Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse — Restaurant in Roseville

Honest Detailed KBBQ Review:

Food (8/10): I thought the quality was decent and the flavor profile was there. Cuts are a little small for certain dishes, but I expect that from AYCE. Not sure what people were complaining about considering it’s this kind of establishment, it’s not expected you’ll get that premium cut/quality all around for even just $30. I will say, the bulgogi cuts are a little hard to grill though.

Service(7/10): We got there at opening, ~4PM, and secured a spot. Others who arrived later were told they had to wait 1 hour plus. It was quite busy. They seemed like what it would be like for opening day. Slightly overwhelmed and inexperienced in some aspects of their new place. You can choose to eat Hot Pot or KBBQ, we chose the latter because we need more of those in MN. When we sat down, they showed us the tablet we could order our dishes from and you pretty much do all your ordering there. It’s self explanatory from there, however, I probably would appreciate a little guidance on their system. I felt a little lost at first, because there’s two bars where you can grab your side dishes and sauces straight from the entrance. I had to get up and use the bathroom to realize that’s what it was there for. This is important because you also grab your own scissors and tongs from those bars.

Note: I don’t think the peanut sauce should be in the middle as that could easily contaminate other sauces, just speaking for those allergic.

They came around to check with us every once in a while, but we most definitely felt like it was needed more because we had questions here and there. Our grill wasn’t working properly at first and we managed to work with it after a while cuz it was a little inconsistent. One of the workers came over a couple times to apologize about that and offered to give us a hot pot option because our table was full of uncooked meats and we were honestly pretty hungry. We thanked her for her kindness, but continued on with the grill.

The biggest issue was probably the grills that night we went. Some people made the switch over to hot pot and those who came later, had no option but to eat that because the restaurant was well aware of this. We were there for 3 hours because our grill was that inconsistent. We had 3 grill changes and usually this helped speed things up. The grilling sped up towards the end of the meal, I’m not sure why but my assumption is when the building was full, there must’ve been an overload of gas usage since we were one of the few tables using it at that point. Venting also seemed to be an issue, it got super cloudy there after the first hour of more than half the restaurant grilling.

Overall: 7/10, but I can't give a 3.5 star, so I'm rounding up. I feel like they deserve the opportunity to succeed and they’re providing a service I want to be successful in this area. However, they should definitely take note of these issues as opening months are most crucial and can certainly drive customers away. If you want to provide a KBBQ spot, your equipment should work well. This should be fixed ASAP. Take a weekend off or something to try this, but either way, I’m rooting for them. I’m not sure why places like to have a hybrid of eating styles, never been a big fan tbh, but to each their own.

TLDR: Food is good quality, some cuts could be better. It’s roughly $30, so I get it. The place is new and it’s spacious, but their service definitely showed signs of inexperience and an opening. Doesn’t seem like there’s a strong system set in place yet, but this could improve as time goes. Grills didn’t work well, but if fixed, this place could be worth it. I’m rooting for them because I want a KBBQ in a good location. Place might need better venting.

I'll give this place another try in a few weeks, maybe to get a follow up, but for now, I’ve had my first experience.

PS: Rice needs to be an option on the KBBQ menu, we had to ask a worker for 4 rice bowls and they only came back...

My friend and I visited Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse today. It is their second day being open for business. They were only offering hotpot today which was about $21.67 per person during lunch.

To start off, we were confused about what we were supposed to do when we first walked in. There was a gentleman who greeted us but then he seemed a little puzzled too. Finally, he waived over the host to take payment before we were seated—you will be paying before you dine in which I have no issue with.

After we were seated, we were informed the that fountain drinks are included in the AYCE pricing, which was great! I am pointing it out because other restaurants charge an extra price for it.

Upon reading a previous review, they stated that the broth was on the bland side. I can confirm that it was on the bland side to start out with, however, after cooking my meats and veggies, I found my broth to be very umami. I did end up adding more chili oil to my broth to spice it up as I discovered their chili oil at the sauce bar had a similar szcechuan flavor— I got the szcechuan spicy broth.

Like a previous post said, it did take a little while for our food to arrive. After making it known to one of the staff, every order after that came out in a timely manner.

I would say that I am a frequent hotpot goer. I’ve been to plenty of local hotpot spots around the US as well as franchises. The meat quality is satisfactory for a AYCE restaurant. I would even say that it was just above average. My reason being, when you order fatty beef belly, all of the meat usually disintegrates into the broth. For Shinhwa, the fatty beef belly still stays in tact after cooking it. This goes for the pork belly slices as well. Also, if you are a frequent AYCE hotpot goer, you will know that the meats and seafoods come frozen as it helps keep the mass quantity at quality. Otherwise, the veggies come out nice and fresh.

