Well, as you may have heard by now, Al Bae Nae is no longer in operation.
The good news is that the current restaurant in that space, Yonggung (also known as Dragon Palace) has much of the same menu, plus even more tasty Korean-Chinese offerings!
So give them a try and see what you think.
I know this restaurant is CLOSED and changed to another name as Dragon Palace Restaurant if I am not mistaken, but somehow, since this is indeed a long overdue review, I'll just type it out. Â Went here with Hubs on Monday May 7th 2012, one day before its official that the famous KFC aka Korean Fried Chicken of Al Bae Nae Korean Restaurant disappear due to the change of restaurant names and management.
Went here for DINNER. Â Time was at about 20:00hrs. Â YES it was somehow a late dinner for us since that is the time, that Hubs can leave work. Â Upon arriving, we were seated promptly and given the menu. Â I wanted to order the FAMOUS KFC aka Tongdak Fried Whole Chicken, but somehow our server "directed" us to another dish from their simple menu. Â Oh well, a big bummer since I did not managed to eat or even taste the famous "KFC" since some writer bragged about it. Â Hence my mission to search, and devoured the "KFC" from my lovely Korean friends who called Colorado home.
These were what we ordered that evening :
* Â Kkanpunggi Fried Chicken With Hot Pepper ($13.99)
* Â Ojingeo Twigim Deep Fried Cuttlefish ($5.99)
* Â Beefgaseu Deep Fried Beef Cutlet which comes with salad and rice ($9.99)
* Â Bokkeumbap Stir-Fried Rice with Beef ($6.99)
While waiting for our order to arrived, our server provide us with a bowl of Vegetables Kimchi and Pickled Daikon/Radish and White Onions. Â Our order was ready for us, say about 10 to 15 minutes after ordering. Â The Kkanpunggi reminds me of sweet and sour, and the chicken pieces are fried with some kind of batter. Â Not spicy for my tastebud at all. Â The Ojingeo Twigim, though it came out hot, was tender but something was missing in this dish in which I cant pin point what...
Hubs likes the order of the Kkanpunggi and his order of Beefgaseu. Â I am A-OK with the Ojingeo Twigim and the Bokkeumbap. Â Nothing stellar nothing fancy. Â All in all, our dinner cost us $45 with tips and tax.
@84/2012
As of 1/23/2013, this place has changed to Yong Gung (Dragon Palace).
My source tells me the previous owner of SamChon (southwest corner of Peoria and Mississippi) bought it recenlty and serving up Koreanized chinese food. Â
As I have stated earlier, I have been visiting this place about 2X per week. Â Its the same menu for lunch or dinner and the price is the same.
I was there last Saturday night and place was packed except few tables. Â We ordered out usual small order of deep fried calamari (o-ching-uh) , chicken Katsu (chicken battered in tempura mixture and fried to golden and comes with rice and corn with salad) and seafood jambong (spicy seafood noodle soup).
The calamari was battered and fried to perfection. Â Came to our table within seconds and it was delicious on make our own sauce of soy-vinegar and hot peppers. Â I will give 5 star for the value and quality.
For the Katsu, it came out as always. Â two large pcs of katsu and trimmings. Â
The Jambong was also very good.
Overall, they have consistently delivered value packed meal with good quality over and over again.
I will definitely come back again.
If you are 1st timer or thinking about going, please do and ask for suggestions from the waiters.
As some of my fellow reviewers have said, Al Bae Nae is pretty decent. At first I was a little apprehensive but they do have larger than the usual portions for less than the usual price. Who can argue with that? It's definitely a good place for a quick bite.
The first time I went, I ordered the tonkatsu which was HUGE! I've never had a piece of fried pork as big as my face before. Second time, I tried the jjajangmyun... ehh I'd rather have it at P &Y. Don't be fooled by the cheese dduk bok ki, there wasn't that much cheese on it - more like dduk bok ki with shredded cheese on top. But the jjajangbap is a different story. Hot black soy bean sauce on a mount of white rice topped off with an egg over-easy, Mmm - simple, but delicious and cheap. I recently got a bowl of seoulleongtang when I was sick and it warmed me to the core. Ox bone soup when you're feeling a little under the weather tends to bestow amazing healing properties upon the soul... maybe not, but it's still awesome.
