Seoul Garden

We wanted to eat Korean in Nashville and this place is one of the few places that open on Sunday. The Korean food here in Nashville has more flavors than the previous place we tried at Destin. The server ladies all were so nice here. The beef tofu soup has sufficient amount of beef. The Jajangmyeon was decent. The Tteokbokki does not come with fish cake, decent. The fried Mandu is crispy.

As a newcomer to the deliciousness of Korean food, this restaurant is absolutely excellent! I got the bibimbap and OMG it was absolutely perfect. Will definitely be coming back and often. ☺️

I had been eating this place for years before moving away, but whenever I visit my mom in Antioch we like to come here for Korean dishes. This time was surprising, the place kind of renovated, with more bbq at table, the new menus with more item added. The food for me is even better than before. So more reason to come back whenever I am in town visiting my mom

Tried this and was not a fan at all. We ordered the bbq meat platter for 4/5 and the steaks and pork belly were completely unseasoned. The chicken was meh, and Bulgogi was alright I suppose. The side dishes were alright too, but the grill was a little small and it took a long time to have all the items cook through so you end up getting full on side dishes. The waitresses were at least very nice and personable. But the meats were super overpriced for $200. We had 4 of us and our tabs came out to $70 each after tip so definitely felt sticker shock. But we wanted kbbq and it was recommended, so we tried it. Sorry guys.

Dropped in for lunch. Had the spicy pork bulgogi, very delicious. Accidentally ordered the “one” level of spiciness instead of the highest level of “four”. Next time I’ll make the correct choice. Refilled the banchan when the plates were emptied. Great service.

Absolutely delish Korean in a very peaceful relaxed environment. I so appreciate the music is peaceful and quiet and calming- not too loud. You can easily have a good conversation here. The food is *chef’s kiss*… try the kimchi jjigae (kimchi tofu soup with beef). Never disappoints. Classy environment.

I don’t usually put stock in other 1 star reviews so had high hopes. But wow, in *not* a good way. Meat was tough and for $50/person that is disappointing. Kimchi was bland. There was only one other table at 7pm on a Friday, which says a lot. Our server was just SHOCKED that a couple was splitting a check.

I don’t know what took me so long to find this place but I am so glad I did. Authentic Korean meals where you can prepare your proteins and be served sides. So fresh, healthy and delicious. The space is intimate and the servers are wonderful. AiChing took excellent care of us and made sure we were comfortable with everything. They even had soju available. I highly recommend and will return soon. *note: bring a friend. For the BBQ there is a two dish minimum and average price per serving is $25

Went with a group of four. Ordered BBQ "A" combo which includes beef brisket, pork belly, beef and spicy pork bulgogi, and a bowl of hot stone bibimbap. The BBQ comes with pretty standard banchan (my favorites are the spicy pickled cucumbers and pickled daikon/carrot), 2 bowls of rice, and dipping sauces for each person in our group. The meat combos we ordered were good quality and the spicy bulgogi was so yummy. I will crave this bbq and will need to bring anybody and everybody who will enjoy this family style meal with me. 5 stars. The bibimbap was pretty standard, full of colorful veggies and a good portion of beef on top. I was a little disappointed that the rice never got crispy despite ordering it in a sizzling hot bowl. My favorite part about dolsap bibimbap is the crunch of the almost burnt rice, so if I hadn't been full from the bbq, I might have been slightly sad. I understand that's not how everybody prefers to eat this dish, though. The fun and flavor of the K BBQ as well as the attentive service earns this spot a 5 star in my book and we will be back again.

We wanted to eat Korean in Nashville and this place is one of the few places that open on Sunday. The Korean food here in Nashville has more flavors than the previous place we tried at Destin. The server ladies all were so nice here. The beef tofu soup has sufficient amount of beef. The Jajangmyeon was decent. The Tteokbokki does not come with fish cake, decent. The fried Mandu is crispy.

Solid price and service. But there was a roach chilling at the table during our meal. My friend and I who noticed the roach made the (frankly bizarre) choice to ignore it and not tell our other friends or the staff because we didn't want to have to vacate and ask for money back, but that definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

Was looking for some Korean BBQ in Nashville and this was really the only place I could find. Coming from LA I was looking for an All you Can eat. Here they unfortunately don't do that but the portions were acceptable for the price. I drove an hour so I was determined to eat the ladies were very kind but don't speak much English. Very cute restaurant clean and tons of seating.

