Muzette Karaoke & Restaurant

This makes for my second Korean karaōke experience (the first, oddly enough, was in a mall in Thailand). Korean karaōke involves a private room with a karaōke machine, tv and usually couch seating. We rented a room at Muzette for two hours on a Saturday evening. Walk-​in, get your ID checked and you’re greeted by a public bar and shown to your private room. It’s dark and warm but didn’t give me any desire to order from their impressively extensive menu. There’s a button on the wall to ring for a waitress, but our party ordered from the bar the majority of the time.
Beer comes in bottles and cans, running $ 5 (Coors) to $ 8 (Dogfish). They also offer wine by the glass and an assortment of sake, cocktails and specials. Saturday nights they offer Happy Hour Margaritas for $ 7, which are truly some of the worst drinks I’ve ever had! Cheap tequila and a splash of sugary mix might make for a drunken night after two, but lord you want to be a different person in the AM. Overall, Muzette is as good of an experience as you make it, with the right people, who can go wrong. But you could also just rent a karaōke machine and tell people to BYOB for a killer time at your own house. So, with that said, it’s not a place I’d rush back to for the experience.

This place was horrible. Do not come here! We stopped by on a dead Sunday and they would not accommodate the group without putting us in a «large» room. Scam artists.

This is my second time here and I’m NEVER coming back again!
They said they close at 2am but at 1:40 they shut us down! Meanwhile other groups were still singing. We asked why and they said they are leaving too. We waited around and they let them stay until 2am.
If you clear us out in groups then say so but that wasn’t the case. I think they were very unprofessional and didn’t handle it well. Either way, I will not be coming back to this place.

105 degrees in this place. Don’t bother. We reserved a private room and we were miserable the entire time. I’ve danced for 6 hours at a rave and sweat less than a I did in 2 hours at this place.
Edit! We saw a very drunk and weird Zach Galifianakis here, but even still, would not ever come back.

I have been to many MANY karaōke spots in Hawaii, Tokyo and NYC, and by far this one was one of the most oddest and mind-​bogglingly inefficient karaōke rooms I have ever been to.
First of all, if you want to sing in different languages, you have to completely switch the system. Your friends are singing English but you want to sing a few animé tunes? You have to switch the input and now you can ONLY enter and play Japanese songs.
Secondly, the search function for the songs is by the initials of the artist. If you want to look up songs by title, you have to flip through the book.
Lastly, and what is the WORST part of this karaōke is that you can ONLY enter songs into a screen bolted down at the front of the room under one of the screens. Basically you either end up having one person acting as a DJ or you have to constantly stand up and walk to the front of the room to enter anything.
Smaller annoyances and oddities included the fact that the videos seemed to be all bootleg promo music videos (all the videos had a «for promo use only» watermark on them) and although it was nice to see real videos opposed to the normal generic karaōke ones, we had to constantly switch it so the artist singing was muted. Unfortunately when we did that, the music inevitably would go slightly off pitch and/​or tempo.
Also, if you are a musical theater show tune junkie, do NOT go here. They basically have zero show tunes or Disney songs which made our group scrounge and rummage for things to sing.
The positives? The gentleman who checked us in was quite nice and provided a pitcher of water and cups for our teetotaling and pre-​flighted group. The space was clean and the two video screens made it easy to sing.
Including tax and tip for our party of five, it came to $ 110. Pretty standard for karaōke, but it wasn’t worth it at all for us :-/​Sorry Muzette, we will be looking elsewhere the next time we are in D.C.

Karaōke for introverts. While I have no problem embarrassing myself in front of the people I love, crowds are another matter entirely. Conversely, I’ll gladly watch someone I’m fond of yowl out a tortured rendition of ‘Like a Virgin’ — they’re so cute and wonderful! But put me in the same situation with strangers and I’m not so forgiving. Unsurprisingly, the regular karaōke experience just doesn’t float my boat.
Avoid the packed bar that smells of vomit! Don’t wait 3 hours for the DJ to play your jam, praying that the other karaōke goers will just lay off the Bruce Springsteen already!
Yes, you will pay for the (glorious) pleasure that is a private karaōke room — but it will be worth every penny as you sip slightly overpriced drinks, leaf through a thick binder of song options, display your frightening lack of vocal ability (or maybe that’s just me,) and bask in the enjoyable company of friends and their (terrified) dates.
The food is not bad either, although this is not a dining destination, so maybe pick up some empanadas first. It’ll be cheaper and help you hold your yogurt soju.

