The Red Alcove

The shrimp tasted like lobster! I am not kidding — it was the best seafood meat I have ever tasted. The mushrooms were out of this world! I don’t intend to demean the filet mignon, pork belly or octopus — they were great too, but I could go back over and over for a meal of shrimp and mushrooms and be totally satisfied.

Rancho Cordova now boasts an alternative KBBQ place for your meat-​eating, face-​stuffing, food coma-​ing needs — and it’s in your favorite Korean (and everything else you can think of) market, KP International!
The Red Alcove (appropriately named, as it’s tucked into the corner and is most certainly not blue like its neighbor Blue Corner) is located inside of the KP Food Court next to Nature Republic, and though a bit unassuming, presents a very different KBBQ experience than you might be used to…
There is NO AYCE, but you can choose a meat or meat/​seafood combo to feed 2 – 6 people at around $ 25/​person — not too cheap. They do bring a beautifully arranged tray of meat and vegetables out for your food photo-​taking needs, and unlike other KBBQ places, our waitress went a little farther and not only changed our grill often and cut up our meat for us, but also cooked most of it too! I felt like I was at a Korean Benihana. a relaxing yet awkward experience.
Despite that interesting aspect, I was disappointed by a few things, including that we did NOT get refills on our banchan! The banchan was also odd in that it was brought out as tiny individual plates for each person, along with a salad, small bowl of soup, and bowl of rice. There were only about three or so banchan as several of the dishes were sauces for dipping your meat in later… after realizing this, my excitement at the cute individual side dishes diminished a bit. Where was my japchae?!
Our overall total came out to be about $ 35 per person, including a couple of beers split between us… pretty expensive considering it was not AYCE. While the meat and service were good, I’m not sure either was exceptionally better to be worth the high price, and the fact that there are only a few standalone appetizers besides the meat combos and BBQ plates, and not any actual entrees, makes it less likely for me to come when I’m not willing to hand over money for full-​on KBBQ.
Our waitress did, however, leave us with an amusing tip: if your grill catches on fire while cooking pork belly, put the fire out with lettuce (it works)!

First time here at The Red Alcove since it opened in November 2015. We had a special invitation only dinner set up that was EXCELLENT!!! Our group was able to try almost everything on their MEAT & SEAFOOD Menu plus the fruity Soju Drinks.
Service, we were greeted at the entrance and seated at a table set up with salads, dipping sauces and sides like Kimchi and Pickled Radish. I looked around when I walked in and noticed all the tables with grill tops, dim lighting and no kitchen with loud busy noises hmm this will be an experience.
Our Servers brought the tray of what was going to be cooked and explained everything. The FLAME is hot and they do cook cut the meats into bites sizes so it cooks fast and you get it tender and not tough to eat. You might think they are rushing you but not at all.
All of our tastings were excellent. They did bring around bowls of rice and usually they would serve lettuce with Korean BBQ but you would have to ask since that is a side and not be wasted if the lettuce was brought out and left on the table everytime someone ordered BBQ and no one eats it. Ahhh Salad Dressings??? They are simple sauces already on the table one like a sweet and spicy and they other like a sesame soy kinda deal which was very good on the rice too.
All around it was GREAT!!!

