Bryan L.
Yelp
All That Korean BBQ (Gogiya) is a great, affordable charcoal KBBQ restaurant in the Suwanee Duluth area. Most restaurants around the same price range only offer gas/electric grills whereas locations that offer charcoal grills will cost more. For those that haven't tried, charcoal grilled KBBQ gives the meat a smokier and more natural taste than your average KBBQ. As of April 2019, AYCE for lunch is $18/person and dinner is $25. The manager did tell me these were grand opening prices and will eventually increase.
It's located in the same plaza as Iron Guys and seems pretty unassuming at first (note: the sign says Gogiya). The restaurant is small and family owned, David (manager) and his family recently moved from California to start the business. They're very welcoming and easy going, I got to know David during my first time there and he explained the ins and outs of managing a KBBQ chain. I have gotten the lunch AYCE twice now, though the traditional Korean food menu seems nice and affordable and the dinner AYCE just had a few more meat options. They do impose a 2 hour limit on AYCE if you happen to be a slow eater.
During my first visit, the restaurant was pretty empty with only 4-5 booths filled, whereas my second visit the restaurant was busier and half the booths were filled. For AYCE, they will first light the charcoal on fire which will take a couple minutes to burn, just be ready for the flame as its a bit shocking/frightening to newcomers.
Their selection of side dishes is pretty decent, around 8 or so varieties of pickled veg, steamed veg, kimchi, tofu, radish wraps, and fish cakes. The kimchi was fresh and my favorite was their spicy cucumber. You can also order other sides like tossed salad, cheese corn, tofu/kimchi soup, and rice. Just note they don't serve purple rice (a bummer), leaf lettuce, rice wrappers, or puerilla leaves. The cheese corn is also pre-cooked on a tray and not alongside the grill. You can't get an egg moat either and they don't serve raw garlic cloves.
There are four sauces to dip from: salt, a sweet fish sauce, sweet chili (samjang), and soybean paste (gochujang). The spicy ones aren't too hot and my favorite was the chili sauce. If you do get soda (or redeem dat Yelp free drink) you will get it in a can. Hot tea and water are complimentary.
I thought the quality of meat was great. Their brisket is definitely one of the better ones I've had and had great marbling and not too much extra fat. Their brisket is sliced thinner than other places which I preferred. Pork belly was great and not too chewy. Their spicy marinated brisket was interesting, a little too strong of a salty/sweet flavor for me.
My biggest issue unfortunately was the quality of service. During my first visit the manager grilled my food and the meat was cooked perfectly. My second visit however a different server, likely a new employee, grilled for me. Several times he would neglect my grill and the meat was even burned and overcooked. I tried a few times to grill on my own but the server eventually removed the utensils from the table and placed them out of reach from me. I might be doing a less than stellar job grilling but at least I'm able to watch when the meat is ready. I'll give the benefit of the doubt that the restaurant was understaffed but putting the grilling utensils out of reach was a little rude. The server also wasn't great in English so I had a difficult time communicating with him.
The restaurant has a few kinks it needs to work out but is overall a great KBBQ option in the area. It's pretty much the only AYCE place you can get charcoal grilled meat for under $20. David and his family are doing a great job and hopefully they can make a name for themselves in the already saturated KBBQ market.