Eat, drink and sing karaoke - but not in front of the whole restaurant

Lainey Seyler
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

At Huan Xi, you can get Chinese takeout, hot pot or Korean barbecue all while singing along to Kelly Clarkson.

Family and friends enjoy dinner and karaoke on Monday, April 16, 2018 at Huan Xi. Master Jenee Liusongyaj (from right) sings along with her daughter Lee, and friend of family Tiffany Yang.  Liusongya who works at a restaurant in Sacramento, Ca., that also features karaoke, is visiting family who surprised her with the dinner. Similar karaoke rooms are really popular in Korea and throughout Asia. You also get to cook your own Korean barbecue as part of the package.

It's private-room karaoke and it's a style that is popular in Asia, especially Korea, and has popped up in larger U.S. cities.

Huan Xi, at 2428 N. Murray Ave., added VIP rooms when it remodeled in 2016. It also added built-in hot pot and Korean barbecue cookers throughout the restaurant.

Master Jenee LiusongyajI, who lives in Sacramento but visits Milwaukee often, recently got a VIP room at Huan Xi with her family.

"I haven't seen anything like it in Milwaukee," she said. "They have a lot of Asian and Chinese songs, it was cool to sing. It's very relaxing."

The VIP rooms are separate from the main part of the restaurant, so people belting out "Firework" by Katy Perry aren't bothering the rest of the dining room. 

"I don't have to worry about being embarrassed or making mistakes," Liusongyaijl said. "I can sing my heart out and give it my all. If I make a mistake, I can sing it again."

"Someone in a group will say, 'I'm not singing,'" Huan Xi server Tiffany Willis said. "But by the end of the night, they are getting into it."

Each room can fit about 10 people and has a TV that shows a music video while you sing along with or without a microphone (each room has two).

Family and friends do hot pot and Korean barbecue in between singing karaoke on Monday, April 16, 2018 at Huan Xi. They were celebrating a family reunion. Similar karaoke rooms are really popular in Korea and throughout Asia. Angela Peterson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

You don't always get the official version of a popular song or video, but watching stock footage of a woman walking around a city to the tune of "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boys II Men is part of the experience.

Hot pot and Korean barbecue is available in Huan Xi's VIP rooms along with the restaurant's Chinese-American and authentic Chinese menu.

Hot pot is $23.95, Korean barbecue is $26.95 (and comes with hot pot). There's no extra charge for the VIP rooms, but you do need to pay in cash.

Hot pot is a soup that you cook yourself. The server brings out hot broth and raw vegetables and meat. There's a condiment bar with fresh chopped cilantro and scallions and add-ins like Szechuan peppers, hoisin sauce and a house barbecue sauce (for the Korean BBQ), so you can season the soup to your liking.

The rooms steam up and the party gets started. 

"Normally, the people who do come, it's a birthday party. It gets pretty loud," Willis said. "You'll have three full VIP rooms filled up ... everyone is laughing, so it's really fun."

Huan Xi's karaoke program has options for English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese speakers, and includes popular American songs and Asian pop music.

"I did a Chinese song, and we did a lot of English songs," LiusongyajI said. "We did country and hip hop."

Everyone gets a turn to pick out a song when you don't have to share the microphone with an entire bar, which is the big benefit of private room karaoke and why it's catching on across the country.