Aka Bbq Station

Amazing Korean BBQ with a wide selection from the menu. You could order the four different sets of BBQ menu or just a la carte. The set comes with a plate of vegetables. The staff is friendly and helpful and they even dressed in traditional Korean clothes. The price is reasonable given the amount of food they provide in the set. Overall it was a great lunch and I would consider going again!

Absolutely loved the unlimited Korean BBQ experience! The quality of the meat was good and fresh. The grill had more meat options and only had squid for fish lovers. Marination of the food was very good. The interactive grilling at the table added a fun element. The variety of side dishes complemented the main course perfectly. The ambiance was vibrant, and the staff was attentive despite being very busy. A delightful culinary adventure that I would highly recommend!

Fantastic new addition to Reading town centre: £30/33 per adult for unlimited Korean BBQ! From the entrance there are various gimbap, which is like Korean maki sushi rolls but with cooked veg, chicken, or beef. They were okay, with a slight taste of sesame oil. The spicy tteokbokki rice cakes were actually surprisingly good, they look like there was too much sauce but the rice cakes were actually quite bouncy with some bite to it, not overcooked or bloated at all. In the heated trays they have Korean fried chicken wings 2 ways (sweet and spicy, and honey and garlic). Both were pretty good, Korean food often is sweet which is easy to like. They have a pasta dish which was frankly bizarre and off-theme, don't know what that's doing there outside of trying to carb you up. They also have japchae which is a Korean glass noodle dish which was pretty tasty, although with all of the hot food I feel like they should be a bit warmer than their current tepid temperature. On the other side there were stir fried egg noodles, decent but I couldn't spot any of the pork that was supposedly in it. There were 2 more fried chicken dishes - sweet and spicy (not sour again as the sign suggests), and sweet and sour. Both were battered cubes of chicken breast so can get a bit dry, but an alternative to the wings above for those who prefer their chicken boneless. Above there were some chips, and some spring rolls which were a bit too doughy imo. Next to these were some egg fried rice and some plain rice, and 2 soups that were both surprisingly decent. There was a beef soup that tasted like an umami-rich galbitang, even had some pieces of beef in it! The second was a kimchi soup that was a bit thin for a kimchi jjigae, I couldn't spot any pork belly or tofu. Okay, enough of the hot food, onto the unlimited KBBQ meat! There were 6 different cuts of meat. Our favourite has always been the LA galbi, and it's the case here too: fatty cuts of beef short rib on the bone, marinated in a delicious sweet soy sauce. This is the one we always go back for more rounds of. There's beef bulgogi: thinner slices of beef flank, also marinated in sweet soy. There's barbeque chicken: whole pieces of skinless and boneless Halal chicken thighs, also marinated in sweet soy. There's pork neck: I think what Asians call thick slices of pork shoulder steaks, also marinated in sweet soy. There's pork bulgogi: thin slices of pork belly, also marinated in sweet soy. And lastly samgyeopsal: skinless pork belly not marinated, like unsalted bacon. These are often eaten at the start of the meal to grease up the BBQ, dipped just in some sesame oil and salt. All of them were great, well marinated and tender, but as you can tell from my description, the fact that 5 out of 6 cuts were all marinated in sweet soy is a little repetitive, at other KBBQs they often have at least some meats that are marinated in a red sweet and spicy gochujang (chilli soybean sauce). The overall vibe for the place was pretty casual, very quiet so far as it's brand new but clean and newly decorated. They have a TV screen in the back playing K-pop music videos, but strangely that's not the music audio they're playing, which they should definitely sync up. Overall I had a great time at AKA BBQ Station, and it's a fantastic addition to Reading town centre for people who wants to eat lots of Korean BBQ. I left feeling very full and satisfied. At £30/33 it's not cheap, if you're eating a lot then Soju or Gooi Nara would cost at least that at similar quality, and that's also around the same price as K-Town BBQ buffet in New Malden. The manager did say that they're planning to start a lunchtime deal very soon, so maybe wait for that if you're more patient than me. I really hope they do well, as I'm sure I'll be back again at some point the next time I'm craving lots and lots of Korean BBQ! If you liked the look of this, give them a visit and hope enjoy it as much as I did! Happy eating! :)

Option of a la carte and all you can eat buffet. Only 1-2 staff serving and changing barbecue plates as mainly self serve. Kitchen staff check on food supply and replenishes quickly, Quite a wide range of food options for all you can eat buffet. Beef pork chicken lamb squid prawn for bbq. Better meat option available on a la carte menu. Sides of sushi fried chicken rice noodles Korean pancake, salad sides kimchi bean sprouts. Hot soup of seaweed soup and bean soup and rice. Small selection of fruits orange melon and dessert cinnamon roll and waffle.

I loved that we could cook our meat at the table ourselves. Something we all enjoyed. I would recommend this place for either lunch or the start of a wonderful evening. The only thing is the option to drink alcohol is limited. Also the tables are little bit small so we found it hard to find places on the table for food and drinks. The food tasted fantastic. It was expensive.