Tucked between a Nike store and a bar is KPOT Korean BBQ and Hot Pot. If you drive too quickly, you might miss it, but this all-you-can-eat restaurant in West Des Moines is a must-try for anyone in the larger Des Moines area.
I have been going since it opened, and I recommend it to anyone who asks. For $27 for lunch or $38 for dinner, you can enjoy a two-hour hot pot and Korean barbecue experience. This is a unique experience because at KPOT, you cook your meal yourself, right at the table.
I had been looking for an excuse to go again, so when the opportunity of a review came up, I knew I had to take it. So I grabbed my boyfriend and off we went!
When you walk in, you have the choice to pick either hot pot or barbecue, or you can do both. The menus may look like a lot, but you really only need to pay attention to the drink and broth menus. The other menu is for the ingredients for the barbecue and hot pot, which will be available the entire time via tablet.
The waiter will ask what soup base you want if you choose hot pot, and after that, you order off a tablet, so you don’t need to constantly flag down a server! This time, my boyfriend and I picked both barbecue and hot pot. We both got the miso soup broth, which is my personal favorite, as it has a very mild flavor.
Then, our waiter asked for our drink orders. They currently have a cocktail promotion going for the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. They had some fun themed drinks — even one that was meant for two people to share. Instead, I decided to try one of their flavored lemonades. I picked the mango lemonade, and it was so good. It wasn’t too sweet or too sour, which is my kind of lemonade.
After the waiters took our drink and broth order, they handed us a tablet to order the different things for the hot pot or barbecue. You get a two-hour window — all you can eat! We placed our first order, and then went to the sauce bar to make our sauces for our barbecue. While up there, I also grabbed a few seasonings to add to my miso broth as well.
I grabbed salt and pepper, green onion, cilantro, lime and garlic to add to my broth. I have found that it makes all of the things I add to the broth have a bit more flavor. For my barbecue, I made a mixture of white vinegar, salt and pepper, ginger and chili oil. Once we got back to the table, our items were waiting for us.
While I have been to KPOT before, this was my first time doing the Korean barbecue, so I put my hot pot ingredients into my broth and turned to the grill. Every table has one to six grills in the middle. I ordered beef bulgogi and a hanger steak for the barbecue, and it turned out so good.
The steak was juicy, despite being on the thinner side, and the bulgogi was perfectly cooked, which I was worried about. I was a little nervous about using it because I thought I might undercook it, but in every booth is a cooking chart for reference.
I cooked my hanger steak, and I used the scissors they offer to cut it up and dip it in my sauce. They offer a set of tongs and meat scissors for every table, so you don’t have to get too close to the grill top when using them.
Then I moved back to my hot pot broth. I had ordered noodles, bok choy, daikon radish and sliced lamb for my first round of hot pot. I recommend that if you are doing both, put your hot pot stuff in and let it cook while you do the barbecue.
When I was done with my steak, my hot pot ingredients were cooked to my liking. My first helping was done pretty quickly, so we ordered a second time.
This time, I decided to try a bunch of different ingredients that I hadn’t had before. I stuck to just hangar steaks for the barbecue, with the addition of a few pieces of Spam. I never thought about having Spam at a restaurant, but frying it made it so much better than usual.
For my second round of hot pot, I got a lot of new ingredients. I went with sliced beef cheek for my meat and with it I got rice cakes, lotus root, king mushrooms and seaweed knots. I also got a little more daikon radish.
While we waited for our stuff to come out, I went back to the sauce bar to grab a bowl of mandarin oranges. We like to use these as a palate cleanser when we are jumping from one order to the next. I also grabbed a few pieces of cake for myself.
KPOT is one of my favorite spots to hit when I need to go get a nice meal for a good price. This time was no different; the food was amazing, and the service was incredible. Cooking and picking every part of your own meal makes it so you don’t leave disappointed.
So, the next time you are out and about looking for a new restaurant to try, stop by KPOT and spend two hours trying something new.
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