I tried the all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ in Leeds Merrion Centre - cooking at your table is the way forward

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I’m a barbie girl after this Korean-style feast in Leeds.

Having recently returned from a week’s all inclusive holiday abroad, I felt as though I’d had the right level of training to tackle Hama’s Korean barbecue and buffet.

The Merrion Centre branch of the restaurant – there’s another in Roundhay Road – offers not one but two all-you-can-eat options.

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HAMA Korea is in the Merrion Centre, Leeds. HAMA Korea is in the Merrion Centre, Leeds.
HAMA Korea is in the Merrion Centre, Leeds. | Geha Pandey

Our server explained how the concept works; essentially you help yourself to the buffet then there’s a separate section where you can choose the fish, meat and veg you want to cook at your table.

For a midweek evening, there was a decent buzz about the place. The K-Pop on the big screens is a nice touch. 

The buffet itself has hot and cold options so we thought we’d kick things off with a salad starter. And by salad, I mean an array of utterly delicious options including crisp, crunchy veg in a mind-blowingly tangy sauce.

There’s also a good choice of kimbap, which is cooked rice and a choice of filling rolled in dried sheets of seaweed.

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Being something of a novice with Korean cuisine, we weren’t sure what was really spicy but it didn’t matter as it all blended together beautifully. 

Likewise the hot section of the buffet, where you can find a huge choice of Korean delicacies – the tofu in hot sauce was a particular favourite – and even some western options involving chips, new potatoes and chicken wings.

However the real USP of Hama is the tabletop barbecue. My guest decided he was going to have a fish course of huge king prawns and squid and duly lined them up to cook.

There’s something really intimate and fun about selecting what you want then watching it cook right in front of you as you turn it occasionally with the tongs – at one point we were practically arguing over who was going to flip the stuff over.

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Food at HAMA Korea, an all-you-can-eat BBQ and buffet.Food at HAMA Korea, an all-you-can-eat BBQ and buffet.
Food at HAMA Korea, an all-you-can-eat BBQ and buffet. | YEP reviewer

Once the seafood had been devoured he was up and off to grab the next course – a couple of different styles of pork and some chicken.

It's fair to say he hadn’t really thought through what he was going to have, he just wanted to put things on the grill then turn them over.

It fell to yours truly to fetch some bowls of perfectly steamed rice, iceberg lettuce leaves and condiments so he could make wraps, and of course a couple of bowls of kimchi. 

There wasn’t a vast amount for vegetarians to barbecue, other than a selection of veg, but Hama more than makes up for it with the array of dishes on the buffet, all of which can be teamed with delicious rice noodles with sesame oil, egg noodles or steamed rice.

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You can round off your meal with a bun or perhaps some fruit; by this point my guest had something of a meal sweat on but I managed some very sweet, juicy melon and a handful of grapes. Good to know that the training didn’t go to waste.  

Fact file

Address: Hama Korean BBQ Buffet, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds

Tel: 0113 245 5250

Open: Mon-Fri 4pm-10.30pm; Sat noon-10.30pm; Sun noon-10pm.

Scores

Food: 8/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

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