This place doesnt inform guest they charge a 18% tip for party of 5+ but they hide it in the back of the menu and force you to pay the 18% at the end read more

I never had the urge to try this place until I personally heard it was good from a friend. I was skeptical at first but it's just like the other Korean BBQ spot (Gooyi Gooyi), which are both considered hidden gems. I don't know what I like more but Illbunjee is pretty dang good. Love their cold noodle, meats are tasty with good quality, and their rice balls are delicious. This is actually the first I've ever seen rice balls being served at a Korean BBQ restaurant, but I like it! I'll definitely be coming back again. read more

I can't stand a restaurant that hide their mandatory tip on the back of the menu and forces customer to pay a mandatory 18% tip for party of 5+ read more

We have been coming here in the last 2-3 years. They always give great service, very family style. Free stuff like tones of different kinds of kimchi, the soup and rice balls are yummy. We always order the BBQ beef prime ribs etc. the tofu soup is great. Under the SIP, they offer takeaway. They have 2-3 tables for outdoor seating. The seatings are far away from each other. The staff wear face masks/face shield. Posting pics from dinner. Eating outside of the restaurant read more

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In the last couple of years, this restaurant has become our favorite Korean date night spot. We are always greeted by one of the family members or friendly staff and treated to an amazing meal. The food here is excellent. Meat is always fresh and of the top quality. These guys really take pride in what they do. In light of the current "shelter in place restrictions" we wanted to show them support and see if we can partially recreate this experience at home. Because they they are still offering takeout, with a little bit of creative engineering we rigged up our own exhaust system and were able to have a great meal at home. We hope to be back once this pandemic is over and thank you. read more

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Best Korean BBQ I've ever had. Not an exaggeration, I've been to 10 butchers and Cote in New York. The sides were fresh and hand made with a unique quality. The meat was incredible. The best part was the value, incredibly affordable for the sheer quality of food served. We were recommended the cold noodle soup, it was fantastic. read more

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They chase you down for tip, even though service was poor. I've been here plenty of times and tipped well. We were seated right by the entrance door. We asked to be moved because of the cold air; when the door opens. They said no, even though the restaurant only had two other groups. We also noticed they will cook for Korean parties and not for non-Korean. Anyway, they treated us poorly and expected us to tip them 20%. We will not be back!! read more

Used to love this place but the last 3 times I went, the old servers were no longer there. The new ones were not as welcoming and the meat quality kinda went down too. They used to provide wasabi with A5 but they longer do. Also the sides are limited now. read more

They have the options for fish cake soup and rice balls which was cool. The meat was okay and nothing special. I liked it quite a lot the first time I went with some Korean friends, but got different treatment the second time I came a bigger group with no Korean speakers and they didn't do the grill for us or change the grill. We had to ask for additional banchan/lettuce multiple times and they seemed busy all the time. read more

Alright if you haven't tried this hole in the wall you haven't had good bay area korean bbq. They have outdoor seating but also do take out really well. They have incredible high quality meat and that's not the only thing they do really well. I'd recommend sharing a ohdeng gook or kimchi noodles (this thing is stupid good) with a side of two meat entries. All in all you can't go wrong with the meat line up here. My personal favorites are the pork jowl and short ribs. read more

Love this place. Love the staff and owner. Always welcoming and friendly. I especially appreciate that they already know what we Like to drink and bring it out before we get the chance to order. The food is fresh and consistently delicious. I will always keep this spot in my rotation. read more

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Food: 4/5 Service: 5/5 Price: 3/5 Mom and pop type of Korean BBQ place, but pretty good! My boyfriend and I went here on a weekday night, and over half the tables were filled. The parking lot is pretty small, so parking was a little inconvenient Food: We ordered Combo A which consisted of beef brisket, ribeye, and short rib. Beef brisket was good, just like most Korean BBQ places. Ribeye was great! It was super soft/tender and practically melted in my mouth. Short rib was okay, it felt a little dry. Personally I'm more into marinated short rib, so I wasn't as excited about the last one. Side dishes overall felt like a 4. The salad with truffle oil was good, but it tastes like most salads that other Korean BBQ places serve. The variety of the side dishes was less compared to other restaurants in my opinion, BUT each one was flavorful and prepped well. My favorite one was the glazed soft shell baby shrimps with walnuts. The oden soup had a nice seaweed broth taste and had a kick with the chili pepper flakes. I actually liked this much better compared to the normal bean paste stew served at other places because the soup was lighter and helped balance out all the heavy grilled meat. The rice ball with tuna was unique, but I felt was a little random.. I prefer plain white rice or purple rice. Service: The servers were all very friendly and came right away whenever we needed anything. When we asked for more side dishes, they would give us a lot for the second round too. Price: I think price felt a bit steep for the portion size and the quality of the short rib. I probably would've given it a 4 if that last meat was just as good as the other two. This place was overall really good. It's a great option for those that can't stand the wait next door at Gooyi Gooyi, or folks that prefer an environment that feels less smoky and greasy with friendlier servers. I definitely would come back again :) read more

