Palace Bar & Grill

We were very pleasantly surprised by this spot one Sunday after church. We’ve been to numerous Korean restaurants in Annandale, so we feel pretty versed at judging good Korean food, though we aren’t Korean. The interior is lovely, and the service was attentive and very pleasant, even though we had our 10 month-​old with us.
The food was great! Not sure about all the time, but we were there during a lunch buffet, which included table-​side Korean bbq/​soup. Everything was good — the sushi even tasted more Japanese-​style than I’ve come to expect at Korean places (kimbop just doesn’t wow me), and the kimchi selection was yummy, as was the more Chinese-​style fare. $ 18/​plate for the buffet seemed fair (did I mention there were soft-​shell crabs on the buffet?).
Probably didn’t hurt that our child was particularly well-​behaved and hungry for Korean fried rice while we were there– helped give us warm fuzzies as we left– and I really appreciated that we weren’t treated like total gringos.
Thanks, Palace — we’ll be back when we need a nice lunch or dinner out!

This is a review solely for the lunch buffet.
My dad wanted to do a lunch buffet and so suggested Palace to me and my brother. We’ve been to various Korean lunch buffets in our lifetime and have experienced mediocre to stellar food. But dear God. Palace? This place left me speechless. I was visiting home from SF and my brother from Atlanta so we wanted to get legit Korean food. I couldn’t help but almost be angry at my dad for bringing us here.
The buffet itself was almost a mockery. They had sushi — but I had never seen nigiri sushi so small. My brother and I were talking about it and we realized the fish on top was almost half the size of a normal one. They had the shrimp nigiri and lo and behold — the shrimp was dissected down the middle — giving the patron HALF the shrimp for one nigiri. I easily moved right past the sushi section.
Arriving at the main hot bar where there is to be Korean food, I had a hard time filling up my plate here. There was nothing substantial. I do remember a good section of there being various kinds of kimchi, though. It was just so evident that the Palace was trying to cut down costs at the expense of the customer by charging this overall buffet price.
The buffet does come with hot pot for which I also found very mediocre. I could honestly say that I have had the worst dining experience of my entire life here hands down. No contest.
Lastly, I had to argue with our server to get the 10% discount for a Unilocal check-​in. I was definitely not about to pay full price. And of course our server had no idea what Unilocal was or that they even had this promotion going on. Goodness.

Place would be better if the waitress told us about the place and that there was a buffet they only care about making there check higher. Came here at 4:50 saw that they had a buffet going on at 5 and told us we can’t have it until 5 very rude service never coming back again

Parking here can be confusing and the lines for the parking spots are kind of off. Came here on a Sunday at 2:30pm and we were the only people in the restaurant. The restaurant itself and very nice and clean (there’s also outdooor seating). They had a buffet but the selection wasn’t that great so I decided to order off the menu. I ordered the kimchi tofu soup and it was okay, not as flavorable and spicy as I usually like it. I paid about $ 12 for it which is more expensive than my go-​to tofu lighthouse. The staff was very friendly though!

We had two dinner buffet and shabu shabu unlimited refills. Foods at buffet bar had number of flies flying & sitting around, and saw even dead ones on food. Quality of shabu shabu meat was poor, and smelled/​tasted bad– not fresh. They need a new chef/​management or the business won’t last long. Won’t come here again.

Couple of things to note:
1. There’s a 10% off coupon when you check in but it’s not valid for lunch
2. The weekend rates starts Friday night and not Saturday
The service is very good but the bbq menu is very limited. When we were there some items weren’t fresh and shouldn’t be served. The cantaloupe was rotten and sour. Some of the veggies were old. They also were out of beef intestines on the bbq menu. The highlight of the meal were the pork shoulder and spicy prime pork … They were both delicious.

Bought a Groupon for this place a while back, apparently without checking reviews, and was shocked and disappointed at how bad they were when I did check prior to going for the lunch buffet last week. Went anyway, but with a backup plan in case the worst of the reviews were true. What a pleasant surprise when we got there! We were seated immediately (around 12:30 pm) and our server patiently explained how everything worked and took our meat order for the hot pot. When she came back with it, she brought some vegetables and dipping sauce from the buffet table, and showed us how to cook and serve it. Everything was fresh and tasty. We had no problem ordering meat refills (twice), and she repeatedly stopped back to make sure everything was OK. The buffet tables had a variety of dishes and was well-​stocked. One seafood dish had a bit of an off-​flavor, but I suffered no unpleasant after effects, so it may just have been some of the seasonings that I wasn’t used to.
We saw several dishes re-​stocked while we were there, and I don’t think anything was ever fully depleted. Plates may have been chipped, but were clean, and I’m quite particular about that on a buffet table. Overall, an unexpectedly good experience, with probably the best service I’ve ever had in a Korean restaurant. I’m subtracting one star because the regular price seemed a little high, but for what you get it’s really not out of line with other Korean BBQ places. Keep up with the good service! I’ll be back to check.

