Palace Korean Bar & Grill
| Address: | 15932 NE 8th St, Bellevue, WA 98008, USA |
| Phone: | +1 425-957-3522 |
| Site: | palacebbq.com |
| Rating: | 3.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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Chris Smith
A buddy brought me here about six years ago and I loved it. I had actually been making Kalbi myself with another buddy for a huge annual cookout we used to throw every year for a long time before ever setting foot in an actual Korean restaurant. I suppose if you have actual Korean friends who will cook for you, why go to a restaurant? He had brought the original recipe but I modified it a bit and it seemed to go over well because we were pulling progressively higher attendance numbers every year based on word of mouth. We ran it for about five years until someone new was put in charge of budget oversight for it and decided it was too big a hassle. That was a total shame based on our success but my point is that good Korean BBQ is a treat and if you make it, people will come. These guys have been the main game in town for quite a while but I live in the north end and a bunch of worthy (and sometimes better) competitors have popped up in the Lynnwood/Edmonds area. Since I have options closer to home now, I only come here when Im meeting up with people on the east side but it still holds a special place in my heart for all the happy meals Ive had here with buddies and my kids over the years. The food is standard Korean. Its a LOT of meat that you cook on a grill built into your table. There are a bunch of interesting side dishes like Kimchi, bean paste soup, rice, sprouts, etc. I actually love the bean paste soup but for some reason, this isnt included under the "all you can eat" heading. That makes no sense to me whatsoever. Its got to be cheaper to let a guy like me who loves good soup fill up on that rather than gorging on straight meat. Maybe they should reevaluate this. The price to get the option with Kalbi has gone up significantly since I first ate here so I hadnt come as often. I suppose its not unreasonably high given inflation over the past decade but it is about a 70% price hike and its just one more thing on top of the drive. The service is pretty bad but I think a lot of the has to do with the language barrier. That barrier shouldnt prevent them from getting back to my table more often than once every 20 minutes though. If youre in the neighborhood and looking for a good Korean meal, you wont be disappointed unless you base the bulk of your personal reviews on the service. If you do that, youre probably not going to like this.
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A Private User
Been here twice. I spent over 2 years in Korea enjoying the food. The BBQ is all you can eat and it is great. Standard variety of meats, and octopus and shrimp which I had never had before. The grills in the tables are quality stuff too. The price is right for a fun experience with tasty authentic BBQ and sides with friends. My second trip was with my chef sister who dables in Korean food. The spicy tofu soup was amazing. Even better than I had in Korea. The rice noodles in spicy sauce (Dok Bokee?) was my very first food when I was in Korea. This was EXACTLY the same, and was what my sister has been trying to replicate for me for years now. Go here twice! Get the BBQ ($15-16/person) the first time with a few friends. The second time try the spicy tofu soup. If you want something REALLY different and can handly spicy, do the Dok Bokee (rice noodle in spicy sauce). Try each side at least once as something WILL surprise you. The decor and building is definitely nicer than the small hole in the walls around the Sound, prices very reasonable and servers patient with the communication barrier. This is my new family favorite!
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Henry Torres
Overall, I do enjoy going to Palace - I used to end up here once every two weeks or so until they got in trouble with a health inspection With that said, there are definitely some hits and misses here. I really do like the food and service in general here. For $15, you get their "No-Limit" BBQ with tons of side dishes, salad, rice, soup, and assortments of meat. I dont go to many different Korean BBQ in the area, and I dont have any complaints about the food here. Service here is friendly, and though it may seem inattentive, theres a call-button on each table where you can summon the staff for whatever you need, and theyre usually there shortly. One complaint that I do have, is their lack of ventilation and/or use of the fans here. Id keep your good clothes away from here, as it will smell for days unless you air it out for a long time or wash it immediately. Im not sure why they dont use the overhead ventilation at each table. One more tip - if someone in your group does not want the "No Limit", then everyone else is out-of-luck, they will not give some people the all-you-can-eat and others ala carte.
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Megan Elizabeth
The food is really good. In fact its one of the best in Bellevue. The service however was horrible. They didnt bring stuff when we asked, in fact we left without our soup. It took a long time to get what we wanted and when we were ready for more they practically ignored us. They were busy but not overly so. When we were ready to leave we sat there for a long time and no one would come over to the table so we went to the front. No one was there to take our money and we had to wait for a very long time. We could have left without paying. I had my husband take the kids to the car and buckle them up after a while and honestly felt like walking out. That being said the food was so good we are going again tonight for our anniversary. So if your not in a hurry and not worried about not getting your rice or more food in time then go check them out! Its a little expensive so only go if you plan to really eat!
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Emily Law
Without having to drive to Lynnwood or Federal Way, this is the best Korean food youre going to get in the Seattle/Bellevue area. Ive done both AYCE ($15.99 pp weekdays lunch and $25.99 pp dinner and weekends) and a la carte. Today, we did the Palace House Special I with a pajeon Korean pancake. More than enough food to feed three hungry people. We opted for: Tofu Soup - like soon du bu seasoning with one shrimp. I like to scoop up some rice then dip it in the soup for a perfect bite. Spicy stir fried squid - bright red, but more sweet than spicy. Probably seasoned with gochujang, a sweeter chili bean paste. Bulgogi - leaner than some other places, but well marinated Grilled Mackerel - my favorite part of the meal. You can eat the bones! Steamed Egg - my friend and husband ate all of this *whomp whomp* If youre lazy to drive, Palace BBQ is a solid choice with a few other options besides BBQ.
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Räbo Birch
We were in a very large group of ~17 year olds including many who spoke little English, and the staff took advantage of this by presenting us with the wrong menu and recommending items that summed up to $560 despite barely being a reasonable amount of food for the 14 of us, never giving any indication that it would cost this much until we got the bill. When we explained that what happened was unfair, they spent 30mim discussing it with us and refused to do anything but give us coupons, which were useless as most of us dont live in the US and are only visiting. They had been very nice to us and gave good service up until then, but at that point pulled out all the shady arguments like the owner having "just left".