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Kinda a hole in the wall type of place. Good quality of meat and I like the diff stuff it comes in a combo for a change. (Like this seaweed soup and tuna rice ball, a must try!!!). The price isn't cheap for a non AYCE place, but I believe quality of meat is better! Not too much sides given, but all of the sides are very good. I've never had this glazed shrimp+walnut side, but it was bomb! Parking really sucks here. I also don't like the table I was sat at. Tabletop was on top of a big can. Super uncomfortable and no where to put my legs :( also sooo tiny of a table for a party of 4. But it's not a big deal and would come here again! read more

I've tried most of the kbbq spots around the area and it's hard to find a place with both great service and food. Our server Andrew was very attentive and you can tell he cares. I really enjoyed their ban chan (side dishes). The potato salad and fish soup was my fav. I ordered the combo for 3 and the pork belly plus the jowl was my go to. I def want to try more items from the al carte option next time. Even their rice was yummy, it's not the usual white rice you get at other places. I can't wait to go back already! read more

DEFINITELY A HIDDEN GEM FOR KOREAN BBQ IN SJ (it is literally "hidden" since it is at a corner and is hard to find). First of all, I want to say that this place was amazing in its service & meat quality. I was hesitated at first to try this place out since it is not AYCE and there are many other AYCE options in the area including Gen and Q pot. However, I decided to try this place out and I am so grateful that I did. Parking: Limited, but they do have a parking lot in front of the restaurant. Compared to other Korean BBQ restaurants, there were not many meat options here, but that doesn't seem to be a problem at all. We've ordered their Combination A Beef Combo set, which comes with Rib Eye, Sliced Brisket, and Short Rib - $59.99 for 2 persons. I know that this is much more expensive than other places around, but the meat quality definitely lives up to its price. The set also includes salad w/ truffle oil, Odeng Soup, side dishes, and choice of either tuna rice balls or white rice. We chose to get tuna rice balls and they were HUGE and I love that they had a lot of sesame oil. Meat quality was just amazing as each slice of meat just put a smile on my face. Every kind of meat matched very well with the sesame oil sauce that they provided! TIP: I recommend you to cook the meats in this order - Sliced brisket to Rib Eye to Short Rib as sliced brisket would help grease up the pan and short rib seems to be the kind that melted the most when I tasted it! We also ordered their Spicy Baby Octopus ($19.99) and their sauce was right on point: spicy and sweet! As you can see from the image, they give out HUGE PIECES of baby octopus that it is kind of awkward to call them as baby octopus! They were SO chewy and the onion slices were also fresh and crispy, which tells us that they stirred the vegetables toward the end instead of in the beginning! I would highly recommend you to order this as it would be a nice combination to your meat! If you are sick of AYCE or just want to look out for Korean BBQ place that has GREAT MEAT QUALITY, Ilbunjee, which means "first place in the street," would be the right fit for you!!! It would definitely be my #1 Korean BBQ place in SJ and I would come back for sure to try their other combinations as well! read more

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Love coming here with the fam because Andrew have the greatest customer service and is very honest about his recommendation. He works fast paced and it's impressive to see how he can multitask during rush hours but still deliver great service. read more

Ilbunjee - Meat combo, Super filling and delicious - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

WOWWW!! 5 star service and food! Customer service is very attentive and made us feel welcomed. They are a family business that's been here since 1997! One of the first Korean restaurants that open in the Bay Area. Honestly, you will know once you see the #1 sign on the front store. Ordered the brisket, short rib and skirt steak for 4 people! Everything was really good with their salt and homemade sauce they provide. I LOVE their rice ball that was like fried rice in a ball. It was seasoned with so much flavor. Just gonna say y'all need to come here and can't wait to come back! Thank you Andrew! read more

