth through him. The meat/veg/noodle selection was great. Very expansive and all looked super fresh. My wife got the miso broth and I got the spicy Szechuan, both were delicious. All of our meat/veg/noodle selections (I think we got two rounds) came out very quickly. Sauce section was great, more than you could ever need. The sides were good, although they didn't have some items in the pictured descriptions above the sides.

Mids: The website menu options listed boneless duck feet, which were not an option when we were there (which I was looking forward to). The corn was just sliced cobbed corn - consider using baby corn instead - just makes it easier to eat. While the whole shrimp was delicious, adding an option for shelled/cleaned shrimp would be a plus - de-heading and shelling the whole shrimp was just very messy. While our 2nd server was as welcoming and courteous as the first, he had a bit of trouble explaining the cooking process to us, considering it was our first time there - he just said he watched other people and kind of explained that to us - maybe a training opportunity for the wait staff to have better knowledge on how to properly "enjoy" the meal and overall experience. We also had one meat order wrong (we ordered spam and got fish instead) but the server quickly corrected the order and the spam came out promptly. We (I) ate the fish anyway, considering it's all you can eat.

Cons: There was R&B music blasting, and combined with the overall atmosphere, it was just very loud. I have two partially deaf parents and I don't know that they would enjoy eating here, just because of the overall noisiness. We were also seated right by the kitchen/dishwasher, which just added to the overall noise. Maybe consider playing some K-Pop instead of R&B, and at a slightly lower volume? Also, on our initial food order, we asked the "runner" some questions about how to prepare the meat and it was clear that she didn't speak English. I have no issue with hiring ESL employees, but she didn't even acknowledge our questions, just kind of grinned at us, shrugged and walked off. If you're going to have staff interacting with your table, they should be able to at least minimally communicate with guests, something like, "I'm not sure, let me find your server" etc., again. probably another training opportunity.

Overall though, it was a very enjoyable experience and we will be definitely going back, probably trying the...

Korean BBQ with a Side of Anxiety (Hold the Judgment, Extra Kimchi)

Let’s start with the good news: the food was genuinely great. Flavorful, fun, and full of sizzling drama. The atmosphere? Think neon, and futuristic signs, It felt like I was stepping into a little slice of Seoul—but with a dash of interrogation room energy.

This was my first time walking into a place like this, and the vibe was both exciting and slightly confusing. The staff explained how the dining experience worked, which, I certainly needed but in hindsight, was less “instruction” and more “warning label.” Apparently, if you waste too much food, you get charged extra. They told me, and I quote, “You can waste a little, but not a lot.” Naturally, I spent the entire meal wondering if every leftover noodle was pushing me closer to some secret kitchen courtroom.

I even joked with my son that they probably had a scale in the back where they weigh your hotpot scraps like airport luggage. We laughed—but I also ate every leaf of lettuce like I was on a culinary parole.

The real twist: They charge extra for both of us ordering all-you-can-eat. That’s right. Two people, two different meals, two charges… and somehow, that was too much. The reason? They “didn’t want to police the meal.” Which I respect, in theory. But in practice? I was suddenly being penalized for enthusiasm. It’s like showing up to a buffet hungry and getting hit with a fine for being too committed.

Service-wise, well… let’s say it lacked the warmth of the grill. The table was constantly cluttered with dishes like we were auditioning for an episode of Hoarders: Korean BBQ Edition. I eventually had to hand dirty plates directly to the server, like a passive-aggressive game of Dish Jenga. Their go-to response to everything was a chipper but hollow “yep yep,” which, after two hours, started to feel less like hospitality and more like a glitch in a customer service simulation.

Would I eat Korean BBQ again? Absolutely. Would I return to this place? Probably not. I came for grilled meat, not emotional whiplash. Great food, great theme—but dining out shouldn’t come with the same stress level as crossing the DMZ.

(Just...

The restaurant is clean, I like that all tables can support either hot pot or Korean BBQ (some restaurants have dedicated tables for each which can increase wait times if you want whichever is popular that night). I like that the tables support 6 people vs the 4 at the Korean BBQ restaurant we went to in the Centerville area last time and that for hot pot the broth servings are individual and heated on induction burners where other hot pot restaurants sometimes do a communal broth over gas. Induction is safer if you're going to have them all over the table and the individual aspect allows us to each have whichever brother we like without compromise.

My wife and I are at lunch so I cannot comment on the dinner menu and we had hot pot this outing so I won't comment on the Korean BBQ menu except to say that we will be back to try it at which time I will leave another review/amend this one).

My wife has the miso broth which was quite good I had the tonkatsu broth which was good but better after some of the liquid boiled off and concentrated the flavor some.more.

We tried a wide variety of meat options, all of which were good but our favorites were easily the brisket and the pork belly. We tried a wide variety of vegetable options which were all quite fresh and tasty.

For the "side" items that we could do in our hot pot we tried the steamed potstickers, shumai, sausages and lobster balls, both the potstickers and shumai were very good, the sausages are on the sweet side which isn't my preference but they weren't bad and the lobster balls were tasty albeit a little dense.

The sauce bar is very well equipped, I recommend reading the pre made sauces and their ingredients and then customizing as you like.

Service was prompt and we never really had to wait for anything and were promptly asked about drink and broth refills as those ran low at times and our server (Eve) was fantastic.

As I said, we will be back again to try the Korean BBQ side of things on...