KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot

This time we paid to go to a restaurant and ended up doing the cooking ourselves. KPOT is a Korean barbecue and hot pot chain, and we went to the West Flagler location on a Sunday afternoon. It was our first time at KPOT, and the first time the series took on Asian food.

When we got there, there was a waiting list, so we waited for a table with a mojito and a beer, as usual. The place is something else: neon lights everywhere, a futuristic feel and little bears all over the room. The bear is the chain's mascot, and every restaurant has its own, in different colours and different clothes. They say that at some locations the bear walks around between the tables.

Here is how it works: in the middle of the table there is a grill, and in front of each of you, a burner with the broth you pick for the hot pot. Everything is ordered on a tablet, with no limit, and at the back there is also a buffet line with cooked dishes, fruit, desserts and ice cream. The menu had plenty of things we could not identify, so we guessed our way through it. For Latinos who do not trust Asian food because they think it comes raw, this is the place: the meat is cooked the way you like it, and if something does not convince you, you order something else.

The first thing to arrive was the ramen and some corn on the cob, which go on first because they take longer to cook. Diana took charge of the hot pot; Gerardo went straight for the meat. There is a guide on the table with how many minutes each cut needs depending on how you like it. While everything cooked, Diana raided the buffet: breaded shrimp, dumplings and spring rolls to snack on. The shrimp were good.

The first thing off the grill was a round of thin marinated short ribs, and that settled it. Very well seasoned, the best thing of the day. So good that we ordered five more on the tablet. And that is where the trouble started: two arrived. We ordered again, and we got one full rib and another that could not really be called a rib. The first five got lost somewhere along the way. Later we found out they bring the meat two at a time, whatever you order.

The staff, to be fair, were on top of us all afternoon: they kept swapping the grill plate and oiling it so nothing would stick. And it gets hot. With the grill and the broth in front of you, it feels like a sauna. Diana had to tie her hair up, and she says she has never sweated this much, not even at the gym.

We tried two Japanese beers. The Sapporo is light, very much like Mayabe or Cacique back in Cuba: it is not a great beer, it is not a bad one either, it is just ordinary. Then came a Kirin Ichiban. To finish, ice cream and some sponge cake from the buffet.

The check: $93.98 of food and drinks, $7.52 in tax, $101.50. With a 20% tip, $120.30 for two, with grill, hot pot, buffet and two beers. For everything we ate, a reasonable price.

The scores. Atmosphere 9: the place is very well put together and properly themed. Service 4.5, and that one needs a footnote, because this is not the kind of restaurant we are used to: the staff were very attentive, but things we ordered on the tablet never arrived. Food 8, because there is a huge variety and what you eat depends on what you order. And price 9: it is a reasonable price for a buffet.

On the scale we stayed at cheat. We ate mostly meat and boiled things, and there are not many sweets at the buffet. If you want to push it to food coma, you can.

Not approved for cheat day. But we do recommend the experience: it is something different, you eat a lot, you sweat a lot, and if you go with family you will be laughing the whole time.