My experience at Best Friend at Park MGM Las Vegas, was good but not great.
This past November I had the pleasure of seeing Usher in concert at his residency in Las Vegas.
The concert was absolutely phenomenal one of the best I’ve ever attended.
Because the concert started at 8pm I wanted to have dinner somewhere close to the venue.
So after doing some online research, I discovered that there was a restaurant only a few steps away from the venue. Sweet!
And the name of the restaurant is Best Friend by chef Roy Choi.
Roy Choi’s Best Friend is an indelible mash-up of bodega, bar and restaurant,
Roy Choi was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Los Angeles, California. Choi is known as one of the architects of the modern food truck movement through Kogi BBQ by merging food and social media
Since I had never heard of this chef or this restaurant I was very excited to check this place out.
Once I arrived I was pleasantly surprised with the aesthetics of the restaurant.
I was really feeling the whole Bodega/Hip Hop theme & decor of the place.
There is a whole restaurant and bar hidden behind another restaurant and bar! The Mash Up!
The inside of the restaurants decor is very intimate and dimly lit.
Now lets talk food!
First and foremost I want to point out the chef’s menu at this restaurant.
It should be noted that everyone in your party must order the tasting menu.
There are absolutely no exceptions or deviations.
The restaurant does not allow sharing or individual ordering off of their tasting menu.
With that being said everyone in my party wanted to try the tasting menu.
Admittedly I was against ordering off of the tasting menu because of the cost and waste.
Due to I was heading right over to the concert venue I wasn’t able to take doggie bag.
Conversely as a foodie I did not want to deny my party the chance to experience this cuisine.
So here is what I ordered off the tasting menu.
First I started off with a Korean peach flavored Sake which is called a SOJU.
SOJU
GoodDay – Original/Grapefruit/Peach
Next for my first appetizer I had the Banchan.
Then for my second appetizer I had the Slippery Shrimp.
Slippery Shrimp
crispy rock shrimp, chili mayo, walnuts
After that I had the Kogi Tacos.
Kogi Short Rib Tacos
korean BBQ, salsa roja,
cilantro-onion-lime chili soy slaw
Soon after that my Kimchi Fried Rice arrived at the table.
Kimchi Fried Rice
caramelized kimchi, poached egg*
Not long after that the Garlic Chicken and Kalbi was brought out.
Garlic Chicken
soy-marinated jidori thighs
Kalbi
bone-in short rib
And last but not least for my dessert I chose the Date Cake.
Medjool Date Cake
sticky toffee, caramel ice cream
All in all the food was good but not amazing.
Certainly not worth a $400 bill at the end of night.
We were a party of four once tax and tip was added it rounded out to almost $100pp
Generally speaking I do not mind paying for good food and good service.
But what this restaurant does in terms of if one person gets the tasting menu then all must get the tasting menu is terrible!
It can easily make things uncomfortable if one person in your party doesn’t wish to partake in it.
To sum things up I do not think this restaurant is worth the hype or the cost!
BEST FRIEND-KOREAN BBA JOINT-$$$
Food
3 / 5
3
Service
4 / 5
4
Quality
3 / 5
3
Decor
3 / 5
3
3