This is my go to restaurant when I'm hungry at 1 am. There's nothing else open that serves good Asian food. The spam kimchi fried rice is a must! It's the best! I get this every time! No one else makes it as good as them. The watermelon soju is so good when watermelons are in season. I also recommend the pineapple soju. Might as well get both! My other go to dish is the army stew, it pairs well with the soju. The broth is nicely seasoned and it comes with so many different veggies. Yum! Service can be hit or miss. Sometimes they forget to put in my order. I feel bad for pushing the button on the wall to call them over, but it's hard to get their attention. read more

Dae Bak - Kimchi fried rice. Must order! - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Dae Bak is a really fun place to eat/drink/hang out with friends!! I order their kimchi fried rice and cheese corn every time I come here. The fried rice is really delicious (and you can choose to have it topped with melted cheese too!!). I've also tried their pork feet, which wasn't my favorite, but they give you a huge portion!! The fruit sojus here are sooo good too! I've tried the watermelon & pineapple (they come in the actual fruit), and both are really tasty. Highly recommend especially if you come in a group!! The inside of the restaurant is pretty dimly lit and has a more intimate feel (but definitely super casual), which I love for late night hangouts. Overall a great place to end off your night at :) read more

Dae Bak - Cheesy kimchi fried rice - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Great korean spot for bulgogi, fried chicken, kimchi fried rice etc. they built a cool outdoor seating area with nice ambient lighting (and outdoor heater). Fits maybe 4-5 tables. The best thing I appreciated about this place was the service. We were looking for some mango soju (none on the menu) and the korean auntie made us some mango soju cocktail out of mango nectarine and soju fresh on the house! Definitely coming back here. Thanks guys! read more

Dae Bak - Outdoor seating - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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We ran into some unexpected car trouble and Maria needed to get new tires for her car. While we were waiting we decided to take a stroll around the area and look for something to eat. We followed our nose to @Deabak front doors. All of the large thumbs up of their windows convinced us to go in haha! They offer a wide variety of Korean food. Something that caught our eye was their fresh fruit cocktails. We ordered: Spicy Baby Octopus Honeydew Soju Soft Tofu Soup Fried Potstickers We were a little surprised when the cocktail came out. We thought it would be in a glass with the fruit inside. They went the extra mile and hollowed out the honeydew and added soju to it. Our server was so excited when she came out with the cocktail and even added a sparkler and umbrella to add to the presentation. She insisted we take pictures of the drink while the sparkler was still going, it was really cute! This place certainly lives up to it's name, Dae Bak meaning "Awesome" with a thumbs up! #foodie #sanjosefood #koreanfood #foodadventures #foodcravings #foodcoma #foodblog #foodblogfeed #foodgram #foodstgram #foodpic #foodphotography #foodaddict #foodexplorer #fooddiary #foodhunter #foodlovers #foodphoto #sanjose #dumplings #octopus #foodblog #sjfood #instafood #foodofinstagram #goodeats #foodporn #foodinfluencer #foodilysm #tofusoup read more

So they've gotten better about their service and hours. But somehow the food is as good as it once was, like the flavors are a bit lacking. I ordered the fried chicken in the past and it was sooooo crispy and flavorful. However, this time it was bland and tasted like uncooked flour. I don't know what happened but when I let the server know the kitchen just said "it's always been like that" which I had to explain that I come here almost every week. And that it wasn't like that in the past. I hope they improve read more

Go for the soju! I came on a random weeknight in a group of 3 and we got seated in a booth. I did feel slightly uncomfortable because it looked a bit dirty with food splatters on the wall and the seats just felt like dirty cushions. Food was ok, nothing to rave about. I think this place is best for drinks. I think the food was better when I came here for the first time, or maybe because I was drinking that time. This last time I just wanted some late snacks like fried chicken and gimpbap. There was another party besides mine, so it wasn't busy. Unfortunately I had to get up a few times to get service : a couple times for water refills and another time to pay. I would only recommend this place for drinking soju with fresh fruit. read more

