Woobling Korean BBQ - Tacoma Mall — Restaurant in Tacoma

i hate leaving negative reviews, but this was the worst dining experience i have ever had in my life.

the grills for the meat are super textured. the meat sticks so much that you can’t pick anything up from the grill without ripping half of it off, which then sits and burns. When you have a meat that stick so much that shows that the meat is not fresh! the meat tasted old and looked grey. all of it was either suspiciously chewy or mostly fat, they must have stored it at the freezer for months

we sat down to dine and the first thing i asked the waiter was for more kimchi, he looked at me, laughed and told me a straight no l, he ridiculed me telling me that he doesn’t want to refill the Kim chi because he thinks that I can’t handle spicy, i thought he was joking at first, but he was not. i ask for this at every kbbq place i go to and i have never been laughed at and the server at other bbq place refill as many kimchi as i told them to. totally inappropriate and unprofessional, heard from the other waiter that the person I spoke with is the manager/owner of the restaurant.

meat portions were incredibly small and you can only order 3 at a time. it was smoky inside and not well ventilated, I have a feeling the manager or owner turn off their AC to save some $ from the electrical bill since inside is super stuffy and have a high humidity

The manduguk soup tasted exactly like dirty dish water, no exaggeration. the only thing that tasted decent was the kimchi (that i could tell was store bought) and not made in house. our grill was never turned on too and called the manager/owner that laughed at me, we make eye contact and he just ignored me, my wife and kids for around 40+ min before 1 of the bus boy saw me and helped us to turn on the grill. I also realized that the manager/owner prioritized his service to another table filled with 5 or 6 Caucasian diner that’s sitting 3 or 4 table from us, they have been ordering tons of liquor and not so much on the food.

we were completely abandoned by our waiter/manager/owner after the first round. we sat in front of empty plates, glasses, and burnt, smoking, grills for at least another 30 min until i asked for the check from the host, who was the only staff around to help us.

honestly, the food was disgusting. Even after I showed them how bad the food is and we didn’t even get 2 other food that we ordered, they still charge the other 2 dish and told the manager/owner about it, he said he will took out the 2 charges and bring me a new check, which he didn’t and by this time I just want to get out and get it over with, I just paid for those 2 dish that never come left the restaurant starving. We end up going to Cham garden by south Tacoma way to get our tummy full!

please save yourself the stress and go to Cham garden, Chung ki wa, or ho soon yi, along south Tacoma way, their food is way better and fresher than woobling/the knot and...

Worst KBBQ experience. Just skip it. Coming from LA I was prepared for the food to not be as good as I’m used to, but I expected the service to be great. To my surprise, the food was top tier but the service was miserable. The ordering tablets went down which happens. However, once this happens, wait staff should be ready to step in seamlessly. This was not the case.

Staff didn’t know their own dishes by name, they never came over to change the grill without flagging them down, while waiting for the second round of food, it took so long the oil on it burned off, our waters were forgotten, our napkin we forgotten, or second order was lost despite it being taken on paper, overall, it took an hour and a half to get two rounds of food with 3 meats each. Anyone who eats kbbq knows this is ridiculous. Multiple tables walked out while waiting for food, including the table next to us. Only then did they rush out meats. Kbbq gives customers raw meat to cook on their own. There’s no reason it should take 30+ minutes for raw meat to come out. Especially, not when the restaurant wasn’t even busy. There were a measly 4 tables full when we arrived.

Kbbq around the country has integrated technology with excellent wait staff. From robots delivering orders to tables, to staff taking orders on tablets, it’s been done and mastered a hundred times over. The fact that Woobling kbbq failed is frankly, embarrassing. On top of that basic amenities failed as well. No toilet paper were present in the bathroom stalls, and there were empty napkins containers on the table.

I typically like to return when restaurants flounder to see if they improve, but the fear of wasting $45 per person to wait over two hours for 6 plates of raw food is a risks I’m not willing to take when various small kbbq establishments in Tacoma & Seattle are faster, and more capable. I hope they get things together for...

Mixed feelings. I'll start with the good. First, our table chef was fantastic & did a great job of recommending combinations of sides & meats that we should try. The food was all really tasty - highly recommend the kimchi fries. Our server was a little disappointing. I realize they just opened so she may not have the menu down yet, but that said... We were looking to order drinks. There weren't any descriptions of the beers, wines, or liquors on the menu - just brand names. I asked if one was a cider because it kinda sounded like it could be? She didn't know, & had to go ask the bartender. When she came back, we asked about wine. She also didn't know & had to go back to grab a wine list. It wasn't a massive list - maybe 6 or 8 options? We were the ONLY table, but once she dropped off the side dishes & a glass of water each, we basically never saw her again. Our chef actually had to yell for her (she was chatting with the bartender) at one point to bring more of a couple sides & more water. The other server there, who brought us our wine, actually chose for us & we appreciated that she told us she chose the sauvignon blanc because she felt like it paired best with all the accompaniments. We never got asked about any other drinks, or dessert, or got checked in on, & it was difficult to get her attention to even get the check. Again, we were the ONLY table, & it was more than 2 hours before close, so it's not like we were holding them up. For the cost, I'd really hope for top-notch service - & not just from the chef. Also, the meat portions were pretty small for the cost. And although we were told the sides were replenishment, they charged us for the 3 we asked for more of. The sides, soup, kimchi fries - all excellent. The meat was tasty, just not a lot for the price. Hopefully with time they'll improve, but I'm hesitant to go back & spend so much again myself until I...