***** (5 stars)
Excellent barbecue. The half slab dinner was huge; I could only eat half. Good cole slaw, but my favorite side was the spicy beans, which were, indeed, spicy and meaty.
The giant baked potato is also aptly named.
Friendly service.
The Hickory Stik
25 N Main St
Hutchinson, KS 67501
**** (4 stars)
With a stylish interior design and an airy, bright space, this new restaurant offers an inviting place to enjoy traditional Korean BBQ.
Unlike some of the local Korean BBQ spots, Kang offers a full array of starter dishes, including assorted kimchee, salads, and more.
The meat offerings are excellent, and the grills and vents work great.
The downside is the price. Whether you order a single item prepared in the kitchen, or an all-you-can-eat feast, you are going to end up spending $25 to $35 per person, regardless of whether it's lunch or dinner. With a single beer and a coke, and the automatically added gratuity, our lunch for two was over $100.
By chance, we went to another all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ place in Lake Buena Vista last week, and thought it was expensive at $28. But the weekday lunch there was only $18. And that's a tourist area. I'm not sure $35 is going to fly with the locals.
That said, all the food was excellent, and we would definitely go back if in the area.
There is a very limited wine list — mostly sweet — and only one beer (although it is the delicious Terra Korean beer).
Service was excellent.
Kang’s Kitchen
800 N John Young Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32808
***** (5 stars)
I'm so happy a good restaurant finally opened after six places went through here in the past couple of decades. I love Korean BBQ, and this is one of the best I've been to.
There are two concepts here: Hot pot, where you select a broth (Tom-Yum is a great choice) and then cook your items in the broth, creating a sort of stew; or, traditional Korean BBQ, where you select items to grill yourself.
Both concepts offer dozens of protein and vegetable choices, and there are no limits, so you can just keep ordering them two or three at a time and incorporating them into your creation. Our selections appeared almost instantly!
Our favorites were the bulgogi beef, spicy bulgogi pork, salmon, smoked garlic pork belly, and steak. There were also garlic shrimp, mussels on the half shell, fish, mushrooms, onions, and more. We were stuffed!
A buffet offers a vast array of sauces and appetizers, plus side dishes such as kimchee, and some kid's items like french fries and fried chicken.
It's all one price, ten dollars less at weekday lunch. And if you want to do both hot pot and grill it's just five dollars more per person.
Beautifully custom-designed tables with four hot pot burners and a central grill. Really modern, trendy decor, and a K-Pop soundtrack. Full bar.
Our server, Christina, was fantastic.
KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot
8594 Palm Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32836
https://www.yelp.com/biz/kpot-korean-bbq-and-hot-pot-orlando-2
***** (5 stars)
I'm so happy a good restaurant finally opened after six places went through here in the past couple of decades. I love Korean BBQ, and this is one of the best I've been to.
There are two concepts here: Hot pot, where you select a broth (Tom-Yum is a great choice) and then cook your items in the broth, creating a sort of stew; or, traditional Korean BBQ, where you select items to grill yourself.
Both concepts offer dozens of protein and vegetable choices, and there are no limits, so you can just keep ordering them two or three at a time and incorporating them into your creation. Our selections appeared almost instantly!
Our favorites were the bulgogi beef, spicy bulgogi pork, salmon, smoked garlic pork belly, and steak. There were also garlic shrimp, mussels on the half shell, fish, mushrooms, onions, and more. We were stuffed!
A buffet offers a vast array of sauces and appetizers, plus side dishes such as kimchee, and some kid's items like french fries and fried chicken.
It's all one price, ten dollars less at weekday lunch. And if you want to do both hot pot and grill it's just five dollars more per person.
Beautifully custom-designed tables with four hot pot burners and a central grill. Really modern, trendy decor, and a K-Pop soundtrack. Full bar.
Our server, Christina, was fantastic.
