Let me start by saying the atmosphere was really lovely. It’s a nice location, cool lighting, and an intimate space. That’s about as high as my compliments reach for this restaurant.Barely any Korean staff, and none seen in the kitchen. I know this isn’t always an indicator, but the restaurant goers were mostly caucasian.Unfortunately the food was such a disappointment. The banchan was okay, but half of it was condiments: no fish cake, Dotori-muk, fish, cucumber, or broccoli. For a Korean spot, the kimchi was embarrassingly dry. As you would expect the kimchi fried rice wasn't great either. It was more akin to dirty rice with bacon. The Galbi, which at virtually any Korean place would be served as short ribs, was over-priced and under-marinated steak. And worst the pork belly was just 6 slabs of bacon which you’re recommended to dip in sesame oil and acorn flour (I would recommend asking for a side of gochujang instead). I do have to say that the pancakes were honestly very good, so that was nice.I really don’t love writing negative reviews, but for the high price and aesthetics of the location, we definitely left feeling disappointed. It seems clear whoever developed this restaurant is familiar with Korean BBQ spots, and with the influx of similar restaurants in NYC, I think it’s absurd to spend this amount of money for mediocre food.
Insa is the best place for Korean bbq and karaoke in the area! We were recommended by a local website featuring best places in nyc to celebrate 30+ year old birthdates and we were not disappointed :) :) At first glance the place seems very rustic and a little underrated, but all things considered the approach of the host and servers was authentic and fresh! 5/5 star rating!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tteokbokki, Pork Rinds
Nicole Chen
They may have time limit for every table. Not a good experience even though the foods are pretty good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Madeline Hurley
The food and service were great. I went here for an early anniversary dinner and they gave us a glass of complementary sparkling wine. The food was solid. We got the short rib, the carbonara noodles, fried mushrooms and the chicken wings. Our waiter was attentive and gave good recommendations. We will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: INSA Fried Chicken
Jane Kuon
As a Korean, I can say that this place is not an authentic Korean restaurant with an authentic experience. It’s just a place where people who are unfamiliar with the culture come to have a washed up version of the Korean experience. The manager is really uptight about everything and will make your experience uncomfortable.. which really holds against the principle of Korean hospitality. Make the trip to flushing, ktown manhattan, or fort lee..
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Johnny Trinh
This place is a vibe. The food is amazing. Come hungry and ready to eat!
Such a fun spot, I think the wings are the best of the
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Angela
I just celebrated my birthday here tonight. I have ZERO complaints. Nothing but LOVE for Insa! ♥️♥️♥️ First off the place is beautiful inside. It felt so cozy too. The cocktails were tasty! I enjoyed my margherita a lot - they kindly made it the way I really wanted it. We ordered the Galbi, bulgogi, etc... It was all absolutely delicious. The Galbi especially was great. I can feel my mouth salivating as I am thinking about it right now. The service was good overall. The staff were so kind, helpful, and attentive. I love that they have private karaoke rooms here too. No need to travel to another destination for that. Super convenient. We had such a blast picking the songs through their app and singing along as a group. Then towards the near end of our karaoke session, a staff member came in and presented an ice cream sundae with a candle on top for my birthday. Everyone broke into the happy birthday song. What a sweet moment! Tonight was one of the best and most fun birthday celebrations I've ever had. Thank you Insa for making my night special!
this is for the karaoke experience and the karaoke experience only. i booked a reservation here for the a karaoke room with 7 people for my bf's bday and here are the pros and cons of my experiencepros - prompt service: they have a button which you can press for service and they were very responsive and brought our orders quickly! - good selection of music: they got most all the songs up til like late 2021/2022- rooms: the room wasn't big but it was clean and the seats were arranged in a way that we could all see each other! cons- they tried to keep our cake: i brought a cake to be cut (they have a cake fee btw) and they took it to the kitchen, brought it out half way thru our reservation with candles, took it back to slice and bring it out - all of which was great. EXCEPT they gave us the tiny slices, which FINE but then despite asking twice where the rest of the cake was, was ignored and then had to flag down the hostess as we were leaving to ask her to give us the rest of the cake. there was over half left! they tried to swipe that ish and that really rubbed me the wrong way- bad speaker: i don't know if it was just our room but we kept getting this loud popping sound and despite flagging it twice, it did not get fixed. they did knock off like $30-50(?) off the final bill but it did ruin a lot of the songs we were singing- app/remote: you do have to download an app to access the songs which is convenient once you set it up but i wish their remote service was better so you werent just passing around someone's phoneoverall, i'd come back here if i'm looking for karaoke in the area but definitely wouldn't go out of my way to come back especially when there are SO many other options in the city.
