KorBBQ in San Roque, Marikina - WTF Food Review

Korean hype! Let's see if this one is worth your time!

With all the hype with K-pop culture here in the Philippines, Korean restaurants are popping here and there. We Filipinos are fond of all-you-can-eat that is why the majority of the Korean restaurant's opening is heavily focused on buffet style.
One particular restaurant is KorBBQ located at 19 Almond Nut Street, San Roque, Marikina City. I am not really a fan of Korean all-you-can-eat but my wife keeps on dragging me so the team headed there for dinner.

It's not really hard to find as you can Waze yourself to locate it. They have parking slots and a security guard which is really a good thing.

The exterior of KorBBQ in San Roque, Marikina

Earlier that day, my wife requested to go to Samgyupsalamat in Katipunan instead, my wallet declined and chose KorBBQ as they have a promo in Eatigo and I was able to secure a 50% discount for 6 heads. The problem was we did not make it in time but the owner was very accommodating and since there are few empty tables left, they've secured our seats and gave a discount for the 7th head that we brought with us.

As we are seated, the server discussed to us the mechanics of dining-in. Here are some points that I can remember:

1. They have a 2-hour time limit but can be extended if there are no queues or waiting patrons.
2. Beef and pork will be served by the server, you'll just need to request that you need a refill.
3. They don't have any beverages at their buffet station.
4. They use a smokeless grill so no need to worry about the smell of the food on your clothes.

After a quick discussion, I immediately head to their buffet station and get any appetizing food that I see (forgive me as I am not really familiar with Korean dishes, aside from kimchi).

KorBBQ's buffet station

The restaurant is small and can only hold very limited customers but the exterior design is very well thought as it gives a hip vibe accompanied by a slight orange lighting, it's a good way to refresh your "circadian eye" but you can't help noticing that everyone is cramming in the dining area.

KorBBQ - Trendy and hip but crammed

Our beef and pork plate arrived not long enough and it's placed on a very big plate (we got two plates as we have 7 heads dining-in). We started grilling, eating, and minding each of our own business.

Eggroll, kimchi fried rice, donkatsu, sushi, and etc.

Seaweed salad, potato salad, kimchi, pork bulgogi, and etc.

Seaweed soup, japchae, oimuchim, and etc.

I started my meal with a hearty sip of their seaweed soup - which is very light in taste. The spicy eggplant is not that spicy IMHO. I've used Kongnamul Muchim (soybean sprouts) with my meat+lettuce combo for that amp on the flavor. The Gangnam Chicken and Donkatsu are okay, mainly because the overall texture is too dry.

Most of the dishes on the buffet table are empty and it will take a very long time for it to be refilled. We gave up and we just ate anything that is on the table and did not bother requesting a refill.

After finishing our meat plate, we requested a refill and guess what, it takes roughly 30 minutes for it to be refilled, thinking that you have 2-hours time limit, why would you let your main star to be refilled for almost half an hour? It is somewhat rude on the customer's point of view as you are provided with a time limit yet the services provided are very poor.

We have plenty of lettuce ready but our meat is almost gone

The Samgyeopsal (pork belly) and Chadol Baki (sliced beef brisket) aside from the long wait, it's somewhat mediocre. Think about this, you'll be waiting for 30+ minutes for your meat platter refill, both pork and beef are sliced very thinly, they are not thin (which is acceptable) but very thin to the point that they cooked very quickly, which means frequent refills, which means longer waiting time.

I know we did not pay for the whole PHP625 (rough estimate as it's holiday that time) because we have a discount from Eatigo, but this kind of service is a total rip-off and good thing that we only pay for half the price and we are thankful for that because I will regret it if I did pay for the full price for a mediocre service.

The bad experience does not end there. Since they don't have their own restroom, you will have to go to the building restroom which is infested (yes, infested) by mosquitoes. To make it worse, we are also experiencing the same thing inside the restaurant which is really disappointing especially because Chloe is with us and with the current disease that we can get from mosquitoes? It's frightening and scary.

The servers are kind and polite, especially the manager who helped us secure our seats and still have our discounts applied even though we were late. But it just saddens us that they are doing this kind of thing. Hopefully, the owner will read this and will take action in their current situation.

TL:DR

Not worth the price and the wait. The Samgyeopsal and Chadol Baki are very thin which means they will quickly cook which will equate to frequent refills that take at least 30 minutes, add the 2-hour time limit factor and you'll get a very pissed and disappointed customer.

Overall, the experience was horrible. Here are my recommendation or AFI and hopefully they will take notice and improve:

1. Improve the turn-over rate of your plate, not the seats.
2. Pest/Insect control, not only the restaurant but the building, since you are using the common restroom of the building.
3. OR consider moving to a new location to cater to more customers instead of giving a 2-hour time limit. Remember, diners go there to dine and enjoy not to be timed and to be rushed.

• Place
• I like the hip exterior design and wooden tables and chairs.
• They a spacious parking space.
• The dining area is very small
• They don't have their own restroom
• Mosquitoes :-S
• Service 
• The manager is very considerate and kind.
• The servers will approach you if they think that you need help on using the grill.
• There is a 2-hour time limit.
• Price
• Eatigo and Book are your best friends
• Almost all of the food on the buffet table is empty, cold and takes time to be refilled.
• Their main star, Samgyeopsal and Chadol Baki are the main flunk because of the unjustifiable wait time.

Location: 10 Almond Nut Street, Mayor Gil Fernando Avenue, San Roque, Marikina City, Philippines (PERMANENTLY CLOSED)
Operating Hours: 10:30 AM to 12:00 AM
Buffet: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM and 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Contact Number: +63 9985544711

Let's rate them, shall we?

Food: 2/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Service: 2/5

Value for money: 2/5

OVERALL: 2.5/5

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