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

Moving to Wappingers after 30+ years in Queens was especially difficult for my food habits. There really isn't a lot of comparable Asian options in this area. I saw the sign go up a while ago for KPOT and have been anxiously waiting for them to open. I finally got to go shortly after their opening, on a Sunday for dinner service. They were surprisingly packed, and it was a 30 minute wait for our table of four. Their estimate was fairly accurate, and we were seated in a timely manner.

The space is definitely bigger than it seems from the outside. They kept the ceiling high, so the bbq smoke didn't crowd up the dining space. Ventilation could have been stronger, but I imagine it's pricey to get custom bbq vents over each table, especially in an area where it isn't common. The seats were comfortable and space far enough apart that I wasn't nervous about being close to people.

The service felt rushed - it seemed like they didn't have the time to talk to us or deal with us. It was our first time, so they had to explain how to order the food on the tablet on our table. But for the rest of our meal, it was near impossible to get our server's attention for things like drink/water refills, grill plate change, questions about the food, and even getting/paying our bill.

I'll chalk the service up to them being new and busy, and hope it improves over time. They can definitely take a hint from more traditional Korean restaurants and add a call button to each table, That would have been especially helpful when we had been waiting about 10 minutes to flag someone down to pay the bill they left for us.

In my three years in Wappingers Falls, never did I imagine that we'd have a proper Korean BBQ and shabu spot. I didn't dare dream. But here we are. Honestly, I would give the KBBQ here a 5/5 and the hot pot a 3/5 for selection. However, if you're already doing KBBQ, vaue shoots up to 5/5 because they only charge $5 more doing both.

The hot pot meat was fresh and sliced thin; however I feel like they were lacking in non-meat options. The sauce station had a very good variety, including Sa-cha sauce, but the station itself was not maintained at all. The sauces were mostly depleted all night and the station it self was extremely dirty/gross, making me not want to go back. I really hope they improve this, especially post pandemic when we should really be more sanitary.

The KBBQ selection is a 5/5 for me. The grill table set up gets a 3/5 though. They don't keep oil at the table, so you have to get it from the sauce station - this is very messy and I wish they would just provide a small bottle at each table. They also don't provide a brush for the oil, so you're kind of just left there pouring oil out of an already messy sauce bowl, haphazardly onto the grill. They use stainless steel grill plates - not my favorite as they easily collect residue and become difficult to grill with. Our server changed our first plate out in a timely manner, but it took a very long time to get our second plate swapped.

I can't describe KBBQ in words - if you enjoy well seasoned BBQ meat, you need to try KBBQ at least once in your life. And this is pretty darn good for not having to drive to Fort Lee, NJ...

Been here twice and the 2nd go round was at the request of another so I decided to go for lunch on Veterans Day arriving at about 12 noon.

When I walked in I noticed a big sign that said "Veterans 10% off". I thought the gesture was nice being a veteran myself. After sitting down and looking at the menu and about to order food I noticed that there was a lunch and a dinner menu Of course the lunch menu would be a little bit cheaper and the portion size of food wouldn't be as much but I was fine with that because the rules to this place relate that if you have leftover food you're not allowed to take it out which I think is a bit ridiculous but being that I already knew that I opted for the lunch special. When I spoke to the waitress and told her I was interested in the lunch portion she informed me that she was advised by the owner or manager that for today only there were no lunches being served only dinner menu with dinner prices. I for one had a big problem with that being that it was veterans Day I am a veteran but more importantly I didn't like the fact that on Veterans Day the restaurant decided to force everyone to pay the maximum price for food even during the lunch hours. I thought that was a crappy way to honor veterans as well as civilians who just came to have something to eat. I mean why on Veterans Day would you decide that it is best to charge everyone the higher price? (All while offering a 10% discount for veterans)It really disturbed me and I didn't appreciate that at all. I relayed my frustration with the waitress and she agreed and said that she would speak to her manager I asked her not to bother as most veterans like myself don't even like to ask for any discounts because it feels like we're begging or at least that's how the response makes us feel. With that said I had my meal the food was not that great The concept is good but being that I've eaten Korean BBQ before and way better establishments I thought this was subpar at best. In addition like I stated before I find it ridiculous that if I order food and don't finish my food that I am not allowed to take what I have remaining I mean let's be honest here I wonder how many pounds of food literally goes into the trash every day from this establishment. Now I could see ordering food and eating your first go-around and when the second go around comes you instantly want to take out box but that shouldn't be the case for your first go-around of food if you so choose not to have any additiotnals for the price that you're paying. Either way I wasn't impressed by this establishment and I don't think I'll be returning...

An update on my review: I received a response (you'll see it below), apparently concerned with issues at the Wappinger KPot and requesting that I reach out to the Wappinger business. I reached out to them on January 3rd - no response (it's now Jan. 19th). Nothing. So apparently the horrible experience is of no interest to the company. If you plan to visit, beware. Back to the review ...

Before I describe our experience: I reached out to the restaurant management yesterday morning and haven’t received a response. I don’t know if that means that they’re buried in complaints or that they just don’t care.

The good: My husband and I visited KPOT in Wappinger about a month ago and had a great time. The food was good, the cooking fun, the staff helpful and friendly, and the experience was altogether terrific.

The really, really bad: Our daughter was away at college and we promised to take her over the holidays. On Thursday 12/28, around 7:15 pm, we headed to the restaurant. A DJ was playing this time (maybe it was karaoke) and it was painfully loud when we entered, but the hostess told us she could seat us in the far back where it would be less noisy. And it was, for a couple of minutes. By the time our waitress dropped by to talk about the menu and give us our guidelines, we couldn't hear a thing she said. She leaned over, speaking directly into my daughter's ear, and mentioned that she'd asked several times that the volume be dropped - each time it went back up immediately afterward.

I went to the front and asked the hostess and host to please lower the volume. They couldn't hear me. A young guy with kids was right behind me and asked them in a far less gentle way to lower the volume. They couldn't hear him. My husband and daughter gestured that they were done and just wanted to go - we left and found a far quieter place down the street.

Yesterday morning my ears were still ringing. I can’t imagine what that level of noise did to their staffs’ and customers’ hearing. The only upside, if it can be considered that, was that it was impossible to hear the little kids crying as their parents left with them. Remember: this is before 7:30 pm on a Thursday in a family restaurant. Not 10 PM in a nightclub.

We looked through KPOT’s website for menu and timing information before heading out. There was nothing posted about music/karaoke/a DJ. We wouldn't have gone if we knew it would be loud.

My recommendation: if you really don’t want to talk to folks at your table, don’t care what a server is trying to tell you, and bring earplugs, then head to the place when they have the DJ....