Blue House Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Sacramento

I was not impressed by the service or the food here. Saying it was mediocre would be a compliment. The best thing that happened during my experience here was my car wasn't broken into.

First of all, while I was walking into the restaurant, I noticed a sign on the door indicating I should lock my car and hide my valuables in the trunk. This is never a good sign to see... ever. I took one last look to make sure my car was locked and went inside.

After walking in, I was greeted by the host at the front desk and was surprised to be seated within a few minutes. The atmosphere also appeared to be just about right. Unfortunately, these were the only good things about my experience and the rest went downhill from here.

After being seated, I had to wait 10-15 minutes before my server finally greeted me and took my order. The server brought the side dishes and my tea. After, I sat, and waited... and waited, and waited.

While I waited, I slowly ate the side dishes and sipped my tea thinking I would be able to save some for when the main course arrived. Well, the main course did not come for a considerable amount of time. I eventually ate through all of the side dishes and went through almost the entire pot of tea before I realized my food still wasn't there. I waited about 5-10 more minutes and it finally arrived.

A person other than my server quickly threw my bibimbap on the table and walked away. At that moment, I realized they had given me a pitiful amount of red pepper sauce. They also didn't offer to replenish the side-dishes. I lived in Korea for almost four years, have eaten tons of Korean food, and gone to numerous Korean restaurants in both Korea and the United States. I've never been rationed on the red pepper sauce... ever. Also, side dishes are always replenished when empty. Well, this place chose to be the first to break those traditions.

I sat around for another 5 minutes hoping my server would come back and ask me if everything was okay. I mean, you can't eat bibimbap with just a spoonful of red pepper sauce, right?

What made things worse was, at this time, my tea was gone and I needed water to help wash down what I was about to partake. Well, when no one showed, I decided to just eat my food because I was starting to get really irritated.

The bibimbap was okay. It didn't taste that fresh and the meat was very fatty and tough. You know meat isn't that great when you keep getting large gobs of hard fat stuck in your teeth when you chew. Either way, I was not impressed with the food.

Once I finished my meal, I just sat there and waited for my server to bring me the bill. To be honest, I just wanted to get out of there because I was so annoyed. I waited several minutes and nothing happened. I then started the timer on my watch. After waiting another 13 minutes, I couldn't stand it anymore. So, I got up, walked to the front counter, and asked the lady that had sat me down earlier if I could just get the bill. In reality, I felt like I could have just walked out of the building without paying and nobody would have cared or noticed. After pleading for my check, the lady at the front appeared to be taken aback, took me back to my seat, and went to go get somebody to help me.

A couple minutes later, another lady arrived at my table, apologized, and told me my server had forgotten about me. Yeah, I knew that already. I told her I just wanted to pay for my food and leave. A few minutes later, she brought the bill,. I noticed the bill was discounted by about 25% and I paid it. I didn't leave a tip, because gratuity is "a sum of money customarily given by a customer to certain service sector workers for the service they have performed." No service was performed; therefore, no tip.

As I walked out the restaurant, I looked towards my car and prayed to God nobody had stolen or vandalized it during the eternity I spent inside of the restaurant. I felt so relieved knowing I could drive away as fast as I could without waiting an additional hour or two to file a...

Korean barbacue is an odd exercise in restraint and excess, all at once. It is also remarkably delicious.

I've eaten Korean a few times and have been a fan from the first experience. I love the family method of dining where lots of small dishes are laid out and diners sample a bit (or a lot) of each as desired. Kimchi is heaven, daikon divine, and the steamed broccoli will vanish in a matter of seconds if you don't take it out of my reach immediately.

I've had bulgogi, octopus hot pot and bimibap, but before tonight, I'd never done barbacue. Now that I've done barbacue...I’m not sure I could ever go back.

Blue House offers all you can eat barbacue which is 27.00 or 36.00 per person. 27.00 will get you most of the meats they offer, 36.00 accesses a few higher-tier additions such as shrimp and spicy squid which are not available with the 27.00 level.

You are given tongs and scissors to cook and distribute your meats and metal chopsticks to eat, though forks are available upon request.

There is a 2-hour limit that begins as of the first round of meat they bring you, and they are anything but stingy. They keep bringing it as long as you'll keep eating it, and will also regularly change out your grill plate. Staff is wonderfully attentive and friendly, and more than happy to provide recommendations.

We worked through most of the offerings, many of which are supremely delicious. The highlights were the spicy pork belly, spicy beef bulgogi, marinated octopus and brisket. Their dumplings are crispy and toothsome. With your barbacue, they also serve steamed rice, grated daikon (Japanese radish), kimchi, sweet potato, steamed broccoli, fish cakes and seaweed salad.

If you aren't meat-minded, the all-you-can-eat bbq option offers tofu, veggies, corn, eggs and ramen to put on the grill.

To accompany our meal, we opted for soju, which is a distilled Korean spirit typically made from rice. My first experience with it a few years back didn't leave me craving more, as the type I sampled initially was not flavored and reminded me of nothing so much as moonshine. On the recommendation of a friend, we tried two of the flavored kinds, peach and strawberry. The peach is smooth and complimented the spicy marinades we were eating beautifully. The strawberry is tart and has more of the bite that I associate with soju.

Soju is consumed in small glasses much like the ones used to do shots, and is no slouch in the alcohol-by-volume department.

I was feeling pretty full after the fourth round, but my companion and I put away six rounds of meat altogether, and shared two bottles of soju. Blue House kept us supplied with a pitcher of ice water and checked with us regularly to make sure our experience was top-notch.

Excellent food that you yourself cook to taste really does add savor to the experience, and the barbacue is more than just a novelty.

If this is a dining experience you've not yet had...I'd highly recommend it. Grab a friend or five and have at it.

There’s much...

Go to OZ Korean BBQ!! Been wanting to go here for awhile and finally made it with my husband and our son. Pros - the dining and waiting area were very clean. Wait staff was attentive and courteous.

Cons - Wait is always at least 30 min. Bathrooms were dirty. It's pricey, $27/person for all you can eat dinner. Meat selection is not robust. It's really hot in there and there is no ventilation above about 1/2 the tables. You come out smelling like a smoky grill.

My HUGE issue is there was a group of 7 drunk people sitting directly across from us and they had one guy in their party with a filthy and loud mouth. Every other word was f*. More than halfway through our dinner we couldn't tolerate it any longer and I brought it to the attention of the hostess. Shortly after, the manager Shawna came up to our table and asked us if we wanted to move to another table. What?! Why would we need to move in the middle of our dinner? We declined and she turned around and asked the trouble table if there was anything they needed. She didn't say anything to them. Unbelievable. We should've left at that point.

5/10 minutes went by and one of the guys shook a beer, then opened it and it sprayed their table, the blinds, and the couple sitting in the table behind them. The woman from that table was furious and got up to confront them. Still no one from the restaurant staff asked the grounp to "behave". We couldn't tolerate the heat or the language any longer and got up to pay and leave. Without even finishing our dinner. My husband told the waitress what happened and told the manager that "... next time you need to handle the problem instead of asking us IN FRONT of the problem table if we want to move."

We left at the same time as the couple that got sprayed by the beer and we spoke in the parking lot about the problem table and the cost ($100 for the 3 of us and they paid the same for the 2 of them). We both agreed that neither one of us would ever come back. Go to OZ...