Baek Ri Hyang — Restaurant in South Salt Lake

Baek Ri Hyang Korean restaurant is excellent. Relatively newly-opened. You know you are in a great ethnic restaurant when the majority of its clientele are Koreans and not just American-sorta-white-folk. Five of us went. Be prepared w/about $20 per person, --a lot of time to read & contemplate a detailed menu, --and simple English with wait staff. And if you want separate checks, remember to say it right at the beginning.

For instance, a "little" spicy may not be understood in a nuanced way. If something is "not spicy" and you want it a "little" spicy, you are likely to get "very" spicy.... "spicy" equals 'on-or off' kinda statement.

Many Korean restaurants bring a little fueled grill to the table, and customers can cook their own pieces of meat. This particular restaurant does not do that. They cook everything in the kitchen as ordered from the menu and bring it to you ready.

The food is authentic and excellent. Cold water sans ice is served in stainless steel cups which make it very refreshing. I would suggest getting the mandu appetizer (fried) and ask them to show u how to make the sauce with the bottles on the table (other restaurants serve the dipping sauce with those dumplings, B.R.H. does not).

They serve pon-chons, which are tiny plates of side dishes...all given in small amounts for everyone at the table to share. The selection is a little different every day. They might offer to refill the ponchons one time, but it is not considered customary or polite to ask for a third round. My favorite ponchons are bean sprouts, gok-tu-gi, and kimchi. Their kimchi is okay, but it is mild kimchi.

Many entrees are just fabulous. However it is not especially heavy on meat quantity. --Actually, that is a typical trait of Asian food anyway, but to give an example-- I ordered seafood Jam bong (could have chosen beef instead). It contained a few different types of seafood: a bit of fish, some squid, and some crab. I offered my friend a taste., giving him a piece of the crab (which was in a small shell, by the way)--but it turned out that was the only bit of crab in the entire bowl.

However the jam-bong entree is a very large bowl, and even though there is not a lot of crab or a ton of seafood in it, the vegetables and broth are just wonderful. Two of us also tried the pork neck bones soup. Again, wonderful Savory broth--but truly mostly bones with just a little bit of meat on them--a great little soup/stew. I think that selection does not come with its own bowl of rice on the side, so we requested that with it.

Lastly, yuke-jang, is a thin clear broth soup of strips of shredded beef and some green vegetable perhaps a seaweed. Very spicy. Definitely need a bowl of rice alongside. Entrees that come in sizzling stone pots are very good too, such as Bi-Bim-Bap.

I wish their gok-tu-gi and kimchi were spicier, but unfortunately they are not. Actually, most things on the menu are Not spicy, and the spicy things are obviously marked. But when we suggested that they make the pork neck bones soup a "little" spicy, it was "extremely so" for my less-hardy friend, haha.

They offer a no-charge sweetened rice-drink (in a little stainless steel bowl you drink right out of) at the conclusion of the meal. Sheesh, typing all this is making me so hungry.

I lived in Korea for 18 months a million years ago while in the army, and I love this restaurant. This is the third time I have come, and if I lived closer and had more money, I would...

this review is long overdue for me so i’m finally doing it!

i have a lot of words about this restaurant, but to condense it into a single sentence i’ll just say… i’m absolutely in love with it.

food: what i’ve tried on their menu is very limited, as i usually stick with the kimchi jjigae (because it’s my favorite ^^). although i’ve also tried their pajeon, jjajangmyeon, tteokbokki, and maybe two other menu items with my friends. everything i’ve tried has been absolutely amazing!

all of the food seems to have high quality ingredients and is prepared as fresh as possible. the pajeon has so many different seafoods in it, i day dream about it sometimes… and those alone surely aren’t cheap. the kimchi jjigae is also amazing! full of yummy onions and tteok (rice cakes), pork belly, soft tofu, and of course, kimchi! it’s one of the most amazing soups i’ve ever had. it’s served with a side of rice and is very filling. the flavors combine together so wonderfully and is perfectly executed. i’ve tried it elsewhere but i haven’t found any that taste as good as theirs.

service: their service is the best i’ve had anywhere. tonight, within five minutes of receiving my food, i had around five staff members ask me if everything was good, if i needed anything, etc. actually, this was a common theme tonight! i was checked on 15+ times in my visit which is absolutely extraordinary. it’s always timely and organized, whether they’re busy or slow. the owners are extremely kind and welcoming. the waitstaff are lovely too, always smiling and happy. twice now i’ve had a particular server bring me napkins without me having to ask. i don’t know his name but he really stands out to me as well.

price: their price is on the higher end, but overall it’s worth it. especially when you factor in all the free side dishes you get, the time that’s spent preparing not only the side dishes (which can take weeks to prepare), the meats they use, the marinades, and then making it after you order too. the price reflects the quality, time, and effort put into each dish. personally, that makes it worth it to me.

overall: i genuinely love this restaurant. every time i’ve come in i’ve been sat instantly (even when they’re busy), the atmosphere is pleasant too. i’m not local to Utah, but rather i’m a neighbor in Idaho. whenever i’m in Salt Lake, i always try to come. unfortunately i have a terrible problem of things being scheduled on wednesdays (one of the only days they’re closed ALL day) :,)

i think the biggest thing for me is how homely everything feels. it’s extremely comforting and calm, a place to just relax and enjoy yourself in whatever way...

The servers at this restaurant are unbelievably rude. I went there to celebrate my birthday because I’ve been there before. Although the service was never great, I really liked the food. I had been looking forward to eating there all day. When we arrived, there was a mix-up with the order, and I ended up ordering the wrong dish. When they brought it to the table, I didn’t recognize it, so I tried to explain to the server that I had intended to order something different. The server began arguing with me, causing a scene in the restaurant, insisting it was my fault for ordering the wrong dish. When I politely asked if it was possible to switch it for what I actually wanted, he brought another server over to continue arguing with me! I have NEVER experienced anything like this before. My sister ended up giving me her dish because she felt bad about how I was treated. She also asked again if we could switch the dish, but the servers literally threw the dish onto the table and left. Later, what I think was a supervisor came to ask if everything was okay, and when we replied, "Not really," he literally laughed in our faces and walked away without even asking what the problem was. I swear on everything I hold dear that this is exactly how it happened. Please, take your money elsewhere. This place does not deserve...