Howoo was on my list for some time, and my goodness my partner finally felt like eating Korean BBQ again. Normally, they are open to this, but they have not picked this cuisine for quite some time. I don’t remember why exactly I had Howoo on my list, but when it first opened, the pictures made it seem like it had good meats. One of our favorites, Yoon Haeundae Galbi, had excellent meat quality, and it was well worth the premium prices for good quality cuts. This one with their “set” menus appeared attractive in their own regard. We walked in for 2 at around 4:30 PM right before the swarm of people arrived.

Ambiance & Service

The ambiance reminded me a bit of Cote and Coqodaq, with the a high ceiling and airy, upscale vibe going on. The music isn’t too loud though, and it has elements of refined dining. The service was very quick and attentive, and the meal itself was definitely on the quick side, since the food was mostly raw to begin with.

Just a note that I noticed on the bill that you save roughly 10% if you pay in cash.

Food

My partner ordered the sparking apple juice ($14) from Ringo. It was very delicious as usual from the Ringo company, but you are definitely paying a premium for it.

The glass of Lisini ($21) came from Rosso di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy 2023.

The Ban-Chan came with pickled seasonal vegetables and homemade kimchi. These were all pretty good and were all pickled. The kimchi was in larger chunks, but it had good fermentation flavors.

Here are some of the dips, which was salt, ssamjang, and wasabi. On the lower left is the onion soy-ish dip. I asked for a side of sesame oil to pair with the salt.

The HOWOO Ssam Set came with local fresh-picked lettuce, napa cabbage, cucumber, and carrot. On the side is a late banchan dish which tasted like pickled mustard greens.

The Egg Souffle came with organic egg, fermented shrimp, and kelp broth. This very flavorful with the egg and shrimp flavors. It was one of the better egg souffles we had at Korean BBQ.

The Prime Package for two ($165) came with skirt steak, Tajima black wagyu flat iron, seasoned #6-8 short rib finger, and marinated diamond-cut short rib. Instead of the snow marble short rib, we opted for the Aged Ribeye (+$28).

All the meat here was pristine. I can only imagine had we splurged for the wagyu set. All the meat cuts were high quality, especially the aged ribeye. We were seated at the center of the restaurant where we could see the butcher station, and you could see them cut the steak. The servers rotated to cook the meat on the grill, and the timing of everything was pretty good. There were times I wished I could’ve cooked at our pace, but that’s fine for what it is. They knew how to cook the meat medium rare.

The Cold Noodle came after they cleaned up our BBQ. It was one traditional and one spicy. We were already pretty full by this course, but nonetheless I had to try some. The spicy was not overly spicy, and it was more heat-centric than spice-centric. The cold noodle did remind me of some of the good spots in South Korea when I visited. The traditional was also pretty good, and they give you mustard and vinegar liquids to add to the soup. My partner chose not to add anything, so I had it without any seasoning which was still surprisingly flavorful.

Finally, the Nok-Cha Soft Serve came, and it was Boseong green tea flavored. The green tea aroma of the soft serve lingered nicely, and the bitter and herbal aftertaste helped cleanse the fattiness and meat sweats for the evening.

Overall Impression

This is one of the few Korean BBQ places that we’re willing to return to with other people. Even though it’s not all-you-can-eat and it’s a little more expensive, the meat and food quality is up there. It’s really good, and everything here including the wine that I ordered was superb.

Yelp & Google Jabs

I was pretty unimpressed with the k bbq. The experience itself did not bring me joy. If you are going to have k bbq, it should make you happy. Grilling meats and drinking some soju / makgeolli and having a grand time. This was a sterile experience… If you get the meat a la carte, it does not come with ban chan. It literally is only the meat. So ridiculous! Ban chan used to be a given. You have to order an entire set just for banchan.

This Elitist might have a different perspective of a “good time”. It’s not uncommon that Korean BBQ menus don’t serve banchan unless you order the set menu. However, the one obvious thing is if you read the menu, it literally says “accompaniments” with the set menus but nothing on the a’la carte menu.

I am writing this review as a pescatarian, so take it with a grain of salt.

Fortunately, this pescatarian Elitist did not chastise the restaurant for not providing enough vegetarian things.

Expensive and out of 4 people 3 of us were still hungry when we left.

It really depends what you ordered and if you ate all the banchan. I definitely was very satisfied at the end of it. We were thinking if a set was for “2”, we could probably have fit a third person and be reasonably satiated. If you go in with a bunch of heavy eaters, then the set numbers are probably more accurate.

Revisions

Aug 8, 2026 - Initial revision.