This was a great place for a birthday. We had nachos, fries, the sushi rolls, and some breaded chicken type dish. Don't ask me to remember. Because we also had a lot of soju. AND the watermelon and pineapple soju drinks. All the food was good, but I particularly liked the nachos as it came with a lot of toppings. The pineapples and watermelon filled with soju and juice wasn't too heavy on the alcohol... I think, but the plain soju was. The price wasn't too bad either, as a refill cost about $14? Don't quote me on that. Things that were tough about this place is that parking... doesn't exist. You should probably take an Uber or be happy for a walk where all the ajumas watering their lawn stare at you stumbling about because you decided to wear high heels and you never wear high heels and the sidewalk isn't even. Not a story told from experience or anything. Anyways, fun place. read more

The service was so bad, our server never got us any water and the food took so long despite it not being too busy. The food also wasn't great. I wouldn't come here again. read more

Although it wasn't part of our original plan for the night, it was an easy decision when one of my friends suggested checking out Dae Bak before making the drive back to SF. Even though we had just eaten dinner at Din Tai Fung, how could we not, especially since we were already in Santa Clara? Plus, like the proverbial fat kid who loves cake, we sure do love our soju (cocktails) and Korean fried chicken wings! In a lot of ways, Dae Bak looks just like so many other Korean bar/restaurants out there - a dark and cozy interior, K-Pop playing overhead, and a lively atmosphere thanks to a younger crowd fueled by soju and beer. The menu will look familiar as well, but the range of offerings is pretty unique; there's the usual mix of appetizers, small plates, entrees, and Korean BBQ, but they also offer an awesome selection of house specialties, soups/stews, and a customizable "Korean hot pot" option. Skimming through everything made me wish we came here for dinner instead! -- WATERMELON SOJU...$22 (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dae-bak-santa-clara?select=UA76DWjpGL1KI4-IOAD_4A) It may not be super original, but the presentation was pretty cool (the umbrella and "smoke" from the dry ice was a nice touch). As for the taste of it, it was pretty good. The cocktail wasn't super heavy on the alcohol nor was it super sweet. I don't drink soju as much, or as often, as I used to, but I might do so more if it was always served like this. -- (D11) FRIED SEAWEED ROLL...$12 (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dae-bak-santa-clara?select=iA8n4szI5m7ZNPFLbEC_nw) While not the prettiest things to look at, these were awesome! They kind of look like egg rolls, but they're so much better. Each piece was fried up perfectly and packed with japchae and veggies wrapped with sheets of seaweed. The dipping sauce is tasty as well and packs a bit of heat, but if that's not your thing, the rolls are also great on their own. -- (D8) FRIED CHICKEN WITH SPICY SAUCE...$18 (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dae-bak-santa-clara?select=Z2FrY5uK7rYftzAylZfElQ) Wings are the perfect complement to soju cocktails, but these were just okay. The chicken was juicy, and I liked how crispy the batter was, but the latter wasn't that great (it was pretty thick). Plus, even though the wings were sizable, the portion size felt light for the money (~about 12 pieces?). As far as service went, I thought it was pretty good. It probably helped that we arrived before the late night crowd showed up, but the workers were friendly, getting a table was a breeze, and our dishes came out relatively fast. We did see a bit of the preferential treatment that the staff gives to their friends, as other Yelpers have mentioned, but it didn't seem that bad or blatant (they'd stop to chat for a bit and checked on them more often). At the same time though, it didn't affect us; if it did, I'd probably be singing a different tune. Since I haven't been to any other Korean bar/restaurants around the South Bay, I can't say if there are any better alternatives nearby. However, even despite the limited amount of parking (we snagged a spot right out front, but the lot is tiny), Dae Bak holds their own against others I've been to in the Bay Area. They may be a bit far for me to make regular trips here, but the next time I'm in the South Bay, I definitely wouldn't mind coming back again! read more

