KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot — Restaurant in West Des Moines

We had a really frustrating and disappointing experience at KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot. My husband, daughter, and I met up with my best friend and her boyfriend for dinner. We arrived around 7:20 PM and were seated after about a 25-minute wait, which was reasonable since the restaurant closes at 10. But from the moment we were seated, things started to unravel.

Our server was actively training someone, which clearly added to the confusion and lack of attention throughout the meal. We had never been to a KPOT before, and neither had our friends. We were hoping for a proper explanation, but the server rushed through it and compared the hot pot experience to pho, without explaining what pho is. That left some of our group even more confused.

We chose to do the upgraded meal, which included both hot pot (KPOT) and BBQ. The server instructed us to start with ordering broth, protein, and veggies for the hot pot, and then we could begin adding BBQ items after. We followed that direction and submitted our hot pot order through the tablet. We got our broth quickly, followed by noodles and vegetables, but no protein.

A few minutes later, we overheard the table behind us talking about how they unexpectedly received shrimp and spam. Those were specific items we had ordered, so it was pretty clear they had mistakenly been given our hot pot meats.

The trainee came by to check on us, and we told him we were missing our hot pot proteins. He looked at the tablet and questioned whether we had actually submitted the order. That was frustrating, we clearly had, because everything else (broth, noodles, and vegetables) had arrived just fine. We explained again that we were waiting on our KPOT meats, and mentioned the other table had likely received them.

At this point, we had begun adding some BBQ items to our order, but those were pending, we had intentionally held off sending them until our hot pot order was complete. The trainee left and came back after what felt like forever, only to again insist that the meats hadn’t been ordered. We had to repeat everything again and explain that our full KPOT order had been submitted through the tablet, and that the table behind us had received it in error.

Finally, our original server stepped in, grabbed the tablet, and resent the entire hot pot order, not just the proteins, but all the noodles and vegetables again too. Everything showed up at once, filling up the table and completely overwhelming us. We went from having missing food to being completely buried in it, with no time or space to enjoy anything.

Instead of enjoying dinner and conversation with our out-of-state friends, we were rushed, anxious, and stressed. The sauce bar was shut down before some of our food even arrived, the bathrooms were locked before closing time, and the staff clearly wanted us out. Not once did a manager stop by to address the situation. We were offered a 20 percent discount, which didn’t begin to reflect how much of a mess the entire night had become, especially for a restaurant at this price point.

This kind of dining experience is supposed to be fun, collaborative, and well-paced. Instead, it was chaotic, poorly managed, and full of preventable mistakes. The BBQ meats were also sliced way too thick and the grill heat was too low, so the cooking process dragged on.

We never got to enjoy a single proper bite of hot pot with broth, noodles, vegetables, and protein together, which is the entire point of going to a place like this. What was supposed to be a special night out with close friends turned into a stressful, disappointing experience.

We will not be returning to this KPOT location, and I would not recommend it to others. This location has been open long enough to have their staff trained and their system running smoothly. KPOT needs to do better — own mistakes, communicate clearly, and show guests a basic level of care and...

Yikes. I was so excited to experience this place, and wanted to love it.

A friend and I decided to enjoy their lunch special today, and headed there right at Noon when they open. Upon arrival we could hear someone yelling at the staff and using swear words, etc. Everyone who had entered the building as patrons just sort of stood there awkwardly listening and waiting to be helped. My friend and I were the third group seated, and were placed by the sauce buffet which had seemingly not been filled, and definitely not cleaned, from the night prior. I immediately noticed that the floors around and under us were incredibly dirty as well.

The server approached us and didn't provide any help in understanding our first experience at the restaurant.....but we had done our research and read how it all works before coming. We asked for iced tea but were told they didn't have any, so we drank luke warm water (mine had noticable floaties in it).

