Shik Do Rak
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
70 reviews
Huntington Beach, CA
"My new fav place for Japanese BBQ! It's close to home, much bigger than Anjin, the wait isn't as long, great food, ambiance and service!…" read more »
84 Reviews for Shik Do Rak
Good place for big groups. The meat is good, but there's a limited selection that I'm not very fond of. Plus, there give you the side dishes on small plates. I had to ask for more kimchi after every 15 minutes because they gave such small portions. After the third time, I asked for ALOT of kimchi, and they still gave me the same amount (which is like three 2x2inch slices of cabbage) I guess you can say they're kind of stingy with how much food to give you. The set up is nice.. for $3 more on the same street is New Seoul BBQ buffet; self-served. You can get all the kimchi and whatever you want.
I went to the new Irvine Location on Sunday night at like 8PM! There was a line out the door! I was like WTH....
so we decided to drive down to Garden Grove instead. There was no line when we got there.
There are many reviews on here so you know the drill...we ordered one of the combos and upgraded the soju to some other drink, and upgraded the soup to another soup.
The food is good and this is one of the few places that gives you both the rice paper and the radish sheets (which I like more).
Service was great...I'm not sure if it was because it wasn't crowded at that time or if they upgraded their service. Our rice paper, and ban chan (side dishes) were constantly refilled without asking.
They do have "membership" where you can get 10% off your bill. But you have to follow their guidelines. the two main ones I remember are that you have to order enough for the # of people in your group. So I'm assuming you can't order a combo for 3 people for 4 people. And you have to be out of there within 60 minutes. LOL.... i'd feel too rushed to eat comfortably. yikes.
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This is our favorite Korean BBQ place.
One of our friends who owns a meat distribution company recommended this Shik Do Rak. Apparently they purchase quality product.
This was the first place we were exposed to Duk Bo Sam (with the thin square rice "wrappers") several years ago. A little pricier than other Korean-BBQ joints, it's definitely worth it when you want to treat yourselves to a great dinner.
The small dishes, banchans, were all very fresh/crisp.
I believe their specialty is their Black Angus Deckle (chadol), thinly sliced frozen beef cuts which melt on the grill for a few seconds then start to sizzle. Their other cuts (kalbi, etc.) are great also.
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I asked my Korean friend if she knew any restaurants where they served Korean BBQ, and she took me here. Much to my surprise this was a different process altogether. You see, what I meant was kind of like a fast food Korean BBQ where you get a plate lunch in a styrofoam box with rice, your choice of meat, and vegetables. I'm glad that I got to try the authentic way although I was turned off by....
The reason for my rating: Service
We walked in around 3 pm and it was pretty empty except for two tables. We weren't greeted, and saw the waitresses sitting at a table chatting amongst themselves...for a long time.....We had to interrupt their conversation. Minus one star for not acknowledging our prescence.
We were seated and given menus and we ordered a plate to share of beef. The food came out promptly and my friend began telling me what each dish was and how to prepare to eat it.
Their water cups are the size of my fist! The servers sat down on the table next to us and began chatting again. We had to interrupt them for water refills. Minus two more stars.
After we were done we had to ask them (again!) for the check. Also, I noticed that you get yogurt after your meal and since I am a big fan of dessert I take this to heart ;) because we didn't get any. After we both signed our checks they continued chatting, leaving us the way we were greeted. Unacknowledged. Minus two more stars. Too bad there isn't a O rating.
I've never had such bad service. It ruined the entire experience for me and turned me off. When at restaurants the number one thing I grade is service even if the food is decent. Definately not coming back here.
There are so many good ratings on this place, I wish I had to opportunity to be one of them
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I love this place. This is the default place that my family goes to when we have a birthday, graduation, or some other important event to celebrate. My dad calls it a "tightly run ship" because he likes how the waiters madly dash around and refill all of the dishes on your table without us even having to ask. That is a rarely given compliment on his part and this means that he enjoys eating here.
