Hwaro Hell: Restaurant Review (Hwaro Korean in Las Vegas-Chinatown)

HWARO HELL:
RESTAURANT REVIEW: HWARO (KOREAN IN LAS VEGAS CHINATOWN)

Our first visit to Hwaro will be our last.

Eager to try a highly-recommended Korean restaurant with the always-popular “All You Can Eat” option, Marieta and I were first-time customers at Hwaro, which is tucked into a strip mall on the north side of Spring Mountain Road on the western fringes of Chinatown. We’d heard from a trusted source and read mostly positive reviews about Hwaro on Yelp and elsewhere. Unfortunately, our experience was disappointing, to put it kindly.

Hwaro advertises a $23.95 AYCE lunch menu, which can be upgraded to $26.95 on the all-day menu, and that even extends to midnight. This higher-priced option includes additional premium meats. Given the pricing of Korean AYCE places in Las Vegas, sometimes listed at $30 and up, Hwaro was a relative bargain. But, also a word of caution.  As they say, you get what you pay for.

The first annoyance of many on this Tuesday afternoon occurred before we took our seats. I walked in alone and informed the host we wanted lunch for 2 at one of the BBQ tables. About half of the seats are at BBQ tables (for those unfamiliar with AYCE Korean fare, customers cook their own meats on a tabletop grill). This was around 2:00 pm. The restaurant was close to empty.

“Where is your other person?” the host asked.

“My wife is in the car. She’s coming in right behind me. ” [Marieta was finishing up a phone call]

“We can only seat complete parties. When everyone is here, we will seat you.”

Blank stare.  Furrowed brow.  Thinking of a PG-Rate profanity to myself.

STRIKE 1.

Okay, I get it. A restaurant doesn’t want to sacrifice table space and seats for incomplete parties. I can empathize with a party of 8 evaporating into a party of 5 when 3 of the guests fail to show up and the restaurant then gets stuck with a collage of empty chairs, especially when it’s busy and those seats can be used to generate more business. But 2 pm was well after any “lunch rush.” What a dumb policy. What a lack of common sense.  Just seat me, already!

So, I stood there for about two minutes (blocking the front door, since there was no place for me to wait other than obstructing the entrance). Finally, Marieta joins me and we get seated at one of the BBQ tables. Now, our party is complete!  Hooray!  Hey, Mommy is here with Daddy! Can we please order now?

While placing our order, we asked for silverware. I can deal with chopsticks if necessary, but I’m not here to hunt and gather my meal like a starving samurai in pursuit of beasts of burden. I want to freakin’ eat peacefully and prefer convenient utensils that enter the giant hole in my face with the most stuff I can cram onto it possible — be that a fork, a spoon, or a shovel. Two more requests later, we finally-finally-finally got the forks.  Yippee!

See below:

STRIKE 2.

A plastic fork?  I still can’t believe they gave me a plastic fork.

Here’s where I’ll give Hwaro its due and some credit. The pricing is fine. No complaints about the overall value, given what most Korean restaurants charge for AYCE. The meats were also pretty good, though the portions were preposterously small. We ended up ordering FIVE portions of meat over a 45-minute stay, and that didn’t stuff us fully. We also ordered bibimbap on the side, which wasn’t included in the $23.95 option, which really seems cheap. I give the meats a solid B, but downgrade the overall main courses to a C (average) given some limitations.

Next issue: The side dishes were sparse and unimaginative. Typically, Korean restaurants roll out the red carpet on small side dishes–which is an experience in itself. We often try weird things we can’t pronounce and have never eaten before, which is part of the fun. However, at Hwaro there wasn’t a side dish that left any positive impression. Even the potato salad, which is a staple of AYCE and is usually served cold, was lukewarm and rather bland. Major fail on the side dishes. Grade: D.

The meal comes with ice cream, served in a paper cup. Like the plastic silverware horror, this just seems cheap. I get it that washing dishes adds to the cost and we all want to be environmentally friendly. However, if I’m spending $50+ a lunch for 2, the utensils and dishes should be a step up from the 3-drumstick special at KFC

STRIKE 3.

A paper cup?  I still can’t believe they gave me a paper cup.

The last straw and the final tipping point on typing out what could have otherwise been a mildly negative review versus a rant was the atmosphere, which made me think of the Alex Guiness’ sweatbox scene from The Bridge on the River Kwai.

I have no idea if this day at Hwaro was normal, but the air conditioning either wasn’t working, or was intentionally shut off to presumably save money. Instead, ceiling fans overhead created a hair dryer effect blowing hot air down onto diners seated in the dining area. It was perhaps 85 degrees inside, probably even hotter where we sat given the BBQ grills with burning flames at tableside. Lunch and a sauna, all in one!

Unfortunately, the high temperature was 108 degrees in Las Vegas on this day, so the stifling heat inside became unbearable. It was actually more comfortable outside and we breathed a sigh of relief upon our exit. Hey, if the restaurant’s AC unit was under repair that day, that’s fine. But it should have been acknowledged by the staff. The conditions were brutal. Almost as unbearable as the hip-hop music blasting on the speakers.

We’re done.

This was one of the most disappointing Asian meals I’ve experienced in Las Vegas. I don’t recommend Hwaro and will not return.