Was here for dinner on a Saturday evening. No wait time to be seated, quick and friendly service. There are KBBQ options and grills on each table. We went with a dumpling soup and galbi (beef short rib), which came with banchan (side dishes). All were super fresh and delicious. We even had some of banchan refilled complementarily. The space is also bright and very clean. One of the best Korean restaurants in Nashville!

We absolutely LOOOVED Seoul Garden!! We went twice in a week when we were in town. We're traveling America and this was some of the BEST Korean food. We're sad that now we're in Little Rock Arkansas and I don't see much Korean food. We miss this place already.

Expensive for no reason. They used to have fair prices and good portions now everything is expensive and they reduced the portions

Super nice servers, very attentive ladies Food is seasoned just right - not too spicy. Quantities are large, plenty to take home for another meal. One thing that seems to be common to most restaurants which i dont like is that they leave all the fat and gristle on the meat. Mm

I love this place. Helpful service, who are experienced, and aware enough to leave alone those who know how to KBBQ, and to jump in and help the newbies on their first attempt. There could be a bit more diversity in the banchan, but their smaller variety is really delicious. Hard to vibe up a strip mall, but they do a good job making you forget about the nearby Hospital, Walgreens and Cricket Wireless.

When I first considered moving to Nashville back in 2009, I stopped by Seoul Garden for lunch. I wasn't blown away but I did like it. You see, hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurants (for the most part) have dishes that taste the same no matter where you go (with slight variations of course). Being a Korean myself who has traveled a lot, I've been to probably dozen different ones over my lifetime and they are all the same. And that's one thing I appreciate because I don't always get to visit my parents. Consistency, when it comes to Korean food, is huge for me because I'm going there for comfort and reminiscing of my childhood/heritage. Whenever I'm on this side of town, I choose the Korean restaurant based on what I'm craving. This time around, me and my kids wanted galbi (Korean barbecued beef short ribs). I prefer it over bulgogi (which is similarly popular) because it's fattier and therefore juicier/more tender. My kids like it because they call it "halmoni's food" which is what my mother feeds them every time they visit. They associate visiting grandma with being fed delicious beef ribs and rice . And like me, they crave it. So with that said, if you want any of the grilled meat items, Seoul Garden (to me) is the better choice (by a slim margin) than the surrounding Korean restaurants (Tofu House, Hai Woon Dai, Midori, BBQ Korea). I ordered galbi, an extra bowl of rice (they charge $2 per bowl, which is absurd) and jjamppong, a Korean spicy seafood noodle soup. Banchan (which are Korean staple side dishes) are free. The galbi here is good. It could use more marinade time but the base flavors (soy sauce, garlic, sugar) of savory, smoky, & slightly sweet are present. The ribs were perfectly cooked, with a glossy fatty sheen and nice char. My kids gobbled it up faster than I could cut it, like little chicks. My son likes the pickled turnips and eggs as his sides. My daughter likes the bean sprouts and eggs as hers. For me, I ate all the assorted types of kimchi. The jjamppong is a special treat for me because it's one of the dishes my dad made for me growing up. It's a seafood broth based soup, flavored with Korean chili powder. Depending on who cooks it, the types and amounts of seafood you get varies. My dad added a ton of seafood but nobody has ever come close to his version. At Seoul Garden, you get oysters, mussels, squid, and shrimp combined with green onions, onions, and a variety of bell peppers. This is a hearty, robust soup that can be mild or very spicy (be sure to tell your server if you want it spicy). It's served in a very large bowl and is quite filling. Here are the bad parts of the review. First, the price for the any of the grilled meats are ridiculous. The galbi was $25 (plus $2 extra for a bowl of rice). That in essence made my meal cheaper than my kids' meal and they split the galbi! Let me give you a tip. If you want Korean food as good (if not better) than any of the Korean restaurants in Nashville, drive over to Clarksville/Fort Campbell west of Nashville. Because of the Army base, there is nice Korean population over there. It's like a mini-Koreatown. There are Korean BBQ places that are AYCE over there. Yes... ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT. Secondly, not sure what the deal is but the service here is SLOW. It took forever to order after being seated, even longer to get our drinks, we weren't checked upon at all until I flagged down another server for refills, and then it felt like eternity to actually get the check. It was so bad, I actually feel like my 3* rating is justified despite how much I enjoy their food. The servers have no sense of urgency either. Hopefully they'll get better, but like I said, it's been pretty bad for years now. Maybe it's the fact that they don't have enough servers on the floor.