Incredible Night Of Korean BBQ From Both Land & Sea!
SITREP
Our dinner extravaganza last night was truly a veritable «Surf & Turf» to enjoy, and definitely «one for the books» in terms of sheer variety, the amounts of food available, and the incredible taste we enjoyed.
The Red Alcove is indeed a top notch dining-​institution that is partnered with KP International, and brings to it’s patrons immediate accessibility to all sorts of BBQ options.
THE SETUP
Having already been familiar with the physical layout of KP International and the KP Food Court, it was a treat to see what The Red Alcove has done with the expansive space that is adjacent on the far side of the food court from the KP International Store itself.
Set in it’s own private dining suite, The Red Alcove permits patrons desiring of some real quality Korean BBQ to enjoy a somewhat private experience that is separated out from the KP Food Court. [As a quick aside, I must first emphasize The Red Alcove does not in any way diminish the quality of the food court experience, which is very reasonably priced for patrons looking for a quick bite as they are on the go.
Think of the The Red Alcove as merely raising «the bar» on an already fun food experience, but that is actually an *enhancement* of the dining court experience, and provides a more intimate environment with more sublime, personal attention from the talented staff.
THE DELICIOUS DISHES!
The Red Alcove lays out a fantastic & varied spread of spread of Korean BBQ that advances through several courses — they include, but are not limited to, the following:
*SIDES, SALADS & BEVERAGES!
* Wonderful side dishes that include Kimchee, Spicy Pickled Peppers, Ginger Sauce to put grilled meats into, and several raw veggies.
* Delicious fresh salad with a Rasberry Chili Sauce
* Several different kinds of Korean beers, but I settled first on the MAX,
But went promptly to a chill Raspberry Vodka Cocktail that knocked my socks off!
*THE MAIN EVENT!
* And most of all, the grilled selections that included tri-​tip, mushrooms & other veggies,
and flat rib meats, oyster mushrooms & grilled jumbo prawns,
and then MORE jumbo prawns, octopus, squid,
and cuttlefish, pork, grilled portabello mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and many other meats & veggies.
* Other sides sides such as soups and rice balanced out the meals!
THE LOWDOWN
This dining experience was absolutely fantastic, and I would heartily recommend it again!

I had a great experience here as part of a large group invited to try it and get the word out.
First: this is only the third time I’ve had Korean barbecue and I still don’t know what stuff is part of the time. I’m also a picky eater, so I surprised myself by what I ended up eating. You only live once, right?
You get a variety of condiments and salad to start. We also had rice and eventually a delicious soup. I was told it was good with the rice, and indeed it was.
The chef at your table will do a good job of explaining what kinds of meat you’re going to eat as well as keep track of how you like it served.
In this setting, large pieces of meat are grilled and eventually cut into smaller pieces by the chef to control the level of done-​ness (is that a word?). Plus it helps that your meat is all bite-​sized now.
There’s also an array of mushrooms, peppers, green onions and zucchini or squash (I can never remember which is which.)
I liked just about everything I put in my mouth. I especially loved the filet mignon — so tender. Plus I liked spicy pork and other cuts of meat I was too busy enjoying to always remember.
Our chef encouraged me to try octopus and I really wasn’t going to do it. Then I thought why not? How often is someone going to grill octopus in front of me and then cut it into manageable pieces so it doesn’t freak me out. (Yeah, I’m that person).
I would’ve bet all the money in my wallet that my spouse wouldn’t eat the octopus either, so I was floored when we both ate some.
I also ate cuttlefish which I really didn’t think I would do, before I walked in there. Talk about personal growth tonight.
In the interest of honesty I would say that I wouldn’t order cuttlefish or octopus if left to my own devices next time, but I’m glad it was something that could push me. They were both tasty just not my thing.
I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the amazing peach soju drink I had. The spouse went in for raspberry. Both delicious. And dangerous. That peach drink said to me: girly drink, you really need to have about three. But alas, it was a weeknight and I’m a lightweight. Would I get that drink again? You’d better believe it. And another.
Our chef, Lynn, was very good. She knew exactly what she was doing and wanted to make sure everyone on her side of the table was happy.
It was a bit like entertainment, and was definitely worth it. So remember, you’re here for the show and it will take a little longer.
I definitely would come back here again. I had a great time and I can see getting my friends to come next time.

