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Arirang Bar Grill & Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for Arirang Bar Grill & Restaurant
10 reviews in English
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Review from T L.
Denver, CO
3/28/2011
Having grown up in Korea, my expectations for Arirang or any Korean restaurant in Montgomery, weren't very high. What a pleasant surprise!
Decor is traditional and clean. I have been to my share of Korean "hole in the wall" restaurants (food is always great!) and Arirang is definitely on the large and well-decorated side. We called ahead and made reservations for an early dinner but we ended up being the only ones in the restaurant which made for quick and attentive service.
We were seated in a private room, which worked well for our group. We had no time for tabletop bbq but i would definitely recommend it for those who have the time and don't mind leaving a little stinkier (like yummy goodness, that is).
We ordered yaki mandu (fried dumplings) to start with and chowed down on ban chan (complimentary, community-style side dishes). Kimchi was a little on the sour side, but bean sprouts (kongnamul) and fish cake (odeng) were spot on!
For entrees, I had the kalbi (grilled marinated shortribs) and almost everyone else got bulgogi (Korean version of sukiyaki). We had to ask for lettuce (sangchu) to make rice wraps, and if you ask, the waitress will even demo how to put it all together.
I would expect to pay around $10-$15 per plate. Portion sizes are just perfect. A little expensive, but completely worth it.
Great place, I definitely recommend it! -
Review from lin h.
New Orleans, LA
7/17/2011
I'd really give this place 2.5 stars if I could. It's higher than a 2, but not quite at 3 stars. I'm Korean-American, raised in the NYC area where there's tons of korean restaurants, i grew up eating korean food, and i've lived in Korea. I know my Korean food. The restaurant is definitely authentic looking and the menu is too. Had the soon doo boo (soft tofu stew), bibimbap, and LA kalbi.
Soon doo boo was average. Bibimbap is hard to make bad and it was pretty good. The LA kalbi you can totally tell that it wasn't marinated. You could tell the beef was cooked and then slapped on with sauce just prior to serving. The flavor, however was ok.
There must be some sort of reverse racism because the white couple that sat near us got more variety of banchan (side dishes) than us, a Korean family. Service is horrible (server never came to our table after the food came out) and they obviously don't know the meaning of "service with a smile".
Prices obviously much cheaper than I'm used to in the NYC area (where you can pay $30 for 1 order of korean bbq), but I still thought the prices were kinda high for Alabama.Listed in: Korean
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Review from Melissa T.
Montgomery, AL
9/22/2009
I came here for lunch on a rainy day. Not quite sure if it was because of the rain but the restaurant was pretty empty.
Overall the food is pretty authentic to what I'm use to in Ktown in NYC. I would come back here. -
Review from MaLisa C.
Huntsville, AL
6/15/2010
When Hyundai made the big move to bring hundreds of families over from Korea to Montgomery, my brother who lives down near Montgomery was excited. He has lived there for several years and knew it was going to be automatic that stores and restaurants would open. Arirang is probably one of the more authentic ways to get Korean food in Montgomery. Which is great for my brother who doesn't know how to cook Korean food (we're half-Korean).
Arirang is a nicely decorated, spacious restaurant. As Matt R. said it does tend to be empty especially around dinner time. Which is alright for me if it means fast service. Fast and friendly service is all I've ever gottten here. If you ever go on the weekends however, you'll usually see a bunch of the big-wigs from Hyundai *ahem*kissing ass to the boss*ahem* having company functions here. They have "noraebangs" (karaoke rooms) set up, but they're open rooms only blocked off with curtains so unless you want the whole restaurant to hear you trying to hit the high notes I'd hold off on that. I did not enter these rooms so I'm unsure if they have only Korean music or English as well.
While the main part of the restaurant is just regular tables, the back sectioned off area has cook-top tables. These are really fun with a group of people. You have to have at least 5 people in your party if you want a cooktop. If you can get that many people to go, it's a fun experience if you've never enjoyed Korean style cook-at-the-table eating. Albeit, it's going to cost you an arm and a leg to eat at those however. The entrees for the grill run about 18 bucks and you HAVE to order 2 servings of whatever meat you want. Doesn't sound bad if everyone pitches in, but if you're anything like my friends or family, it won't be enough. (We had bulgogi, kalbi, & samgyupsal (pork belly slices) when we went...you do the math LOL) It's great for an experience, but you might be better off ordering just straight from the menu if you go regularly.
They give you plenty of banchan (side dishes) and if ordering from the non cook-top menu a healthy portion of meat. The last time I went I had kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew w/ pork) and it was delicious and piping hot!! It was still hot til the last spoonful. I'm glad she gave me the smaller portion though, it was plenty!