Lunch time has been the only time I come here. Not much to complain besides the sides are bland. But the other foods like the soup and the beef Bokum. Very tasty. The ladies was quick to get our orders and the food came out fairly quickly.

Very tasty Korean food. Super friendly service. The restaurant is clean and parking is easy. Prices are ok.

Writing this after my husband ate here last night. FYI he is Korean and ordered the pork dwenjang jigae. As he was eating it he felt that the taste was completely off and ended up stopping mid way. Seeing as it's now the next day and he has been throwing up all night and is currently super sick, I think it's safe to say that our assumption is that Seoul Garden served him pork that had already gone bad. I wouldn't recommend anyone to dine here. Or if you do, stay away from any of the pork dishes.

We were just traveling through and were a little hesitant because the rating was only 3~1/2 stars... so glad we decided to try it out. Hands down a 5 star.. very authentic food..so delicious and the service was impeccable!

Sorry for the late response after so many years! I've been coming here for about 4-5 years. I love how the Korean lady treat me and my family. The food is good and the service is phenomenal. We come at least once or twice a month. I would recommend this place to anybody.

Found this neighborhood restaurant in Nashville. Not to busy & seated immediately. Hostess was very helpful on telling us about the food items. Staff is very friendly & check on you constantly. Food portion is large so two can share. Food is cooked to order or you can have them prepare in front of you.

This is the closest Korean place to the house, but based on the poor reviews we were hesitant to try it. We've been to all of the grill KBBQ places in Nashville and this was close behind hai woon da. The ambiance isn't nearly as cool, the prices are steep, but the food was really solid. The ban Chan was really fresh (we had three rounds of all of them, which normally you have a couple favorites). The meat was solid and we enjoyed the experience. Out the door with tip, 70 bucks (with two soft drinks). We would definitely come back.

Great service, excellent prices. Overall a wonderful experience. Lots of food for your money. Personally ordered the Kimchee Dok Bokum. Can't recommend that any more.

Great food for early Sunday dinner with the family! Many Asian customers here which tells me this place is the real deal. My parents and brother tell me this is their favorite Korean bbq in Nashville. The waitresses are welcoming and drinks come out quickly. I like how they replenish the free small dishes of pickled vegetables. We got two beef dishes to cook ourselves (#4 beef bulgogi and #7) and the seafood pancake which is huge and pork bulgolgi that was entree. We ordered five bowls of rice which were additional but I feel like it balances out for all the free small dishes you receive. We ate in a small side room since there were seven in our party. It is a quiet atmosphere for a family gathering. Come support this local Asian eatery!

I LOVE coming here. The food is absolutely to die for, and the staff are all so friendly and nice. They recognize me and my husband, to the point that they've all memorized his order! The portions are generous and they give you unlimited banchan :) The ambiance is clean, attractive, and quiet. It's one of my favorite places to go!

I recently tried Seoul Garden for the first time after some friends absolutely insisted that we go before an event together downtown. Everything was pretty good - it just didn't blow my mind or stand out, really. For our party of six, we ordered steamed beef dumplings (pretty good), mixed seafood pancake (okay, but very gummy texture), some egg drop soups, pork bulgogi (good), short ribs (good), a noodle dish (okay), and drinks (barley tea, sake, and a Korean liquor). The side dishes were good as well (my favorites were the fish cakes, spicy cucumber, and potato). Nothing was bad, but I didn't think anything was outstanding. The service was good (our waitress was really friendly and helpful, but the the service was a little slow). Not a bad meal, but not a meal I'll run out to repeat too soon. (None of the friends I was with wanted Korean BBQ, so if I go again, I'd love to try the BBQ menu for sure). Still, very solid meal if you want some Korean food in Nashville.