The Red Alcove is the newest addition to the KP market food court area. It has its own elegant «alcove» area with the finest and freshest Korean BBQ food.
I dined with some new and old friends here for the fist time tonight and tried everything they had to offer (Yes even the beef *gasp*) It has been quite a long time since I have had beef, ironically since I was at a Korean BBQ place in LA back in May. I had to try everything and the first thing our Chef/​grill master Lynn put on the grill was some beef so I tried it. Let me tell you having them grill your food makes things really nice especially in a large group. I like to visit and talk while eating and although I do enjoy grilling myself when at Korean BBQ places not always is that a good idea. You know… like when you haven’t seen the person in a long time and/​or get caught up in conversation while your meat is burning or overcooking. This is a fabulous option and I like the fact you can have a chef prepare for you. Our grill master Lynn was awesome. The meat was always cooked to perfection and the Filet Mignon was melt in your mouth. I would have to say it was one of the best pieces of meat I have ever had. The meats are all marinated and flavorful without anything else but you do have dipping choices.
There was a wide variety of meats, including octopus, shrimp, beef, chicken, pork and fish. Veggies were grilled as well and everything was timed perfectly. They also have the best Soju drinks here and the peach was my favorite. The kimchi was marvelous and had some nice spice to it, all the side dishes were good and I especially liked the spicy one with hot peppers in it and the pickled daikon which I could eat a whole plate of! I ate all of those little hot peppers and some really had a nice kick (I love it spicy!)
Everyone in our group was happy and full upon leaving and I will certainly be back again with another group of friends to share this wonderful new addition to the food court here at KP Market. They have some nice booths for a intimate dinner with your significant other and larger tables to accommodate groups of all your friends. The seating is very elegant and I love the décor it is very modern much more like the fine dining Korean BBQ’s they have down in LA. It is a great addition to the Sacramento area and after you are done you can go over to the bakery and pick up some dessert, get a coffee or tea, and then go grocery shopping! Its one stop shopping at its best!

Best Korean BBQ in town!!!

Hi-​Ya!
I got a friendly reminder to finish my review of the Red Alcove… :/​sometimes I’m so lazy.
Anyway a few days before the end 2015 me and a couple of buddies decided to chow down on some Korean BBQ! Now take note I typically don’t frequent Korean restaurants because my mom still cooks and drops off food to me here and there :)…, but we had a great time here.
The restaurant’s atmosphere and interior was as expected… super new and clean. I was actually surprised that the interior was smaller then I expected; I just thought it went deeper, but it was fine.
There was no wait and my friends talked their way into a one-​time deal so that we could bring our own beer – Pliny the Elder… so if you know what that is it makes every meal that much more… AWESOME.
We ate as 4 carnivorous males could eat… a lot… the server was kinda new and was a little hesitant on cooking for us, but he got more comfortable as the evening progressed… and he had help from the head lady!
The proportions were a-​plenty and the beef was fresh. There was plenty of veggies, but not so much you would waste a lot. The grills were super efficient and they stayed on top of not allowing the food to overlook while we were eating and we didn’t smell like a BBQ when we left.
Anyhow I don’t know the specific trays of food we ordered, but they were protein rich and we were past stuffed by the time we finished. We weren’t rush out and were allowed to really kick back and have a lot of fun. What really moved my star count with this place was that whenever I goto KP now I always remember chilling and having a great time that evening!

This place was OK, but I think we’ll probably just stick with Oz. Even though it’s not AYCE like Oz, they do give you a good amount, but we didn’t get to eat all that we cooked because some of it burned. The grills they use aren’t like any we’ve seen in all our years of going to Korean BBQs — — these are either SUPER HOT or barely warm, nothing in between — and it really could use a medium setting. So, some of our chicken and veggies burned before we knew it. The waitress seemed to hint she might bring more, but never did. She and another worker seemed helpful enough, stopping by periodically to check on the food, cut up the meat into bite size pieces. But it wasn’t enough, not with it being SO hot. We knew better after our first piece of beef got overdone, and our one large piece of chicken and some mushrooms burned, but it was kind of late. For the rest of the meat we kept a better eye on it. But then, they turned the burner down, and we ended up with un-​cooked onions & other veggies, and I think a piece of chicken that wasn’t cooked through.
This all was a turnoff. At all the places we’ve been back in DC/​VA, and at Oz, the grills are an appropriate heat, and you don’t have to stress about it or lose part of your meal.
Otherwise, the food was good, not outstanding. The marinade on the pork was good (we got combo 2), but the beef was meh — especially since it overcooked, and the piece of chicken that didn’t burn was juicy, but not as tasty as at oz. The veggies were good & plentiful, that was nice. Soup was very good. Salad and sides were alright, the best was the cucumber, but the others weren’t as good or large as Oz. We did pay the extra $ 4 for lettuce and garlic, I’m glad we did but it seemed a bit much considering the price for the meet/​veggies.
I’m not sure we’ll be back even though we love KP. Just doesn’t seem worth the price, and unless they replace the grills or assign you a waitress/​waiter to just hover over your table to make sure it’s all cooking right, I don’t feel like dealing with that. The appeal of Oz’s AYCE menu, which also costs less than this one, will also draw us back rather than coming here.

