KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in Vinings

A Fun Korean BBQ and Hot Pot Experience with a Few Improvements Needed

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I recently had the pleasure of dining at KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot with a group of friends for a Saturday evening meetup. With multiple locations in the Atlanta area and across Georgia, we were excited to try out this popular spot.

Upon arrival, we were pleased to find plenty of seating available, thanks to our reservation. However, as the evening progressed, the restaurant started to fill up quickly. We initially sat under one of their vents, which made us quite cold. Thankfully, the staff was accommodating and promptly arranged a new table for us.

While the booths appeared spacious, I found it challenging to find room for my coat and purse. It would be beneficial for the restaurant to consider adding hooks by the tables to provide a convenient storage solution for personal items.

Our server deserves special praise for being incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. Since most of our group had never experienced a venue like this before, she patiently guided us through the proper etiquette of dining at KPot. Despite her shift ending, she stayed with us throughout our meal, ensuring we had an enjoyable experience.

However, towards the end of our meal, another server approached us and asked us to vacate our table once we had settled the bill. While we understand the need to accommodate other diners, it would be helpful if the restaurant extended their time limits for larger groups. We were engaged in heavy conversation while cooking and eating, which led to our meal lasting around 2 hours.

In terms of the food, the options for the hot pot were not my personal favorite compared to the Korean BBQ choices. As someone who appreciates ramen or pho outside of certain restaurant settings, I felt the Korean BBQ offerings overshadowed the hot pot options. Nevertheless, overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the dining experience.

If I were to make a suggestion, I would recommend arriving earlier to avoid feeling rushed to eat and leave. This would allow ample time to fully savor the delicious food and enjoy the lively atmosphere without any time constraints.

In conclusion, KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot provided us with a fun and enjoyable dining experience. With a few improvements such as adding hooks by the tables and extending time limits for larger groups, this restaurant has the potential to become even more exceptional. I look forward to visiting other locations again...

We were excited to see a new Korean spot open in our neighborhood and made a plan to check it out as soon as we were able. Inside, the tables are set up for either a grill-your-own meats or hot pot experience (or both, for an extra five dollar surcharge per diner in your party). Since it was a cold night, we went for the hot pot option, which allowed us to cook a variety of vegetables, raw proteins, and noodles in our individual broth pots of choice.

Service is a little touch and go. We ended up bussing our own empty plates throughout the meal since our server didn't visit frequently. Though my husband and I ordered different ingredients, everything was mixed together onto plates and delivered without explanation, so that we were left to guess whose was whose and which meats were what. The quality of some ingredients were definitely better than others. The vegetables were fresh and we loved the tender cuts of pork belly and ribeye, but I wished I'd gone without the mussels, which smelled a little fishy to start and were so sandy that anything that went into my pot afterwards were coated with fine grit. Our broths, too, left something to be desired. My spicy Szechuan broth was somehow pure heat without any flavor, which became a lot like cooking my food in plain chili oil. My husband had similar shrugging reviews of his tomato broth, which tasted fine but didn't seem to impart a ton of flavor to his food.

The saving grace of the meal was the well-stocked sauce area, where we were supplied with everything we needed to mix up some flavorful food dressings. There is also a limited buffet of hot foods, with mainly fried fare such as fries and egg rolls. I especially appreciated the Korean fried chicken, which I arguably enjoyed more than anything that came out of my hot pot.

While we were there, the restaurant was bustling with activity and it's not hard to see why. It's a bright, spacious restaurant with fun ambiance, especially for larger groups wanting a communal meal. Looking around, it seemed like most of the tables around us went the barbecue route, which appears to be the better choice...

Went here the other day for the first time.

Things I liked: The hostess was nice and welcoming.

My server was attentive and knowledgeable of the menu/options.

I liked the buffet of sauces to choose from. The wings and the spring rolls from the buffet tasted good.

Thai tea was good.

Things I didn’t like: I ordered the brisket and beef bulgogi which were both inedible. The brisket didn’t have any fat in it and was tasteless. I didn’t eat it and set it off to the side. Maybe it was a bad cut? I had the same issue with the bulgogi and decided to recook it with some sauce.

Vegetables are offered on the menu but I couldn’t order bean sprouts with the bbq because they’re only offered with hot pot? That makes no sense. Bean sprouts are traditionally eaten with Korean bbq and I think they should be offered on the bbq menu.

There’s also all these sauces to choose from but no bean paste? Also traditionally eaten with Korean bbq.

I ordered a drink and they gave me a drinking glass with a crack in it. Didn’t appreciate that.

There’s this constant beeping the entire time you are eating. I believe it’s from the hot pot cooktops. I don’t know how the employees stand the beeping for hours all day. I didn’t appreciate it for an hour lunch. Turn the damn beeping tables off.

I went to the bathroom, came back to my table to find the entire table cleared. The server saw that I had come back and asked me “you were done eating right?”. Word of advice, never clear a plate let alone the table until you have asked the customer if they are finished eating. I still had food on my plate. Why would you clear not just my plate but the entire table? Incredibly rude.

I will not be coming back here.

FYI $21 for all you...