This is the second time I have eaten at Seoul Garden. This restaurant is kind of hidden on the back side of a little shopping plaza. During the week they have a lunch special from 11 to 2 PM. The average dish is around $12. The serving size is decent. The spicy pork bulgogi has a hint of smoke taste which is different but in a good way. The beef bulgogi was pretty good. However, I would've liked it with a little more bulgogi sauce. The kimchi is very good. Although I will say all of the side dishes were tasty. During my first visit I had the Yukaejang (soup). It was delicious. I will certainly be back in the future.

I wouldn't say I was particularly blown away by this experience. I have missed dining at Korean establishments and really haven't had the chance since living in Nashville (approximately 2 years since leaving DC). I feel that this was a bit of a letdown in some ways, but happy I came here on the other hand. I think what got me here were the prices. I am used to paying extravagant amounts of money for getting grilled meat at the table, but these prices were a bit more inflated than I was used to even being in DC. I am not sure why. My dining partner and I ended up getting chicken and pork bulgogi and it was dry meat. The sides were decent, but the meat itself had bland flavor and didn't have much substance for what you pay. Service was a bit... different. He was a bit dry and somewhat uninterested. Not seeking someone jumping up and down for my visit, but he so indifferent on everything. Bad night? Just his personality? I don't have answers. LOL It was amusing, but at the same time a bit off-putting. I do not think I will be rushing back here. I feel I need to explore more options around town before doing this again.

This was my first experience at a Korean BBQ in the USA. I have only had it one other time while working in Asia. Overall it was very good. Arrived at 7pm and was seated immediately...on Friday night so that was a plus! I ordered the fried dumplings as an appetizer. Very good. I could have had those as the meal! For the main course, ordered the Japchae. It was really good. The sweet potato noodles reminded me a lot of spaghetti squash, it was full of fresh crunchy cabbage, and multi colored bell peppers, and beef which had a similar flavor of the Bulgogi (sweet and savory). There was a lot of food and it was fresh off the stove! My check for water, appetizer, and main was $30...very reasonable for the amount of food. I have enough leftovers for 2 more meals. My friend ordered the Bulgogi. It came with several small side dishes - rice, kimche, potatoes, cucumbers, etc. She really enjoyed it and also had plenty of leftovers. The atmosphere was friendly, dining and bathrooms clean, building temperature was cold to us because we were not using the bbq table, but no complaints ever about great a/c in August in the south . Would definitely go back and take family & friends from out of town or that have never been to a Korean BBQ. The service was friendly and attentive. Nice place.

A must when in Nashville.. It's not ayce, and yes they do charge you for every little extra thing u ask for.. but quality over quantity! Try the intestine soup with udon noodles

Why did i wait so long to come back to eat here when i want Korean food?!! I came during lunch time and it was pretty busy but the service was fast. We got our food in a timely manner and everything came out good, well everything except for the kimchi. The kimchi tasted super fishy so we didn't eat that. But i loved all the other banchan was good. I ordered the spicy pork with vegetables and it was delish! I will definitely get it again with beef next time and of course the bugolgi was on point. Lunch time is the best time to come. Alot of food for the money spent!

Food was bland, service terrible. When leaving the restaurant the old lady with the short hair rushed out to ask why the tip was small. Wtf?! Why would I tip over when the service was bad? No one got their cups refilled. Had to walk up to the cashier stand to ask for a togo plate when there was only one other table in the restaurant. I can understand if they were busy but this felt like they didn't neglected us on purpose. Go to Midori!

Is it the best Korean I've had? No. Is it one of the better Korean food in Nashville? Yes!! I've been coming here on and off for the past couple of decades. Staffs do change but overall elderly Korean ladies working their do give that authentic experience. Food, well... I'm all about the charcoal cooked bbq. But we were put into a private room and it was gas burner. Also the grill wasn't cleaned and the wait staff (the elderly lady) cleaned with some napkins and fresh oil. Haha! Food. We ordered two orders of meat and it was plenty for three grown men. Quality of the meat was good and overall experience was genuine Korean restaurant. I'm only giving 4 stars because we had a good time here joking with the ladies. And my expectation low from past Visits. Like I said, I been coming here for couple of decades. Not many choices for Korean in Nashville.