I'm giving 4 stars mostly because of the prices.I'd love to go there every time I'm in the area, but it's a bit pricey to pay for everyone in my family. I'm a little spoiled living up in Huntsville where we have a Korean buffet. Plus the price for the jjigae is about the same, but you get the big bowl automatically up here. However, the food is flavorful, authentic, and the meat is good. The restaurant is very clean. I think they had a 92 on their health score when I was there a couple of weeks ago. The staff was nice and service was pretty quick. Definitely a treasure in Montgomery! -
Review from J.P. M.
Montgomery, AL
3/13/2011
Arirang is one of the best korean resteraunts here in town. There bibimbab is pretty good also they have good mandoo and dwaeji boolgogi. Very nice atmosphere.
The ajooma that waits on you is very nice and always friendly. It doesn't compare to authentic korean resteraunts like in Atlanta and NY, but for Montgomery were the korean population is increasing daily, its a winner. -
Review from Chris C.
Los Angeles, CA
10/17/2010
Overall, an okay restaurant. Decent for a date and decent to hang out with some friends.
Food: The food was decent. I've had tastier Korean BBQ and food. The portions weren't impressive. Dishes were particularly very pricey. Expect to pay around $15.
Service: Service was very good and our waitress was attentive to our needs.
Atmostphere: Good. The area had a Korean theme...but nothing too impressive. -
Review from Shin S.
Lompoc, CA
5/2/2011
When I stayed in Montgomery in 2005, Ming's Garden across the parking lot was the only thing close to a decent Asian restaurant, but I assume Hyundai factory created a lot of demand for Korean/Asian market here (they even had kim at costco!).
Anyway, this restaurant has very much to be desired. The place at least looks nice & clean. They have semi private rooms along the sides (for tabletop bbq). We were there for early dinner, and practically ate alone (just one more customer). Since we weren't in mood for meat, we ordered 'Haejanggook', 'sullongtang' and 'mandoo' for the kids.
Mandoo tasted like frozen dumplings from Korean market, w/ little bit of meat and whole lot of dangmyun. Also, it looked like they made no effort in presentation (stamped half-moon shaped dumplings, sort of dumped on the plate), and they are almost $1 each! ($5.99 for 5, or $8.99 for 10). Yikes...
Sullongtang was just tasteless broth that no amount of salt could rescue. And Haejanggook? It was bland w/ no distinct taste. Tripe was chewy in a good way (the only decently cooked item), but sunji (congealed blood) was just moosh bunch of tasteless 'thing'...
Unlike the previous reviewer, I didn't find banchan to be tasty at all. sprouts were too salty, kimchi was sour, fish cake was dry (how do you mess this up?), and potato/carots muchim was too oily.
The service was decent, but they seemed to be saving money by not turning on the A/C until more people showed up (which never happened). C'mon, this is Alabama in May. No A/C, really?
Like others have said, price is a major factor here. The soup dishes are around $9, and meat/bokkum are about $15+, jungol anywhere from $20+. The kicker was the notice that add'l rice is $1 - this is never a good sign at a Korean restaurant. 20lb bag of rice cost about $10. How much are you trying to save by skimping on rice? Lunch menu cost several dollars less and I think it was from 1130-1430, Mon-Fri.
I understand this is AL, and we shouldn't compare it to restaurants in NY/LA, but if they want to cater to Koreans from Korea (Hyundai), and military personnel who go thru Maxwell AFB, their food must improve quite a bit before they could fill up their tables. -
Review from Nina U.
I have to agree with the pricier menu comments but I guess you have to pay for good Korean in a non-Korean town. Dinner dishes are about $14 and if you want to BBQ at your table then it's about $32 and two people from your table have to order it. It's quite a big restaurant and is family owned. Went to have beef bulgogi and chicken bulgogi, both good size dishes to share. It's nice and clean and the ladies are friendly :-)
Listed in: What I ate in Montgomery, AL
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Review from Jinsoku P.
Montgomery, AL
8/26/2010
Not impressed...
The place was nice, the atmosphere was comfy and the staff was helpful...
THE PRICE WAS CRAZY! About double the normal cost of the items ordered and they didn't even taste that great, good but not 21 bux for a plate of some cubed beef good....
The Family and I just relocated to Montgomery from California where the Wife and I would go to sooo many asian restaurants(cuz we're asian) and this was not worth it IMHO...
If you don't know any better than this place is okay but you can get better authentic Korean food for less. -
Review from Matt R.
Bowie, MD
2/15/2010
I've been here a few times over the last month, and surprisingly this place is usually empty. Perhaps if they served fried bacon sushi, performed table tricks with cooking utensils or gave fortune cookies at the end of the meal, it might have a broader appeal.
But seriously, this place is great. The food is on par with what I've found in Korea or the many Korean restaurants in Annandale, Virginia. As with any Korean restaurant, you get several types of banchan (side dishes). My favorite, the cabbage kimchi, was outstanding.
Even the atmosphere makes you feel like you're in Korea. The Korean television is always playing, and you can hear karaoke coming from the somewhere in the back.
