Den Den Korean Fried Chicken — Restaurant in Providence

Let me start off by saying my 2 star review has nothing to do with the food. If you're looking for a nice Korean dish, the food here is excellent. My review is mainly for the overall atmosphere and service.

I went in January and the waiting area is tiny. There's no place to wait to be seated without being in the doorway.

The main seating area was freezing. You could feel a draft from the windows and no heat at all.

The walls are tile and there is no acoustic ceiling so the large table behind us was coming over as very loud and hard to hear the people at my own table. They sounded like they were having a great time though, but it echoed and bounced off the walls etc.

The waiter had the worst attitude I've ever seen in a restaurant. Come to find out, the waiter was actually the manager of the restaurant which made me feel that the owners might not realize who they hired. From the start of talking our orders he had an attitude. He didn't introduce himself, didn't ask if we wanted anything to drink, and I made sure to mention at the beginning how the check was broken up. When it came time to paying he was disrespectful, not listening to how I was trying to explain the checks and assumed my two friends were together after I intentionally kept telling him they were on seperate checks. He rolled his eyes numerous times, sucked his teeth, smacked his lips, and gave us the utmost disrespect I've ever seen someone do. He didn't give us the option of a tip and he wouldn't bring us the printed receipt we asked for. This was all before I asked for a manager after paying, only to find out that he was the manager! Irony right. I confronted him calmly about why was he being disrespectful to us, for him to try and defend himself and say "sorry you feel that way." It's not how I felt, it was a fact that he was rude and clearly indicated he didn't want to be there. After numerous apologizes from him, just to shut us up, he offered free alcohol, again assuming that's what we wanted. We declined and made it clear that we were disappointed with the service. When I asked for his name he hesitated and said Calcite or something of the sort as he said it fast and under his breath.

Anyway, the food was nice, the service and atmosphere...

Now, i really hate to write this and I swear I am NOT a reviewer in any means but I do feel as though my experience needs to be brought to some sort of attention so nobody has to experience this again. I’ve come to Den Den maybe 3 times now even my birthday dinner, so I was beyond excited to bring my mom and sister…unfortunately my experience was nothing I never want to put them through again. We walked in were sat like normal but when we began to order things went south…I understand as a server it can be frustrating and difficult to approach a table ask if they are ready and be met with uncertain orders, then again as a server i understand that patience and helping others understand our menu is one of the most crucial parts of our jobs. This was embarrassing and distasteful. It was clear our uncertainty and unfamiliarity with the menu frustrated our server and we were met with cold stares and quick un attentive service. Half way through our meal we ended up noticing that she was no longer our server? but instead a new girl..for whatever reason i wont assume. At the end of our meal our original server never came back literally ever..shocker! Additionally as restaurant owners we enjoy giving back to servers even if the experience wasn’t quite as enjoyable, we understand these servers work hard and we understand other situations can greatly influence how you act but this is your job and we are paying customers all we ask for is to be met with respect. To better state what I am trying to say…we asked if the servers share tips or if they go to one individual server, we were informed tips were shared (but not necessary)…great! When we went to tip slightly generously we were met with confusion and shock but not in a grateful sense in much more of a “are you sure you can do this” way. We were shocked and honestly saddened by our entire experience. The food was great though chefs keep up...

Five starts for the food. Three stars for the service and ambiance. The kimchi pancake came out first and was our favorite thing we tried. Super flavorful and moist and didn’t need to be dipped into anything. The Kimbap came out second. It was a bit too warm and a bit bland with only the soy sauce it came with. Ideally you want it room temperature. I asked the waitress for a side of gochujang to go with the kimbap. She reluctantly replied (after ignoring us for most of the visit) that they do not have gochujang. I found this strange considering I know they have it as it comes with many of the other dishes. She did not offer us an alternative sauce nor did she ask for clarification as to what we were looking for. She had an attitude as soon as we walked in the door, so some training could be helpful for her. The spicy dumplings came out third. They were enjoyable but the real winner was the spicy bed of coleslaw they sat on that was caked in….gochujang! The Den Den Korean BBQ with tofu came out last. It was good but ordinary - could find at many other restaurants. Both the BBQ and the spicy coleslaw came with gochujang, hilariously. It paired perfectly with the kimbap. The kimchi tasted weak and low quality and was a tiny portion. The waitress removed our kimchi from our table as I was reaching for it. When I asked why she was taking it away she exclaimed that it was not vegetarian. I told her politely that I was not vegetarian and that I would like the kimchi. She assumed that we were vegetarian based off of our other orders. The restaurant was cramped with almost no room between tables. Guests and servers bumped into each other and severs had to ask seated customers to move just to walk past them to another table. If they are going to have tables so crammed together, they don’t need to seat everyone in the same area of...