843 Korean BBQ & Sushi House

Reviews 5

JE

Jessica Donaldson

My brother and I heard a lot about 843 and thought we would give it a try for lunch. Instead of the Korean BBQ (cook your own at the table), we opted for a regular lunch. We are going to try the restaurant again for dinner in hopes of having a better experience. As empty as the restaurant was, we had to wave at our server from across the room to ask for items, half of which he would actually remember to bring us. Service was slow, and there were not very many of us in the restaurant as it was early for a Saturday. The appetizers were very good- we had the Gimbap and the ManDu. We didnt have any plates, so all four of us hovered our food over our napkins. We finally asked for plates and two of us begged for forks (we were going to starve with chopsticks). The egg drop soup followed, and the broth had a good flavor. However, the white and green onions were cut in a way that made it hard to eat. We literally had long shoots of green onion and big chunks of raw, white onion. We just drank the broth. Each of us ordered a different main dish, and we all agreed that the food was mediocre at best. I ordered the Jajangmyeon, which is noodles with black bean sauce and (according to the menu) pork. It was a HUGE portion! The noodles and sauce were very good, and so was the one, tiny piece of pork I had. I searched thru my bowl to make sure I didnt miss anything, but I seriously had one small piece of pork in my meal. My daughter had the chicken Katsu, which is chicken that is fried (not deep fried like fried chicken) and has katsu sauce on top. It was served to her as one giant portion, and she was given a knife to use with her chopsticks... so she borrowed my fork since the server did not come back again until he brought our check. Her food was garnished with raw vegetables piled on her plate, which we thought was odd: broccoli, onion strips, carrots.

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CH

Chauncey Vess

I want to start out by saying I spent a solid 15 in the casual to fine dining industry. This place has a great atmosphere with a very unique look. Its definitely a hidden Gem from the looks of the outside. The staff was nice, but a little slow. Thats ok and sometimes unavoidable. It didnt seem to stem from lack of hospitality. I think the Korean bbw idea puts an extra work load on the servers. That being said. First time I went here the food was great. It matched the price. I sat on the regular dining side. I went last night and tried the korean bbq at the table. We had briskets and some other odd dish. Both were very good. We also had the firecracke roll which was great. So youre probably wondering why I rated it a 2? Well we got sick as could be once we got home. We are fine now, but oh man. I never ever leave reviews on a restaurant. Its just impossible to make everyone happy every time, but this is my first encounter with food poisoning. I looked over the other reviews and this doesnt seem to be a regular occurrence. The food was fully cooked once we ate it. Idk, maybe the sushi? At any rate it wasnt our grilling. 7 years of managing restaurants I think I can spot undercooked meat. Especially meat Im consuming. So I gave it a 2 and not a 1 because 1st experience was good. Basically I want this documented and viewed so if there are other reviews like it people will know. Ill put it like this, if Im the lone ranger here give this place a shot, things happen. Ill give it one more chance myself.

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GR

Grande Vanguardo

I lived in Korea for years and am a huge food lover who knows Korean cuisine well. Unfortunately, 843 was a big disappointment. I spent over $70 on alleged Korean BBQ and experienced the following: 1. Pahn chahn (traditional Korean side dishes) were few in number. What did come out was just not good. The kimchi, which is always the litmus test, was dry—something Ive never experienced before. The "fresh" peppers had obviously been cut hours prior and had completely dried out. Pickled radish was flavorless. 2. I ordered sahm gyup sahl, my old favorite style of pork, and it came out sliced way too thickly and with a heavy preponderance of fat. 3. The signature Kalbi was virtually flavorless. The samjang and marinated onion were given in such small quantities they were gone almost immediately. The lettuce (sahngchu) was all spine and cut way too small to wrap around even the smallest piece of meat. The owners seem intent on providing offensively stingy portions, pre-preparing almost everything at the expense of freshness and quality, and grossly overcharging—essentially preying on ignorant clientele. Most of the interesting items (budae chigae, kalbi tahng, nangmyun, etc.) have already disappeared from the menu, leaving customers with the same old American-friendly fare. I would happily pay $70-80 for an authentic, fresh, quality Korean meal; unfortunately, 843 fails to deliver on all counts and I left feeling ripped off.

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BI

Bianca Anderson

Enjoyed everything! Our server was knowledgeable , helpful, and hilarious; loved it. Sushi was amazing ( scallops with wasabi relish & lemon juice are crazy succulent meaty buttery with a cool spicy tang to it!) BBQ was SO delicious especially the eel and pork belly! I dont know which i liked the best they were both competing for number one on my taste buds! The owners came out and cooked it for us and talked with us, they were very hospitable and have a good sense of humor! They give you unlimited side dishes, which is great because theyre all good but they give so many different varieties you probably wont even get to finish the first one with all the meat on the grill. Kimchi is really good as is the cool radish paper! Bars nice too , classy but live, the bar tender is really amiable and attentive everybody seemed to know them.... Gotta say Im normally a vodka person but.... soju is smooth and strong like an older more suave brother... i really like the soju cocktails... seeing as how i wasnt driving i had a couple... soju mule, soju mojito, and a bottle of classic soju ! Lemme tell you.. they were all good especially that mojito... Next time Im bringing more people with me because the BBQ tables are really big...

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CH

Chris Varnon

First off, this was my first Korean BBQ experience, so I am by no means an expert. Having said that, we let the waitress know that none of us had done anything like this before and asked for recommendations. We were told that everything is good, not very helpful. One person asked about a vegetarian option and was meet with blank stares and eventually, a second menu that had more traditional dishes on it. After sorting out our orders, we were brought one entree before the appetizers arrived and the first appetizer 15 minutes before the second. Eventually, we received our entrees (after being there almost an hour), which were mostly frozen beef. The waitress then proceeded to throw some stuff on the grill without really telling us what was going on.We managed to cook everything, but it was far from a good time or great food. To kind of sum it up, it was a bad service experience with OK food. The bar, however, was stellar and had great cocktails.

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