Yi Ssi Hwa Ro

Food was good. We liked the beef brisket and the marinated beef.
But we had the worst service here comparing to other kbbq places. Only one girl was working hard to bring us drinks, food and smile. The boys here were just walking around getting nothing done even after we called them for a million times.

This is my goto K-​BBQ joint for AYCE.
Not that it has the cheapest prices or the best meat, but it’s the place that has the combination of everything being above average.
There’s plenty of space for a huge party. It’s a very good place to have meat, drinks, and celebrate a birthday or something.
They’ve got 2 choices for all you can eat — 15.99 version (brisket, marinated beef, short ribs, pork neck, pork belly, beef/​pork/​chicken bulgogi) and 19.99 version (all the previous options plus duck, intestine, shrimp, tongue, baby octopus). It;s a really good variety for the prices.

I’m not sure why other Unilocaler’s have listed this location as being closed. It must have had a name change on the outside but this is the name on my credit card slip and the location matches up. I think the new name on the outside is 6^th Street Gogi or something similar
My husband and I finally decided on this location after driving round KTown trying to make a decision. We really need to come with a better system of picking a place.
We actually made a really good random decision. The restaurant was fairly empty but at 3pm on a friday afternoon thats no surprise if ppl are going to AYCE KQQ on a friday they are probably going to do it at night.
The AYCE menu is very streamlined they only had one option for a $ 19.95 option so we picked that lol. They also have an ala carte menu too which I perused while waiting for all the food to come out. I think ordering ala carte versus AYCE would come out about the same pricewise for our usual level of hunger.
The menu is very friendly for a non korean speaker and I would recommend to newbies as it lists the options as the type of cut versus the english translation of the korean name as well as nice clear pictures. No matter how many times me and the husband eat KBBQ we can never remember whats what or what it is that we like to eat.
Sometimes all the variations on the rules trip me up though so I always ask the server to bring me what they think I might like and I am seldom disappointed that way. Of course we always get asked if this is our first time but I can deal with that. I’d rather appear naïve than confidently order something I don’t like. Thats just a waste.
Our server was very polite and prompt with refills and wasn’t too aggressive in cooking our food for us. I’ve never figured out the korean etiquette but I like to cook my own meat and at the pace I want to eat it. Sometimes you get a grumpy old lady who will just dump a whole plate of meat on your grill.
Maybe a Unilocaler can enlighten me on this. Is it part of the service or something just so they can a) move you along or b) make sure you don’t poison yourself with raw meat.
Overall this somewhere I would happily return. I’ve done the thing of trying to find the slightly cheaper joints but you always lose something in either quality or ambiance.

5 Stars for value
3 Stars for the food
The sign outside says that it is $ 9.99 for all you eat from 11am-​3pm, but that is really only on Tuesdays. This was the day we came and it was surprisingly empty inside. We chose to sit in the outside part of the restaurant because of the better ventilation. We had to go back to work afterwards and did not want to smell like K-​BBQ.
The $ 9.99 special included 3 meats. Brisket, BBQ Chicken, and Pork Belly. We only had the brisket, which was of course not flavored. The BBQ chicken was thin which made it easier to grill, but the flavoring was not very bold. The brisket was decent quality and my only complaint would be how the grill was set up. The grease did not drain very well which made for less than stellar cook quality.
They were quick with bringing out the meat and the sides were decent. This could have been because it was not crowded. There were a couple of flat screen TVs on with sports.

One of my favorite places for Korean BBQ. Atmosphere is inviting, fun and … appetizing. Yep, you’re gonna wish you could eat the whole restaurant. The chairs, tables and utensils will be your ban chans/​side dishes. lol sorry so delirious right now. Had too much coffee. but anyway, since everyone has most likely reviewed about how great their selection of meat and its good quality, I might as well rave about another great thing that Yi Ssi Hwa Ro gives!
That is, the awesome candy they give after your meal! If I remember correctly, they’re called «nureungji» (taste like perfectly burnt sweet rice! lol). They are so delicious but they’re not really All You Can Eat. However, two or three or four is all you really need. You can most certainly attempt to grab two handfuls from their little jar and dash for the hills as fast as possible but for sure Yi Ssi Hwa Ro will judge.
Have fun and take only one nureungjis because every single one they have… should be saved for me for my next visit!