So, I’ve been to palace before with my mom. It was one of the best KBBQ experiences I had, at that time. Fast forward to years later of never going, and one day, my bf sees a groupon. We decided to come and try out the AYCE KBBQ option. Personally, it was just OKAY for me. The buffet bar has a wide variety of stuff, but its definitely a method of getting you stuffed so less meat is ordered.
The KBBQ offered has about 6 or 7 meats that you can choose from, which has the normal beef brisket, pork belly, spicy pork belly, soy chicken, intenstines, and I can’t remember the others.
I want to come and try shabu shabu. I liked shabu shabu, and I think I personally would be able to eat a wider range of items. It’s hard to make sure you don’t eat too much. It sucks because their buffet is pretty good. I should mention, we went on a Friday night, so it was pretty fresh and the place was pretty busy.
Overall, not bad for a deal.

Let’s start with — I’m never returning here. Inattentive staff, not many buffet items, and poor meat quality.
When we first entered the restaurant to inquire about their buffet option, the hostess was very kind — smiled, kindly explained to us the options. So my friend and I said, why not give it a try? So then I purchased a groupon voucher on the spot for unlimited BBQ. We were seated immediately but right after, we regretted it — our waitresses were inattentive and didn’t even get us water for at least 10 minutes. We ordered our first meat — and we weren’t served for another 5 – 10 minutes. The staff was inattentive and rude.
Usually, other AYCE meat buffets provide you with the fixins — such as sesame oil, gochujang, or ssamjang, and the fresh vegetables (lettuce and perilla). But in this restaurant, we had to ask multiple times until they brought us one at a time. We had to ask multiple times for our refill of water and seemed like our server tried to avoid us in fear of us asking for more meat. But… it’s AYCE, right?
Let’s talk about the MEAT — The quality of the meat was so… horrible… bad… poor quality. We tried chadolbegi, samkyupsal, gopchang. Because of the poor quality of the meat, we didn’t even want to have more. Lost our appetite. The buffet items were also very disappointing. Many buffet menu items were gone, they’ve been sitting out for so long that maki rolls were hard and warm items were cold. Overall, in my opinion, the ambiance of the restaurant is bad — great for large groups but their food quality was… poor. I wouldn’t return here ever again. Not even worth the price of the groupon voucher.

Very calm environment. Sunday lunch buffet is decent. Went with our two little children and they weren’t upset with the selection. Our waitress noticed we weren’t very knowledgeable about hot pot and helped us out… Good service and yummy food :)

Went here bc we got a groupon for all you can eat BBQ. They have a very limited choice and options in meats. Sushi was alright. Buffet were more like side dishes. Service was okay. For the same price you could go somewhere with better quality.

Palace Bar & Grill is a Korean barbecue and Japanese sushi restaurant with a daily buffet. With big tables, booths, semi-​private dining, and a large private dining area, this place is good for large groups and special occasions.
I came here yesterday at 5:30pm for my mom’s birthday with eight people and no reservation. We were seated immediately. You might want to call ahead for larger groups or a later dining time.
The weekend dinner buffet is $ 22 or $ 24 a person, depending on what kind of meat you order. The meat is divided into Category A and Category B– A includes the basic meats, and B has more expensive meats or Korean BBQ sauces on them.
Pros
— A fancier option in the Annandale Korean food scene
— Good for big groups and special occasions
— 10% off your bill if you check in with Unilocal!
Cons
— It’s a buffet, so the items are not particularly fresh or unique
— Like all Korean restaurants in Annandale, very few vegetarian/​vegan options. I recommend coming with a friend who speaks Korean and make sure items do not have meat in them. As always, note that fish sauce is used in Korean cuisine.
What I got and What I thought
The rest of my group had the dinner buffet, while I ordered the bibim naengmyun, one of two dishes on the menu that I know can be made vegetarian-​friendly. Bibim naengmyun is stretchy and thin buckwheat noodles in a spicy mustard-​y sauce. You need to ask them to not include the meat, since they usually add it on top of the noodles. It was just fine, nothing special. It’s the same dish I’ve had at many of the Korean restaurants around town.
Overall, it was a good dining experience. I enjoyed the intimacy of our meal since there were sliding panels separating the tables. I would come back here with my family for a special occasion.

I think even giving one star is being generous.
Service was terrible. The waitress tried to stay away from our table because she was afraid we’d ask for something. We didn’t get a refill of water not even once. She didn’t serve us anything or ask if we needed anything.
The food was not good. There was nothing special and it was mediocre.
We won’t be going back.

If you are going for the buffet please think twice. They advertise on Groupon all u can eat bbq, all u can eat sushi and a variety of at least 25 more hot and cold items to choose from. Well its not so. You can tell the place was not set up for buffet they are just improvising with some tables at the entrance. The sushi table never had more than 3 plates with about 10 pcs each, the noodles and cold salad table was almost empty the whole night and it will take them more than 15 min to refill 1 plate. The warm table was half way empty and only 2 items got half way refill through the 1 ½ hour I was there.
If you are ordering from the regular menu by all means but for buffet there are better restaurants in the area

It gets 4 stars for cleanliness & service. Food only? I’d give it 3 stars. The buffet was weak in choices and presentations. The plates all had chips. My group, however, loved it because they enjoyed the Shabu Shabu — the Hot Pot. This isn’t the place to go if you want sushi or grilled meats in the buffet. I ordered from the menu and that seemed OK. The ambience was relaxing. All in all, my guests liked the place.