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My friends and I went here for a late night and I am so happy we chose this place. It is kinda hard to get parking, but there is a lot in the back as well. We got a lot of dishes (bulgogi, spicy rice cake with ramen, the corn and cheese, spam and kimchi fried rice, and yogurt soju). The yogurt soju was enough for 8 of us to have about 3 shots (?) give or take. My favorite dish was definitely the spicy rice cake with ramen - it's like your perfect late night eat. I think it did take us about 30-40 minutes to get a table around 9/10 pm. Really liked this place though and excited to go back when i have a late night craving! read more

Great place to come with friends especially for the unique drinks! The place typically is not too busy despite their tasty food. The only thing that threw me off a bit were the prices. The dishes are priced pretty high, so it is best to come with a couple friends to split the cost for the many sharable plates. Fried Seaweed Rolls: (4/5) The Fried Seaweed rolls were a great appetize since they were bitesized and and easy to share. The sauce that goes with them is also pretty tasty. Cheese Corn: (5/5) If you don't enjoy this simple dish, you may at least enjoy the stretch of the cheese when the pipping hot plate arrives! I personally love cheese and corn due to its simplicity. It compliments other dishes well and is great for sharing Spam Kimchi: (3/5) I really did not eat much of the kimchi fried rice mainly because it was pretty plain. Not very flavorful, but had nice presentation. Watermelon Soju: (6/5) THE BEST PART. This was an extremely unique drink because of its presentation and I couldn't help but light up when I saw it. It is served in a watermelon with a piece of dry ice on the bottom to chill the drink and creates a smokey effect. Im not sure if I was more excited for the presentation than the drink, but soju was also very good. Not overwhelmingly strong and very sweet. Overall, this is a great place to stop by with friends if you're looking to have a chill night and share some food and drinks read more

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Dae Bak is nice because you can come here to have a few drinks or just have dinner with friends. A lot of my friends and I come here after open gyms because they're open late and can usually seat you quickly. My favorite things to get are the army stew, fries, and anything with fried chicken, while my boyfriend enjoys their katsu and naengmyun here as well. I've been here a few times to celebrate a friends birthday or just to reunite with some hold high school buddies. It's always a good time, the service is fairly quick, food is great, and you can never go wrong with the drinks here. My favorites are when you order the soju and they serve it to you in a fruit vessel like pineapple or honeydew. Definitely give it a try when you're planning your next outing with friends or just crave for some simple delicious Korean food! read more

I came here on a Saturday night at 11PM and there was no wait. I will NOT be coming back. My roommate is a marine vet who lived in Korea for 2 years. You only come here if you need a place to drink and chat (late) at night and DON'T mind paying a premium for the food, which is at the bottom of the restaurant's priorities list. If you are going to spend your money here, you might as well go to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ Food: 2/5 Almost no pork belly in the Pork Belly Fried Rice and the pieces that were present were flavorless. The bulgogi was not grilled; there was a pool of sauce aka water from the frozen meat at the bottom. Instead of tender meat, we got chewy. Price: 2/5 Less than mediocre tasting Bulgogi is $20 and half the size than most restaurants Pork Belly Fried Rice with almost no pork belly is $13 The sides dishes had 3 options and are 1/3 of the size of lunch (see pic). Their logic: bigger portions during lunch, but we charge the same amount during both times of the day. Service: 2/5 Servers miscommunicated information multiple times. I understand a lot of things are not under their control, but it was NOT busy when we came in. They came to our table and walked away and I had to be the one to ask 3 times for refills on side dishes. At no point, did the severs ask: "Need anything?" except for the check. And that took 21 minutes. Note to management: My party of 3 was here for 1hr and 23 mins. No one was sat at the six top for that amount of time. You had one party of 4 and one party of 2 that waited for tables during that time (for over 31 mins). Cleanliness: 3/5 Pieces of trash on the floor, but the color of the floor and tables disguise it well. Parking: 2/5 This is NOT on the owner. The lot is dark and small. The liquor store next door brings characters. There was a woman passed out right outside the restaurant in the company of two homeless men. read more