Had a very good experience here, though reading the other reviews I think the key is to go during an off-​hour time when the prices are lower and the place is emptier, thus ensuring the staff is attentive. Of course, not everyone is able to karaōke pre 8PM but if you can the prices are pretty darn affordable! It was $ 10 per person for two hours for our group of eight — and two hours is about as much time as you want to spend singing with your friends sober :)
Since we were singing from 6 – 8 on a Sunday evening, we didn’t order any food/​drinks and the staff didn’t pressure us at all to do so. Instead they filled our water pitcher up on a very regular basis and were very helpful when we needed a few extra explanations of the karaōke machine. Based on how much trouble we had figuring out the search functions to begin with I’d say it’s not a user-​friendly system. They also didn’t have as wide a variety of songs as we’d hoped. These two factors are what’s knocking down my star rating.
The one other time I went to Muzette was two years ago and all the videos played with the songs were random cheesy footage (horses, Australia, a lady in a sports bra and a goose…) but now they have about 80% of the music videos for the songs in the machine with just a few random animal videos. Your call on whether that’s a pro or con!

I really wanted to put 1 star but since this the only private room karaōke bar in DC, I need to give it 2. Otherwise, they seriously might read this and ban me from the place and I really enjoy karaōke. That being said: if ANYBODY needs a business venture, please see me about opening a better karaōke bar with private rooms in the DC metro area! I would be happy to join that entrepreneurial endeavor!
Ok, on to my review… The place is small but fit about 6 rooms. There is a main bar that is fully stocked. They also serve Asian cuisine. We didn’t have any drinks because my license was expired which sucked. They were very strict about this rule, which I get. They almost didn’t let me in even though the airport security would smh (I hardly drive)… so upon entering the staff was not friendly, borderline rude, no niceties… just abrasive. We were immediately turned way off.
When we got to our room it was dirty and dingy. We even saw a roach. A live one. disgusting. But we tried to be troopers and ordered food anyway (yuck) and the food was not bad but not delicious. The song selections were great. We had timely service and a lot of water. Other rooms seemed to be having a ball– they probably got to drink.
We had fun but only because we were determined to. The service (not the people bringing the food but the other service staff) is AWFUL! I don’t know if it is a culture difference, they were Korean, because I have had great service from Korean people before at restaurants in Philly.
Anyway, I will really TRY not to go back and save my karaōke days for Yokitori Boy in Philly!