I enjoy eating here because I enjoy gorging on large quantities of red meat and thinly shredded lettuce and green onion wrapped in duk bo sam. My mouth is watering just thinking about this place. I have nothing but fond memories of all the times I have eaten here, staring out the fake windows that have a nice view of some trees, or a mountain.
Decided to try this place. I walked out not really impressed but more disappointed. My friend and I came here on a Friday around 6pm and there wasn't a lot of people, only 3 tables occupied because it was early. So we ordered the combo enough for 2-3 people. The waitresses was nice but they didn't bring out the soup and the portion of the short ribs were extremely small. I rather go to Cham Sut Gol or Go Goo Ryeo or something.
I've visited this place somewhere around 8 or so times in the past year or so. I can honestly say it's probably the best Korean BBQ I've been too. (For all you Koreans, I'm white, so you can take it for what it's worth). The meat is the best quality I've experienced of all the Korean BBQ's i've visited. My only thing is that I wish the side dishes rotated, because it's always the same ones. Some restaurants tend to change it up every now and then. But here...the quality is consistent. I also enjoy that substitutions are never a problem. If I want to sub something for something else, ok...not problem. It's done.
Before I go on, I wanted to comment on Christine's comments on poor service. Because I think they may be taken out of context. Everything is relative to cultural norms and attitudes.
For one, at Shik Do Rak, there are red buttons next to the table or on your table depending on where you are seated. These buttons have a purpose. Press them if you need something. Anything. It's awesome, I love it. Also, if you a server (any server, not just your own) passes by and you want something, raise your hand and ask or point or do what ever you need to get your point across that you want more Kim-Chi, etc. If you've been cooking for a while and want your hot plate changed out, they will do that too.
Hey, I'm a white guy, I don't speak Korean, but I can point to something if i want more of it. I've never had a problem at all. Pretty much the purpose of the button is so they can serve you better, but you have to take advantage of it. I think we get used to "do you want more water?" and "is there anything else i can get you" because of going to "American" restaurants. But that is not the norm is this type of dining. It's an adjustment.
I have also noticed at some Asian restaurants, Korean restaurants in particular, that if your group is all female, you tend to not get as good of service as if there are males with you. I'll leave that for the Koreans to explain. Male dominance and the respect for males still plays a large role in many cultures. (Not so much in American culture anymore). All I can say is that every time I've been to this restaurant, I've had great service, never been denied anything and got everything I wanted, when I wanted.
Oh, and when it comes to the water glasses....yeah, I don't understand that. By the time I leave there I'm sweating because of the heat and the spicy sauces. But ohh...i love it. Anyway, ask for a pitcher of water for your table, they will be glad to give you one.
So, if anybody wants to try Korean BBQ or is looking for a new place. I very highly recommend this place.
The best parts aren't even the meal. Here are some highlights:
1) The Mens Room Toilet: In order to flush the toilet in the mens room, you have to pull a rope! (unless they've fixed it...doubt it)
2) The parking guy in the back. This guy is awesome. He sits in a chair with an orange vest on, and points you to a parking space. Please make sure you park where he wants you to....or else :) But yes, he is awesome. He's even saluted me before. My g/f thought it was because he may have thought i was in the army or something.
3) The post dinner YOGURT!! Try it. It's sour and it's served with a smile.
Similar concept as Cham Sut Gol table service All you can Eat, but if you go with a small party then I would prefer Cham Sut meat quality over Shik Do Rak. They do have an option for AYCE which includes Kalbi (Cham Sut do not), but you would need a lot of people to eat all those food. My favorite is still Korea House so most likely I will not be coming back here.
Went here for a friend's b-day party on a Thursday night. They have a restaurant area and a private party area (where we sat). The place was not packed but I did see a few people waiting to be seated.