Dae Bak - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

this was not daebak. the chicken lacked so much flavor we dipped it in the tteokbokki sauce read more

Great place. Interesting delicious food. Great atmosphere. I recommend trying the fruit sojus read more

Dae Bak - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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This is a good place to hang out with a group of people. The food portions are large, so if you want a variety of food, it's better to come in a group of at least four. The food quality and taste is just average. The soju comes in the shell of their fruit and sits on a plate of dry ice, so it looks pretty cool! The soju taste, though, is a bit bland and the alcohol is weak. The place gets pretty loud with the blaring music and groups of people shouting over one another. A pretty great atmosphere when you're looking for some fun and loud soju time. read more

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Great place for snacks and drinks! I've been here pretty often for their soju cocktails (love the pineapple & watermelon) and they come in an actual fruit! Food is pretty decent but is also a bit pricey so normally I'd recommend eating an actual meal elsewhere but if you split it with friends it's not too bad. Honestly, even the prices of the soju is pretty insane but that's to be expected Service is alright depending on where you're seated. If you're seated in the back room(I've been seated there a few times) behind the door, it's nearly impossible to get service. You'll have to walk out and ask for help if you need anything. Overall, I like this place for drinks but outside of that there's no reason why I'd come here. read more

We came here during lunch on a Friday. Some highlights; 1Seatings are plenty, my assumptions the restaurant can hold up to 15-20 tables. However, this place can get busy during weekends for lunch/dinner. Fortunately we came here on a Friday after lunch hour. 2 They have their own parking lots, but the restaurant is located in one jucntion with liquor store, flower store, and another catering place at the corner, so parking can be a headache during business hours. Street parking is optional too. 3 Customer service is great, we were greeted, had our banchan not long after we got our table, as well with our drinks. The owner seems nice too, asking about how the food was. 4 The food we ordered Fried seaweed roll: very crunchy! Close to its original! They are not soggy inside (some place they have the bean thread soggy, but not this one). Tteoboki: very delicious. We had tteoboki from another restaurant the other day, and not all the rice cakes were cooked enough, so they tasted very hard to chew. Daebak made sure all the rice cakes were cooked all the way through. The sauce mixed very well with the fish cake as well. You can't go wrong with this tteobboki order from Daebak. Bimbimbap. Everything was made fresh! Can't complain with the sauce too. Overall, it was a pleasant visit at Daebak for us. Can't wait to go back. read more

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Dae Bak - because parking is very limited in the front. But honestly there's only a few spots as it can be hard to find a parking spot and you'll have better luck in the back lot. A perfect place for late night drinks or Korean food. My review is only based off ordering Soju and normal French fries. The only thing that wasn't good were the French fries as they lacked flavor. For a reasonable price you can order food and drinks here. It's the perfect place to catch up with some friends. Service was great as they have a service call button located at the end of the table and whenever we needed anything they came right away. Drink orders were fulfilled pretty quickly after ordering as well. If you want drinks or a late night snack Dae Bak is your spot to try out next time! read more

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I haven't had Dae Bak since the VERY last weekend before the Bay Area's pandemic shutdown back in March of 2020. So, I'm so glad that they are open again because it's one of the few late night places that serves dinner. I came in as a party of 2 on a weeknight and was served immediately around 7/8pm. They do get busy since most of the tables were taken when I was there. I ordered the pork belly Kimchi fried rice, which I thought there was BARELY any pork belly. They sliced it soooo tiny so the meat portion was skimped out, but the overall flavor of the rice was good. Then, I ordered the stir fry gizzards, which was sooo good! And the pork stew that has some veggies mixed in the pot. I didn't order drinks this time around, but if soju is your thing, then Dae Bak has a variety, as well as a fresh watermelon one that they cut up and pour soju in. read more