It's a per person price and all you can eat and you order from an iPad. We stayed away from anything labeled "dinner only" on the menu (as it was lunch). The dinner items are mostly upgrades from what the lunch menu offers. About 60% of the items we ordered ever made it to the table....when we let the server know some items hadn't arrived she said "order them again", which we did....yet many never came. The grill had no oil so veggies were "dry grilling" and there was burnt charcoal on the grill which made them dry and bitter. We asked if there was oil we should be using to grill our food and the server told us they used to have spray oil for them but most of them broke so they don't have that anymore.....?

To food was good and my friend and I had fun regardless of the poor service and uncleanliness of the restaurant....but then our check came. We were charged for dinner service. Thinking it was a mistake we asked our server. She said "yeah it's dinner all day"....so we (kindly) asked where that was posted as we had referenced their website prior to coming in (see attached photo of the main page on their website just as we left at 2 pm) and she said "I don't know I think there is a sign in the door". As we left we noticed an 8.5"x11" sign on the door stating "dinner all day"...which we (and most) obviously had not seen..the paper had no details about pricing or offerings, and our server mentioned nothing through the 1.5 hours we were there. It was all so shady and handled so poorly by our server.

We had 30 minutes left of our timeframe and were still cooking and eating what was at our table. Our server came back REPEATEDLY asking if we were ready for our check. It was clear she could go home after her tables all left. I wish she would have been that attentive at any other part of our experience...like telling us we could order from the dinner menu because it was dinner all day, or refilling our water without promoting...

A $45 (per person) lunch and the worst service I've had in a very long time.

I'm giving it 2 stars because I liked the food (although am still concerned about cleanliness and food safety), and because I feel like, with better staffing and management, this place has the potential to be a really great addition to Des Moines. Without some changes this place...

TL;DR: Not authentic (they don't even have gochujang sauce), not at all worth the money as the service is super slow, and they kick you out at two hours even if they haven't yet brought the food you ordered. I will not be returning, and I doubt the restaurant will last.

Coming back with my review of KPot BBQ(we did not get the hotpot). It was more stressful than it was worth, although my Korean mother in law did have a good time. Start with the fact that you have to get on the waitlist in person (they don't allow any kind of reservations) but they don't have adequate waiting room means the whole parking lot is full of people waiting for ~2hours in their cars. Once you're finally seated, you realize that the place is not set up for even semi-large groups to eat at. Even for a table of 6, there is only one 12 inch grill to cook on and two sets of tongs. Keeping raw meat/meat covered utensils separate from the raw veggies was pretty difficult, and cooking enough food for everyone at the table took several rounds on the grill.

The real kicker is the poor service and limited timing to eat. You order your raw meats and veggies on a tablet at your table but are given only 2 hours once your server activates the tablet, regardless of how slow the service is. The first round of raw meat and veggies came out about a half hour after we placed our first order, and we quickly realized we hadn't order enough food for everyone to even get a plate, as each serving is about 3oz of meat, or maybe 3 slices of onion or bell pepper. So, we ordered more food right away. By the second round we realized they make their money by not bringing out enough food - they told us the kitchen was behind (how - they don't even have to cook) and that they had several tables they had to accommodate with the food they had prepped and brought out, so the 6 of us only got one meat serving and two veggie servings total when we had ordered a meat and veggie per person. The manager then comes by and tells us we have 40 minutes left and 2 of the 6 of us have yet to get to eat. When I tell the manager our food is not coming out and we will need the food or more time she tells me it doesn't work that way, and comes back around every 10 minutes like she's counting down to new years day.

If you think maybe you'll just fill up on rice and banchan, think again. The server only brought us one small bowl of rice each and never came back to fill our drinks or bring us more rice. The banchan is served via a salad bar that is mostly sauces set up like huhot, with some weird not authentic seaweed and the worst kimchi anyone in our group had ever tried. To really hit home on the lack of authenticity, they did not have any gochujang (Korean BBQ sauce) available in the restaurant. I'm not sure how they expect you to flavor your meats and veggies from the single sauce/"banchan" bar in the entire restaurant, and there is only one salt and pepper shaker in the whole restaurant, again held hostage up at the self-serve bar.

I will not be back, and I doubt this...