We had "All you can eat BBQ" ($16.50). I hear they only have this Monday-Thursday. You cook the meat (bulgoki (beef)) and some veggies (onion, mushrooms, green onions) at your table and they give you many little side dishes (kimchi, bean sprouts, radish, etc.). My favorite accompaniments were the thin, doughy, rice paper and lettuce: perfect to make your own little beef taco. Add some hot pepper paste and you are set. Even better, drink a few glasses of Hite beer ($6) and you may feel like you are in heaven.
My friend is a vegetarian and ordered an egg and kimchi omelet. Huge and about $12.
I've been to many, many Korean restaurants and this place is one I want to visit again very soon.
Definitely the best Korean BBQ restaurant I've been to in Orange County. Probably one of the best I've been to anywhere.
There isn't an all-u-can-eat here, but their combos are more than big enough for a moderate group of people, and with the exception of a couple of Hites, it breaks down pretty well. I really love the panchan you get with it too. You can still get rice, but they give you these small sheets of glutinous rice paper, but it's soft? Hard to describe for those who haven't been here. They also give you slices of pickled I think it's white radish (I haven't been in awhile so I can't remember).
The more expensive combos usually come with soju for the table, but especially if you're there for lunch, you kind of don't feel like something like soju, but they're more than happy to substitute the soju for more meat, which is what me and my friends usually end up doing
This is one of those places where you cook everything at your table, so your clothes will smell afterward but as someone who loves to bbq, I love it. Though I do try to go home straight afterward to change my shirt.
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I had only eaten at a Korean restaurant once before trying Shick Do Rak and I liked this place MUCH better. Obviously I don't have a lot of experience so take my advice with a grain of salt. But I loved this place. I don't know why MV said you need to speak Korean to get good service. The first time we came here we were with a Korean and it was the same service as when we came the second time and we were 4 white people that had no idea what we were ordering. The place does tend to get busy and therefore the staff gets busy and may not be able to be quite as attentive as some would like.
Enough with that, the quality of the food was very good. Everything tasted fresh and the meat was pretty lean considering the cut of meat. You're not ordering filet mignon, here. For those of you that like vodka at dinnertime, order the soju. It's not the same, but it's a nice substitution.
The other great thing about this place is that they have a playroom for kids. It's a closed room with windows so you can check on the kids and the door only opens to the restaurant, so they have to walk by you to escape. (This will definitely be a favorite restaurant of ours when we are with child.) And of course, the free frozen yogurt after your meal makes a happy ending.
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Shik Do Rak is one of my favorite restaurants in Orange County. I LUV everything from the meat to the ban chan and all the little dishes that comes with your meal. It is a bit pricey for some people, but it is well worth it. This is a yummy in my tummy....Oh and I forgot to note: Now the do serve all you can eat at this place, but they will tell you...you only have 2 hrs to sit and eat. LOL
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New Name " $hit Do Rack "
Well, I waited a year to write a review about this place and it's about time share one of the single worst experiences in a restaurant I have ever had. Where do I begin? It was my birthday and my lady decided to gather 10 of my closest friends' out for a night of BBQ and beer. So I was the first to arrive with a friend of mine and we asked for a table for 10. "What?" she's asks me with a bewildered look. So I tell her that the rest of my friends are due to arrive soon, and she sits me at a table with 8 chairs. So of course I asked her if I could have 2 more chairs, and she stands there for a minute and then hurries off to find her manager...
Manager: What do you need ?
Alain: Two more chairs please..
Manager: How many people you have ?
Alain: 10
Manager: ok.. (Speaks Korean to employee)
Manager: (Big sigh) ok we move you to bigger table!
So up we go into a smaller room with a bigger table. To cut to the chase, as my friends start arriving I can hear a lot of chatter in an adjacent room and I can see employees, chefs, and busboys coming in and out of it hurriedly. Hmm...