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A fun low key place to come with your friends to have some of their fresh juice mixed with soju served in fruit!! Unfortunately they don't serve them over dry ice anymore (which caused the awesome smoke effect) but they add sparklers. They server even waited till I got back from the bathroom to light it up for us. Never tried the food but all my friends are always extremely satisfied with their plates ! read more

If you are not Korean or don't have a Korean person in your group, don't even come here. The staff is extremely racist. This was our second time here. The first time we had someone of Korean descent in our group and we had no problem. The staff were very nice and we had a great time. The second time here, we did not have anyone Korean with us. Instead we had a group comprised of Asian, south Asian and Caucasian. The staff was same as before. We walked in and we're sat down but two members of our party was running late. There was only maybe two other tables filled in the restaurant at the time and one of the waitresses came over and took one of our chairs away and then asked if the rest of the group was coming or not. She spoke to us with an attitude but we kind of just shrugged it off as maybe she was having a bad day. But as the restaurant filled up, it was very very clear that both waitresses were very accommodating to the tables that had Korean customers. Throughout our stay at the restaurant, the waitress would come over and do some odd things. First she took away three of the spoons in our table even though we needed them. Then she came and took away the extra glasses we had so that one person in our group literally didn't have a glass to drink with. We had barely finished eating when we were giving the check which had a 20% gratuity on it even though we were given attitudes the whole time and it was very evident they were being racist. After we signed the check, we were chatting and eating and the staff told us to leave because they needed the table. But strange thing is there were still some tables empty and there was a table behind us with some drunk people not asked to leave and they were of course Korean. We love Korean food and have never been experience this type of treatment at a restaurant before. The whole experience was extremely disappointing and we and everyone we know will never be coming here again. read more

Service/Safety: Called the day of and asked if I could make a reservation (it was on a Tuesday) for 6, and they offered me the "room" (more like a small room with the walls torn down so it's like a covered area?). Lady was super nice while on the phone and I ended up having to call back an hr before my reservation asking if we could reserve it for 10 instead of 6, and she was quick to say yes. Got there and had an amazing time! Tons of drinks, delicious snacks/food. The lady was working alone with maybe two other people in the back. I don't think she thought it would get that busy on a Tuesday (it was packed!) so she was running around and we just stayed patient till she can attend to us. Tables were spaced out enough and they even have outdoor seating! Food: we ordered silkworm soup, dae bak fries, kimchi fried rice and it all came out quickly and was delicious! perfect drinking food! 11 bottles of soju in, and it turned out to be a great night!! Location: located in K-town & there's a few parking sport infront but there's plenty of parking in the back of the building!! read more

Dae Bak - Soju, Dae Bak Fries - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Their fried chicken -original one only- , I give. five stars but their Kimchi Jigae is zero star. I have never had such a unflavored kimchi soup prepared by res. They did not come to check on our food so I grabbed one of the waiters and told him how the soup tasted very watery and no flavor. he took inside and brought back and this time it tasted like more like the spicy beef soup my friend ordered. not good at all. And it was PRICEY compared to other Korean res where I enjoyed every drop of Kimchi Jigae. it seems to me Daebak is more oriented for drinking and their food more as anju. wont go back for regular korean food. for fried chicken, absolutely! their spicy chicken was disappointment. read more

This place is just okay. It's regular Korean bar food, but it's not high quality. We got the kimchi pancake, the kimchi hotpot and the tonkatsu. The pancake was okay, but it was a little too soft so it fell apart. I didn't particular like their kimchi... it was very sour but lacked flavor otherwise. The hotpot was okay... it's good value because it comes with a lot of stuff, but there's not a lot of flavor in the broth. The beef was pretty good and there was quite a bit of it. The tonkatsu was fine... nothing to write home about. The interior is spacious and the tables are big. But there are some two-seater tables in awkward places. The parking lot in the front only has a few spots, but there's a lot in the back too. read more

