Credit: Photo by Doug Trattner
One of the hottest trends in dining right now is Korean BBQ. In cities across the country we’re witnessing the proliferation of these one-of-a-kind restaurants, where the interactive, communal cooking experience is attracting diners eager to celebrate in groups. While some mom-and-pop shops still lug around the tabletop burners, increasingly we’re seeing more contemporary restaurants that offer stylish dining rooms and bars, high-tech built-in grills and ventilation, and all-you-can-eat adventures.

One such place has been brewing for the last three years in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. Because it took so long to arrive, the anticipation and expectation levels for Fiyah inevitably were through the roof. When the restaurant did finally open in March, it was beset by scores of negative reviews recounting poor – and, frankly, bizarre – dining experiences.

I waited four months before visiting the restaurant with a group of friends and I’m happy to report that our encounter didn’t match those of the early reviewers. While there definitely is room for improvement, Fiyah does get the basics right. With a few tweaks and additions, it can earn a spot as one of the most lively, enjoyable and reasonably priced culinary adventures in town.

Fiyah features a gymnasium-size dining room with dozens of roomy booths, a bar at one end and glass garage doors that run the length of two sides. The restaurant offers both Korean BBQ and Asian hot pot experiences, but groups need to pick one or the other. All the booths possess built-in grills for BBQ, but the induction burners for the hot pot are limited to the bar. Both are all-you-can-eat arrangements that allow diners to order, cook and eat as much food as they want in two hours or less.

Korean BBQ hasn’t yet reached the level of ubiquity here that it has in larger cities so servers at Fiyah have a larger role to play in the equation. Ours was pleasant and attentive but could have done a much better job walking the group through the options, ingredients and cooking process. The restaurant has no printed beer, wine and cocktail list so we had to rely on a terse oral rundown of beverages. We landed on the gimmicky but fun soju tower ($39), an 80-ounce tabletop dispenser filled with a blend of soju, beer, mixers and ice. Others are filled with margarita and sangria.

Fiyah’s banchan game is pretty weak. Whereas other Korean restaurants endeavor to cover every square inch of tabletop with small dishes of raw, pickled and fermented items for sharing, Fiyah drops a modest three-section dish per couple. Ours held kimchi, pickled radish and cabbage slaw.

After the grill is turned on and preheated, diners simply order what they want, when they want. The dinner ($29.99 per person) lineup offers more than a dozen different meat and seafood options, while lunch ($19.99 per person) runs with a smaller selection. Like most AYCE places, food can not be taken home and there is a charge for excessive uncooked items.

We started with small filets of skin-on salmon, large head-on shrimp and thinly shaved beef brisket. Our server loaded us up with pristine leaf lettuce, white rice, fried rice and butter cubes for lubricating the grill grate prior to cooking. As the night progressed, we moved on to sliced pork belly, chuck flap, bulgogi, kalbi and strips of spicy chicken breast. Each ingredient was fresh and quick to cook. Marinated items like bulgogi and kalbi tend to sizzle, smoke and spit more than others, but you can expect to leave the restaurant smelling like a line cook. Tables are supplied with separate tongs for raw and cooked meats and scissors to snip large cuts into smaller ones. The hot-off-the-grill foods get tucked into leaf lettuce with a dollop of ssamjang, rice and kimchi.

The veggie plate is pretty lackluster, consisting of sliced mushrooms, sliced onions and impossible-to-grill broccoli florets. There are no appetizers or side dishes and only one available add-on: ribeye ($15.99).

In the week prior to dining, we placed multiple calls to the restaurant to ask questions and make reservations. The phone was never answered and there was no voicemail option. We never had a problem ordering more food, but the restaurant was only about one-third full.

With respect to all-you-can-eat options, Fiyah offers great value for the price. Print up some cocktail menus, bump up the banchan and sauces, and elevate the level of service, because people are craving social experiences like these after years of subsisting on soulless fast-casual dining.

Fiyah Korean BBQ and Hot Pot
1253 East 55th St., Cleveland
216-862-4267
fiyahkoreanbbq.com

This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 8, 2023.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.