So delicious for Korean bbq! Sides are tasty, soups are tasty and the women working are so attentive and friendly! Place is always so clean and service is so quick!! Can't wait to go back

lovely ladies who seat you , it's worth the wait ! great food i highly recommend. the atmosphere is nice :) i always go when im craving Korean good !! definitely the spot !!

sadly, my first experience was marked by very poor service! my family and I walked into the restaurant on a Sunday evening at 8 pm. no one greeted us until after about 5 mins of walking upto the counter. The lady who was serving wasn't helpful. when I asked her for a butter knife to cut my omelette, she asked why do you need one? I asked for salt, she didn't bring it till I asked her three times. the Korean BBQ that was cooked on our table was barely cooked and was handled very unprofessionally. Their prices are exorbitant and the food was barely worth the money. I am never walking into this restaurant after the very poor customer service.

Call a month in advance for a represation told we will get a room when I get there I tell them we have a reservation set at a random table after the tasteless meal we went to pay we told them before we sat down to order that we had three separate checks they charged us all together when one of our parties didn't have enough money on the card they were rude and said the next time you go to restaurant bring money then they overcharged us and then triple charged us and added their own tip when we didn't offer one will not come back

An awesome experience and even better food. Highly recommend to anyone that likes food. The pork belly was to die for and the marinated beef ribs were very tasty. Anytime I go to Nashville I'll be stoping here!

If you're ever craving Korean food.... (aw man my mouth is starting to water) This is the place to be if you wanna have some tender, juicy, delightfully flavored Korean BBQ BulGalBi. UGH SHORT RIBS. PORK BULGOGI. BEEF BULGOGI. And BIBIMBAP YES. I have added pictures for comfort. I am from Hawaii born and raised... and we have a little Korean town, so I know great Korean when I taste it!! The people who work here are so nice. They treat everyone like family and sure do know how to cook!

Food=average Korean, not wow'd. Banchan were all decent, usually my favorite part of the whole Korean food experience. Kimchee was fresh, not yet soured so not my fav. Kkakduki was great; radish was bitter and tangy. Fish cakes, sprouts and marinated hard boiled eggs were all tasty. Oi kimchee was good, I like skin on cuces for this side dish but it was good. Japchae (buckwheat noodles sautéed with veggies and shredded beef) was a tad sweet but otherwise good flavor. Seolloengtang was good, love the salt on the side to season ourselves. Milky broth is an indication that they've cooked this down a long time, ideal for this dish. Yukgaejang was spicy, had shredded beef and vegetables, iconic for this dish. Very good. Galbi (not pictured) was so so. Wasn't marinated long enough and tough, another indication it was t marinaded long enough. Wasn't wow'd off my socks but it was 'ait.

Went for Christmas dinner. It is nice to know our fav Korean bbq restaurant opens on Christmas Day with all the regular menu. We ordered 5 different kind of meat, bibimbap, and jige. As any other regular Korean does, they come with good amount of banchan, which, of course includes, kimchi and other tasty Korean dishes. Meat came with no time and start to sizzling on our table. Maybe 5 meat and 2 entree for 4 of us were little too much. But we truly enjoyed.

We were in Nashville so had to try a different Korean place. The food was so good this one jumps to the top of our "when in Nashville " list. Spicy pork was as good as any I have ever had and I lived in Korea for over 20 years. The chicken bulgogi was very good and all of the sides were fresh and tasty. I love nangmyeung, a Korean cold noodle dish, so gave it a try and was not disappointed. Noodles were perfectly cooked, sauce was spicy and the cold broth full of flavor and not too salty. Do yourself a favor and check this place out!

Food was absolutely fantastic. We had the spicy pork and beef short ribs. Everything was awesome.

Great food and service. We had beef bulgogi and chicken bulgogi for BBQ and the food tasted really good. Surprisingly their chicken was very juicy after BBQ. The best part was the side dishes refilled without the cost. And our server was very gentle, nice and polite. Very pleasant experience.

