Greetings "Chairman Lee." I like the moniker.
As I say, I don't know the Korean scene very well. I went to a few bars in the vacinity of 162 Street. These are Korean-style piano bars as far as I know. They are not big enough to have tables like most Japanese places, but you sit at the bar. There are half doezen or so girls behind the bar and they talk and drink with you. Depending on how busy it is, you can get a couple of girls or just one. That one may flit between two groups if it's busy enough, but mostly you get at least one to stay with you and drink with you on your time.
They all also have one to three Karaoke boxes that you can take the girl to.
What do you mean by "Korean room salon"?
Yeah, I didn't expect that would change. It's been decades since I've been to one in Midtown, but if you adjust for inflation, they are quite a bit more expensive than the Korean ones I'm talking about now.
No, no. Not Japanese, Korean. I know the Japanese places have baristas that are not the same as the girls who talk with you. That's mostly because you usually get a table with the girl.
No, this girl was def a piano bar girl. She spent at least an hour talking and drinking with us, telling me how "gorgous" I am and the like. LOL. She was quite good at her job. Pretty much the same as the Japanese are.
What I'm wondering is how much tip she should expect for that? Let's say we were there for about an hour and a half. I'd say she spent aprox an hour of that time directly drinking with us. A coupld of times, boss moved her as it was getting busy, but she came right back each time after about 15 min or so. In this particular place, the girl stayed on her side of the bar. (I've been to others where they will come sit next to you and start touching you if it's not busy.)
I think the tip we put on the bill was at least $50 (bill was $80) which was paid with the bill. I was worried that wasn't enough so I gave the girl $40 directly. She seemed happy with that and I think that should have been enough, but I just want to hear your take on it.
Compared to the expense of the Japanese bars I knew in Midtown, this is peanuts. But I want to make sure I'm not under tipping. The Korean clientele looked average, not high class business as in the Japanese places, so I don't expect they were tipping much more. But it doesn't hurt to make sure.
I still want to know what goes on in those karaoke boxes and at what prices...