K-Pot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot
8594 Palm Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32836
https://www.yelp.com/biz/k-pot-korean-bbq-and-hot-pot-orlando
***** (5 stars)
I love Korean food, with all the elaborate little side dishes, and large range of flavors. But sometime you just want your Korean fix without taking the time for a multi course st-down meal. K-Town Cafe hits the high points in a quick serve format without sacrificing flavor. Beef or Chicken Bulgogi are probably the go-tos here, although I also really liked my grilled salmon. Each mean comes with either white rice or fried rice. I really like that the fried rice was light and flavorful without being oily. You also get a choice of side dishes, and my generous helpings of kimchi and spicy cucumber were both excellent. There's a more elaborate Korean BBQ next door, but I suspect I will find myself often opting for the convenience here.
K-Town Cafe
7800 Dr Phillips Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
***** (5 stars)
Wow! I’ve been to every BBQ place in Orlando (most of them more times than I care to admit!) and this one blows them away.Nessas Food Co BBQ Restaurant
14 West McKey St
Ocoee, FL
34761
(321) 370-8172
https://www.yelp.com/biz/nessas-food-co-bbq-restaurant-ocoee
**** (4 stars)
The outlaw rib eye is the go to steak here, arguably better than any steak you can get as sister restaurant Capital Grille. Lunch items are a good deal, but not up to the quality of the dinner menu. Excellent decor, bar ambiance, and service.
LongHorn Steakhouse
8398 Vineland Ave
Orlando, FL
32821
(407) 828-8976
https://www.yelp.com/biz/longhorn-steakhouse-orlando-8
Interior
Exterior
Outlaw Ribeye
***** (5 stars)
I’m still in shock over my visit to this Longhorn Steakhouse. I’d been to another Longhorn, years ago, and it was fine, but I never actually had steak. This time I was in the mood.
Somehow I’d expected the result to be closer to Sizzler than Capital Grille (which Longhorn owned before selling both to concepts Darden).
But I didn’t expect to have the best steak of my life. Better than Capital Grille. better than Mortons, than Flemings, than Ruth’s Chris. Better than I can cook at home. The Outlaw Ribeye was literally the best cooked, most tender, most flavorful and best seasoned steak I’ve ever had anywhere.
The Caesar salad was also right up there with any steakhouse. The bread was okay, but more like Ruby Tuesday’s now gone breadsticks (not a bad thing) rather than genuine steakhouse sourdough.
Of course the wine list is so short it can’t really be called a list, but the choices are fine.
Service was very professional and attentive, and the environment is, frankly, better decorated and cozier than at those high-end places. At about half the price. I’ll be back.
LongHorn Steakhouse
3118 Daniels Rd
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 654-0272
https://www.yelp.com/biz/longhorn-steakhouse-winter-garden
Interior
Exterior
Half rack combo
**** (4 stars)
I quite liked this small local chain. The decor is nice, the service was good, and the barbecue was just what I was looking for.
I had the half rack combo with chicken. The ribs were meaty and tender, and had just the right amount of BBQ sauce. To my surprise, the chicken was even better. It was a full breast and wing with a super-smokey flavor. It was unlike chicken I’ve had in any other BBQ spot, because of that emphasis. I dipped it in some sauce from the bottles on the table and he combination was terrific.
The meal comes with two sides, but if you want onion rings or a salad, those count as both, which seems a bit stingy, but the price is low enough that it’s not worth quibbling. The onion rings were good, but would have been better a bit crispier. The accompanying toast was pretty flavorless.
Beer and wine selections are very limited, but the house cabernet, although a small serving, was good.
OakWood Smokehouse & Grill
230 Citrus Tower Blvd
Clermont, FL 34711
(352) 394-0036
https://www.yelp.com/biz/oakwood-smokehouse-and-grill-clermont-2
Interior
Table setting
**** (4 stars)
This was a great place for a Korean BBQ lunch extravaganza. For one price you can have all you can eat from an entire page of protein choices. Items are delivered to your table in generous proportions where you, of course, grill them yourself.
We tried quite a few of the meats and our two favorites were the beef bulgogi and the pork spare ribs.
Also included are a bowl of nicely dressed salad, an assortment of kimchi and other sides, and some terrific pancakes.
The place is spacious, and servers keep a careful eye on the temperature of your grill… and your need for more meat!
Road To Seoul
1230 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(323) 731-9292
https://www.yelp.com/biz/road-to-seoul-los-angeles