N TO TAIL — Restaurant in Portland

Quick and Dirty: My partner and I took our friends here in the hopes that N to Tail would live up to the Korean BBQ experiences we've had in Boston, Los Angeles, Oregon, and South Korea. In some ways it did, but in some important ways, it did not. The quick and dirty on N to Tail is that the food was tasty and good in quality, the staff were friendly if somewhat un-knowledgeable about cook times for foods, most menu items were overpriced for the quantity of food, and the seasonings, sauces, marinades and food offerings were not reminiscent of traditional Korean BBQ. It is a fun experience but suspend your expectations of traditional K-BBQ before choosing to go. I recommend trying N to Tail to form your own opinion, but feel free to read on for more of my in-depth thoughts.

The Specific Details: N to Tail was more expensive compared to our other K-BBQ experiences. Sadly, N to Tail put a price wall around traditionally "complimentary and free refill" fermented vegetable sides like bean sprouts, daikon radish, kimchi, tofu, pickled cukes, and others. Most of the fermented vegetables aren't available at all, but those available cost $3 - $5 for very small portions without refills. Meat and drinks were fairly priced for portion sizes. Veggies for the grill were overpriced at $3 - $6 for a few small slices of any given veggie. And $5 for sam is ludicrous (it is lettuce and bean paste). For reference, Haejangchon, the most popular K-BBQ in Los Angeles where food is generally 15-30% more expensive, does a $25 all you can eat meats, sides and veggies K-BBQ experience. Koreana in Boston provides all traditional side dishes with refills at no charge. I'm not saying N to Tail need be a mirror of these examples, but charging $3 - $5 for typically free or refillable/low-cost sides is a bit much. Given that N to Tail has the customer cook the whole meal, the prices are a bit high overall.

Traditional K-BBQ offerings like bulgogi, organ meats such as tripe, and seafood like squid and octopus are conspicuously absent, but they do have a wide range of other beef, pork, poultry, and seafood. The marinades and seasons are Japanese-Korean fusions with Maine influence - maple infused soy for example. Most meats are coated with these options versus sesame and chili-based versions found in K-BBQ. It's a different spin, and it works despite being a riff on the traditional. However, there are few traditional K-BBQ dipping sauces. Instead, you get a bottle of sweet gochujang sauce, maple-soy sauce, and ponzu - all good in their own respects, but not the expected ssamjang, sesame oil, or plain soy sauce.

The staff were friendly throughout the experience, but they lacked knowledge about how to cook certain foods. Recommended cook times for veggies were 30 seconds per side for 1/4 to 3/4 inch thick slices of zucchini, white onion, and eggplant. One minute of cook time is great if you like eating raw onion or under cooked zucchini. Similarly, suggested cook times for meats were too short. This isn't an issue if you're knowledgeable about cooking meat/veg on a grill, but for customers who are less grill-savvy or arrive not expecting to cook for themselves (not all K-BBQ places allow the customer to cook like this), poor instruction can result in a frustrating and dissatisfying experience.

Overall, N to Tail is a good but non-traditional take on Korean BBQ. They explicitly tell you it's a Japanese influenced experience, but some of the best Korean flavors and dishes are missing. I applaud the owners for bringing Korean BBQ to Maine. It is a much needed venture into new Asian cuisine for this area. I appreciated most of the experience, but the price, lack of traditional options, and poor instruction on grilling (not a personal problem but as a baseline for all customers) left me wanting. I plan on returning in a month or two to give it a...

N TO TAIL isn't just one of my now top restaurants in Portland, but North America as a whole. My family is made up of people from the NYC area and Toronto with great Korean restos. Also we have lived in Korea for years and have eaten all over the country. We love Korean food, we have a good sense of it both in Korea and North America. N TO TAIL is special. I really can't understate this, it is creative/unique/EXCEPTIONAL at its offering of Korean food that elevates the cuisine to places I did not think possible nor expected.

