Gen Korean BBQ @ The Collection

Watch out Oxnard for the Asian Invasion!! ^O^

At first I found pho, then Yogurtland graced us with its presence, soon I discovered boba good enough to compete with Lollicup, and low and behold Korean BBQ (A.K.A. KBBQ)!!! Oxnard's population is majority Mexican and due to that, there are many eateries which cater to that community. There is a good population of Asian/Filipinos but you would think with that presence there would be more eateries/markets. There isn't but it is growing. Not to long ago Island Pacific (a Filipino grocery store) opened. The only known Asian supermarket was the Fuwa Market (and those who are Asian or into Asians know what I'm talking about).

As for Asian eateries there was a couple of phò places that fit the need and of course plenty of sushi places. There was this so-called placed which served KBBQ but it wasn't how I envision KBBQ.

KBBQ from my many experiences, in Korea Town, Irvine, and Rowland Heights, it's sitting down at a grill,ordering your meats, and cooking them. KBBQ is great AYCE (All-You-Can-Eat) alternative to your everyday Chinese and Hometown buffet. It's different where it's AYCE meat/poultry/seafood, not entrees, sides, and desserts. KBBQs vary in price and it's due to the quality of the meat. Gen Korean BBQ has some premium meats and I should have known walking in.

Gen's sign to indicate they're there.

As I approached Gen I was thinking it will look like a lot of  KBBQ places I have experienced which is a more intimate atmosphere, and when I mean intimate atmosphere it felt cramped. For those who have experienced Gen, you should have seen my face. Gen is huge in space. The decor alone was amazing, a modern style.

This is behind the hostesses

If you look hard to your right there is a bar

It looks like a huge window but it's open, no glass, pretty cool

More decoration to make it look sheik

I found my party and another thing I noticed was the divider between one set of booths to another. Usually it's a wooden "fence" but for this case it was a glass display case with a row of china placed inside.

Behind my lovely friends is the divider between the tables. I loved it because it really opens up the room

As soon as I was seated our server Abby right away asked us about what we would like to order. My friends (Sonia, Stephanie, and Carmen) already had their drinks; I was the last one to arrive. =/

Our first round we ordered beef bulgogi and brisket. Another server gave us our meat and went along his way. For how much meat you get for each plate isn't lot but it's not about the QUAN-TITY. It's about the QUAL-ITY. Hope you keep this in mind when you go.

 We had many servers that night, and the ones I remember by name is Abby, John, and Jonathan (which all were great). After devouring our first round,  Sonia and Stephanie ordered bulgogi chicken and shrimp. What's so great about KBBQ is you cook the meat to your liking; they want the meat to crisp as in sort of burnt. The chicken was surprisingly delicious because it's chicken. My experiences is it's too dry or not flavorful. While our chicken and shrimp were cooking they also ordered glass noodles with vegetables.

You didn't have to cook the noodles since they were already cooked. At first I was thinking "Why order noodles!?! This is KBBQ!" But they looked SOOOO good and once I took a bite all I wanted to do after was eat those noodles. These noodles made me want to curse up a storm on how INCREDIBLE they were. Phò-king addicitng!!  We again were so pleased with the brisket and bulgogi that we ordered another round.

Gives these noodles a chance, please!

Since this was my friends' first time experiencing KBBQ they were near to finish but one of the servers recommended the steak. Between all of them Carmen was down to try it with me and we shared an order of the recommended steak. Seriously!! If I had Gen every Monday (which was the day I went), Mondays would start being my favorite day of the week.

Steak!! As you see, this is one order of it.

After that as we were paying our bill we discussed our experience and to say the least, we'll all be coming back again. To say the most, the shrimp came in its shell, the iced green tea was not worth $3  since it tasted like water (I'll try getting the hot tea next time), our server forgot to bring the rice paper and had to tell her a second time, and since we were short on cash (which we ended up finding out ourselves since they just gave our money back without letting us know we're short) we ended up having to go up to the front to pay it after several servers passed our table. Then after the girls pointed out how the service was great because we all dressed fancy. I don't know if that was really a variable in the service we received but we'll never know until I go in yoga pants and a tank top.

Gen is a great addition to The Collection and a wonderful restaurant to show Oxnard what East Asia is all about! Plus I've been waiting for more diversity in the 8o5 and I mean like what I experience in Rowland Heights/City of Industry/La Puente/ West Covina/ Covina area. Gen is more than what you pay for, so don't be complaining about price. This place is worth going to even if you have to cook your own food. For those who never experienced KBBQ this is your opportunity!! Do it!! You and your taste buds will be thanking me later. I know I will be definitely coming back. . . hopefully this Friday . . . and sometime next week. ^_____^

EDIT: I have revised my rating for Gen. To read my revisit click here.

EDIT 2 (7/1/14): I have went to the original Gen and from that visit I have adjusted the grading to this Gen.

Gen Korean BBQ- 2721 Seaglass Way, Oxnard, CA
Value: 1/5
Service: 0/5
Food: 2/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Overall: 2/5