Kobe Q

It was a karmic moment, I know it. I was thinking how cold it’s been this week and how I wouldn’t mind some jook-​like bowl of home cooking to warm my bulbous body. Funny thing is that I wasn’t thinking of some after-​hours Chinatown café. I was actually thinking about an episode of «A Chef’s Life» (my current obsession) where North Carolina chef Vivian Howard was making chicken & rice with her mom. That looked so Deep South simple yet so good with all the schmaltz on the top and the chicken falling off the bones. So when I saw how Kobe Q serves this ginseng chicken, something I’ve never heard of, I needed to try it like pronto.
I came on Wednesday evening walking by Brothers Korean BBQ which was packed with young bundled-​up Asians waiting to get their grills. I was bracing myself for a similar wait since Kobe Q’s been on the Hot on Unilocal section all week. Imagine my surprise to see the place completely empty. Except for a couple of large fish tanks, it was a bit spartan but that was to be expected since they had been open for less than a week (photo:
). In fact, they were still working on the restrooms. A young server who just started that day handed me the menu, and the owner was there. Her name is Judy, and she also runs Kaiju Eats down the street.
You’ll be amazed to know that I had never been there despite being a ramen-​head. She said I looked very familiar, so I told her I Unilocaled a little and was on TV once («Check, Please!» of course). Nope, we didn’t figure it out. Anyway, she took the time to talk to me about her new venture, how she wanted to prepare her favorite dishes and how they cross between Korea and Japan. She was pleased when I told her I came across town just to try her $ 13 Ginseng Chicken. Before I describe that, the little plates of complimentary Banchan came out (photo:
). I rarely finish up all the small plates when I’m by myself, but this time I did.
The ingredients tasted quite fresh, especially the cucumber and chopped tomato, and the nori was infused with kimchi for a little bite. Really liked it. I was also pretty hungry, too. At last, the Ginseng Chicken arrived, and it was really good, slap yo mommala good, with a full Cornish game hen doing the backstroke in a soupy broth with Korean ginseng and oh yes, plenty of schmaltz. It was freckled with goji berries and sliced scallions, and at the bottom was lots of rice waiting to be devoured which I gladly obliged (photo:
). Sure, it was an outright surgical task to de-​bone the chicken without splashing myself incessantly.
I didn’t completely succeed but it didn’t matter because I was feeling as happy as Vivian’s Southern mother. I did try one side dish, the $ 6 Baked Out Corn which combined sweet corn and cheddar jack cheese into a mini-​frying pan (photo:
). Hot and gooey, it was delicious, but with all the poultry in my stomach, there was scarcely room for anything else including random corn kernels. I will most definitely be coming back. The menu has comfort food items like Oxtail, Kimchi Fried Rice and Hot Pot Ramen. How could I resist such dishes? Why should I? I imagine the place will be crowded next time, and now I know it’ll be worth the wait.
FOOD — 4 stars… a ginseng chicken that would please both the Deep South and a Jewish mother
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… love how spread out the tables are and the vibe is frankly calming compared to the other options in the area
SERVICE — 4.5 stars… well, I got a lot of attention
TOTAL — 4 stars… with a few more dishes, this one may move up to five soon

Delicious ginseng chicken. Excellent banchan, especially the house made kimchi. The Bi Bim Bomb is also quite good, it had lots of crispy rice.
I will go again.

Over the past few chilly winter nights, I developed a craving for samgyetang while my dining partner developed one for ramen. What does that mean? That means we’re gonna have Korean food for dinner! What better time than now to check out the newly reopened Kobe BBQ which has been freshly renamed to Kobe Q… It’s for the best since they don’t actually have BBQ grills.
So we came for ginseng chicken soup and hotpot ramen and that’s exactly what we ordered. Entrees come with banchan and rice. Our banchan included seaweed, sprouts, radish, and cucumber. A bit disappointing so I couldn’t help but ask for kimchi later. Lucky me, no extra charge. The bowl of white rice comes with a sprinkle of rice seasoning. Yums. Looking over the menu, everything is priced quite affordably. So how does it taste?
– Hotpot ramen, $ 14: flavorful spicy beef-​bone broth, included mushrooms, mussels, fish cakes, spam, kimchi, among other things. Paid money to eat Shin Ramyun at a restaurant… yeah. But it was tasty and hotpot is fun.
– Ginseng chicken soup, $ 13 steal!!: came out sitting pretty with a healthy dose of scallions and goji berries atop a small chicken. Looks legit but the ginseng was nowhere to be found and we could not taste it in the soup either. Truly unfortunate, because without ginseng, it’s just a steaming bowl of chicken soup.
This time, hotpot ramen wins.
Both the interior and exterior remind me of a poor college student’s attempt at decoration. Shabby signage outside and several disco balls hanging inside. As I overheard somebody say, it’s like a cave. They’re still newly open so let’s be lenient. I’m sure they’re working hard to get this place together. There was only one person working the front who also disappeared often to the back. I hope they will hire a server soon when business picks up because I saw customers coming in and standing idly, not knowing what to do.
Will I come back? Perhaps a few months from now when they’re more established. There are a few more items on the menu I’d like to try. Hopefully they’ll have a better look by then.
CASH ONLY for now.

Kobe Q is delicious! Huge amount of food comes with the bbq dishes and entrees. The sauce the make for the bulgogi is out of this world. Amazing over the side of rice the bring. They don’t have their beer and wine license yet so we always bring our own. Which is no issue. The service is very attentive and they are good at anticipating your wants. love the subtle taste of the complimentary tea. Will be coming back to try their Ginseng Chicken. It’s stewed for hours and is a whole game hen.