Korean food is great. It's tasty, it's comforting. But when you are in North America many restos are trying to give the familiar dishes/style of back home. And in Korea, many chefs are putting those creative juices into elevating Western food so Koreans keep Korean food traditional in both taste and presentation. The chefs at N TO TAIL? They have clearly said screw that, we are going to elevate this cuisine in ways that haven't been done even from Korea itself. If you know Korean food, N TO TAIL again is doing something special and you probably have had nothing like it.

Visited the resto two times in a week. Had most all of the apps and small plates and the bigger plates like Bibimbap and Noodles. Every.. absolutely every single dish is a banger. For me I'm picky because I'm vegetarian, Korean is not known for vegetarian options like say Mediterranean or Indian food can be. There is so many options that make you feel good as a vegie there, you are not sacrificing and settling for one dish. For meat eaters you are going to have your minds blown with stuff like fresh Maine lobster bao and the Jajangmyeon. My favorite was the Jumokbap and the Tofu with vegies - unreal flavor. But I'm not even going to spend time talking about each dish because you can close your eyes and point on a spot of the menu and you will fall in love with any random dish. It is that good.

Next I want to highlight the magic of Korean food and that is family vibes. It is hard to put into words but especially in Korea the vibe is family and you feel like you are a family eating at any resto. I do not mean this restro is some Disney vibe place, but they have managed to create an atmosphere like Korea where you got people just hanging out for drinks in their early 20s, people on dates and people with kids all just enjoying food and on the same vibration. But what makes this work is the staff, the staff is absolutely amazing. So friendly, so nice, conversational and helpful with their recommendations. It is a special group, and with Korean food the vibe to me of the staff/resto are part of the magic to Korean cuisine.

I'll end with just saying again, if you are into Korean food forever or have never had it, it doesn't matter what you are into this place is just making really special food that needs to be eaten. If you're Korean fan? I'm not exaggerating, N TO TAIL is worth hopping on a plane and going to for a meal. It is that good. If Portland had a larger East Asian population you would never get a seat here, it would be booked months in advance. The chefs have such vision and skill they set up probably the best Korean food I have ever eaten in a small city with little to no Korean influence and went "Don't care, you will love this" and they are right.

But I am happy they did, Portland is such an amazing place, the people are so nice and the atmosphere has so many similarities to the tightly packed and winding streets of Korea's cities that it fits for Korean food in ways NYC or Los Angeles could never touch....

Absolutely Disappointing – Never Coming Back

We came here planning to enjoy Korean BBQ after reading so many great reviews, but it turned into one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. We accidentally booked the Dining Room instead of the BBQ section, and when we arrived around 7 PM, we asked to switch. The host told us there was no availability—even though their website clearly showed open BBQ reservations starting at 7:15 PM. I showed them the live availability, booked it online, got the confirmation, and only then did they say, “Oh, we actually can seat you for BBQ.” That was the first red flag—completely dishonest.

We were seated around 7:10 PM, ordered the dinner set plus extra lamb and salmon. Fifteen minutes passed, and all we got were some vegetables and water. No meat. Our kids were starving. We waited… and waited. After 40 minutes, they brought out some rice and kimchi, but still no meat. Meanwhile, we watched other tables that arrived after us getting their full sets—including meat—within 10 to 15 minutes.

At 8 PM, nearly an hour after we sat down, I asked the waitress what was going on. Her exact words were, “I know… I don’t know why they’re holding the meat so long.” That was honestly unbelievable. No apology from the kitchen, no explanation, no accountability. Just a shrug.

By the time the meat finally arrived, it was nowhere near the quality you’d expect for the price. I’ve had Korean BBQ all over—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, other cities—and this was the most frustrating, overpriced, disorganized experience of them all.

We were exhausted and just wanted to enjoy a peaceful dinner during our trip to Portland. Instead, we got delays, excuses, and disrespect. Despite everything, I still tipped the waitress well because I know it’s not entirely her fault—but the way this restaurant handled everything was a joke.

Save your time and money. I will never be...