So we're all looking at the menu for about 5 seconds and the manager appears over my shoulder and asks if we are ready to order. I ask her to give me a few moments to look it over since I had never been there before and she says " Well our kitchen is closing soon, so after that- you can't order anymore food. "
Then it all became clear. We were being rushed through our meal! From that point on it was pretty much a parody of how a restaurant should be run. With every dish they brought out, the server kept dumping the piles of meat on as fast as she could, as so to speed the process along. At one point I stopped her and said, " can you please slow down? We're not finished eating this other meat yet and you already started cooking more. "
OK- she says and drops the plate causing the tongs to clank noisily onto the table. Everyone was looking at each other but no one said anything. While I honestly feel some of my friends were probably oblivious to what was going on, the few of us who were in tune were sharing looks of utter disbelief. Then came time to order drinks...
Manager: how many soda's in your party?
Alain: Who wants soda?
......
Alain: 5 please..
Manager: ok!
Seconds later she emerges from the kitchen with two six packs of room temperature soda and start popping them outta their plastic holder and handing them to my friends across the table. She stands right over me at the foot of the table and hands me two, and asks me to pass them down to the end. OMG, I thought. So after about 35 minutes, we had all stuffed down about three trays of meat in the time that it would take 3 people to eat ramen. I was finishing my last bowl of rice and as I set my bowl down the check was staring up at me. We pooled our hard earned together and got the hell outta dodge before they had a chance to prod us any further. As we exited through the rear of the building I could see what appeared to be the entire staff in the next room having a feast and hamming it up. I can see why we were under so much pressure to finish now, we were in the way of their little shindig! As we were all outside sharing convo and smokes, the manager busts out of the door and says " You didn't leave a tip? "- Although I didn't hear that part of it. My girlfriend hands her a $20 and off the manager went in a puff of smoke. WTF was that? We took two pictures in front of their back door, which doubles as the front entrance and dispersed.
Pros: The soda
Cons: Awful rushed service
Manager demands tip
Waitress burned our food
Drinks handed out (literally)
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This place was super lackluster. I wasn't impressed with anything....
-meat quality was just ok
-ban chan was just ok
-service was too darn slow
-they didn't bring my diet coke fast enough (I should fail them for this alone)
-bibim naeng myun sucked
Seriously.....speak Korean....I didn't at first and we got lackluster service. Then my friend and I busted out the mother language and *taadaa* we started getting stuff quicker.
Price is a bit too expensive for the quality.
Just say "no".....
If you come here often, it can get blah. If you come 2-3 times per year max......Oh baby its so farkin goooood.
Just order the BIGGEST PLATTER combo of beef, pork , etc, and then GORGE yourself. Excellent low carb, high fat, high cal diet.
Service can be spotty if they are slammed, but on the days they keep up, they dont miss a thing. This one lady did such a great job on my family, that i spotted her an extra $40 tip. HOLY SHIT, i thought she was gonna lick my toes for that..... but seriously, its great comfort food when you havent had red meat in a while.
Oh yeah...lastly, dinner taste better than lunch. Dont ask me why... it just does.
F*ck yeah!! This place is really, really, really a MUST try! If you haven't had Duk Bo Sam ever, you neeeeeed to try it here! I'm not going to complain too much about service because I understand that it's almost always busy here so they have a lot of tables to tend to.. I forgive them for that because the food is so good! I only really like the duk bo sam.. but whatever else meat is fine because the sauce and those vegetables go so well with it! I don't live near that place so I can't go as often as I'd like.. I actually live in NorCal and whenever I go down south (which isn't often), I make it a point to visit Shik Do Rak.
They have all-you-can-eat BBQ for $16 or so dollars M-TH and I think that's a great deal! I eat a lot so I'm not sure about you lightweights. They also give you free dessert if you ask for it. Probably one of the best froyos (frozen yogurts) I've tasted is there! I had the original flavor and the berry flavor and it was so good I had to ask for more... =X
Anyway, I love this place. It's quite healthy in my POV because of all of the little kim chi dishes you eat with the meat that you bbq on your own. Everything is quite healthy since it's basically vegetables except for the sauces you dip it in. Anything eaten with a lotta vegetables is good in my book!
