Dokebi Bar & Grill
199 Grand Street
(between 1st St & Bedford Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 782-1424
- Nearest Transit:
Bedford Ave (L)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Alcohol: Full Bar
15 Reviews for Dokebi Bar & Grill
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
Get thee in a cab and go to Koreatown or Sunnyside.
You'll spend the same amount of money, get more food (what's Korean without the overwhelming banchans) and get better food.
If you're seriously lazy and want some Korean this will probably do, but just knowing that ersatz Dokebi's exists makes me sad.
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I can be very easily persuaded whether I like a place or not by good music. We walk into Dokebi sit down at our picnic style table and order a few pitchers of Blue Point with the Gorillaz playing in the background.
Um. Yes. I think I am going to like it here.
Then I received the menu... and got very confused.
I've never been to a restaurant where you cook your own food, let alone eaten Korean food! A friend of mine that had been here a few times explained it to me. Thennnn it all made sense.
I couldn't be a poop and order something already prepared, I had to take part in the fun of cooking in my very own grill in front of me. Ok now I was excited to get my steak to see what kind of grilling skills I had.
Food arrives. And then I remember one important thing. I forgot I had NO skills whatsoever in the cooking department. The only time I've ever grilled anything was a grilled cheese. I winged it and did pretty good. I got the spicy lean steak strips and had a great time with it. I also loved their little munchie food you get before your entree. I tried everything and loved everything.
For being a virgin to Korean food as well as BBQing... I definitely enjoyed this new experience and would definitely come back.
Sky*
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No complaints. I just visited this joint with two friends. We sat at the bar and enjoyed PHAT-ASS tunes, delicious grub and fine drink. Red Hook Copperhook and Blue Point Toasted Lager on tap as well as Kirin Ichiban, Soporo, etc. Well-rounded scotch selection and sake too!
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It's not K-town and that's why they're in Williamsburg. It doesn't matter anyway because the food tastes more like Chinese food than Korean food. The food is either too salty or too greasy, both things that Korean food isn't suppose to be. Since it's the only Korean restaurant in Williamsburg they can pretty much do whatever they want, which means the food can be poor. The service is pretty attentive, sometimes overly attentive to the point of annoying. A skinny tall asian girl was our waitress the other night. She was nice but I rather not have her fingers inside my glasses when she's bring out my bottle of soju. And I know it's Williamsburg and everyone is "chill" but i don't want to see the waitress leaning over a table where her friends are eating and digging into their pots. That just isn't a good look. We tipped well but felt like maybe I should of just gave her my left over greasy sicking food instead. Maybe it's a Korean thing and I don't get it because I'm white but when i was in Korea for a year i never saw that. The reason why I gave it 2 stars instead of -2 stars is because it does have a well kept secret bar in the back with cool but not trying to be cool bartenders.
So the long of the short of it is:
Bar is ok, food sucks but it's in the neighborhood, waitress is nice but was never taught common manners.
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I always eat too much here. Always. Especially the bi bim bap.
Overall, it's a decent value and they have good beer on tap. The music is kind of lousy, though. It's probably less authentic than Koreatown or Sunnyside, but as far as Williamsburg goes, this is it.
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I was so excited about the prospect of having a Korean place in the hood, but after a few times here, I realized I still don't. I'm not sure what happens once they cross the Williamsburg bridge, but it's like this hood is the Limbo for Asian restaurants when they die culinary-wise. If they had called it a Korean-inspired restaurant, maybe my taste buds wouldn't have been so offended since not all of the food is completely terrible.
For the sake of getting through this review, assume that nothing about the menu is authentic and the flavours for all of the dishes are not what they should be. That said, the bulgogi isn't terrible, and the quality of the meat is pretty decent. The kalbi is also the right type of meat, but the marinade was ridiculously bland. The broth for the yukgaejang and the spicy kalbi tang taste exactly the same, which is a bit criminal and can be likened to making lobster bisque from cheap chicken stock. Whatever the broth for both is, it's not terrible tasting, though.
The banchan, however, are the absolute worst! Because in some ways it's the cornerstone of a Korean meal, if a restaurant can't get that right, they may as well not exist. I'm pretty tolerant of all different types of kimchi preparation, but here it tasted literally like rotting cabbage. I'm not sure what some of the other banchan were even supposed to be but a taste revealed that it was all inedible.
I think I feel so betrayed because I really like the space and the vibe of the place. It's super comfortable and spacious, and the service has been pretty good every time. I'd guess it's not Korean-owned and whoever is heading the kitchen is probably working off of generic Korean recipes that never quite make Korean food taste like what it should. It's a valiant effort, but to give it any more than a star would be cruel and unusual to future patrons expecting real Korean food.
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You know, I hate to give this only 3 stars so I'm kinda rounding up here. The menu is very Westernized and the bulgogi isn't very Korean, really. But the kimchee pajeong is quite good and everything tasted very fresh. The marinades, spices, and banchan were lacking the authentic, and for me, addicting Korean flavors that keep you wanting to eat more and more and...
So, I'd definitely go again if I couldn't get to k-town, or Dok Suni's.
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Dokebi is a rockin' little joint nestled on one the best streets in williamsburg.
The atmosphere is cool, lots of clean lines and good art, the bar is a little more divey looking.
