Parties always end up in the kitchen, so why not cook in the dining room? There's something soul-satisfying about gathering around a steaming hot pot or a sizzling portable grill while devouring morsels over leisurely conversation.

But there's often a catch: ventilation. That's why tabletop cooking is best done at a restaurant equipped for such purposes, like Insadong Korean Barbeque & Live Fresh Seafood Restaurant. Named after the quaint cobblestone district in Seoul, Insadong is a short walk from Lougheed Town Centre Skytrain station.

The location may lack the charm of the original Insadong, but the crowds waiting for a table don't seem to mind. Four private rooms built for large groups take up almost as much space as the main dining area, which has a rustic feel with snug booths and wood panelling. Some tables have a built-in sunken grill; those that don't are given portable gas burners.

Ask for water and you get a plastic pitcher plunked down to pour yourself. Remember, DIY is the norm here. The servers are pleasant, if slightly harried, but not particularly attentive–unless you summon them. Each table has a doorbell-like button that you press when you need something. It's a concept that's oddly amusing–oh, the temptation for abuse–but efficient once you get used to it.

The extensive menu includes favourites like ginseng chicken soup and bibimbap (rice topped with seasoned vegetables and beef). But the real attraction is the combination sets that include a variety of appetizers and feature barbecue or hot pot cooking.

On our first visit, my companion and I ordered the seafood hot pot combination ($59.99). The server immediately brought us a stainless steel pitcher containing a long pair of tongs, a crab cracker, and oversized scissors. Clearly, we were to prep for surgery.

After lighting the burner under the pot of water, he delivered our included appetizers: a beautiful, fresh roll of crisp daikon radish strips wrapped around a fish roe and seaweed centre, and a large green salad lavished with melt-in-your-mouth ribbons of smoked salmon. Next came the seafood pancake sizzling on a cast-iron pan. Spilling over with shrimp, scallops, and green onions, it was crispy but too greasy.

When the server arrived with a platter of raw seafood and vegetables so large it risked tipping off the table, we knew we were in for a challenge. The combo, although described as for two to three people, is plenty for a hungry trio. In addition to neatly arranged squid, shrimp, Manila clams, mussels, and oysters, there was glistening fresh lingcod and a whole Dungeness crab, both plucked from the restaurant's tanks. (This is not a meal for the dainty: eating crab is a messy, if delicious, business.)

We started by cooking the crab, and added seafood by turns to the bubbling broth. Accustomed to Japanese hot pots, I felt a dipping sauce was missing, but a rich broth developed after seafood additions.

The fried kimchi udon that arrived midway lacked fire and texture, and wasn't tantalizing enough to divert us from the hot pot for long. Five delicious house-made vegetable side dishes dotted the table, however, and were willingly replenished, including kimchi made from cabbage, cucumber, and daikon.

When I returned another evening with a group, we had meat on our minds. Repeat visitors know to order conservatively, so the six of us selected a barbecue combination earmarked for four to five ($79.99) and found it to be plenty. Featuring the same appetizers and side dishes as the seafood combo, this set was all about the grill.

The platter came heaped with five kinds of raw meat, all marinated in various soy sauce–based, garlicky concoctions: beef ribs, beef bulgogi strips, chicken bulgogi, spicy pork, and short ribs. A handful of seafood rounded it out, as well as a rich, spicy soybean-and-seafood soup studded with tofu.

It's useful if somebody in your group has culinary skills, so you don't end up biting into pink chicken. Quick lesson: grill the meat and garlic as you go. Tear off a piece of lettuce, dab it with ssamjang soybean paste, add some sizzling protein, and roll it all up into a bite-sized packet. Hot, spicy, crunchy, salty”¦ Delicious, and the fresh lettuce makes it feel downright virtuous.

So what if your shirt is a tad barbecue-scented when you leave? Your house will never know the difference.

Insadong Korean Barbeque & Live Fresh Seafood Restaurant 403 North Road, Coquitlam, 604-936-3778. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Reservations accepted for parties of six or more; otherwise, arrive early to avoid a long wait.

Link: Insadong Korean Barbeque & Live Fresh Seafood Restaurant official site