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I ate here with my buddy a long time ago and must say the food was great. The prices are pretty high, but like anything - "You get what you pay for". If you need a place to go with friends and family this is definitely the place if you can afford it.
I like this Shik Do Rak better than the one in LA.
Portions were great and although the service wasn't so great, you just have to accept that because, after all, this is a Korean restaurant. =P
The meat was tasty, we got the combo which came also came with soju (we asked for beer instead) and maewoontang (spicy soup with fish and veggies), and while you leave you get free frozen yogurt. I think it's funny that the sign says to eat it on your way out and not go back to your table. HA!
There was plenty of room on the Sunday night we were there!
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Been to this place 3 times for lunch. Ordered the lunch special ($13 bbq ribs). I don't know how the dinner items are but the lunch combo is not very good. They give you a lot of food for $13 but it is low quality korean food. The meat is the leftover scrap meat from the long bone so it isn't the high quality rib meat you get when you order at other restaurants. The other dishes you get, the fermented soy bean soup and spicy fish dish aren't very good either. The side dishes are blah. Free ice cream is nice though.
This is probably the best Korean BBQ restaurant I've been to. Went for dinner, got more meat instead of beer, kids played in the playground, and loved the frozen yogurt (choice of vanilla? or blueberry - both reminiscent of Pinkberry et al.).
Will definitely be back.
I came here because of a review I read on http://dailygluttony.b.... Even though her review was about the one in LA, I thought this one in Garden Grove couldn't be too far off. I was not disappointed at all.
Upon entering, we were greeted and seated promptly. The servers didn't speak much English. After some verbal (she in Korean and I in English) and hand exchange, we opted for the small combo as our safe bet.
The banchans were plentiful and the big plate of lettuce made me feel less of a carnivore. I can't remember what's all in the big huge plate of meat, but it was definitely more than enough for 2 people. This was not my first time at a cook-it-yourself KBBQ, but it was the first time I ate KBBQ correctly, thanks to http://dailygluttony.b...!
You use a piece of thin slice radish or thin rice paper (Duk Bo Sam) to wrap your meat, letteuce, and banchan, season it with some bean paste then dip it in the salted sesame oil and chili sauce. Although the meat was not marinated, the combination of everything in the wrap and the dippinng sauce gave it enough flavor and was super yummy!
The service was attentive. Our server came over to check a couple of times but we really didn't need any refill of anything other than water. I left the restaurant very satisfied and very full and we didn't even eat all the meat.
After my last failed experience at Surah in Buena Park not too long ago, I am craving for Shik Do Rak. Yip, it's time for me to go back again!
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We were a good size group - 6 1/2 adults (the 1/2 is my 10 year old), 3 rambunctious 6 year olds & 2 crying toddlers. We got there at 5pm on Saturday & got seated in the back, with a direct view of the "play room," where the kids played. The Play room could spruce up a bit but it was good enough to keep the kids occupied. The menu is simple - mixed meat or the frozen sliced beef package. We got the sliced beef for 8 people & it was just enough for all of us. The meat comes with plates of veggies - including mushrooms, onions. It was really good.
Best of all, the waitress comes over with a cart full of tubs of banchans, therefore, she doesn't have to go back & forth. Ingenius!
They give you MY favorite Korean treat at the end - the browned rice scrapings with water. Sounds gross, doesn't it. But it isn't!
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Absolutely delicious bbq. Every time I've gone here, the meat has always been fresh with good service. If you want to get your money's worth between two people, be prepared to spend around $50 for a combination platter. Bonus would be the candy they leave at the counter when you're leaving. In my case, I stash 6-7 pieces and run away =).
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We were a bit disappointed by our experience here. It was about 9:30 when we arrived, so maybe it was because they were closing..? But the portions were small for the price, the cups are TINY, there wasn't that much variety in terms of the pan chan...service was decent but not outstanding. The duk bo sam and radish were tasty though...I would recommend Go Goo Ryeo for better quality, portions, ambiance, service, and overall value though. =T It did the job but give the other options in that general area we probably won't be going back.