Palace is yet another one of those Korean restaurants that tries to do it all — sushi, Korean BBQ, and dozens and dozens of different Korean dishes/​entrees. I’ve had Palace a number of times, and it’ definitely has a nicer ambiance than your typical Korean restaurant, but there isn’t anything special about it that compels me to dine there often.
My mom, brother, boyfriend, and I came in for an early Sunday dinner. There seemed to be a big party in their banquet area, so a lot of their staff members were busy handling that. Service was spotty in the main dining area (I should note that there were only 3 – 4 other occupied tables) — it took a good 20 minutes for the side dishes to come out when they usually are served to patrons straight away. Once my mom complained, the food starting coming out of the kitchen really fast. We ordered their galbi jjim (braised beef). Note: Palace’s galbi jjim comes in mild/​spicy with a choice of pork/​beef. This is one of their newer menu items, and it was just decent. You get a generous amount of beef with enoki mushrooms, carrots, green onion, Korean rice cake (dduk), etc. If you still have room afterwards, they will make fried rice out of the leftover broth and veggies, but from what I understand it costs extra. My mom also ordered some of their tuna jumokbap (tuna rice balls), and this, too, was so-​so. The rice balls were comprised of canned tuna, spicy mayo, a little chopped kimchi, and dried laver sprinkled on top (think deconstructed kimbap). It may sound strange to some, but it’s a pretty popular Korean appetizer/​snack to whet your appetite. We also ordered two of their small naengmyuns, and it was not good at all. Really flavorless — I had to dump a whole lot of vinegar in the broth to bring out some semblance of taste. Skip this.
TL;DR — Korean restaurant competition is pretty stiff in Annandale. Palace’s food and service are just sub-​par, so go elsewhere.

Ehhh… look elsewhere for your Korean fix.
The management of Palace seems to want to cater to everyone. Their extensive menu includes sushi, Korean BBQ, and various Korean entrees. Dining in on a Sunday night with my gf and her family, we opted for the galbi jjim, tuna riceballs and naengmyun. My gf had raved about the galbi jiim here but honestly it was sub-​par. It tasted very similar to a dish people from Hong Kong eat, minus the dduk my father can make a better version. The tuna riceballs also did not taste very fresh to me, it sort of had that old food scent. Perhaps it was just that one I got, other people the table did not mention the odd scent. The naengmyun was just average, you can’t really mess that up.
The night we visited the service was also bad. When we were dining in they had one party to accommodate and two other tables in the main dining area. After ordering our food, we had to repeat our order to two other people. The banchans took twenty minutes to come out, that is after we flagged down someone and asked them to service our table. I can’t imagine how long we would have had to wait if we didn’t do that. Also when we first entered the restaurant, we were seated in the KBBQ tables, then we were moved. Honestly, there was no one in the restaurant they didn’t need that table.
Overall the experience here does not warrant a second visit for me. There are plenty of restaurants in Annandale that specialize in one certain type of food. For example, if I wanted Korean BBQ I would go to Annangol (they only sell KBBQ), if I wanted traditional Korean food entrée I would go to To Sok Jip. You get my drift, I think this place should pick one thing to specialize in so their food can be better then sub-​par.

I decided to finally try out this place after getting a groupon. Based on the sub par reviews, I was pleasantly surprised. The food here was delicious. Sure, it wasn’t all you can eat, but I don’t think that all you can eat Korean BBQ is the best thing for someone. We got the special set menu BBQ option one for two people and it was plenty of food. There was bulgolgi, different types of pork belly, and chicken. All graciously prepared by nice korean ladies. The marinades were really good. The panchan were also pretty good. The sweet bean dessert drink at the end was also a sweet surprise.
What was most surprising was the décor. It was much nicer inside than outside. Also, it was refreshing to see a predominately Korean clientele. Sure it’s a biased way, but it’s my way of measuring the authenticity of a restaurant.

I was not impressed with this place. When I walked in and saw the majority of customers were Korean, I got my hopes up, but those hopes quickly faded. The service was horrible, took a full 10 minutes just to get a menu, and we had to ask to have our drinks refilled. The food was mediocre at best. My wife had sushi, which was bland and expensive for the size of the rolls. I had bimbimbop and it was probably the worst I’ve ever had. The vegetables were good, but the bulgogi was so dry and overcooked that it really ruined the whole thing. They did bring out a full selection of banchan, which was nice, but that alone wouldn’t make me go back. They have a small lunch buffet for $ 13, and if I would go back I’d try that, but even it didn’t look too appetizing.

Palace is not one of those places that immediately comes to mind when dining out for Korea food; however when we do come, we always leave pleasantly surprised. The banchan (side dishes) here is usually a step up from other Korean restaurants and it too has a refreshingly good taste. Service is pretty good too. Food quality and consistency is good, though it can be a little more pricier than other Korean restaurants.
If you are looking to make a good impression with your parents, then you’ll probably have better luck her than many of the other Korean places.