Matthew Grandin
Expertly run Korean barbecue place with beautiful decor, amazing food, a charming bar, and private karaoke rooms. Some of the seating is family style, and on busy nights. It’s good to try and make a reservation before arriving.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Korean Fried Chicken, Hot Stone Bowl, Fried Chicken, INSA Fried Chicken, Bibimbap
The food was good, not great. The drinks were also good. So many young kids running around, it made for a dining experience I do not wish to
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Andy Zou
Come to Insa all the time, it's a great spot with a cool atmosphere, karaoke in the back, flavored soju, family-style BBQ right in front of you. Great date night!Vegetarian options: BBQ Mushrooms platter was very tasty, quite a few other vegetarian options, too.Dietary restrictions: Gluten Free
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi, Japchae, Bibimbap
Katie Sicking
i've eaten here four times in the past year and i am blown away by the dishes every single time. The service is sharp, the ambiance with the BBQ tables is fun, and the cocktails are perfect, but it's the food that keeps me coming back.As someone who is gluten free but loves korean food, you just can't beat this. There's also great BBQ options for vegetarians and vegans- im not veg but even I love the fresh grilled mushrooms!This place is a true gem in the brooklyn food scene, do not sleep on itVegetarian options: lots of vegetarian and vegan optionsDietary restrictions: great for gluten free diners!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Small Plates, Yangnyum Galbi, Bibimbap
Benjie Genchel
It's not Korean BBQ. It's some other food in the shape of Korean BBQ. Nice place, but man the food misses the whole point I feel. The corn cheese barely has cheese, and it has a whole lot of unnecessary other stuff. The bulgogi had carrots in it and tasted like beef stew.
Shar N.
Insa is a super fun place and great for birthdays, especially if you want a dinner that transitions into an activity later in the night that doesn't require moving a group to another location. Just beware that a private karaoke room is pretty expensive and you will probably need a reservation.
Let me start by saying the atmosphere was really lovely. It’s a nice location, cool lighting, and an intimate space. That’s about as high as my compliments reach for this restaurant.Barely any Korean staff, and none seen in the kitchen. I know this isn’t always an indicator, but the restaurant goers were mostly caucasian.Unfortunately the food was such a disappointment. The banchan was okay, but half of it was condiments: no fish cake, Dotori-muk, fish, cucumber, or broccoli. For a Korean spot, the kimchi was embarrassingly dry. As you would expect the kimchi fried rice wasn't great either. It was more akin to dirty rice with bacon. The Galbi, which at virtually any Korean place would be served as short ribs, was over-priced and under-marinated steak. And worst the pork belly was just 6 slabs of bacon which you’re recommended to dip in sesame oil and acorn flour (I would recommend asking for a side of gochujang instead). I do have to say that the pancakes were honestly very good, so that was nice.I really don’t love writing negative reviews, but for the high price and aesthetics of the location, we definitely left feeling disappointed. It seems clear whoever developed this restaurant is familiar with Korean BBQ spots, and with the influx of similar restaurants in NYC, I think it’s absurd to spend this amount of money for mediocre food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Haemul Pajeon Seafood & Scallion Pancake
Insa is the best place for Korean bbq and karaoke in the area! We were recommended by a local website featuring best places in nyc to celebrate 30+ year old birthdates and we were not disappointed :) :) At first glance the place seems very rustic and a little underrated, but all things considered the approach of the host and servers was authentic and fresh! 5/5 star rating!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tteokbokki, Pork Rinds
They may have time limit for every table. Not a good experience even though the foods are pretty good.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
The food and service were great. I went here for an early anniversary dinner and they gave us a glass of complementary sparkling wine. The food was solid. We got the short rib, the carbonara noodles, fried mushrooms and the chicken wings. Our waiter was attentive and gave good recommendations. We will be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: INSA Fried Chicken
As a Korean, I can say that this place is not an authentic Korean restaurant with an authentic experience. It’s just a place where people who are unfamiliar with the culture come to have a washed up version of the Korean experience. The manager is really uptight about everything and will make your experience uncomfortable.. which really holds against the principle of Korean hospitality. Make the trip to flushing, ktown manhattan, or fort lee..