This place would get 5 stars if it wasn't so hard to get a table!! Being from the Bay Area, I was introduced to Shik Do Rak about 4 years ago by my girlfriend who moved down to OC. The first time I went there, I was expecting the usual Korean BBQ items like kalbi. When she told me they don't serve that kind of stuff here, I remember thinking, "what?? no kalbi?? take me somewhere else!!". After assuring me that I won't be disappointed, she ordered the duk bo sam special for 2 people.
They brought out the usual side dishes (they serve really good fish cake here!). Then, they brought out a clear plastic bowl with lettuce, sesame seeds and thinly sliced green onions. On a another large plate, they brought out raw slices of finely sliced black angus beef and small slices of pork belly. There were also a small plate of thick rectangular shaped rice noodles and a small plate of round, thin pickled radish. My gf proceeded to teach me what to do.
We grilled the meat at our table and wrapped the meat with the radish and rice noodle, remembering to add the salad. Reminding me to not overdip, she pointed at the sauces they provided, which was a salt and pepper sauce with sesame oil and a spicy red chilli sauce.
Once I took my first bite, I was ADDICTED!!! The both of us cleared all of the food...minus the fatty prok bellies. I've since learned that you can substitute items in the combo for other things that you like. When a group of us come, we usually order the 4 person combo for 5 (unless you have a big meat lover). Most of us don't like soju, so we would substitute it for beer, soda, or more meat.
They recently added free frozen yogurt for you to take home after your dinner as well. =)
I found myself craving duk bo sam at least once a month. For the past 4 years, I would fly down here for a weekend, just so I can have it!! It's our last night in SoCal and when my boyfriend asked me what I'm craving for dinner, I said, "take me to Shik Do Rak please!!".
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This place is amazing! When I first heard about this place, my friends kept refering to Korean Taco's. I thought they were being dirty, but the Shik Do Rak bbq is wrapped in a little white rice paper thingie, HA. That with the seseme oil and the fresh sliced raddish, talk about the ultimate Korean Taco!
Love the place, they even have free desert that you can only grab on your way out!
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duk bo sam. i love it.
but service was seriously lacking, it took awhile for them to give us a menu. and it was so hard to find the place and parking sucked for me. a little on the expensive side for two people... we got one of the combos but they ran out of short ribs so we subbed it for more beef. they were nearly closing so the waiter gave us extra beef and he didn't charge us for our drinks which redeemed them from earlier :) yeah. well the servings didn't satisfy us completely for the price we were paying because we're krn bbq fiends haha but overall, it was good.
oh there's also free yogurt at the end of your meal. oh storytime. so we came up to a waitress, who was not fluent in english, to get the yogurt and she said mango or "fluh" and we were like excuse me? what was the other flavor? and she kept repeating "fluh" and we were so confused and wtf-ing the whole time and finally she decided for us and gave one of each. then we ran outside in the rain and ate our "fluh" which was just regular yogurt. the next time we came back we discovered she was trying to say "plain". the whole ordeal was just a hilarious you had to be there thing.
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Update 2/5/08: Spoke to my Korean co-worker and said hey what's up with this place you recommended?! Then he said that I did it totally wrong. You're suppose to go there with a group of 5+ adults and order their combo meals (ie.. for 5 people you would order the 4 person combo). That way you get a variety and the bargain. So, next time I will try that. Oh also you get a large soju/sake with those combos too... bonus! Let me know what it's like if you try it first.
original note 1/2008:
BF and I went here for lunch, it is very big inside, they even have a playhouse for kids! We ordered a dumpling soup and beef ribs that they cooked in the back. The food was pretty good, our waiter just stopped by 3 times: to get the order, bring the food, and then give the check. So we never got a chance to get more kimchee items. Anyhow, portions were big but still a little pricey for lunch the bill came out to be $32!! The food was good but I don't think that it outshines any other Korean restaurant. Oh they do give you a free sample cup of frozen tart yogurt on your way out.
