Nine Ting - Chinatown

I wanted to name this "Nine Tings I hate about this restaurant" but I couldn't because there are more than nine. The place looks like it could be good. The interior is modern and nice, and the bathroom appears clean and kept neat. That is basically the end of the positives. The floors are insanely slippery and greasy in some areas. It honestly felt like a safety hazard. I was over cautious about accidentally dropping anything on the floor because it felt like it would come back greasy. It made me wonder if they are using real soap when they clean, because it felt like whatever greasey layer was being spread around instead of removed. Even the bathroom soap felt weirdly watery, like it was diluted. Service did not help. One staff member was not receptive at all. He barely answered questions, was not attentive, and came off rude. Just grumpy. The Food: The biggest red flag is that they do not seem to understand how Korean BBQ is supposed to work. They tried to change the griddle while we still had food cooking. They swapped it mid-cook and put the same food back onto a cold surface. That is a basic failure. Now you have half-cooked food sitting there while the grill slowly heats back up. If you have been to legit KBBQ before, you know how bad that is. And the BBQ itself is just not good. Even if this place was not labeled Korean BBQ, the food still would not hold up. It honestly feels like the BBQ option is more of a gimmick than something they do well. The "bulgogi" is not bulgogi. The beef bulgogi is not thinly sliced or chopped, and it is clearly not the right cut of beef. It was thick sliced of chewy steak. The sauce tastes watered down, and the flavor is not even close to bulgogi. They were better off buying bulgogi sauce in those jars from HMart. The pork bulgogi has the same problem. It is chunks of thick sliced pork. It'$ bland overall, and the only strong flavor is an overpowering ginger taste. I have photos of the meat as described. Even outside the BBQ, the food execution is rough. The scallion pancake was awful. It was more like a chewy mochi-like slab with barely any scallions or vegetables. They also served oranges at the end that they did not slice properly. That sounds small, but it fits the same pattern of sloppy basics. The menu is also limited compared to other Korean BBQ places, and it shows. There was no banchan, no dessert (but oranges) and there were basically no appetizers either. It was pretty much just the seafood pancake. That is not what you expect from Korean BBQ, and it adds to the feeling that they are cutting corners and hoping the nice interior does the work. Ventilation is another issue. There are no vents per table, so smoke just rises wherever. They even have these utility blowers at random corners, which is wild for a BBQ restaurant. Not sure if they're trying to dry the greasy floors or encourage air circulation bc of the lack of good ventilation. To be fair, the make-your-own sauce bar is not bad. It is similar to other KBBQ spots that offer it. I did not try the hotpot, but from what I saw from others at my table, it looked fine. If people like this place, I would guess it is because of the hotpot and the nice interior, not because the KBBQ is good. Price-wise, it is around average, but still overpriced for the quality you get. I have had solid Korean food in a Korean-populated area in Jersey, so I know what decent KBBQ looks like. Asian food in Philly is amazing so there is no way it cannot do better than this. The cutting of corners were so prevalent. This was absolutely disappointing. I wonder if the business is doing well honestly. I can't imagine any fans of KBBQ would come here more than once. And if this is your first time, I would not recommend this as your introduction.

Nine-Ting is easily one of my favorite places to eat — if not the favorite. The food is always fresh, flavorful, and so satisfying. I first came here with a friend who introduced me to it, and I loved it so much that I later brought my mom. That visit is one I’ll never forget — we had such a wonderful time together enjoying the meal and the experience. The staff are amazing — friendly, welcoming, and excellent at giving suggestions if you’re unsure what to order. The atmosphere is fantastic, and every visit feels relaxed and enjoyable. They also had a location in Bensalem, which unfortunately is no longer open, but the downtown location is just as good, with the same great food and experience. Shenna worked there and was amazing — I loved her so much and really miss her Highly recommend Nine-Ting for anyone looking for incredible food, a fun atmosphere, and genuinely kind staff!

So I’ve been here many times, and I’ve had both hot pot and bbq. This time I decided to leave a review to share my experience with everyone and show what it’s like there. The hot pot here is $31, BBQ is $36, and both is $41. The food here’s great, lots of options for all kinds of meat and vegetables. My favorite was probably the short ribs, they’re already marinated with a nice sweet flavor. You can also make your own sauce for extra flavor. The server, guy with glasses, who brought us in could do better. He did not look happy to be there. Another thing I hope they can improve on is making better Bing Fan. The first time I was here, I absolutely loved it. But this time, there’s barely any rice, and it’s all honeydew and cantaloupes and a tiny bit of peanuts. I didn’t take a photo of that to share because it was just so sad. Hope to see some improvements next time so I can leave a better review.

*CAUTION: BUGS!!!* We went to nine ting yesterday as they have a special where you can eat for free if it’s your birthday! I was super excited as this place seemed to have great reviews. We went around 3pm and were the only ones there. The waitress and waiter quickly attended to us. Before I ate I decided to go wash my hands. When walking back from the bathroom I decided to check out the toppings bar where you can make your own hot pot / kbbq dipping sauces. At first I was excited by the wide variety of spices, vegetables, and sauces they had to offer. But when I looked closer I saw a fruit fly dancing around the garlic. Okay… no worries! I can handle that. Then I saw the large house fly crawling on the next condiment over. Oof. That’s a bit gross. Well, it didn’t get any better because the next thing I witnessed was an alive cockroach checking out the jalapeños. I panicked and went back to my table. I grabbed the waiter and showed him, and then proceeded to alert the man working at the front counter. Our food had just gotten to the table so we could begin cooking our meats. I inspected the meats (which, to be frank looked a little suspicious and some were more grey than others) and I quickly realized I couldn’t look past the roach so we gathered our items and left. The staff seemed apologetic and we obviously didn’t have to pay. I wasn’t going to write a review because truthfully I think that most kitchens have some sort of pest issue that we just never see. But to see it first hand by the ingredients made my stomach churn.

It was so good. Very nice staff, food is delicious and the portions are huge even tho it’s unlimited. Price is good for the quality of food we got.

The first time I brought my friend for KBBQ, it was terrible. The reviews didn't seem that bad so we decided to try it out. But the meat quality and service attitude utterly astonished me. I cannot even describe how disappointed I am in this place. The meat was not fresh at all, they were all frozen; it also tasted a little sour. Especially the marinated meats, the bulgogi beef did not taste like bulgogi at all. The food was barely edible at most, definitely not the best first time experience for my friend. The service was terrible. When we asked for additional fruits, mind you not even meat, they dismissed us and said, "No we are too busy." I don't want to sound too disrespectful but they were not busy. Save your money and reconsider if you really want to dine at this restaurant.

We went for BBQ and it was a horrible experience, the floor is super slippery, the servers act like you’re disturbing them, the food was not worth it, it took us 3 hours to finish eating because the server didn’t turn our stove on correctly, just go to gyukaku it is much better.