Koo-E Nami Royale Grill

Saturday lunch for my wife and I, and so we decided «let’s do Korean». We ordered the beef bulgogi and the Kimchi Jjigae from their lunch menu. Personally I find their food A-​OK. Wasn’t really superb Korean dishes that got churn out from their kitchen. However their service was less than stellar which is why I was compelled to downgrade my rating to 2 stars. And here is the reason why. My dish, the Kimchi Jjigae was suppose to have pork, yet when it arrived, I did not find any meat whatsoever. When I told the waitress about it, she took the dish and left without even explaining to me anything. She did not return to say that there was mix-​up or whatever, and I was left stump for 10 minutes wondering what actually happened. When the actual dish did arrived, she said sorry, which is fine. But then stopped short from explaining anything else. So, I had my doubts whether or not they did the whole dish again or reused the one earlier. Given her lack of communication, I had no confidence or trust in their commitment to quality. Anyhow, we continued on but I did not fish up the whole pot. Naturally, I wasn’t going to tip her but here’s my beef — when it came to tipping she was able to utter a perfectly formed sentence and ask me — «do you need change?».

Koo E Nami Royale is spacious, warm and quite beautiful. It has a seating capacity of over 100 people. All lunch entrées at Koo-​E Nami Royale are only $ 7.99.
I loved the long and luxurious stainless steel spoon and chopsticks, which I found easier to use than the plastic ones. In fact I would love to have some of my own!
Last time we visited a Korean restaurant I ordered the Bento Box which is similar to the Bulgogi Platter but this time I wanted seafood so I got the Seafood Stir-​Fry Platter that came with octopus! That would be a first for me.
We all received lovely Korean salads to start, always so fresh and delicious. I must discover a recipe for that dressing! We also received sprouts and kimchi and wow, this kimchi really kicked! Very good though but it lived up to its overpowering reputation. Kapow! Nice…
At first I could not see a lot of seafood under all the fresh vegetables but it was there. I ordered mine to have the sweet soy sauce version which was delicious. I did add some of the table’s hot chili sauce too which made it perfect. And the octopus? Fantastic!
From the photos on the wall it is clear this restaurant has a result crowd of people who love hanging out and enjoying the food.
This is a wonderful restaurant and if you need a space for a party and want to do something a little different, I highly recommend Koo-​E Nami Royale.
My only complaint is the washroom was too clean! Yes, you read right. If I had been in there a couple of more minutes I would have had a migraine from the industrial cleaners. For those scent-​sensitive like me, you might want to send a scout before using the facilities.
I loved having lunch at Koo-​E Nami Royale with my friends. We did not feel cramped or rushed and the food was so varied and wonderful. The price for lunch is a fantastic deal and the dish I had was so tasty I want to come back for dinner.

My review for Koo-​E Nami is a bit delayed… But I remember my visit like it was yesterday…
While looking around for a place to eat, boyfriend and I wandered the streets of Halifax in search of something different… we made our way towards Koo-​E Nami and took a glance at the menu and I actually screamed when I saw duk dori tang on the menu. Back in Korea, my Korean grandmother (no blood relation obviously, but when you live there you usually get involved with a family and become one of them) would make this dish every Thursday for the teachers at my school. It was my favourite dish and I am always in search of it and I found it! In my home city! I was overjoyed. This joy quickly came to a screeching halt when we found that they were closed… at 9pm?
We ended up elsewhere but made a date for the following weekend when I was home to go. A week goes by and every day leading up to it I craved the spice, the tenderness of the chicken, the bap (rice)… Friday comes and we rush to get downtown. When we arrive the girl welcomes us «Annyeonghaseyo» and naturally, I respond politely, with a slight bow, «Annyeonghaseyo». The server was overjoyed… even more so than I had been a week prior.
Despite them closing in 40 minutes, she welcomed us in (my poor Korean could have had something to do with it) and took our order. The food was too much for the two of us and boyfriend couldn’t believe that it was «for one». The server was great and the food was pretty damn close to back in good ol’ Dangjin… but I didn’t give it an overall rating of 5 stars… why?
–They close too early. When it comes to Korean bbq, it takes a while to eat that stuff and it’s a relaxing dinner full of conversation… they should be open later.
–They have since stopped serving a full menu at dinner time… so if I’m craving some duk dori tang or bibimbap, I have to do it at lunch… and honestly, these dishes are a little too heavy for me to be eating earlier in the day.
Hence my 4 star review. If you have the chance, I highly recommend checking it out, even if you can’t speak a bit of Korean, I’m sure they’ll give you a true Korean experience.

I had a group-​on for the restaurant. So decided to there on a week night. I hate to give it a negative review, but some good service would make me change my mind. I liked the food, and the whole experience with grilling meat and seafood.
The waitress was extremely rude. She was demanding more tip from me. So she took the debit machine from my hand, hit correction when i hit 15% and asked me to tip her more. I was shocked! :|
Service matters a lot along with the food as I expect the whole experience to be positive in the restaurant. I am not going back there for sure.