14.12.23 First Visit
Sister restaurant of Kaiju Eats.
Been to that one at lest 20+ times.
They do have some of my favorites:
Tataki
Kaiju Fries
Karaage
Ginseng Chicken
— Was unique and good
— Basically a delicious chicken stew …
— Rich yellow broth w schmaltz which
gives it the rich and stronger flavor
— A hidden bed of rice … soaking the
scrumptious liquid
— Fresh Korean ginseng
— Goji berry
— Scallion
The nice owner even threw in some «banchan»
Korean side dishes:

Kongnamul — Cold boiled bean sprouts with sesame oil.
Takuan — Japanese yellow radish
Kimchi — Spicy fermented vegie
cabbage

Same owner as Kaiju Eats and Infinit Sushi (ofcourse, because they’re connected) The food came out fast and was delicious. I had the bi bim bap and my boyfriend had the kobe ramen. My boyfriend found the broth very rich and yummy and the kobe was very tender. Service was excellent. Atmosphere, nice place, a bit sparse on customers but I think that was because not many people know the place is occupied again.

I frequented the restaurant that used to occupy this space, so was pretty disappointed when it closed down. I saw that the space was being separated into two different restaurants when I was going by on the bus, so made a mental note to stop by when they opened to try it out.
Well, this last week, I noticed that Kobe BBQ was open, so I dragged A with me this past Friday night to try it out.
Let me paint a picture for you. Kobe BBQ is a one story half of a building, painted entirely black. No windows. The words «Kobe BBQ» are painted in big red letters on the top half of the building with a big red arrow pointing down to the door. At night, the entrance is lit up with bright lights and there is a lighted «Open» sign next to the entrance on top of a sample menu.
So we walk over and A tries to open the door.
It doesn’t budge.
A has had instances where doors don’t like to open for him, so he tried a couple more times. Nothing.
Infiniti Sushi next door had also just opened and I had read somewhere (probably on Unilocal) that the two restaurants were related. We wandered over there, but there were no customers in there and we thought it would be weird to go into one restaurant to ask them if the restaurant next door was open.
So we walked back to Kobe BBQ and this time I tried the door. Nope, still didn’t open. We thought, «Maybe this isn’t the right door. Sure, there’s a big arrow, and lights, and an open sign, but maybe it’s not the right door.» We tried another door in the recessed entry way, thinking that might be the one. It wasn’t. We did find the gas meters for the building though.
We took a peek at the menu outside and saw they had a phone number, so I called the number. It rang and rang and rang until finally the generic woman’s voice told me that the subscriber had not set up their voicemail yet.
It was well past 5pm, so we knew they SHOULD be open and we were hell bent on trying this restaurant, so we FINALLY went into Infiniti Sushi next door and asked them about it. The sushi chef was a bit confused as to what we were asking at first, but the lightbulb finally turned on and he said we could enter Kobe BBQ through the back of Infiniti Sushi. Ta-​da! We finally made it in!!!
We told them about the locked door situation. They said they were having issues with the door and were getting it fixed. The waitress wrote a sign and taped it on the door telling any other potential customers to enter though the Infiniti Sushi entrance (although when we left, the sign was face down on the ground in front of the door). We also mentioned we tried to call, but the waitress said they don’t even have a phone. Color me confused. Why put a phone number on the menu if you don’t have a phone?
Of course, there was no one in the restaurant, so we had our pick of seats. We weren’t the only ones the entire time, mind you. There was one other couple who came in to eat and another group that attempted to eat there, but ended up leaving because they didn’t have any cash. Yes, cash only right now as they are just opening.
The space itself is painted entirely black except for one wall which is covered with rock (leftover from the previous tenant) and the one wall with the embedded fish tank which you could see from both restaurants (again, leftover from the previous tenant). The stage was blocked off by black screens, but the waitress told us the owner was thinking about putting in a projector and showing movies or maybe doing karaōke in the future. The tables are brand spanking new wood, which are kind of rough and feel like they need to be sanded down a bit.
FOOD: We ordered the Kobe Bulgogi and Kimchi Fried Rice. That had to be the best bulgogi I had ever eaten. Super tender and flavorful. And the Kimchi Fried rice was delicious with just the right amount of spiciness. They also provided edamame, salad, and a hot egg custard on the house as appetizers. All of the food was delicious.
Our waitress was really nice and super helpful. She had to handle both restaurants, but still managed to stop by every so often to check if everything was okay and to refill our tea.
PRICE: Around $ 25.00 w/​o tip.
I am only giving 3 stars for now because, although the food was great, the whole ordeal of trying to get into the restaurant was a total pain. Yes, we will be back because the food is delicious and now we know the secret of how to get in the door!

Just tried this place. I was the only one in it. Just soft opening now. Didn’t think it could be very good but damn! Had the Kobe boneless short ribs. Came in an iron skillet and included rice and six delicious creative banchan. One of the banchan and was miso smoked salmon. Impressive.
Looks like a really good menu. Wide range of intriguing dishes. Besides that, this weekend the sister restaurant called Infiniti Sushi next door will be opening. Less fusion and more traditional, it looks like its going to be a great sushi bar.
Only giving it a 4 star because I know that it will be better in a few weeks. Really very very good for soft opening. I will be back here.

You had me at raw oysters. Except they don’t have any today! #fml
I got liver and Korean vinegar tea.
They don’t skimp on banchan portions.
Contemporary Korean (I know, despite the name) with enough twists to make it stand out in my mind.