A new, all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue restaurant has opened in Chinatown. Hongdae 33 is now open for lunch, dinner, and late night service.
Located in the former Napa space in the bustling Dun Huang Plaza (9889 Bellaire Blvd, Ste. D-229), Hongdae 33 aims to bring the energy of Seoul’s lively nightlife district to the Bayou City. Grace and Leo Xia, who also own popular Chinese restaurant Duck N Bao, decided to open a Korean barbecue restaurant after a trip to Las Vegas.
“To Koreans, barbecue is not just grilling meat,” Grace Xia said in a statement. “It is part of the culture. It’s gathering and making memories while cooking at the table and enjoying a meal with your date, family, friends or co-workers. Barbecuing together is a great way to relax and have fun. We hope to create that special experience at Hongdae 33.”
Once they enter the 80-seat restaurant, diners will find tables with gas-powered grills and copper-colored exhaust pipes. Neon lights and traditional Korean design elements help create a vibrant atmosphere.
“Our goal is to modernize the Korean barbecue cuisine and experience, which included collaborating with our designer to translate and share our vision with the neighborhood,” Xia added. “It’s hard to find a place in the area that’s open after 10 pm, so we’ll accommodate later crowds, including late-night workers.”
The $33 per person, all-you-can-eat menu includes everything someone might want during a Korean barbecue meal. Starters include seafood pancake, corn cheese, kimchi stew, and japchae. The eight banchan options include cabbage kimchi, marinated bean sprouts, spicy pickled cucumbers, and marinated fish cakes.
Hongdae 33 offers an extensive selection of meat and seafood for diners to grill at their tables. Beef selections include Black Angus brisket, Black Angus galbi, ribeye steak bulgogi, garlic flat iron steak, Texas wagyu beef tongue, and Texas wagyu beef belly. Diners will also find pork options such as spicy pork bulgogi, pork jowl, and marinated pork belly, as well as chicken and seafood options that include garlic butter chicken, Cajun jumbo shrimp, and spicy squid.
The restaurants offers an extensive selection of drinks to pair with its meats, including soju, Korean rice wine, cocktails, beers, and shots. To encourage people to explore its beverage program, Hongdae 33 offers two specials — a bottle of soju and three beers for $25 or four shots for $24.
Its hours are similarly welcoming, as the restaurant is open from 11:30 am until midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 2 am on Friday and Saturday. The only catch is that diners are limited to 90 minutes to complete their meals.
Photo by Jenn Duncan
Hongdae 33 features a neon-lit interior.