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Awesome Korean restaurant with a fun late-night vibe. Great food, drinks, and atmosphere. I wouldn't really recommend it if you are looking for a quiet, classier dinner atmosphere with family, especially weekend nights - there will most definitely be groups of young adults getting lit and drinking and partying it up. I've personally been here Saturday from 10pm-1ish to eat and drink soju, and it's been a great time. In terms of food, I've never gotten this before, but my friends have had the personal hot pots and really enjoyed it. I can attest that the sweet potato fries are great, especially as something to snack on when you drink. Perfectly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and nice and warm! One thing I'd pass on, though, is the fried chicken. Very meh. If you're looking for good korean fried chicken, go to Chimek or Bonchon instead. For drinks, the fresh fruit sojus are super delicious and cool. The watermelon and pineapple sojus come in actual watermelons and pineapple. You also get the fruit bits in the drink and it's just so yummy. They put the fruit on top of a bowl with dry ice, which makes it look really cool haha. They're $24 each and around $15 for refills - quite pricy but hey if you're looking for a good time and a picture-worthy drink, go for these. The yogurt soju is also quite good. The waitresses/waiters we've had have all been receptive when I asked them to make the drinks stronger, which is nice! They're also attentive and friendly. Overall, would highly recommend this place for a chill or fun night out with friends. read more

Dae Bak - Pineapple soju! - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

I don't recommend this restaurant. Worst food and service. Waste of money. Spicy Pork Bulgogi read more

The restaurant opens late at night, even on sundays which is really great because most places in South Bay close around 9-10pm. If you're looking for a place to get a late dinner then this is the one. The hot pot was delicious. It came with a lot of noodles, mushrooms, kimchi, rice cake, spam, beef and more. I wish there was more soup because there was a lot of food and my noodles just absorbed the soup up. read more

Dae Bak - Kimchi hot pot with glass noodle - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

For a long time, I've been wanting to go to Dae Bak for a while but had no reason to until a friend wanted to drink some soju. When we arrived at 7PM we were seated immediately. We ordered: - Pork Belly Kim-chi Fried Rice: Pretty good. Loved the fact tht they had large chunks of pork belly mixed in. Very tasty - Corn Cheese: typical anywhere, good - Pork Belly Jalapeno: DO NOT RECOMMEND. WASTE OF MONEY and flavorless - Seasoned Pork Ribs: PERFECTION. Tender and flavorful. Totally worth it - Soju: Watermelon do not recommend at all. Pineapple is great! $22 initial order and $15 refill - Seafood Pancake: Delicious but wished the onion was cut smaller. Too big and the onion taste was a bit overpowering Overall, a pretty decent Korean bar but nothing super special that would have me coming back. Total among 5 ppl came down to $40/person which was a lot tbh. So a bit pricey. Thus the 3/5 score. read more

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The food here is sooo good and the ambience is almost party like in a restaurant. The music is SUPER loud, my conversations during dinner consist of me saying "huh??" "What? I can't hear you". But the food is great, and the service is so friendly and welcoming. read more

Pretty decent late night Korean food. This place does get pretty loud so don't be prepared to turn up your own volume. However, when I came here with some family late at night, we were placed in this weird room that felt like a closet. It fits two tables so about 8 people total. It's a little weird odd but I did like how it damped the noise but it was harder to flag down the waitress for service. Nonetheless, the food was pretty good. We started off with ordering the fried chicken gizzards ($16), which looked weird but tasted great. I thought it was a bit pricy it's late, we were drinking it felt like a whatever moment. Also got the spicy rice cakes ($20), good but again pricy. We ordered the hotpot ($14) that you customize yourself so that's great. A simple 3 step process, pick your protein, noodles and soup base. Nothing complicated but pretty tasty. We got the beef, clear noodle, bulgogi hotpot. I think after a few drinks, flavor takes a backseat and anything taste good at that point. Everything I thought was overpriced except for the hotpot which was great. Would I could back? Probably not given we had to wait over 30 minutes to get seated on a Friday night at midnight then getting placed in a closet to order overpriced food. I loved the vibe of the place and food was decent but not worth it for me. Plenty of other late night Korean food spots to check out on the street. read more

