GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A “Mom's Kitchen” sign hangs above the swinging doors leading to the kitchen at K-Rok Korean Barbecue & Karaoke at Louis Campeau Promenade in downtown Grand Rapids.
All of the restaurant's recipes come from Myong Holloway, who runs the mother-and-son business with his son, Rob Yoon, at 169 Campau Promenade.
K-Rok “serves Korean cuisine made by a Korean mother,” its website says, “from her heart and soul to your plate!”
Customers can cook their food on a smokeless infrared burner grill at their tables inside or on the outdoor patio.
Yoon said it is the first Korean restaurant in the area to offer an infrared burner grill experience and that it is being organized as an event.
“People come together,” Yoon said, “friends and family. They get to know each other and just talk about the events of the day and their experiences.”
Everyone will choose their favorite ingredients and interact with each other while cooking together using authentic recipes created by the legendary chef himself.
All-you-can-eat (AYCE) Korean BBQ is $29.99 for adults, $15 for kids ages 7-10, and $10 for kids ages 4-6.
“It's all premium meat,” Yoon said.
All-you-can-eat hot table options include tteukbokki (spicy Korean rice cake stir fry), kimchi fried rice, spicy potato stir fry (cut potatoes stir fried in Korean hot sauce), vegetarian Korean pancakes (mixed vegetables stir fried in flour batter), and chaeyuk bokgaeum (spicy premium pork stir fry).
The buffet-style cold dishes include a variety of dishes such as japchae (sweet potato noodles and fresh vegetables stir-fried in a Korean soy-garlic sauce), sangchae (sweet-sour radish salad) and kimchi (spicy Korean cabbage).
All of our Korean barbecue sauces are made from scratch in-house, including ssamjang, sesame oil, sea salt and gochujang (Korean hot sauce).
“They come in a variety of flavors: sweet, salty, savory and spicy,” Yoon says.
All-you-can-eat Korean barbecue beef options include Bulgogi (premium marinated thin-sliced rib eye), Kalbi (Korean short ribs) and Deungshim (thickly cut rib eye steak made in-house). All-you-can-eat Korean chicken and seafood options include Chicken Bulgogi (chicken thighs in sweet garlic soy sauce), Dak-bokkeum (chicken thighs marinated in Oma's Korean hot sauce) and Ojinggo-bokkeum (spicy stir-fried squid).
“Ribs are really popular,” Yun said.
All customers at a table must order all-you-can-eat within the 90-minute time limit.
The a la carte Korean menu includes dishes such as Ju Moo Luk (thick-sliced marinated boneless beef ribs) for $25, Samgyeopsal (thick-sliced premium local pork belly) for $25, and Hawaiian Chicken Bulgogi (sliced premium local chicken thighs marinated in Oma's Korean family recipe Hawaiian pineapple sauce) for $25.
Soup options include Yu Gaejang (spicy broth with brisket, green onions, bracken, egg and clear noodles) for $15 and Kimchi Ramen (spicy broth with kimchi, egg and ramen) for $14.
The Korean hot pot dish, “The Best of Korean Home Cooking,” includes Budae Jjigae, also known as army stew. It contains beef sausage, Spam, bulgogi, kimchi, rice cakes, tofu, assorted vegetables, and ramen noodles, and is topped with melted cheese in a spicy, flavorful broth. The hot pot dish serves two and comes with rice for $35.
The dessert menu includes the classic Injeolmi Bingsoo (shaved ice, red beans, rice cakes, vanilla ice cream, grain powder, almond Pepero sticks, condensed milk, crushed walnuts), Strawberry Bingsoo (shaved ice, fresh strawberries, strawberry syrup, rice cakes, red beans, grain powder, condensed milk, strawberry Pepero sticks, vanilla ice cream) and Cookies and Cream Bingsoo (shaved ice, crushed Oreos, chocolate syrup, red beans, grain powder, rice cakes, vanilla ice cream, cookies and cream Pepero sticks, condensed milk) for $12.
The lunch menu is evolving.
“We're creating a new menu to make lunch more accessible,” Yoon said, “and we're also planning to add a street buffet.”
Lunch menu prices start at $10.
According to his website, Holloway immigrated from South Korea in 1977 with dreams of starting his own business.
“She lost her mother at the young age of seven, so she had to learn to cook and farm for her family of eight,” the website states. “With the expertise of her hatabogae (grandfather) and her mother-in-law hamonee (grandmother-in-law), she learned how to cook in the rock kitchen and use fresh vegetables, chicken and more. All of our dishes are made the authentic way Korean food is made the old-fashioned way, with hard work, love and a smile.”
The store originally opened in 2003 next to a barber shop in Detroit, selling bulgogi, yugaejang (spicy brisket and vegetable soup), and red hot sausages (with mustard and onions), before moving to the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing in 2007.
In 2016, the business opened as Emonae Korean BBQ at 6246 28th St. SE in Cascade Center.
Emonae Korean Barbecue restaurant is set to reopen in June after being closed due to COVID-19.
K-Rok opened in downtown Grand Rapids in 2021.
And of course, don’t forget to enjoy some karaoke in the comfort of your own private room at K-Rok.
Rates are $50 per hour with a two-hour minimum and a $100 food and beverage minimum, or $60 per hour for groups of six or more.
For more information, visit their website here and follow them on Facebook .
Current opening hours are Tuesday-Thursday 11:30am-10pm, Friday-Saturday 11:30am-late (restaurant hours, karaoke until 2am), and Sunday noon-9pm.
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