Seorae

I think I’m way too spoiled in LA. Honestly this place was okay.
We came in around 830 and it was pretty busy. We only waited 10 minutes for a table. The food was good but the portions were very very small. All the meats we had were all a little dry. The bachan kinda sucked and only had kimchi and bean sprouts. My favorite was the steamed egg!
The service needs improvement. For what I’m paying I don’t think rude service is acceptable.
Our bill came out to $ 680 with 3 meats, 2 bottles of soju, and hite.

This is one of my most frequented restaurants in 2014. I have to admit the food is good and service is decent (except the waiting part). You come out smelling like barbeque every single time yet every one of my friends can never get enough of it.
Unlike the other Korean restaurants in Hong Kong, Seorae is very roomy. It really transports you to Korea! Similarly, I love the unending refill of the side dishes! My friends love their kimchi but it was a little too spicy for me. Thus, I love their bean sprouts more The onions are pickled too so they were slightly sweet and vinegary. Thumbs up!
Seorae’s claim of fame is their 護心肉 (i.e., pork tendons between the diaphragm and liver). It boasts to be the only place in town you could get it. I enjoyed it a lot myself. I like the texture (chewy) and flavor (slightly gamey) of the cut. You just need to make sure you don’t overcook it. Note: I get this every single time. Sometimes x2
The other special is their grilled eggs. It’s all-​you-​can-​eat and it’s delicious! Again, just make sure you don’t overcook them! It is best when it is still slightly runny on the surface.) It comes with or without kimchi. My preference changes every time. Generally, I like the original but lately I have been preferring the version with kimchi. We jokingly said the restaurant is doing themselves injustice by serving the eggs free — since most customers would purposely save room and order less meat just to enjoy the delicious grilled eggs.
The different kind of cuts my friends and I have been ordering during our different visits. I prefer the thicker cuts just because the thinner cuts shrivels and shrinks away once you put them on the grill. Too bad they don’t have galbi. That’s like my absolute favorite cut of meat at any Korean BBQ restaurant. I also enjoyed the beef intestine a lot. It’s so good when it’s thoroughly grilled, after all the fat has melted. Very chewy and flavorful!
In addition to the bibimbap, we also tried the ramen and cold noodles (not pictured) The regular bibimbap is average but I liked the seafood bibimbap a lot. On the other hand, the ramen was too spicy for me but the cold noodles was good.
The reservation system still needs a lot of work. I have not been able to get through their phone at all to make reservations. I heard they only take walk-​in reservations now. Fortunately, my average wait time for my last 3 visits only averaged an hour. I believe they have impose a 90-​minute limit during peak hours and the lines are generally shorter after 10 pm.
On one of my visits, we witness an incident where a man who was bleeding profusely came in the restaurant seeking help. He seemed disoriented from all the bleeding. After the police came and the commotion died down, the restaurant passed out a plate of free meat to every table to appease the customers for what transpired. Clearly, it was not the restaurant’s fault to have a bleeding man running in for help. Yet, I am impressed at how the situation was handled. /​applause
Seorae has thus rise to my restaurant of choice when it comes to Korean BBQ and I hope they will keep up their good work.