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Haven't seen my sisters in so long, so they drove up to SJ to have dinner with me! #tripledate. It was a struggle deciding what to eat because what one wants, the other doesn't. But we somehow came to a mutual decision and ended up at Dae Bak. No wait. Instantly seated. Everyone ordered something diff. Some of us ordered the kimchi fried rice, fried chicken wings, tofu soup, etc.. My boyfriend and I shared a bulgogi because we weren't too hungry. We got side dishes of seaweed/radish, fish cake, and kimchi. Fish cake is the best so of course I asked for refills on that way too many times. We also ordered a watermelon soju. The bulgogi was very flavorful and yummy. Pretty expensive though for the portion they served, honestly. The watermelon soju was sooooo good! It wasn't carbonated, it was fresh watermelon mixed w/ soju. It tasted just like watermelon juice which I have been craving for so long! That was $22 and refills were $12. For a group of six, we each had a total of about four shots (this is including the refill). Service was meh. It was super hard to flag down a waiter even with the call button on the wall. This was because there was only one waiter for about 6-7 tables. Talk about short staffed. It took several tries to get things we needed like forks, refills, etc.. but he made up for it by taking the soju refill off the bill. Thanks for that! Good food with good company = great time catchin' up with my sistazzz! read more

Dae Bak - Watermelon soju - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Great place to hang out with friends for late night snacks and drinks! Came to Dae Bak on a Friday night and it was pretty full but the line moves quickly. I feel like the army stew is one of the more worth it dish out of the entire menu since it can be shared with many people and it is pretty good as well! A downside to Dae Bak is that it is much pricier than other korean restaurants in the area. The waitstaff is alright but if it gets too busy, they won't pay much attention to your table. Food: 7/10 Price: 5/10 Service:6/10 read more

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Alright, here's a 1.5 gen Koreans opinion on this Korean restaurant. Overall it was ok. Decent enough drinking atmosphere and ok food. The hot pot was delicious, only reason theyre 1.5 stars. Here's the breakdown Food-2/10. We got the bibim naemgmyun, I give that a 3. We got garlic fried chicken, I give it a negative 3. We were served RAW chicken, I repeat RAW chicken. Not just pink or red even, straight up blood. We took a couple bites of a few legs and wings and upon seeing all the blood I told my friends to stop eating them as nobody wants SALMONELLA.. its 2023 who the fuck serves raw chicken?????. I told 2 separate servers about the raw chicken, at which point they made it seem like they would being us a new batch. They REFRIED the same chicken we bit into... is that sanitary? How is that even remotely ok? It was literally every piece of chicken that was raw; I know for a fact that ANY decent restaurant would NEVER serve raw chicken, let alone just re-fry some raw chicken they just served. That made my mind wander as to how much weird, unsanitary shit they might do with their food. Which is never fun. Oh but the hotpot was good. Service-1/10. They helped us out quick and they even have a call button for servers which is good but servers that are ok with serving raw chicken and won't even comp the raw chicken... we ended up paying 20+ bucks for inedible, bloody chicken, which was used to contaminate their whole fryer; which they obviously don't care about. Despite not touching more than half the wings due to the blood, they still charged us. They also rushed our bill, and also was weird about the check overall which was very offputting and made me never want to come back. For a decent Korean bar, I would recommend elsewhere... perhaps take up sobriety, it might be better than dying from food poisoning. I'm not from the area but from a simple yelp search I saw that there were a lot of other choices. ANY restaurant that serves raw chicken and are unapologetic, deserves an automatic 0/5 if not closed down. Shame. Shame. Shame. read more