I came with a group of friends and we decided to get the $ 19.99 option for AYCE. This place is located in the same plaza as Gaam. I like the ambiance. Their tables are circular and we had to sit on stools. I guess that was the uncomfortable part. I wanted to take off my jacket but I had no place to hang the jacket! This place feels like a lounge.
The menu that we can choose from included duck, pork intestine, shrimp, baby octopus, wine pork, and the regular meats. I really liked their beef tongue. We also tried their shrimp, octopus, wine pork, and duck. We did not know how to cook the wine pork because it was wrapped in a foil. We just threw the whole thing on there until the server came and probably was thinking how stupid we were. He helped us unwrapped it and told us to cook it like that.
The banchans were not bad either. I personally do not like bean sprouts. They also have the pancakes and chop chae, which are my favorite! Their dok (rice paper) was not bad either. I always like to wrap it with the meat! It’s somewhat true that we could have done without the extra meat options, but it was worth a try.
I thought the soju was overpriced though. We ordered 2 bottles but I thought they were so expensive. Overall, the experience was not bad. I am still on the hunt to find the best korean bbq place in ktown though!

Food was good and cheap; service was so-​so, even with the easily-​abusable (is that even a word?) waiter call button at the table. But for all-​you-​can-​eat, you can’t beat the price or the quality.
We had eaten at this place last year and I’m not sure if the owners changed because there were marked differences between our visits. First, they didn’t have the same sides we had last time, though these sides were good. But last time we had that yummy Korean pancake, and the steamed eggs were tastier last time as well. And the service was spotty. We’d get one waitress who was so convivial and accommodating one minute and then Sir-​Grump-​A-​Lot-​Twist-​My-​Arm-​For-​A-​Diet-​Coke the next. It was jarring.
BUT all four stars go to the quality of the meat as the short ribs were FANTASTIC. The marinade wasn’t overpowering and the cut was tender. The pork brisket was great too. I even liked the wine-​marinated pork belly because it was sweeter and had better taste than regular pork belly.
It’s a large space and our group of 7 got seated right away on a Saturday night with no reservations. Parking is hassle as you have to valet since there’s barely any street parking. HINT: There are two valet stations; one in the front, which is CROWDED, and then the little one with no marked signs in the back. GO TO THE BACK. At the end of the night, when there was a long line of people waiting for their cars (our friends had to wait with the crowd), we went to the back and got our car in 2 minutes and it cost $ 2 plus tip with validation from any of the restaurants in the suite.
Overall, great KBBQ experience. Bring your appetites and you’ll get your money’s worth. A meat AYCE menu is only $ 15.99 per person.

We had a party of 5 and got the more expensive AYCE, $ 20, which included duck, intestine, shrimp, spicy short rib and baby octopus, and all the usual meats that are in the $ 16 option: brisket, bulgogi, bbq beef, bbq chicken, bbq pork, etc… they had a good selection of sides, and steamed egg.
At the end of the meal, I would’ve been satisfied without all the extra meat choices. The meat was tasty. The service was fine, they brought everything as we requested, and they were not being cheap whenever they brought out more meat.
The restaurant was not that packed. It wasn’t bad, but I would rather go elsewhere that’s cheaper. Nothing really stood out.
Also the raspberry wine was $ 16! usually get it for $ 10 at other kbbq places.

Food was great. The service was great and the waiters didn’t seem stingy when it came to bringing more meat!
This place was packed on a Friday night! Be sure to either come early or call ahead for reservations. A great place for groups.