I really wanted to love this place. I think I read that in another review before going there for a birthday celebration.
First, I’ll say this; Muzette provides a much-​needed service of Korean-​style singing rooms within DC. My friends said the food was good, they had soju and Cass beer, and people seemed to have a good time…
Otherwise, I’d like to pass along this cautionary information — Muzette may absolutely up-​charge and intentionally overcharge you on the rates disclosed upon reservation. Be persistent about what you think is a fair rate, because it’s not just you if you feel like you’re being ripped off. I’ll explain.
This past Saturday, some friends and I went to Muzette for a 10pm-​12pm reservation. I reserved 1 medium-​sized room 1 week prior, and asked to be put on the wait list for a large-​sized room. Over the phone on two occassions, I was told that I would be charged the large-​room rate once my party exceeded their listed medium-​room capacity. I told them that was fine! Upon arrival on Saturday, I was told no large rooms would be available. I said we would have a larger party as the night went on and asked if we could still fit in the medium-​room at the large-​rate. I was told (for a third time) that once we surpassed a medium capacity, I would be charged at the large-​room rate. In fact, an employee said that I would be TOLD when we exceeded capacity and at what time they would start charging at a large-​room rate. I am not making this up, I asked for clarification before entering the room.
This original arrangement seemed fine to me. Our party had several stragglers, we had approximately 5 – 6 people in the room between 10−11pm. Several late members of our party even sat at the bar beforehand, ordering food and not entering the singing room. Sometime significantly after 11pm, our room was filled between 10 – 14 people (which I had previously checked in on a phone call, and was told this was an acceptable capacity if I was willing to pay the large-​room rate.) While I was not informed by an employee that we had exceeded medium-​room capacity, I assumed that we would be charged for a medium-​room from 10−11pm, then a large room from 11−12pm. We had such a great time, we extended our room for 1 additional hour! Again, I anticipated being charged for a large-​room rate at this point.
When checking out, I was told that my charges for the hours in the medium room would be just over $ 300. The math I expected was $ 60 + $ 80 + $ 80 + ~10% tax, for a grand total of $ 240 – 250. I considered leaving a small tip, but we received no service in the room other than the 2 times the machine froze. Everyone had been ordering at the bar, many are service industry types who tip 20% or more on their food and drinks. When I told the employee that I believed my total was incorrect, she reminded me that I was being charged at the large-​room rate due to the larger party…
This is where I have my biggest problem: I was explicitly lied to by the person who explained the rates to me when I started my reservation who was the same person checking me out at the register. When I reiterated what I was told twice on the phone, then again when arriving, she insisted that I was informed I would be charged for a large-​room at the onset of my reservation. As I tried to explain that this was not accurate, she then said that the extra rate included gratuity. (Note: No where on their website or in plain view or in verbal disclosure is this information about automatic gratuity available.) Then, even after that, she tried to justify the increased rates as an individual in the party cancelled a small-​room reservation when we had very few people in the first hour. (We never started the small-​room reservation. There is no indication of a cancellation fee and there were other parties readily available to take the room for the hour.) She repeatedly tried to justify extra charges on my card for my reservation due to cancellation by «a friend» in my party. I simply repeated that I would happily pay for 2 hours at a large-​room rate and 1 hour for a medium-​room rate, a $ 25 difference after fees. Continually, the employee refused to acknowledge her error.
Normally, I am not the person to raise a complaint in a food/​drink establishment. I understand there are miscommunications and that, in Adams Morgan especially, these miscommunications happen with intoxicated people. I get that. However, I was taken aback by how forceful the employee was about a rate hike and pushing misinformation while I was trying to patronize their establishment and be super calm and rational about what I thought was a simple error. In the end, I was given a 10% «discount,» but only for my persistence and never with Muzette’s apology or acknowledgment of miscommunication.
If you’re really set on Korean-​style singing rooms, it’s worth the drive or metro or whatever transportation you can manage to enjoy a better, more affordable night in MD or VA.

Walked into Muzette (was hoping to sing) and was greeted by a host that was rude and assured us that we’d «never get in». I’m sure there are better ways to show guests how busy a venue is…

Muzette is always a good time, but that’s really because Asian style karaōke is always a good time. Food, drink, and obnoxious singing in the privacy of your own room? #winning
They are pricer than similar places in Annandale but they can get away with it since they’re the only KTV place in DC. They have different sized rooms that range from $ 40-​$ 80 an hour Friday and Saturday nights. We had a large group of about 20 in last weekend and were there for 3 – 4 hours. Add in the multiple rounds of beer, soju, and food — that ish adds up!
The machines themselves are pretty good. They upgraded to a touch screen system where you can search for songs and artists. Though the search system is wonky and wouldn’t find songs the book said the system had. They had a good mix of older songs and Top 40 hits updated a couple months ago — pretty good! I’ve been to some places where the newest songs were from the early 2000s.
Service overall is very attentive. There is a button on the wall you can push and someone will come by in less than a minute.
We couldn’t find the button to turn the background vocals off and the staffer said he didn’t think the system did that but I know all good karaōke machines can turn off background vocals and change the song key. We finally found it ourselves but were annoyed he didn’t know.
Atmosphere-​wise they are pretty no-​frills. Where’s my tambourine? All in all, it’s good for an occasional splurge if you don’t have the drivers to go to cheaper/​better places in Virginia.