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Two and a half stars.
Cham Sut Gol down the street is better. I've driven by Shik Do Rak on my way home from Cham Sut Gol a number times so I finally suggested that we try Shik. Both restaurants have the same concept, all you can eat for about $17, in the duk bo sam style. However, at Cham, you get four types of meat, while Shik only gives you beef and pork. Our opinions about Shik were the same. We thought that the food just was not as flavorful as Cham. Also, we liked how Cham gives you a salad that's dressed, unlike Shik, that just gives you the salad without any dressing. When we asked for some, our server said they don't have any. The panchan at both restaurants were comparable. The service at Cham is slightly better. At both places, you can get a frozen dessert at the end of your meal. At Cham, there's a self-serve ice-cream freezer. At Shik, you get a small fro-yo that tastes similar to what Pinkberry serves. However, at Shik, you can't eat your dessert in the restaurant (the sign specifically says you have to get it on your way out) and it is not self-serve. Not that I'm going to town on the ice cream at Cham but the you-can-only-get-dessert-on-the-way-out restriction is silly.
Oh, one more thing, speaking of restrictions, in perusing the menu, a strange thing caught my eye. At Shik, there's a note that if you eat for more than two hours and there are people waiting, there's an extra charge. I've never seen that before at any restaurant. That note was not limited to all you can eat, either. Whatever. Since I won't be going back to Shik, I don't have to worry about it.
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Not bad, but Lighthouse or Cham Sut Gol would bring you more happiness and satisfy your Korean BBQ craving.
Holy crap! I found ANOTHER awesome K-bbq joint! I broke a few unconventional rules here. I dipped my food into this oil/salt sauce. I never like that much oil in my food (who does?) but iono what this sauce is made up but i drenched my food in oil and chili.
I found out that i've been eating korean bbq all wrong. I was finally corrected here. You create your base of the chopped veggies then you layer all your meats and desired pickled goodness. I also line up some bean paste at this point. Last, you put either a round pickled daikon (white sliced vegetable thingy) or a white rice paper thing on top. You pinch the food in its entirety with your chopstick, dip in sauce and bring the party in your mouth! hahaha. I can never get enough of that line.
Service was absolutely awesome here. They refilled our dishes wo us asking for the most part and when we did ask, they came back right away. I also liked the yogurt they had for dessert as we were on our way out. NIce touch Shik Do Rak!
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My childhood friend introduced me to Shik Do Rak after a day playing at Disneyland. The meat isn't marinated, but when you wrap it in the rice paper, with the sliced radish.... YUMMY! I wish I could have gone back before I moved.
ehh this place was ok. its good food but where are the freakkin seasonings??? id come again with some salt and pepper shakers lol.
When it's carnivore time with my friends, we hit up Shik Do Rak to get our Kbbq fix. This place is cook it yourself (if you didn't already know) and prepare to smell like you were at an all-day tailgate, with you being the one stuck with grill duty. What makes this different from other kbbq places is that it's Duk Bo Sam style meaning you take the thin rice paper (duk) and wrap the meat and vegetables inside it. I'm however much too lazy for this and just eat the meat straight up using the seseme oil with salt and throwing on some garlic and jalapenos. Usually we order one of the set menus which comes with thinly sliced frozen beef, some pork bellies, and something that resembles a couple pieces of sirloin which we cut up with the scissors they provide. The meal also comes with a bottle of soju (love the Koreans for this) and a bowl of daen jahng jigae or spicy fermented soybean paste soup(OMG I love this stuff). The banchan is pretty good especially the kimchi which is milder than most places I eat. After all this and few bottles of hite beer to wash down the grease and fat, you get to walk out with a free small cup of Pinkberry style fro-yo which I must add is pretty damn good. All in all, if you got about 4-6 people, it's surprisingly affordable at about $20-$30 a head depending on how much alcohol you consume. This place gets packed on weekends so make a reservation or get there early.