I had dinner here tonight with 4 buddies. I have never been before and was excited to try a new bbq restaurant. This place has both indoor and outdoor tables. It’s pretty spacey. We chose indoor because that was where the action was at. We got there at 7pm and it was near capacity.
We ordered the $ 15.99 all you can eat bbq. We ordered beef brisket, beef ribs (joomolak), marinated beef (bulgogi), marinated beef ribs and pork belly. The beef brisket was pretty typical as with other Korean bbq places. Nothing speical about that. My favorite meat is joomolak and the one served here was too chewy and rubbery. I like mine soft and tender. Pretty disappointing. The bulgogi and marinated beef ribs were average in taste and freshness. Weird but all of the meat tasted pretty similiar to one another. Suprisingly, there were alot of side dishes that were okay. At the end of the meal, we got served some bean paste soup that average.
This place seemed slightly understaffed but I can’t complain about their service. They refilled some empty side dishes and got us what we needed quickly.
Overall, this place was an pretty average all you can eat bbq restaurant. I was unfortunately disappointed in the quality and taste of the meats. I expected more. For about the same price, I would definitely go to Moo Dae Po 2 which is more hip and has much better quality meat. The service and company I had at dinner allowed this restaurant to get 3 stars.

Probably my third time trying KBBQ and it was the best thus far. $ 15 all you can eat and we couldn’t even finish it!!! I had to hide some beef in my iced coffee (You had to pay for each serving left over) which is a good idea because I would probably over order.
Its spacey and not too loud.

Thanks to Ching T for introducing me to this Korean BBQ restaurant, I was able to make two separate visits for All You Can Eat (AYCE) dinner with my friends. On the first visit, I was given the impression on how they are situated within the larger genre of Korean BBQ, especially when price and quality are considered. On the second visit, I examined more closely about the consistency of their strengths and weaknesses across the two visits, and was able to get a better grasp on their overall contributions and things that readers should consider before making a visit.
First and foremost, this restaurant is all about affordability and the sheer volume of food that comes neatly stacked in a highly presentable fashion. The menu is straightforward as it encompasses three set prices for KBBQ. The first is their $ 10 AYCE Tuesdays for a short list of meats to choose from. On any other day their value meals consist of a $ 15.99 and $ 19.99 package that encompasses scripted meat and seafood combinations to grill at the table. The primary difference between the two prices is the range of options that are included in each package, and the choices are expanded incrementally in correspondence to the price.
One thing to like about this restaurant is the wide variation of meats to choose from, including a mix of marinate and non-​marinated items. I particularly enjoyed the Short Ribs, Spicy Short Ribs, Marinated Beef, Brisket, and BBQ Beef. I don’t consider the overall quality on par with their non-​AYCE counterparts, but the choices are still succulent, tasty, and not too fat or lean to lose people’s interest halfway into the meal. I also liked their Duck and Chicken, but they tend to require more grilling time at the table. My dining companions did not enjoy the Baby Octopus, but it’s something that I like to chew on to burn off a few calories before putting another serving of BBQ onto my plate. Needless to say, the two Short Ribs and Marinated Beef should be ranked very high on anyone’s list of things to try.
Interested diners should consider avoiding the Shrimps, Beef Tongue, and Intestines. Their Shrimps are pretty ordinary, especially since they come with the shells intact which made them a hassle with very little reward. The paper-​thin Beef Tongue comes with very little texture, and the Intestines are not cleaned out at the core so it can come out bitter and grossly fatty. From reading other people’s reviews, I missed out for not getting their Wine Pork, but the Pork Belly is something I would not order again.
Beware that portions are very generous and the servers do not hold back whenever more food is needed. I liked the Japchae, Seaweed, and Pickled Radishes among the five banchans available. The Steamed Eggs and Kimchee Pancake are delicious and worth waiting for. The Salad is below average, and the Dduck Bo Som is thick, stiff and rough which garnered my biggest criticism. The dipping sauces can be much improved, particularly the sesame oil which was diluted in need of more salt.
Service was careless and offbeat on my initial visit but very prompt and personable during my return. They were conscientious about changing the grill on multiple occasions, and were very responsive whenever we ranged the service bell at the table. The venue is spacious with multiple rooms and large flat screen TVs that can host large and small parties for all occasions. Although they have many open windows supported by additional ventilation systems, diners are still susceptible to the BBQ smoke that tend to persist and linger. To put it all in perspective, I don’t think it is fair to compare AYCE to non-​AYCE restaurants, but I do like the price and value given the range of options and marinated items to choose from. Another thing to notice is their new offer of champagne and special surprise for birthday celebrations. I would definitely consider coming back. Three stars for the food with half star added for great value and price to result in their 3.5 stars overall rating.