This place is way too pricey for the services rendered. I have come here on 3 occasions now and on all three occasions, when leaving, we were asked to pay more than originally agreed upon. The last time I was there upon trying to figure out the check with my entire group of friends, the waitress actually told the manager that we are cheap. I will take my «cheap» business elsewhere.

Private room karaōke in the District!
Make a reservation for Friday nights, because it gets pretty wild up in here.
I’ve been in rooms of all sizes here, they have small and big and in the big ones, you can pack in quite a good number of people if you toggle your people between sitting and standing positions.
The food and drink are decent (pretty good bar food, had some nice tempura here too) and the service is excellent. We often blow our reserved time and are hard to shoo out of there, so hat’s off to the staff for staying cool and dealing with our shrieking and untimeliness.
The music selection is pretty comprehensive and eclectic. My group consistently surprises me with songs I’ve never heard of, but we lean towards 80s/​90s pop, and there’s one that loves Disney movie songs. We can usually find what we want.
The one knock is that they’re a bit pricey.

We went here on a Sunday evening, and we were the only ones in the place. That probably helped the experience, because service was prompt and we were treated very well. The room was quite hot, so we asked for them to turn on the A/​C, and they did! Staff were very accommodating and friendly, especially given that they had to listen to us wail and yell for 90 minutes straight (rooms are not sound-​proof).
Prices for room rental (for a Sunday afternoon) and food were reasonable – drinks were pricey, though, so I would suggest pre-​gaming this place if you need to be on the inebriated side to perform karaōke.
Song selection was incredible, and my group enjoyed the after-​market cheesy music videos that accompanied about half of the selections (Sisqo’s «Thong Song» is set to a pantsuit-​clad woman walking through a bunch of seagulls on the beach).
The room was definitely on the small side – we got a medium room, and we managed to fit 7 people in somewhat comfortably. The website states that a medium room is good for up to 9 people, but I’m not so sure that’s true. Then again, this is DC, and rent is at a premium…
Overall, a wonderful first-​time Korean karaōke experience, and I would definitely go again!

OK, before you get all «Hey Aaron, you didn’t review the food, décor, song selection, or atmosphere» I just want to say this…
I had one beer, it was a Blue Moon. It tasted like a Blue Moon.
My wife ordered some strange salad. It tasted strange and it looked like a salad.
They had seating and some boxy looking table that I kept banging my knees on.
I found the songs that I could sing. Sure, they didn’t have the theme song to Greatest American Hero like I wanted, but oh well.
The servers came and went, the room was well lit and I could recognize everyone.
OK, there ya go. Basics covered.
Now let’s get into the review of MY SINGING!!!
TOMMY USED TO WORK ON THE DOCKS!
HOLD ON FOR ONE MORE DAY!
ALL I NEED IS ONE MIC, ONE MIC!
I found that my range isn’t what it used to be. Granted, I can still hit the falsetto portion of Bohemian rhapsody.
I tried to sing Mint Condition’s «So Fine» replacing some of the lyrics as a tribute to my wife and our newly born son. You could say it was a chronicle of diaper duty mixed with the inherent cock blocking nature of children in general.
If you don’t know what that feels like, try having sex while listening to an Ice J.J. Fish song.
Yeah…it’s like that.
I found that during some of the rap selections the N word is blocked out, or it has the dreaded ER at the end.
OMFG!!! Who places N***R in a song. Give me the N***A. I need it. It creates the sense that I have street cred. That I survived my hood. That I will bust a cap (do people still say that?) in a fool if he tried to dis my hood and think that my rep is a game. Run and tell that!!!
But I got caught up singing the N***R and I sounded like I wouldn’t give some of the people in the room a ride home if they needed it. As if gentrification was a good thing. If I should be drinking something other than a blue moon and that my white wife has made me look at myself and my people differently.
Just to let you know, the ride home was silent. The fact the ER was thrown in made me wonder if my wife sang it as well. Did she see me as sell out. I mean, really, she has more soul than I do. I’m like Tom from the Boondocks. I really am.
She grew up in Woodbridge. Nuff said.
So now to counter the fact that I sang the ER word, I need to actively counter that.
I have to go into the inner city and make changes. Tell them to stay away from places that have rap karaōke. Don’t use the ER… change it to A, or AZ, or say nickels.
TLC did.
OK, this review went off course.

