KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Pearl

We’d been waiting for this place to open with much excitement, but the experience had was nothing short of quite terrible. Still, I have no complaints of the ambience—and the inside of the place is gorgeous. My first impression of our server was not good. She seemed to be rushing to get away from us, and directing us to the tablet almost immediately. I assumed that she must be quite busy, so i brushed it off.

That was until we sat with all of our food and meats with no drinks. We then had to ask her to go grab them after she asked if we were doing okay. I also didn’t immediately feel upset by this because I am a server and I understand that you may be busy.

For the rest of the meal though, we had to rely on asking bussers and runners to help us refill drinks and grab napkins.

The food was subpar and the quality of the meats were poor. We tried both hotpot and the bbq—and this was quite possibly the worst kpot experience i’ve had ever. The broths were just watered down versions of what i expected, and the meats were either completely fatty or terribly unseasoned to the point where not even the sauces could save them.

Me and my friends also ended up sick. Throwing up almost only an hour after the meal, and we didn’t even eat much considering we didn’t like most of anything besides the spicy baby octopus and cucumber kimchi. Some of them even experienced diarrhea and could barely stomach anything the next day.

I do believe everything can be remedied though, in terms of food, because they did just open and I will change my review if I ever come back to try it again. There’s also people who may simply like the food the way it was served.

However, the service is terrible and as a server it’s hard for me to not like something. The server was constantly walking past us and had tables around us, but only spoke to us a maximum of five times. We also had the bussers clean off our entire table only to sit there for at least 20-25 minutes to check out.

I have her name, but I will not place it in this review because she was young and perhaps inexperienced. It’s also not JUST her. My family ate here on a separate occasion and their server was just as bad and was a completely different one.

I do however, wish that the management would work a bit harder to train their servers, because I only tipped out of understanding for her job and knowing that most kpot places have tip pools. She came to work so she should be paid, but there needs to be an effort put in to taking care of your table if this...

You’re greeted and the decorations and lights are the best things about the experience.

Server won’t explain how to use anything. From the stove top that you sit your noodles on, to the iPad you order your meats from to the area where you fry /cook your raw meats and vegetables. YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK!

When you order your meats please remember what you order. We were given meats we didn’t order and missing some we did order. We told the waiter and still never got the ribs or the other plate of crab meat. THEY WILL BRING YOU THE WRONG MEATS.

Given that the table has operable stove tops and they are very hot, it would be nice to provide customers proper instructions and safety caution tips to assure they’re able to properly function everything.

Be sure to ask the price. There are no prices anywhere not even on the iPad menu. So unless you ask when you first walk in you’ll have no idea how much anything cost.

The waiter didn’t provide any silverware. Even after we asked and were told some would be brought to us we still didn’t get any and ended up finding an area by the sauces where there were silverware. This is when I was at my final straw.

They’ll give you one napkin per person. Unless you ask for more.

They won’t give you a receipt. Please ask for one to assure what you are not being overcharged. I truly believe they’re overcharging people. Because why are there not any prices, you have to ask what it cost and also have to ask for a receipt. Which we didn’t get by the way.

Please beware of this place. Very nicely setup but very shady business practice.

I got up to go get more sauce and came back and the waiter had moved all our food to the side without asking if we were done. And they charge about $15 if they have to throw away 1lb of food or more. You can’t take home the food you paid for THEY HAVE TO THROW IT AWAY!

They will have smiles on their faces but the service is HORRIBLE. VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND UNPROFESSIONAL.

The waiter asked if I could send a tip through Apple Pay or a different way instead of through the payment machine.

I was like girl what!? Unprofessional and didn’t care nothing about it.

NEVER WILL THEY GET $100+...

Beautiful place with rich colors and modern designs! Doesn't take too long for food to come. 21 sauces to choose from. It has a walk up buffet with already prepared foods.

This experience does have alot of instructions if it's your first time visiting. But Joshua, the waiter, was awesome and very thorough on making sure our first visit was a great one! Thanks Joshua!

They also do a great job of keeping the used dishes off your table and replacing your hot grill plate.

I recommend getting the ribeye steak to put on the grill if you are a steak lover. I got my salt and pepper from the buffet. Although I had to use my scissors to cut the steak after it was cooked because I was told the knives don't cut well.

There are a couple of cooking restrictions the establishment doesn't want you doing liking putting the sauce or noodles on the grill.

With all the grills going it can get warm in the restaurant but it was manageable for me. So I have 4 stars for atmosphere.

Also there is a 13 dollar a pound waste fee (having uneaten food left behind) Be mindful. When I ordered my food items, I was able to ask for half order.. They happily complied which helped with not having excess...