I LOVE the Jap-chea and shabu shabu and I always have enough to eat. The beer and Saki list is long and full of Asian and American goodies.
This is a GREAT PLACE FOR A DATE or for a BIG GROUP. If you want to sit and chat over candle light try a window seat in the front room, or hey, there's one at the bar too.
If you need to accommodate a big group, that's cool too, they've got a long row of shabu shabu tables. If you call ahead then you can have your whole group together and the shabu shabu really doesn't come out to be that much when you're sharing.
So a few tips: you can always ask for more sides and the ice cream there is AMAZING, so many exotic flavors and the taste is just to die for.
My only suggestion when you're going to Dokebi is be ready for something different, this is not an average place, it's a nice little mix of what you've had and what you'd like to.
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Alright so it's not super k-town authentic and my Korean girlfriend mocks me for patronizing this establishment, but whatever. I still enjoy myself and everyone has a pretty delicious time when we go.
It can be a bit pricey and a lot of people start to complain saying, "what, I pay all this and I have to cook it myself?" But sitting around a grill and interacting is one of the fun things about eating at Dokebi. The provided ingredients are fresh and tasty and you can cook your meat exactly to your liking.
Also make sure to give the soju a try, very smooth and sweet.
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Not the best Korean BBQ I've ever had, and certainly not the cheapest. However, the service is attentive and friendly, their selection of beer, wine, shocu and other specialty drinks is good, and the food is fresh and delicious. Not huge portions tho, but I guess I'm so used to stuffing myself in restaurants I'm always surprised when there's just enough food instead of way too much. And the interior is clean and pretty and nice and not overwhelmingly Asian (read: accessible for whitey).
We did the Korean-grill thing. It's fun and interactive and you grill your own meat and then make little lettuce burritos. It's fun and (somewhat) healthy, I think. But at $86 (total) for two entrees, one drink and one small sake makes this place a sometimes-only dining experience. They do have cheaper menu items tho, but expect to spend if you wanna grill your own. Which seems counter-intuitive.
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Went here to celebrate a birthday, and our party of five was held hostage for three hours. Horrendous service-- the waitress only circled around at the flash of a credit card. Waited half an hour just to place the order.
Food was okay if you don't mind the fact that each person's order was served at half-hour intervals. Really made it festive. Great place to go if you want to feel guilty about eating out and enjoy being harassed by the wait staff.
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The service here is horrendous and the room is always freezing in the winter, but I really like Dokebi. Sometimes you eat enough pizza and hamburgers in Williamsburg that you demand something different.
Ten times out of ten I order the same thing here which is a bottle of soju, the fried pork Gyoza, and then the khalbi (short ribs) bbq. The meat is super fatty in a good way and melts in your mouth. The bbq usually takes forever to come out which is weird because they don't have to cook it, and the sides are extremely limited and pre-chosen for you. The desert menu is weird as it only contains ice creams and the wait staff REALLY tries to push it on you. I admit the ice cream is good, but it's a weird thing to eat after you just stuffed 30 pounds of flesh down your throat.
One tip: When you are done and they take away the top of the table grill DON'T LOOK DOWN INTO IT! You'll see the pool of fat at the bottom and might not ever eat again.
Expensive and you got hardly any kim chee!! I love all the little side dishes that get served with Korean BBQ. You know... all the pickled vegetables? Well, I got like only 3 or 4 different kinds and one of them was basic kim chee. Borrrring.
The meat quality was good but the portion was too small. I spent a lot of money to walk away still hungry. Bummer.
Decor is clean and simple. There's a cute bar in the back of the restaurant that has a separate entrance too. It looks like a cute place to have a drink but I haven't done that yet.
I haven't been back and I probably won't since it looks like they have a pretty good busines s going with other locals. I'll make the trek to Flushing or NYC for Korean BBQ.
Not really worth the trip out to Brooklyn... Dokebi is supposedly a "Korean" restaurant; thus, I assumed that one of their signature dishes, shabu shabu, would be done Korean style. Nope. Not the case. It was done Japanese style and not all that tasty. Their "rice bok-kum" dishes (which literally means "fried rice") was not the case either... it was more of a Chinese style where the sauteed meats/veggies were served over plain white rice. The jap chae was pretty good and we liked the assortment of beers available by the pitcher but that was about our only source of joy. Other disappointments: lack of the side dishes (ban chan)... all we got was a plate with a bit of kimchee and spinach (none of which tasted all that great), the strange decor / vibe / lighting (felt like there should be pool tables and beers on tap rather than a Korean restaurant), and the slow service (it's almost a given that Korean restaurants have speedy, almost too abrupt and harried, service... they can turn those tables like no one' s business!)... our waiter at Dokebi was close to incompetent as he was slow and confused and had no idea how to serve shabu shabu (he was ready to dump the entirety of the veggie plate into the boiling water all at once!).
No need to go out here for good Korean food; and for better shabu shabu, stick to Shabu Tatsu in the E. Village.
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refreshing...not your typical korean
go in with a williamsburg open mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised. im korean but wasnt looking for a typical 32nd st experience. this place had a pretty cool vibe, it was different but cozy. the food was pretty good and cuz they had vacuum smoke grills i could go out after dinner and not smell like it was me who was BBQ'd in soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil. service was friendly and a bar scene in the back turned me onto a new beer (ayinger)....all in all a refreshing change from the norm.
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