I was surprised to see all the negative reviews for Koo-​E Nami Royale — I have been here twice and have been very pleased with the food and the service.
My first visit was with a pair of friends. We all ordered entrees and no one was disappointed by their meal. Mine was labelled as being spicy and it certainly delivered — I felt like I could breathe fire after I was finished (this is a very good thing)! My friends were also happy with their meals. The service was a little slow, especially since there was only one other couple in the restaurant, but otherwise I was completely satisfied.
On my second visit, my date and I partook in the BBQ buffet and were very excited to get to use the built-​in grill in our table. The selection of meats was absolutely fantastic — I cannot recommend the spicy pork/​chicken enough, and my date went back for seconds and thirds on the ribs. Our waitress was very attentive, refilling our glasses and replacing our grill cover when it started getting ‘saucy’. We left feeling more than satisfied with our meals.
I plan on returning to Koo-​E Nami very soon with friends — I can’t get enough of the delicious food!

My boyfriend and I had a groupon for this restaurant and decided to try it today. We went for lunch because they have changed their menu to only offer the buffet after 4.
The restaurant is a beautiful space. Its very modern and open and airy. The server was quick and friendly in her own way.
The food was delicious! I don’t know why I have never eaten there before. The portions are very generous and for the cost conscience, very reasonable. Lunch for two with taxes was about $ 18. There was so much food I had to take some to go. We will definitely be going back to Koo-​E Nami.

First time trying Korean food — so wasn’t really sure what to expect.
Tried the dumplings, the chicken cutlet and the vegetarian stir fry.
You should be warned that when you order the mains (like the chicken cutlet) — they say that it comes with 3 ‘sides’ — but the ‘sides’ are very tiny. They’re more like garnishes than sides if you ask me.
Either way, the dumplings had what tasted like potatoes and seaweed that overpowered everything else. The fishy taste of the seaweed was too much for me. Didn’t really care for them.
The chicken cutlet was delicious — but to be honest, nothing really ‘korean’ about it — it’s just fried battered fish with bbq sauce, cheese & mustard.
The vegetable stir fry was pretty bad — I think they used liquid smoke in it? It tasted burned, but I know it wasn’t because the vegetables didn’t look overcooked.
Either way, not a bad place, but I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon.

I went here solely based on the fact that I had a $ 30 gift certificate. So the boyfriend and I went and tried it out.
I clearly should have read more about it before we arrived as it was a bit of a shock. We were seated in a timely manner and we both decided to do the buffet. When we went up to the food we were greeted with lots of options… all raw. We both just stood there for a moment taking it in trying to figure out what to do.
We finally asked a server (a bit of a language barrier) what the process was and she explained it to us. So we picked out our choices of meat and seafood and took it back to our table where you grill it on a hot plate located in the middle of your table.
It took us awhile to get over this part (again, didn’t do my research) because we were worried about cross contamination and what if we didn’t cook our food well enough?
We enjoyed ourselves for what it was. The food wasn’t outstanding, but it was tasty. I don’t think I would go there and spend $ 30 each for the buffet. I have a raclette at home where I can do the same thing for much cheaper.

I’ve tried Koo-​E Nami twice before and I was very happy. I would’ve given it 4 stars back then. I just came back for third time and my mind was filled with question marks. How did they go so wrong?
I always order BBQ buffet, and something has changed this time. Before I would make orders to the server and they would bring it for you. Now the meat is next to the salad bar and you can put them on your plate. That was a welcome change as I won’t be needing to wait anymore. However, there were less variation of meat than advertised in the menu, and the meat tasted very different. It felt like the meat was not marinated well enough. It was most apparent in Galbi. Also the dip sauce was different from before as well. Overall everything just didn’t taste as well as they used to be. I would even go so far as to say the meat just tasted bland.
And add to that the forgetful servers as some other have suggested didn’t make for a great dining experience.
I really hope I just went there on a wrong day. I will try it again in few months and see if I am right.

It was my bud’s birthday on Friday, and she loves trying new places. We lived in TO together, and loved our local Korean Grill, so this was a natural place for a group of us to visit.
It is a lovely space, big and airy, lots of room to sit, even for a larger group on a Friday at 8pm. Have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed with our server — I think she meant well, but just wasn’t that engaged. I get that everyone has an off night, and we’re a particularly hard group to wrangle, but a little personality people. Service was fast, but she didn’t give us any info on our meals, what was included in each, that kind of thing. At this kind of place, that info is really important.
I ordered my favourite Korean dish, Bibimbap — a smoking hot ceramic bowl with a pile of rice, veggies, and a raw egg that cooks as you mix it all together. LOVED that the hot sauce came separately, so you can add it to your taste. Really nice touch. The egg can also come cooked, if you prefer. I really dig the raw version myself. Very yummy overall.
About half our table ordered off the «grill it yourself». Interesting variety of meats, seafood, and a lovely little octopus to top it off. Apparently very good — though for those less adventurous, the tiny octopus can be a little much. Also take note: if you spend a solid two hours next to grilling meat, your parka is gonna stink all weekend.
Overall, I liked my experience. I’d go back for sure, but likely won’t top my «must visit» list.

