Striking new Kalbi Social Club at Irvine Spectrum Center serves Korean barbecue. Its name, kalbi, refers to the marinated beef short ribs grilled at the table. Animated scenes of Korea and clips of sumptuous meats screen just inside the door below rings of light. The ambience beyond is elegant; Korean pottery punctuates the décor. And Kalbi does seem social, particularly at the circular bar looking out onto the plaza. The bar’s shape echoes the circular grills at the tables.

Feasts for two or more feature several cuts — short rib, beef brisket and rib eye in your choice of three marinades — plus a host of sides including four kinds of banchan, perilla-seed salad and dessert. Attentive servers work the grills. Four cuts can be ordered a la carte, as can shareables such as kalbi-filled pan-fried dumplings, spicy corn-cheese noodles, savory kimchi stew and five-color bibimbap. There are three styles of kimchi, one of them unfermented.

The creamy Mak-skey Old-Fashioned cocktail is served in a bowl with a spoon.

The restaurant, which shares ownership with highly regarded neighbor Robata Wasa, also at Spectrum Center, is open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.