I'm a fan of Seoul Garden if you want the cooktop table experience. I've eaten at most of the Korean spots in town. Read my previous review from 2014 for my original experience; since then I've been back a handful of times. I've increased the rating to 4 stars because I think it's more than just okay, it's good, authentic Korean fare. I just wish the service were a little better, that it cost a little less, and that the portions were bigger. It's hard to compare it to spots in LA and NY when you can seriously have all you can eat for the same prices you pay here. I still prefer Korea House and Hai Woon Dai.

Haven't been here in awhile and a lot has changed. I liked it better back then. This use to be my favorite place for Korean. They no longer have the wooden/charcoal grills. It is just an electric grill to BBQ your food now. Server was also horrible. She did not want to serve us at all and rolled her eyes when we asked for anything. There is no way the same owners own this place because I use to love it. 20 percent gratuity was automatically put on our tab and this usually happens when it is a table of 5-6 or more, but we did not have a group that big. As bad as the service was, I still would've tipped and I always tip more than 20 percent because I work in the service industry and I know good customer service when I see it, and good customer service was not what we experienced. Don't know if I will be back after today.

Literally my go-to when I go to Nashville. The workers there are so nice, everything about the food and service was great. Food is always fresh and flavorful, you can never go wrong with Korean food and this restaurant proves that.

We have been going here for years ordering Dolsot Bibimbap (or #17). The service is always great and we enjoy the experience every time.

When we went, they weren't busy enough that they weren't able to seat us immediately, however, we waited for half an hour before having a server even approach us, nonetheless take our order. In the meantime, a couple of patrons who came in after us were seated and had their orders taken almost immediately - to the point they were eating before our order had even been taken. To make matters worse, the servers did not check on us during the entirety of the meal, and we were unable to get refills or service. The restaurant space itself is fairly small, and everyone can see everything going on for the most part, so our disdain grew as we continued to watch out server pass over us even as we attempted to flag her. The food was alright, but I don't plan to return based on the lack of good service.

Friendly service and great food! Never had Korean BBQ before. Also our waitress was helpful and attentive.

I really love their food, but im honestly tired of trying to figure out their hours and I wish they'd take the time to update their websit. I was hungry and really wanted to go, so I checked on Google to see when they closed and it said 10:30pm. Then when I put it into Apple Maps for directions it said 9:00pm. Not wanting to drive 30 minutes for a closed restaurant I checked their website, which said they closed at 10:30pm. When i get there their door literally says 5:00pm-0:00pm?? I assumed that maybe the 1 just fell off but no, it was closed. Now Im stuck because most restraunts are closed, so I ended up wasting my time. I know I could have called to ask, but I feel like assuming the website isn't straight up lying to me wasn't a dumb move.

Not the best Korean food I've ever had but still very good and authentic. The bulgogi and bibimbap was good but the best thing was the side dishes. Definitely recommend if you're in the area.