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
This place is a vibe. The food is amazing. Come hungry and ready to eat!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Haemul Pajeon Seafood & Scallion Pancake, Soondubu, Steamed Vegetable Dumplings, Japchae
Such a fun spot, I think the wings are the best of the
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I just celebrated my birthday here tonight. I have ZERO complaints. Nothing but LOVE for Insa! ♥️♥️♥️ First off the place is beautiful inside. It felt so cozy too. The cocktails were tasty! I enjoyed my margherita a lot - they kindly made it the way I really wanted it. We ordered the Galbi, bulgogi, etc... It was all absolutely delicious. The Galbi especially was great. I can feel my mouth salivating as I am thinking about it right now. The service was good overall. The staff were so kind, helpful, and attentive. I love that they have private karaoke rooms here too. No need to travel to another destination for that. Super convenient. We had such a blast picking the songs through their app and singing along as a group. Then towards the near end of our karaoke session, a staff member came in and presented an ice cream sundae with a candle on top for my birthday. Everyone broke into the happy birthday song. What a sweet moment! Tonight was one of the best and most fun birthday celebrations I've ever had. Thank you Insa for making my night special!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Wings, Tteokbokki, Japchae, Yangnyum Galbi
this is for the karaoke experience and the karaoke experience only. i booked a reservation here for the a karaoke room with 7 people for my bf's bday and here are the pros and cons of my experiencepros - prompt service: they have a button which you can press for service and they were very responsive and brought our orders quickly! - good selection of music: they got most all the songs up til like late 2021/2022- rooms: the room wasn't big but it was clean and the seats were arranged in a way that we could all see each other! cons- they tried to keep our cake: i brought a cake to be cut (they have a cake fee btw) and they took it to the kitchen, brought it out half way thru our reservation with candles, took it back to slice and bring it out - all of which was great. EXCEPT they gave us the tiny slices, which FINE but then despite asking twice where the rest of the cake was, was ignored and then had to flag down the hostess as we were leaving to ask her to give us the rest of the cake. there was over half left! they tried to swipe that ish and that really rubbed me the wrong way- bad speaker: i don't know if it was just our room but we kept getting this loud popping sound and despite flagging it twice, it did not get fixed. they did knock off like $30-50(?) off the final bill but it did ruin a lot of the songs we were singing- app/remote: you do have to download an app to access the songs which is convenient once you set it up but i wish their remote service was better so you werent just passing around someone's phoneoverall, i'd come back here if i'm looking for karaoke in the area but definitely wouldn't go out of my way to come back especially when there are SO many other options in the city.
Expertly run Korean barbecue place with beautiful decor, amazing food, a charming bar, and private karaoke rooms. Some of the seating is family style, and on busy nights. It’s good to try and make a reservation before arriving.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Korean Fried Chicken, Hot Stone Bowl, Fried Chicken, INSA Fried Chicken, Bibimbap
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was good, not great. The drinks were also good. So many young kids running around, it made for a dining experience I do not wish to
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Come to Insa all the time, it's a great spot with a cool atmosphere, karaoke in the back, flavored soju, family-style BBQ right in front of you. Great date night!Vegetarian options: BBQ Mushrooms platter was very tasty, quite a few other vegetarian options, too.Dietary restrictions: Gluten Free
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi, Japchae, Bibimbap
i've eaten here four times in the past year and i am blown away by the dishes every single time. The service is sharp, the ambiance with the BBQ tables is fun, and the cocktails are perfect, but it's the food that keeps me coming back.As someone who is gluten free but loves korean food, you just can't beat this. There's also great BBQ options for vegetarians and vegans- im not veg but even I love the fresh grilled mushrooms!This place is a true gem in the brooklyn food scene, do not sleep on itVegetarian options: lots of vegetarian and vegan optionsDietary restrictions: great for gluten free diners!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Small Plates, Yangnyum Galbi, Bibimbap
It's not Korean BBQ. It's some other food in the shape of Korean BBQ. Nice place, but man the food misses the whole point I feel. The corn cheese barely has cheese, and it has a whole lot of unnecessary other stuff. The bulgogi had carrots in it and tasted like beef stew.
Insa is a super fun place and great for birthdays, especially if you want a dinner that transitions into an activity later in the night that doesn't require moving a group to another location. Just beware that a private karaoke room is pretty expensive and you will probably need a reservation.