KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Town of Wallkill

I absolutely love this location and usually come here as often as I can, about twice a month even though I live in New Paltz. I always tell people to choose this location over the Wappingers one even though Wappingers is closer because the service and overall experience are normally so much better here. Unfortunately, my visit this time was not up to the usual standard.

We arrived at 7:00 pm and waited quite a while before our server even came over to take a single drink order. By the time he did, all of our food had already arrived. Throughout the evening, he seemed visibly unhappy, disappearing often and when he was around (which was not a lot) he was not attentive to my table at all, looking upset, and even mean mugging around the restaurant. During two birthday celebrations he had to sing for, he looked downright angry while singing, which was uncomfortable to watch.

The grill wasn’t offered to be changed until 8:09 pm, over an hour after we arrived, and by then it was caked with burnt food. Normally the grill is changed regularly, so the food doesn’t taste burnt, and servers here are cheerful and attentive. This time, there was no offer to refill our drinks either.

To make matters worse, the experience reminded me too much of Wappingers. At that location, the manager once mixed our food together after we complained that the grill wasn’t hot enough it was taking 15 minutes to cook shrimp and 10 minutes for sliced brisket. I was eating with a pescatarian that day, and because of the mix up, the food was no longer consumable for them. The manager showed no remorse or apology, which was frustrating and wasteful.

I truly understand that everyone has bad days, but as a server, professionalism and attitude make all the difference in a customer’s experience. If this had been my very first time visiting, I honestly don’t think I would have come back. I’ve always said the 45 minute drive to this location is worth it, but if service starts feeling like Wappingers, I’m not so...

To be honest I love my kpot experiences! Been to 4 different locations. But this one was different. I was a party of 5 and we were celebrating my child’s 10th birthday. At the end of the meal they tell us oh we have a promo where the birthday person gets a free meal (mind you it’s a children’s meal) the server proceeds to tell me we need proof it’s their birthday (the manager is sending the server back and forth fyi) and I kindly tell the server my child’s 10 he does not have an ID. He goes to the manager and tells the manager. The manager tells the server that’s not enough 🙄 mind you I came decked for my baby with balloons and cake to celebrate his special day! So I get overstimulate because it’s been a long bday weekend with my kids. So I go on to look into my phone and wala an old photo of my son’s passport after 10 mins. The server ask to take my phone already annoyed at this point I tell him ok but what I really wanted was the manager to come by and show up instead of sending the server back and forth. Honestly this happened during the weekend in the evening hours and I’m still upset about it. I payed my almost $300 bill minus my sons meal and I don’t blame the server I blame the manager for the hospitality they lack to give. I know people lie but damn I came happy in there to celebrate his bday and leave highly upset. Never again will be going to this location! If you bring your child bring their birth certificate you gonna...

I’ve always been a big fan of Korean BBQ and have had great experiences at Kpot locations in New Jersey and Queens. Naturally, we were excited when a Kpot finally opened in Middletown. Unfortunately, this visit was far below the standard we’ve come to expect from the brand.

Despite the restaurant being only about 60% full during our visit, the service was surprisingly poor. Each server appeared to be handling only a few tables, yet we received minimal attention. One of the basic expectations at a Korean BBQ is for the grill to be changed every 15–20 minutes to prevent food from burning. In our case, no one came by to change the grill even once, which led to food burning quickly and affecting the overall experience.

Additionally, our drinks were never refilled, and when we were ready to leave, we waited around 20 minutes without seeing our server. We eventually had to walk to the front counter to ask someone to let them know we were ready for the check.

This would be more understandable if the restaurant were busy, but we were surrounded by empty tables. It felt like service and staff training were simply not a priority—perhaps because there’s no other Korean BBQ option in the area.

We still left an 18% tip, as we always do, but honestly, we would have gladly tipped more had the service met even the most basic expectations, such as changing the grill once...