The sauce bar was beautiful. It has everything you need in order to make your hotpot sauce. Not only do you have your black vinegar, ponzu, soy and sesame sauce, they even premix a bunch of sauces for those who aren’t sure how to mix anything together— there are more that are not listed.

This was the second day it was open, there was still stuff that were being constructed but the service was still good. Our servers and food runners were friendly and helpful. Some were over explaining the restaurant situation but honestly, I did not mind everything going on knowing I went in during the soft opening. Usually during soft openings, the company is still figuring out the finishing touches so thank you for your eagerness to serve the public.

The servers were attentive, they came around plenty of times to make sure we were good on our beverages and food but still gave us space to enjoy our hotpot experience.

I personally enjoyed the tablet ordering. The app was a little glitchy but we still got our orders in. When we used the “call waitstaff” button, the waitstaff arrived at our table within a minute of us pressing it. I was pretty impressed.

Overall, this was a great place to get my hotpot fix in. The meats and veggies are delicious and for only $21.67 per person, it’s so worth it— honestly a steal.

Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse is definitely going to pave the way for AYCE KBBQ and hotpot establishments for Minnesota.

I can’t wait to see this establishment thrive! I will be back for the KBBQ portion!

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I have visited for the KBBQ portion of the restaurant.

The meat quality is on-par with AYCE KBBQ. I am comparing it to Las Vegas AYCE KBBQ as I frequent Vegas often. The pork belly selection was my favorite. The slices are on the thinner side but they are still delicious. I was impressed by the thickly sliced short ribs though! I hope it stays like that.

My suggestions for the KBBQ is to have garlic slices and jalapeño slices as an option as those are enjoyed with lettuce wraps.

Overall, I am going to give the...

So my wife and I saw when riding by that a new spot had taken over where Million Crab used to be, so my we figured we would check it out. We’re big fans of hotpot and Korean BBQ, and with the weather being nice, we decided to take the motorcycle out for a ride and give Shinhwa a try.

The restaurant is located in a strip mall with several other smaller businesses, but parking wasn’t an issue, there was plenty spots. As we walked in, I was surprised by the transformation from the last restaurant. They had big-screen TVs mounted on two walls playing videos, which added a nice vibe.

Right off the bat, we noticed the host at the front didn’t understand English very well, and we ran into the same issue with a few other staff members throughout our visit. That made communication a little difficult. We chose to only do the BBQ option and skip the hotpot this time.

The grill at our table was already set up and ready to go, which was a nice change from other places where you have to wait for staff to start it. We placed our order using the tablet at the table, and shortly after, we saw a robot deliver our food to our table, since we weren’t there the server put in on our table. I do like the robots it’s a nice touch adds to the vibe.

Before we cook we went to the bar to see what sauces they carry. However upon our arrival we realized the sauce bar wasn’t as great as we had hoped. They expect you to mix your own, but there weren’t any ratio guides or directions to do so, and most of the sauces were oil-based. I did however find one that worked well enough, but it wasn’t ideal.

We tried a variety of items, one surprised us was the salmon, which you don’t find at every Korean BBQ place. That was a hit. The cumin chicken, on the other hand, was way too heavy on the cumin. It completely overpowered the chicken, and I had to drown it in sauce just to make it manageable. Thankfully, a lot of the other items were well-seasoned and flavorful.

They also offer a selection of wines, beers, fruit juices, and teas. I ordered the strawberry drink, and it was actually really good.

Now, the pros: • Plenty of parking, thanks to the other businesses not having much foot traffic. • Lots of food and drink options, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. • Ordering is easy with either the QR code or the tablet at the table. • You can start your own grill without waiting for staff, which is a nice change. • Spacious seating and large booths—great for families or groups. • Ice cream bars are included for dessert, which is also pretty cool.

But now the cons: • Language barrier was an issue with several staff members. • Throughout the meal, staff kept walking by and staring, which felt awkward. Not sure if they were checking on us or making sure we weren’t sneaking food out (they do have a strict no-to-go policy). • You’re required to pay before eating, and the tip option is at the beginning. We didn’t feel comfortable tipping before knowing what kind of service we would receive, so afterward we had to go back up front to leave a tip by card, which was inconvenient. • When the grill top needs changing, it took longer than expected. They have to go to the back to grab a new one, so you end up sitting there waiting. Other places we’ve been to usually bring replacements with them, so it’s swapped out instantly.

Overall, it was an interesting experience, but not one that would bring us back. Between the communication challenges, awkward service, and other small inconveniences, it just didn’t live up to the standard we’ve come to expect from our...