Finally, the service. It's strange whenever I order at Korean restaurant. I always feel the need to order in Korean even when I know they speak English. But I don't know Korean. It's just part of my own neurotic habits, I guess, but I just feel treated differently for some reason when I have my friends order for me. The service always seems a bit slow even if it's not that busy. The waiters were a little cold, I thought... (maybe because I can't speak Korean. Just kidding.) But to be fair and objective, it wasn't terrible. Definitely will be back for the jjajangbap. Stay hungry my friends!
For Korean food, it's decent. Simple quick Korean dishes here are pretty decent. Nothing to rave about though. The kimchi there is the best kimchi I've had in Colorado (reason why I ask them to pack it everytime I go). Service is great. Atmosphere is young and fresh. If you're nearby, check them out.
Review Source:In short, Al Bae Nae serves pretty decent Korean food. Â I just don't think it's special in any way.
The portions are large and you get a lot for what you pay for (of course, if you think about it vs. Korea, this food is really cheap to make/eat in Korea... but compared to other Korean restaurants around Denver, fairly nice portions). I usually end up taking food home or lately, eating family style.
I think the best dish I've had there was the cheese dduk bok ki. I think I prefer Seoul BBQ over Al Bae Nae though for the more traditional dishes (the stews and side dishes as opposed to what I consider "snack/street" food).
My constant spew with this place: service. You're kept waiting at each phase of the restaurant experience. You wait to sit, order, get your food, check, receipt. Â If you go during Sunday lunch hour, beware of all the church-going Korean families that flock to this place -- for a two-person table, it took us over an hour to finish eating and to leave the restaurant. And we were seated right when we got in. Think about that.
Really really yummy jangbong noodle soup and fried dumplings. portion is huge, food really tasty, price inexpensive and service friendly. I am glad that Seoul BBQ next door was really busy that one faithful day and had me choose this place instead. My only request for this place is to have more American friendly Korean dish such as bulgogi, galbi, bibimbap... so my boyfriend can order his favorite Korean food.
Review Source:Ok, so I'm on a search for find the best jajang myun in Denver. Â So I heard about this place from the hostess at Seoul BBQ, which she recommended and I thought it was just ok. Â The sauce was too runny and definitely needed to be thicker with more meat in it.
I got only too side dishes, the yellow radish and white onions, which is typical when ordering jajang but come'on! Â At least fork out some kimchee. Â I guess I could of asked for it. Â It wasn't the worst but definitely not the best. Â As to their other dishes I'll have to defer to Rick K. and David C.
If you are looking for an alternative to places like P & Y Cafe or Cafe Sky, then this is the place. Â This place is like a combination of those two and outbeats them both. Â The environment is clean and a refreshing change from other Korean restaurants around the area. Â I recommend the jambong and udon. Â They put so much seafood and other veggies in their seafood jambong and they really put P & Y's jambong to shame. Â Their style is very similar to LA's and their mandu isn't so bad either. Â If you order their dukpoki, one word of caution: it is extremely spicy for some reason. Â Maybe that's why they have an option for cheese?
As for the service, there were never any real problems. Â Food comes out fairly quickly, but if you order the jin mandu, it may take a while since they are wang mandu. Â The servers are also fairly attentive as well.
For those who are looking for a Korean experience, this restaurant is ideal. I have no reservations saying that this is the best Korean restaurant I've been to in Denver (and yes, it beats Korean bbq places and what not). It was soul food for my lips and each bite took me back to my LA K town roots. Sure I cannot say it was the best Korean food i've ever had, but it hit the spot and it was cheap (just the way i like it).
The workers were a little slow, but they weren't bad at all. I recommend this place over others any day.
Al Bae Nae is located in a small strip with a few other Korean Restaurants.
The good: The food was really tasty. The tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) was very large and delicious. I also tried some of their ddukpoki (spicy rice cake) which was delicious as well. A few of my friends didn't like the shrimp in their soup but other than that, everyone seemed satisfied with their food.
Their bendy straws were a nice touch.
The bad: The service. My group almost waited for 10 minutes before someone took our order. But it was nothing horrible.
The food took a while to come out so make sure you're not in a rush when you're eating here. Also, expect to pay about $12 a person.
Overall, Â a great eat and a place I will most definitely go to again.
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