I was not overly excited to try out this restaurant. I had already tried out the korean BBQ at E-​pin and it fell a bit short. But a group of friend suggested it and how could I turn down food?
This was a much better experience. The price was better. We got the a la carte ($ 19.99) which was big enough to split with 2 people and then added the salad bar to it for an extra $ 4. The salad bar includes all the veggies to make your own salad or to grill; garlic potatos and dumplings.
Service was good and as soon as they noticed our grills getting very messy due to the sauces they would change it up. There were about 6 of us dining together and it was a great experience.

From the outside, I never would have known how nice the interior of Koo-​E Nami actually is. But entering through the Pete’s Frootique mall, you’re welcomed by modern furniture, a beautifully lit bar, and a warm space that could just as easily make for a celebratory dinner out as it did the quick bite of supper for me.
Staff was light when I arrived given that it was just shortly before the supper rush but the server rushed to welcome me at the door and was happy to point out my options as a vegetarian before I committed to a table. I went with the Stone Bibimbap, the only Korean dish I had tried before, in order to compare it to past experiences.
My food came quick and was enough to pretty much fill the table between the big stone bowl of vegetable goodness and the many sides including heavenly potatoes, potato pancakes, and kimchi. I believe I also had access to some grill items at the buffet but I didn’t really understand so I just stuck with my order.
I actually enjoyed this dish more than the other times I’ve had it. The ingredients seemed fresher, the spices were a little more noticeable, and their hot sauce provided in a nice white dish rather than a squeeze bottle was delicious. For just over $ 12, this was a feast to say the least.
Service throughout my stay was attentive and charming, happy to give me the run-​through on what I was eating, and very appreciative that I chose to dine here for one of my first few Korean experiences. Plus, the free wifi was a nice treat given that I was dining solo. It’s the kind of quiet spot that is perfect for that sort of thing.
I’m still a little thrown by some of the reviews we’ve seen for this place but from my first attempt, I can definitely see coming back more often!

The service was so warm, we really wanted to like this place, but the food was mediocre to bad. Our appetizer Kanpoong tofu, was absolutely bathed in sticky sweet and sour sauce, we were fishing for the tofu. The bi bim bop was ok, but the jap chae was horrible. simple, always reliable jap chae tasted liked sweetened condensed milk! sigh. i would recommend Seoul instead.

After reading so much about how E-​Pin is not proper Korean BBQ, and hearing raves about Koo-​E Nami, I went to check it out with my wife and a friend. It’s definitely different, and largely satisfying, but there’s definitely some bugs they need to work out.
First off, while the servers were friendly, they have a ways to go learning their trade. We seemed to bounce between two servers, and they seemed to be rather forgetful. We never got rice at all, not that that was a big deal in the end, and while we got ample amounts of stuff to grill, it took some time to come. That’s not terrible with good conversation, of course, but be prepared to be there a while to get your $ 30 worth.
My wife had the bibimbap, and while it wasn’t bad, frankly, she’s made better from a Bobby Flay recipe. It was just flat tasting.
All that said, overall I left happy. Koo-​E Nami offers some interesting things that E-​Pin doesn’t — including scallops, octopus, and squid (which they never brought out despite us ordering it, we filled up on other stuff instead), and a nice little salad bar. They don’t offer as many sides (banchan) as E-​Pin, but theirs were good. I wish they had chapchae as a side but they don’t.
I’ll go back, and hope the service finds its feet.

I hate to trash a new place right after it was open. I do understand there are always minor adjustments for a new place at the beginning. My friend set us up here recently. The service was nice and the setting was ok. I had to admit this was my first korean grill experience. The idea of cooking my own food was a bit different. But I like trying different dinning styles. However, my experience with their food was not that great. The marinate meat was tasty but «too tasty» for me. I am very sensitive with MSG and it often gives me dry throat. I had to drink a lot of water that night. I know almost all the asian cuisines use MSG. But the amount they used was extreme for me. I had to say I did not enjoy those artificial tastes at all. They also offer unlimited side dishes. I found some of them were overly spicy. I do appreciate good mixture of spices but if the food just burn my tongue and give me stomachache after, I will not like eating them. Overall, I was very disapponted with the quality of the food and the prices. Will not come back for sure.