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Quiet literally the worst meal I have ever had in my whole life. The beef brisket soup tasted like dirty mop water with four tiddlywinks of beef. The female server with a pink hat was so rude too. We were a party of seven and we were new to the restaurant so we took a bit of time ordering. She then scolded one of the persons in our party for ordering too little..? Not to mention, they told us there were no more hot pots? Even though the tables beside us HAD HOT POTS? LOL. Of course we were going to take more time ordering after you told us the thing we were originally going to order "is out". Also, everyone in our party was very hungry, we weren't planning on eating that much. She also started slamming some dishes and being visibly annoyed in front of all the customers? I understand the service industry is hard, but being polite is part of the job..... The garlic chicken was also literally minced garlic on top of bland fried chicken. I'll give one star for the dae bak fries though, that was probably the only good experience. read more

Dae Bak - gross brisket soup - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

I may have had too high of expectations from the current score, but given the smaller amount of reviews, it's understandably inflated at the moment. We went with a group of 4, and we were totally excited on coming in. I'll break things down on my impressions: Decor: While the outside leaves very much to be desired, the inside is actually quite nice and pleasant. They do a solid job of making sure everything is well-kept, and there's a box where they keep their utensils on the side of the table which is a fabulous idea. The utensils are metal and re-usable, no chopsticks with splinters here. (4/5) Service: Their service is pretty friendly, although for opening up so recently it looks like they're still getting their act together a bit. New hires, or lack of menu knowledge was what was on top of our minds while we were asking our questions. (4/5). Food: Okay, so the price is easily about $2 more per item than most other Korean locations. We ordered everything to our hearts content, and I must say we were utterly disappointed. For the Price increase, we were expecting either to be wowed in quantity, or in quality, but we were met with neither. While the food itself wasn't horrible, it definitely tasted like something I could (and have) made at home. For example, the veggies in the Fried Rice reminded me too much of the kind you get in a freezer bag. And charging over $25 for a soup meant for two is understandable, except when most of the meat is Vienna Sausages (literally). And while the complimentary Ban Chan was quite tasty, there were only three items: Fish Cake, Pickled Daikon, and Asian Veggies. Not that I expect them to have everything available, but no Kim Chi? That's like....a must! (2/5). I would give them an overall 3/5. I probably won't be back given that there are much better alternatives in the area, but I do wish them luck. read more

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Might have came here on the 22nd of May after my boyfriend's race. I got their seafood ramen (and it was just okay), and he got a soup to eat. He was sick and wanted to get Korean Tofu Soup, but no places were open that later.. - The service was O-K, they kind of forget us a lot in the back corner. read more

This place is straight poppin' at night! We were buzzed from the soju and the bulgogi nachos were AH-mazing! We also got the kim chi fried rice and spicy rice cakes with ramen. Everything was delicious and service was exceptional. I can't wait to come back! read more

I've only came here after I get off work at 12 am. Big plus: they serve hot pot!! My favorite! Lol I tried the kimchi broth beef with ramen, it definitely satisfy my cravings for a late night munchie! It's always crowded even at night, must be a hit place for the young people. Kimchi fried rice $12 not bad too. I asked for extra spicy. The only bad thing is that they play really loud music, like club status. I couldn't talk to someone across from me without yelling lol read more

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Came here on a Friday night around 8:30 pm with my 2 friends and it was crazy packed. We waited maybe 30 minutes to be seated to later find that someone had reservations for at 10:15 so we only had the table for an hour - no biggie. We ordered family style, sharing the kimchi fried rice with cheese, seafood pancake, tonkatsu, and watermelon soju. The food and drink came out promptly and were all very flavorful. I also enjoyed the detail to presentation (i.e. using dry ice to have a smoke effect for the watermelon soju). I will say this place would have been a 5 star if not for the prices. Meals range around $20 (portions are definitely on the smaller size) and our total for 4 items was about $90. read more

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