My favorite AYCE Korean BBQ joint. When my friends and I want to pig out, we head here!
Decent meat choices, unlimited side dishes, great service, nice atmosphere (try sitting on the patio on a nice afternoon) — all for less than $ 20 a person. Several of my friends have had birthdays here where we bring a crapload of guests, and the service has always been great. There is this little bell that you can press that is attached to the table, so it’s convenient to get a server’s attention whenever you need anything.
Tip: try the raspberry wine — it’s delicious and goes great with the BBQ items as long as you don’t mind sweet wine. Be careful though… the stuff really sneaks up on you (trust me, I’m no light weight). I’ve left here more times than I can count feeling a lot more «giggly» than when I walked in. ;)

The last time I got all-​you-​can eat for under 20 bucks was at the sketchy buffet at Sizzler as I kid (before my family realized it was white trash). Fast forward 15 years later, and here I am at Yi Ssi Hwa Ro, my new favorite Korean BBQ place. I still don’t even know how to say it… But I do know that it satisfies all my KBBQ requirements:
Tasty? Check.
All-​you-​can eat? Check.
Cheap? Check.
Open late? Check.
Talk about a lot of meat. It might not be the best quality around, but it’s still really good and like I said, it’s cheap. They serve that amazing sesame oil with grey salt that I have to refrain from pouring on everything. It would make a turd taste delicious. With awesome Korean pop-​dance music in the background, I can’t help but bob my head and tap my feet as I watch my pork belly sizzle on the grill. It’s like DDR with food. As with most KBBQ places, sides are plentiful and tasty. Service is not always great but as long as they keep our meat coming and the beer glasses full, we don’t expect much else.
It’s located in a really pretty enclosed shopping center in the middle of Koreatown with valet parking standing by. For $ 15.99 AYCE with actually pretty good food, this is my kind of non-​white trash kinda night!

A fantastic AYCE kbbq experience that really delivers on the bang for the buck food experience many kbbq fans will clamor for.
My friends and I came here after a weekend excursion to Santa Barbara and we were really really hungry. They had 16 buck and 20 buck AYCE options and the 20 buck option definitely gives you a much greater variety of meats to choose from. All of them meat plates come fresh, well-​presented, and tender. The side plates are also pretty good and the pancake type dish they serve before dishing out the meat is awesome.
I think service could have been a tad more attentive but that really doesn’t diminish the quality of the food. Don’t be fooled by the slightly shabby exterior of the restaurant… it’s interior is swanky and there are nice large LED LCD tvs to test how well you can watch sports AND eat. How manly.

Okay first off who Butchered the name of the Restaurant?
Yissi Hwa Ro is the name of this place not Yi Ssi HWa Ro…
Just checkout the website and you can see…
Anyhow, maybe it’s not fair for someone like me to rate these KBBQ places since I don’t eat RED MEAT nor PORK… Well HECK… they need to have more dishes for people like me that means!
Anyhow, I went with a group of 12 people and they don’t have large seating areas so they split us into 2 sections…
I was irritated because they had a $ 10 special for 3 types of meat (one included BBQ Chicken) well thats what I wanted… but I am not allowed to because everyone in my party needs to order it… I even offered to sit by myself… I mean I told her I don’t eat Red meat nor Pork… so why would it make a difference between what I got and what my friends got… BLAH!
Well, I ordered off the menu instead and got the Bi Bim Bap without meat… It was actually pretty good…
Service wasn’t great there either, but they did do this crazy Bday thing for my friends and gave a free bottle of champagne…
Eh I guess it’s an okay place…