We came here tonight out of curiosity – we’ve frequented Oz for a long time and this menu looked tempting. First and foremost, the service is amazing! The servers actually helped us cook the meat and cut it, which was really appreciated since the cuts are so big. I’m really amazed at the flavor of the meats – all of them are marinated nicely and the charcoal grill adds a wonderful smokiness to the meat. Also, they bring out tons of mushrooms and veggies with the order, which is really a really nice change from what we’re used to. Definitely coming back!

I had a similar experience to Nikki P. We had dinner on Saturday night. Ordered the meat combo for 3. Our waiter, Anthony was very helpful, he kept asking if we need anything and got our grill changed frequently. About 20 minutes into our dinner, the Asian lady manager came to the table and started dumping half of our uncooked meat on to the grill. She then proceeded to cook them quickly on high grill and then forcefully serving them to us. She was just awful! Note to the owner: NEED TO FIRE THE MANAGER IF YOU WANT YOUR RESTAURANT TO SURVIVE! I have been to plenty of Korean restaurants locally, in Bay area and SoCal. have never received such rude treatment from a restaurant employee, let alone a manager. Avoid this restaurant at all cost! Go to Oz instead. where the food and the service is always excellent.

We ate lunch here for our 31^st anniversary. We had a wonderful lunch recommended by our awesome server. His cooking tips helped us enjoy our meal more as we wanted to try cooking some of our meal. This is not a fast food restaurant so do expect to enjoy the experience by putting aside the time needed.
The meat was full size pieces instead of strips so it was much easier to cook without chasing skinny strips around the grill so less burning. When it’s done to your taste take it off grill and cut to sizes you like with cooking utensils provided.
It’s not a buffet and yes it is more $$ but well worth the money. We will be back and we are recommending it to all our friends. You want fast food Korean cuisine then go to the ‘other’ place.

Came in to check out the place with family and friends. They are very friendly and have really good customer service here. I was unsure of the poor review as we had such a very different experience. Our server was awesome and took care of our large party. Rigo was super friendly and made sure to keep everyone’s cup full and taken care of. We will be coming back!

Our server, Rigo, was really awesome and the food was good. We were treated really well and we even had a complimentary seafood pancake, definitely we will recommend this place.

