Dokebi Bar & Grill

Doesn't Recommend

Katherine Geisler

Joined 2 years ago

Wretched and retching. This will be only the third online review I have ever made about a restaurant in my life. They have all been tonight and they have all been about the same restaurant. I have never been so disgusted by both food an service. For starters they delivered us someone else's order. Fine, I wont hang you for that. However, once I received my predictably mediocre order of what Dokebi thinks passes as Korean fair, (sometimes you have to settle when it's your only option), I got through about half my kimchee before I found a piece of random lettuce accompanied by a far more disgusting, slimy, clearly bad piece of fish skin. Not one to jump to complaints (hence my lack of previous online reviewing), I called the restaurant to give them a heads up that their kitchen might want to check the cleanliness of their prep stations. My main concern was the sanity of the food that was being sent out to myself and others, but I would be lying is I said that as someone who has worked in restaurants since the age of fifteen I was expecting at least a minimal effort on the part of the restaurant to amend the situation. None was made so i hung up. Less than three minutes passed before I found myself doubled over the toilet. My girlfriend, being slightly more aggressive, and having been equally disgusted causing her to throw out the remainder of her barely eaten meal, called back only to be informed that I was probably wrong and that it was most likely an oyster, and that we were also blacklisted from their restaurant. Not only have I worked in restaurants for many years, I am now in culinary school, I am a huge lover of oysters and fish, and my girlfriend is half Korean! We know the difference between and oyster and bad fish. It wasn't as if this restaurant had any major bragging points before hand, but now it's simply repulsive. Eat at your own risk.

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sfrucht02

Joined 5 years ago

On the fence. I'm on the fence about Dokebi. I only went here once and I have a sneaking suspicion that I should have ordered something else. NY Mag recommended the bibimbap, but it was so flavorless I was so disappointed. Keejoo is right, there was hardly any pork in my bibimbap either. In fact the pieces were so tiny it was like bacon-bits.

The tuna/avocado salad was delicious, a little too lemony but a great cut of tuna. Cinnamon gelato was heaven. I must go back and try a better entree, maybe something that I can cook on the table grill? I'd love suggestions from yall!

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chul

Joined 5 years ago

KOREAN STYLE TACOS. Hey Guys, it's me, Dokebi Bar&Grill.

We are Now Serving "Korean-Style" Tacos & BRUNCH! just Sayin'.

(See Below for Tacos & our NEW Brunch Menu!!!!)

Our new Tacos are available IN OUR BAR!!!!!!!

Monday-Friday, Noon to Midnight!

and Saturday-Sunday, 6pm-Midnight!

3$ Three Dollar TACOS!

**all served on corn tortillas with our house korean bbq sauce.......

Pork Belly*****Braised Berkshire pork belly set over sesame leaf

Short Rib*****Grass fed, Black Angus short ribs

Fish*****Sushi grade tuna chorizo!

Spicy Mushroom*****Organic giant oyster and button mushrooms

Spicy Pork *****Berkshire pork shoulder

2.50$ Two Dollar 50 Cent TACOS! (same fix'ns)

Spicy Chicken*****Tender chicken breast

Spicy Tofu*****All natural fried tofu

Oh&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

we also have new brunch!

Saturdays & Sundays! 11am--5pm!

check it out......

Hot Stone Pork & Grits.....14.00

*******Braised Berkshire pork belly set over a bed of Anson Mills’ organic grits with asunny-side-up egg and country gravy served in a sizzling stone bowl

KimChee Fried Rice Omelet.....12.00

*******Kimchee fried rice with onions, red pepper and broccoli wrapped in an egg blanket, topped off with picante verde and kimchee

Three Egg Omelet.....9.00

*******Three egg and jack cheese omelet served with real hashbrowns, mixed greens and kimchee

Mushroom Omelet.....13.00

*******Three eggs, organic mushrooms (shitake, enoke, button, bunape, portabello, oyster, giant oyster) and jack cheese served with real hashbrowns, mixed greens and kimchee

Huevos Koreanos.....14.00

********Chul’s three bean chili, jasmine rice, two corn tortillas, jack cheese and 2 eggs over-easy topped off with avocados, picante rojo & verde, kimchee and chipotle crema

Two Eggs.....8.00

********Two eggs any style served with real hashbrowns, mixed greens and kimchee





-------------Sides

hash browns, Anson Mills’ organic grits, slab bacon.....4.00

Bulgohki BBQ steak, Braised Berkshire pork belly, sushi grade tuna Chorizo.....6.00

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destro1234

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent experience.. I happened to find this place while staggering around Williamsburg last weekend, and was absolutely blown away by their brunch menu.

I will be honest, I was extremely skeptical at first. This was the first time that I'd eaten at Dokebi's and I didn't quite know what to expect. It took one bite of the Radish Kimchee with a dab of their Chipotle Crema- a spicy, smoking cream sauce that came with my meal- to answer any questions about their quality.

The food was absolutely amazing!!! I ordered a 3 egg dish with potato cake and Radish Kimchee and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Everything about the meal was on target. It was light, flavorful, and all well conceived. I even ordered their traditional house Kimchee and this became another instant fave of mine.This was my first Dokebi dining experience, but it will definitely not be my last.

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willbuildwalls

Joined 4 years ago

Shabu Shabu for me please.. So, I love Shabu Shabu! It's an amazing tasting, clean, fresh, and healthy way to eat.