Woooot! One of my new favorite AYCE KBBQ places. A group of us came here the other night and ate till we almost exploded.
There are 2 different menus, one for $ 16, the other one for $ 20. We opted for the $ 20 one because it came with baby octopus, shrimp and spicy kalbi.
I’m a huge fan of baby octopus, I could eat them every day. However, the baby octopus here was not that good. The tentacles were good, but the head was so sandy I had to spit it out. Gross.
However, the chadol (brisket) was soooo good that we ordered 5 plates of it. Yeah. You think you aren’t eating that much since the meat is so thinly sliced, but really, don’t kid yourself. Meat is meat and it’s gonna expand in your tummy.
The kalbi was good as well, and rib eye steak was alright. My faves of the night was the chadol and kalbi. I didn’t get a chance to try the spicy kalbi cuz I couldn’t really breathe after round 3.
Oh yeah, loved the rice papers and the sesame oil with salt dipping sauce. I didn’t much care for the purple rice though. White rice!
As far as service goes, it was pretty damn good. They were attentive, friendly and even changed out our grill multiple times. I like that, it prevents cancer.
Oh, since 2 of our friends had birthdays that night, they gave us a free bottle of bubbly and made them dance in front of everyone. It was awesome.
We also had 3 bottles of soju at $ 6.99 and $ 9.99 per bottle. The $ 10 bottle was a bit smoother.
Overall, great dining experience and at $ 33 per person, a great deal.

There are 2 options for AYCE at Yi Ssi Hwa Ro. #1 for $ 16 per person or #2 for $ 20. The #2 obviously has more choices. #1 options includes cha-​dol, marinated galbi, bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, etc. The choices are expanded with #2 which included shrimp, spicy marinated galbi, tongue, baby octopus.
We went with #2 without knowing that there’s even an additional menu item for #2 which was the saeng deung shim, which is a rib eye steak. They do limit the steak, but considering the price, it’s well worth the extra $ 4 to get the expanded AYCE. I’m posting a picture of the steak so take a look.
Service was decent, but not outstanding.
The meat quality was good, but not outstanding. For a better quality meat, go to Oo-​Kook KBBQ. Read my review, you’ll thank me.

Clean, airy, bright. No… I’m not talking about a bathroom shown from Home & Garden, but rather this AYCE KBBQ joint.
Going here numerous amount of times, I still enjoy the quality and selection of meat for a decent price of $ 16 — $ 18. What I really enjoy are their vast side dishes; from poached egg, kimchee pancake, potato salad, and rice paper to name a few.
I’ve made a few mistakes with AYCE places… go with more than 2 people so you can try more than 2 items, unless you have 2 eating machines, its not fun NOT being able to try other meats because you’re full. You’d think after so many attempts, I would’ve learned this valuable lesson… but no, I’m stubborn as hell.
Service is nice and some tables are round which is conducive for a talkative group.

So after chillin’ around all night in LA, we wanted some all-​you-​can-​eat grub and decided to get some Korean BBQ. We searched for a Korean bbq spot on Unilocal mobile on our celly and this place popped up so we decided to give it a shot.
It is a bit hard to locate and there was like over a million Korean bbq spots on how many corners alone. So we called and found out it was across the street at Chapman Plaza. Standing on 6^th and looking at Chapman, it seems like a building but we walked across the road to Alexandria and noticed that its actually a parking lot behind the «building» and a bunch of other restaurants and bars.
We came in and were seated in the patio area, craving for meat after a long search for this dang place, lol.
We came in around 10:30 ish in the evening so we had a good hour and a half to mack out: P
The décor in the outdoor patio area is kinda cool, but they definitely need some fans up in there as all the people inside, the smoke and the heat from the pans was making the dining area humid as a mutha. Also not so cool when you have dudes smoking at the tables directly next to you because it so happens to be a «patio area», lol.
Ok, to the bad part. Service here was horrible! The servers seem to be in their own little world and did not even bother coming to ask us what we wanted. We sat for a good 10 mins before having to flag down one of the dudes and he was a straight FOB, LOL. His English sucked and he did not even understand a lot of stuff we wanted. The beef and pork were decent in portions but the chicken portions were skimpy.
We ordered again and pointed out specifically what we wanted for the next plate of meat, and pointed out directly on the menu on the specific item, and they still brought out a plate with missing meats! Once again, the chicken was a small shady piece, not even enough to fill one person up.
Drink prices were also kinda steep, $ 1.99 for a can of coke? And $ 6 for a bottle of beer? Man… I guess thats how they clock in on profits from their cheap $ 15.99 all-​you-​can-​eat price.
Overall I give this place a 3 star because the beef and pork was quite good, but the lack of service (if there was any service at all :/​), and the missing items made made me deduct the other star I could have added on.