Worst dining experience we have ever had. It was Saturday night we arrived around 7:30. The place was dead except for 2 other tables that were finishing up. We walked up and there was a server and an Asian lady who seemed to be a manager chatting. We stood there for several minutes with no acknowledgement. They finally noticed us and asked us to wait while they set up the table so we did. When the server sat us down the table was already set with salad and the side dishes. After he walked away we noticed that the salad didn’t have any dressing. So we waited for him to come back with our drinks and waited and waited… we finally just flagged down a passing waiter and asked him if there was dressing for our salads and he said it was at the end of the table with a duh attitude. No one would have guessed that those small stainless steel cans at the other end of the table would be the dressing. They were in the exact same cans that they put hot sauce in at Asian restaurants!
We look at our menus and we notice that some of the things that we thought were included in the meal are now whited out on the menu put the price remains the same which was disappointing. Also, all that lettuce and sam-​jang (dipping sauce) that are supposed to come with the meal and that you see in their advertisements cost extra. $ 4.00 for lettuce. Yes, lettuce. They definitely don’t give you much either and when I asked if we can get some more lettuce, he said they don’t do «refills» but he will check with the manager and showed up with a few more leaves. We are Korean. We are not unfamiliar with how this works, we’ve been to dozens and the fact that you are charging extra for something that is supposed to be part of the meal is not right.
Our waiter that sat us down comes back with our drinks and walks away. Didn’t ask is if we were ready to order, nothing. So we wait. He must have finally noticed all of our heads turning in our chairs wondering what the heck is going on because he came back and asks «Has someone taken your order?» What? We are your only table, what do you mean has someone else taken our order?
He comes back with our plate of meat and starts laying it out on the grill. He is awful. He obviously has no idea what he was doing. When you put meat down on a hot surface, don’t move it or else every time you pick it up it sticks to the grill and you tear the meat each time. So we are quietly sitting there watching him making a mess of our $ 90 plate of meat. We politely let him know that we are not newbies and would be happy to take it from here. He says, «you see that lady over there (the Korean lady we saw when we came in), she’s my boss and every time I seem to walk away, it ends up burning the food and I get in trouble so I’ll just do this part and leave you the rest.»
My sister is in town from college and my husband and I are catching up with her and asking how she is liking it in S. B (Santa Barbara) as one of the waiters are walking by. He then turns around and as he’s walking backwards he calls out to my sister «You from SB? You know my buddy Zeet? I used to visit him all the time but now I don’t since he moved.» My sister says no.
We’d been there for about an hour but only started eating for 30 minutes or so due to the slow service and constant mistakes. We had only cooked half of our meat plate when the Asian lady keeps coming by and saying «everything okay?» every 10 minutes. I notice that we were now the only guests in the restaurant and so when she comes by again I ask her are you closing? And she says soon so we continue eating. She comes by again and asks «would you like to take to go?» I thought she was asking in advance if we were planning on taking our leftovers to go and so I said yes. And oh my gosh, I kid you not when I say what happens next. The lady grabs the tongs and then proceeds to cook off the rest of our meat in front of us saying we can’t let you take uncooked food home. She then has our waiter come over and they tag team cooking off the meat. We haven’t finished our rice, our side dishes, or soup. And that’s when I realized, they’re kicking us out! The suddenness of it all and the feeling of I can’t believe this is happening froze us and we sat there awkwardly while we watched them cook our «leftovers» right there in front of us. So extremely awkward. She then grabbed to go containers and laid out the lettuce that we paid $ 4.00 for and placed the hot meat right on top of it, wrapped it up in a bag, and gave us our check which was for the full amount. We paid just to get away from these people, and as we were walking out, my sister looks at her cell phone and the time is 8:45. They close at 9pm. Another shock to the system. We were there a total of an hour and 15 min, ate for 30 min, and kicked out 15 min before closing.
As we get in the car, my husband says, to top off the whole experience, he saw our waiter eat the meat off one of our plates when he turned around to see if we forgot anything.

Arrived and asked the hostess for a table for 4. There was only 2 tables in the restaurant but they asked us to wait outside as they prepare the table (10 minute wait) — placed utensils, cups, and 4 side dishes for each person. Service was very nice — even stood there to grill our meat (but was too slow by putting one piece of meat at a time. As soon as he left, our party through everything on the grill) :P
Charcoal grill!
$ 55.99 seafood and meat combo for two: 4 slices of bugolgi, 2 slices of pork belly, 5 shrimp skewers, and 4 baby octopus, and all sorts of vegetables. Soup, salad, and rice is also included. Overall, meat was good but pricey for the amount of meat you get. Oz is all you can eat for $ 20 per person (includes seafood).
Kimchi fried rice: ok… Beef flavor overwhelms the dish — I tasted beef more than kimchi.
Seafood pancake: definitely not enough batter or fried long enough. The dish easily fell apart.