Um … where to begin? It’s in the basement at an intersection/​corner on 18^th st. This was my first time going to Karoake/​KTV in America (outside of China) and I guess I had in mind the Chinese KTV rooms that my jaw dropped at how minimal and bare the rooms were. The karaōke machines are the kind that I have in my home… you can’t really do much with it… (What? NO way to add more echo to make my voice sound much better than it actually is?)
However, it was still a decent experience. Staff were really friendly and explained everything. They brought us tambourines when they overheard us talking about how much we wanted them. The rooms are decently sized… and in the medium one, there’s one larger screen at the front of the room and one smaller screen towards the back. I suppose that’s so that the one performing can see the lyrics. Decent selection of English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Krn (am I missing something?) songs. The music videos for the English songs are a bit strange, haha. Be prepared for them :)
You can order food and drinks by pushing a button on the wall. The tofu and vegetable seafood pancake were okay… not the best dishes in the world, but when you’re screaming your lungs out, the food & drinks are delicious. While not the best KTV place — it was a good experience, I’m sure I’ll be back with friends.

Ok… so I have only been to Korean Karaōke one other time before this, so I am not an expert. I had a great time but there were a few things that annoyed me. Maybe I am just picky, but I thought I should mention it.
1) Our karaōke machine was broken. It would skip songs. I am pretty sure than constitutes as broken.
2) They got our drinks wrong. I asked for vodka tonic and I got a vodka soda. This is not that big of a deal, but I hate vodka sodas.
3) Our room was frigid. Why, Muzette, why did it have to be so cold?!
I mean, these are super small problems, and that being the case I would definitely go back. I would recommend getting a reservation because this place fills up fast.
Also, they serve food. I am not sure how good it is; but, if they can’t figure out how to serve a vodka tonic, I don’t have much hope.

Muzette really doesn’t have any competiton. Sure, there are a few places in Annandale, but unless you’re planning to also get your Korean food fix, it really isn’t worth going out there just to do karaōke.
Anyway, a result of this lack of competition is Muzette can afford to be just average. Its equipment looks a bit dated and the place just seems to be kinda: meh:. That being said, it has a decent music catalog and its facilities are enough to placate whatever karaōke cravings you might be having.

Bibim Bap $ 12 (⁴⁄₅ NOMs).
lets sing a song and eat some, Its the multi layer of nomnom goodness. I just love the super runny sunny side up egg on top of veggies, beef bulgogi and rice. Rice was nice and sticky and prepared perfectly for chopstick. Just make sure to have a little bit of everything in every bite. That thing really filled me up. Only thing, this dish was a bit too spicy for me. I would defiantly order this again while signing some killer karaōke songs like Aqua Barbie Girl!

I’ve probably been to Muzette more often than I would really like to admit, but then again, where can you get this type of karaōke experience in DC? The answer… no where. So for those who would never stand up on a stage to belt out their rendition of «Gangsta’s Paradise» in front of a bunch of strangers or for those who just prefer to sing off-​tune versions of «I Don’t Wan To Miss A Thing» in the comforts of a private room, then Muzette is the place to be.
Being the only private-​room type karaōke joint in DC, and being located in the base of Adams Morgan, you can expect that it gets crowded here… best make a reservation. And my advice would be to get your food/​drinks started elsewhere and then come later in the evening because the only thing more annoying than getting kicked out of your room after your time is up and you’ve only just gotten your vocal chords warmed up is getting kicked out of your room and realizing it’s only 10 PM. But maybe because it’s just my preference to close my night with sake bombs, beers, and an audition tape for The Voice… you can spend your Muzette experience however you’d like.
While I will say that the food is decent and it’s never too difficult to get drinks, I have always felt that it is a little pricey for a night out in AdMo. But then again, if you’re the only one of your kind within a 15 mile radius, why not charge whatever you’d like. And you know what… I’m sure I’ll be back to put myself through this ringer time and time again.