I like Shabu Tatsu and Lan (both in LES), but i LOVE the Shabu Shabu at Dokebi.

What I love about it here over the other two is very simple. They all do it pretty well but with tiny differences.

Dokebi's shabu has like 4 different kinds of mushrooms and they are all FRESH! You get dried shitake mushrooms at Shabu Tatsu. The sauces are the next most important thing for this dish. Dokebi's sauces are awesome. the endless stream of FREE Korean sides are also amazing. Their Purple wild rice? Amazing!

Finally, they deliver all of this in a really nice, superbly designed, clean space with excellent: MUSIC, FULL BAR, HOT PEOPLE!!!

I love this place and it's hands down the SHABU SHABU winner in NYC...

any of you other shabu enthusiasts agree with me and the post before me? or let me know after you try them.

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Aabgoosht

Joined 5 years ago

Great Shabu Shabu. I go here at least once every other week, particularly when it's cold! I love it. To be honest we only ever eat the Shabu Shabu. I tried a couple other dishes but wasn't too impressed. But for the Shabu Shabu, you won't find much better in NY. In fact there is only one I've tried that even compares (shabu Tatsu) and even then I prefer Dokebi. The meat is fresh, the sauces are great, you get kimchi and a salad free with your meal and service is good too.

Doesn't Recommend

EastVillageIdiot

Joined 5 years ago

More Williamsburg Garbage. My wife and I visited Dokebi tonight. We ordered dosut bibimbap and nakgi-bokum. The dishes came out around 5 minutes apart. The bibimbap was average, but the stone bowl wasn't even close to sizzling. Too bad I had paid an extra $2 for the stone bowl. The nakgi-bokum was horrible. Easily the worst stir-fried squid I've ever tasted. The sauce tasted more like Chinese fast food than decent Korean. The side dishes were passable, and I did get a refill upon request.

The real problem I had with this place was the complete lack of service. I mentioned the squid dish wasn't very good when the waitress visited. She just nodded and walked off. There were no communications issues either, as she spoke perfect English. As to my comment about the food, no apology or acknowledgment was made. My wife had barely touched that mess of a dish. We were charged full price.

If you ware looking for Korean fusion, I suggest you try some of the places in the East Village. Authentic Korean food lovers should visit 32nd Street, of course.

Doesn't Recommend

balishag

Joined 5 years ago

Korean Food Misunderstood.. This place and reading the reviews about this place just tells me how Korean food is misunderstood. There's been numerous articles in the NY TIMES about Korean food and restaurants in the past few years, yet places like this and people "loving" the food here just tells me that NY is far away from really embracing Korean food. The food here either lacks any flavor or is salted and spiced to all hell. Korean food has a tricky balance with spicy, sweet, and delicate that this place is clueless about. I've been here with multiple friends and tried pretty much everything on the menu. I really really really wanted to like this place, but I have to be honest and sadden that there still isn't a Korean restaurant in Williamsburg. The chapchae is greasy and oily, the stir fry is greasy and oily, the bokums are greasy and oily-- (see a trend developing here?). The kalbi (short ribs) are tough and inedible. The bulgohki (angus) is stringy...Just take my word for it when I say that the food here tastes worse than my testicles.

The service is helpful, but very Williamsburg-- meaning they pretty much do whatever they want. The multiple times I've been there (lunch, dinner, weekdays, weekends) the service has been consistently efficient but depending on who serves you it can be pretty unprofessional aka Williamsburg-y, like eating in front of the register, chewing gum, etc. One chick started doing stretches in the middle of the dining area while text messaging. I found that kind of amusing but at the same time reminded me how dumb little Barbie girls are moving into the neighborhood.

Anyway, I think I'll just stick to the Thai, American, Japanese, and diners that overrun the neighborhood and just wait for the day that Korean food is done right. Maybe people will understand Korean food as well and force this place to make something worth eating. I'm sad that I had to spend so much money there in the hopes of finding a revelation.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Editorial Review. Brooklyn Korean BBQ makes patron's mouths water while food is prepared before them on a table top grill.

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neoyorkgourmet

Joined 6 years ago

Amazing Korean BBQ & Shabu-Shabu in the New Downtown!. We heard of Dokebi from a friend of ours who lives in Williamsburg. She had been raving about this place since last summer. We finally made it to Brooklyn last Thursday.

The space was well designed with a nice touch of traditional Korean/Japanese woodworking. We really liked the use of real hardwoods with traditional jointery.

The music was surprisingly good. They had a great selection of classic rock, 80?s punk, funk, new wave, and a great indie selection as well. We, twice asked our server for the names of songs which we wanted to get a hold of. It was nice to be in a Korean restaurant where you can actually have a conversation with the server.

The food surpassed all of our expectations. The soondubu was excellent and super spicy, the banchan was simple but sufficient which left us to concentrate on our double order of Kalbi. They have undervented grills so you never get exposed to the famous Korean BBQ stink (the place smelled awesome). The meat came out looking super fresh. I could tell they are using really good cuts. It was marbleized enough to have great taste but, there were no large pieces of fat which I am used to having to avoid while eating BBQ. The marinade was also really good. It had all of the taste of traditional BBQ without the usual over sugaring and salting. It?s like they actually wanted you to taste the meat. Refreshing! Needless to say, my girlfriend and I really enjoyed our meal at Dokebi. It was like someone with some common sense finally opened a Korean place.

Dokebi also has a really nice romantic bar in the back for lite food and full bar. Try it out. You?ll love it.