I used to go here with my hubby and the kids once or twice a week until I realized that our eating habits was getting a little expensive (about $80-$100 food, 2-3 beers, and tip). Now we only go here on special occasions.
We normally order the 6-2 which serves 3-4 people. It comes with a plate of thinly sliced beef and another type that looked like slices of steak (not sure what the correct names are). It also comes with a plate of mushrooms, onions, rice paper, a side salad, and several different types of side dishes. It doesn't seem like a lot of food but boy it sure fills us up! The restaurant is well-ventilated, bright, neat, and clean. There's also a little play area for the kids and an annoying loud waterfall.
If you want to try this place out make sure you come early especially on Friday, Sat, and Sun because it does get packed. I always try to get there before 5:30 PM to beat the rush. Be prepared to wait in line if you come after 6.
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Late last year (when I don't know any better and still isn't any better), I made a proclamation in that I would marry a Korean girl if I can go to Korean BBQ every night.
Well, let me amend that. I'll marry one if it's the right kind of Korean BBQ.
I guess I wasn't fully prepared coming here thinking it's strictly Galbi (beef short ribs) kind of Korean BBQ. Just like my earlier review of Korean BBQ place of The Toad House, Shik Do Rak specialized in pork meat more so than beef.
Their big selling point in the menu tends to be the Black Angus Deckle (chadol) which is thinly sliced beef that is freeze frozen and shriveled up like a shabu shabu meat: http://www.yelp.com/bi... . When neatly placed on the circular grill http://www.yelp.com/bi... , the meat would shrunk and shriveled up like a strip of bacon.
There is a form of strip of bacon in the pork bellies. That was another popular item in this place. Most KBBQ places I had been to would slab a huge piece of pork meat on the grill, then the server would cut it into pieces. At this place, the meat is already cut into small pieces for you to dump it in.
The cool thing about coming here was the two different wrappers that is served here. One is a rice noodle with the other being the veggie wrap. Once you dipped into one of the two different spice sauce, it make the meat more enjoyable and favorable.
I was a little hesitant in coming here because I saw the picture of the Yelpers posted with a portable grill: http://www.yelp.com/bi... , but I think it's just for a certain item and glad that a bigger grill is in place at the middle of the table.
The service is excellent here with plenty of banchans (side dishes) passed out whenever we requested to get refill. It is also very good air ventilation at this joint so that you don't have to smell like crap when you go home.
The big knocked I have against this place is obviously the beef was sort of lackluster as I needed to dip it extra (hate the double/triple dipping of sauce). I think enjoyed the pork belly more than the black angus deckle.
The place is not bad at pricing of $60 for three people worth of food. The great thing is that you can substitute a bottle of soju for either a bottle of beer or more meat. (we chose more meat!)
After trying out this place, it completed my 5 must go KBBQ places in Double G. My favorite is still Lighttown House (until I go back reviewing their gas grill). With New Seoul, Cham Soot Gol, Korea House, and Shak Do Rak bringing out the rear end.
BTW, if you must ask... all of the places are gas grill and not fire coal (Soot) BBQ.
As in for my previous review of marrying a Korean girl, I guess I will save that proclamation only for this place http://www.yelp.com/bi...; It's a shame really.
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This place is the Shik!! Seriously, the food is delicious, they give you lots of food! Make sure you go on an empty stomach. The do not charge you extra if you ask for more side items and they come back to check if you need more. It's amazing that you don't leave this place smelling of BBQ either. I've been here numorous times, and it has always meet my expectations. I've introduced so many people to come here as well to enjoy something different.
Be prepared to eat A LOT of beef.
We typically come with another couple and order the platter that serves 3-4 people and it's plenty of food. At the end of the meal you will be opening up the top button of your pants! I love the veggie wrap that it comes with and you can dip it in a variety of sauces. Kenny is obsessed with the won ton wrap.
I haven't been there in awhile because eating huge portions of red meat is bad for my waist line. But I can't wait to go again!
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