I really wanted Korean food, so my significant other and I were looking up Korean places around. We've been to Korea House before, while it was good and fine, we wanted to try somewhere new with a bigger space (Korea House is so tiny!). He decided on Seoul Garden. I looked it up on Yelp and it seemed to have mixed reviews, but decided to take the chance anyway and check it out. I thought if we end up not liking it, we'll just scratch that off our list forever. So we arrived in a small strip mall. It was the only restaurant in the strip mall. No big deal, just observing. We walked in and were greeted and seated in no time. There were like two or three ajummas serving at the restaurant and all were very nice. I ordered the kimchi bokkeum (stir fried kimchi with pork, onion and scallions) and my SO got the usual, the dolsot bibimbap (mixed rice in hot stone bowl). The menu isn't as extensive as some other places (no jjajangmyeon, kimchi pajeon, kimbap, tangsuyuk, etc) but you'll find the basics here. The waitress gave us 8 different banchan dishes -- my favorite part of any Korean meal. There were the usual napa cabbage/cucumber/radish kimchis, simmered soy sauce potato, sliced marinated soy eggs, bean sprouts, fish cake slices and pickled julienned radish and carrots (my fave banchan dish). All of them were solid except for the napa cabbage kimchi. I thought it wasn't fermented long enough and tasted too fresh to be eaten, but I'm also one that enjoys kimchi the longer it's been fermenting. Considering it was complimentary though, I really can't complain. The servings were pretty big though (in large banchan dishes) and came with free refills. I wasn't horribly hungry walking in and I easily got full off of just the banchan themselves. It wasn't the BEST banchan I've ever had but it decent. My kimchi bokkeum was pretty solid. The kimchi in the entree was far more fermented than the banchan kimchi, which made it a whole ton tastier. The pork was slightly sweet and the dish itself was pretty mild. The dish itself was a bit greasy but I just dabbed and "scraped" the excess oil on the side of the dish before eating. It was pretty good but I didn't eat too much of it since I was already almost full by the time my entree came out. I didn't get to try the SO's dolsot bibimbap but he said it was a bit bland. I couldn't tell if it was just him thinking it was bland or if it really was under seasoned but he added a bunch of gochujang and gochugaru to suit his palate. After the two entrees, a bottle of Kirin Ichiban and my Diet Coke (it came in a bottle FYI, not the refillable fountain soda), it came to $40. This was also after adding an additional $4 for extra meat (double portion) on the SO's bibimbap. I don't think it was outrageously expensive but it wasn't cheap either. I feel like it was about the average you'd pay at a Korean restaurant that's not in LA or NYC or Atlanta or whatever. I had a pleasant enough experience that I'd come back. I also didn't notice anyone tacking an automatic service fee or whatever, and the waitress sure didn't come up to me asking for a generous tip (they didn't hawk over us before or after tipping). Not trying to invalidate anyone's experience but just stating that they didn't do that to me. If they do that to others though, I can see why this place got mixed reviews and turned others off.

This review is going to include a bit of background. The food and experience I had were wonderful. That experience goes back around 20 years. I'll explain my visit yesterday as well as explain why I haven't visited in a long time and let you know about that first visit. Visiting a restaurant, I am always impressed when the clientele seems native, as was the case here. While this is a Korean Bar-b-que, I chose one of the soups and loved it. The variety of condiments was excellent. A server greeted me on seating, brought my beverage and after a brief wait, another server appeared. She promptly took my order and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time. Even though the broth in the picture was white, the description called it a beef broth with beef dumplings. I went for it. The serving bowls are HUGE. They are so big, my server asked if I wanted a smaller bowl to serve to. Skipping that option, I dove right in. As my server explained later, the white color was due to onions. It was a great blend, but I splashed a little soy sauce for the saltiness to bring out the flavors. There were many dumplings in the broth and they too had a delicate but nice flavor. On to the condiments. Eight bowls were brought out for me and each had about a cup of condiment. I totally enjoyed them all. I could have made a meal out of the condiments alone. Perhaps they bring that quantity out for two diners, but because I was alone, they still brought the plentiful amount. My server suggested a bowl of rice to enjoy with the condiments and that worked very well. While I will not go into detail, trust me that the following were delicious: Marinated hard boiled eggs Marinated bean sprouts with a nice sesame favor Kimchee cabbage Kimchee cucumbers Kimchee radish Diakon and carrot A wonderful potato that was marinated Fish cake slices with carrot that went well with the soup. You might be wondering why the long saga about my relationship with this restaurant. In short, it was too far away to frequent. But there is a funny story about our visit long ago. This restaurant is about a half hour drive from our home. So a visit would take a great time. While the neighborhood is just fine, there were no other reasons for us to be up in the area. That, coupled with the fact that many Asian restaurants of high quality have popped up in our area simply meant we never made it back. On that visit many, many years ago, we enjoyed the food immensely. At that time both my wife and I got a bowl with noodles. There were the same condiments and that same huge bowl of food. As an adventuresome eater, I ordered the Korean Sausage for my variety. Our server got uncomfortable. She said, "I'm sorry. Maybe you not like." After I asked why, she lowered her voice to whisper and continued, "You see, sausage is made of blood of pig." I laughed and declared, "Bring it on. I'm Polish. We eat blood sausage all the time. We have one called 'kishka'." it really was a great dish. After all these years, the food and service are still top notch. As I drive for Uber, I go out of my way to try many different restaurants to help my riders by giving recommendations. That is why I will not promise to make this a new regular stop. I will try to get back and update my review. If you love traditional Asian food, come here and enjoy. Someday, I may even try the bar-b-que.