Omg! My friend and I were craving kbbq after a late Sunday night at work. We decided to try out Illbunjee after finding our normal kbbq place (Gooyi Gooyi) packed. We made a good choice on this small homey place. We chose the beef and pork combo ($54.99) and that is way more food for 2 people to physically intake. The was only one person doing tables that night so service was a bit slow and he ended up forgetting our grilled rice at the end. Luckily we were too full with the meat to think about eating another bite. The pork and beef was very fresh and tasted really good with the banchan and salad provided. Self service so you cook and cut the meat yourself. Overall, great experience for those who want a place to leisurely eat their meal and chat over drinks. read more

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Oh my! I and my hubby enjoyed their food. Tasty and refreshing! We had beef rib eye and brisket! Enough portion for us and we even had togo uncook brisket! Andrew was excellent- we had an early dinner around 5:30pm ish and he cooked it for us! We felt special! Thanks again Andrew! Would love to come back and try their other meats! We enjoyed the side dishes and rice balls (1st time eaten it)! read more

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This is so easy to miss! First off the sign is in Korean. Second it's in a really tiny plaza with limited parking. It seems like the definition of a hole in the wall. The restaurant is not very large but I did see a large party of 10 or so in the middle. We ordered the pork and beef combo set for $120 for four people. I liked it! They give you a variety of meats like brisket, pork belly, pork Jowl etc. I liked the brisket the best. My go to sauce is just sesame oil and salt. This pairing goes best with pork belly but honestly I just use it for everything now. Barley tea was great too but you have to ask for it. They also give you this side salad and it's tasty. I liked the dressing that they use. They also used a lot of raw onions, which I don't normally like but they were sliced so thinly that I didn't mind it at all! It went well with the salty dressing. read more

a small ma and pa korean bbq shop. this family owned restaurant was so entertaining. it was a rainy day so it wasnt very crowded. we got seated immediately but nearly died since the floor was so greasy and slippery from the meats and the rain. got to our seats and we were helped by the owners son Andrew. hes a real big talker and jokester so it made our night memorable. helped us with the menu and we ended up with the wagyu short rib, brisket, and pork jowl. he said normally we cook ourselves but since it was slow, he cooked for us. the brisket was thin and the sauce it came with was so flavorful. it was sweet and savory. and then raw garlic with bean sauce with the meat was to die for. the short rib was melt in your mouth delicious. we dipped that with salt and pepper and it just enhanced all flavors. the jowl was paired with the salt/pepper/sesame sauce. it had such a nice crispy outside and soft inside. and of course the sauce was amazing. the banchan was typical with cucumbers, kimchi, mash potato, etc and all house made. the meats came with a salad and soup as well. lots of food, entertainment, and laughter the whole night. read more

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The name Ilbunjee is in Korean out front so just head for the place with '#1' above the door. Has a few kinds of K-BBQ combos like Gooyi Gooyi in the next strip-mall, but never as crowded. I saw some American Wagyu specials on the wall (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#lGIBXfYIYbHbAwlg9rwnnA) and asked for the Short Ribs, but the waitress steered me to the Tri-tip, which she said had more meat for the same price ($34.99) . . . done. They start you off with some fish-cake soup (Odeng Guk http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#pwoXOkrMMrQYUmhUGmGNoA http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#KM4jwWKy6qINCQp2Vi95Dg) which is lightly spicy and a salad that was a bit heavy on the scallions (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#hCK2_1JETupJgMD-9Dft9A). The five banchan were pretty basic including potato salad (!) and two kimchis (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#tqpNTNsKptvV7hK_lHlnKA). The upper right one with mini-shrimp was the most unique (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#qF32GK03CVeKdQAXflVMjQ) The meat comes out on a sizzling plate on a bed of onions (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#rtJWcTRbwGe6OtT15JRPaA). This cut was unmarinated and comes with the stuff you see in the salad picture (ssam jang, salt / pepper mix, raw garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil (not pictured)) and some romaine lettuce for wrapping (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ilbunjee-1-santa-clara?select=b5aEf8dNnTn8dFteskx6CA#U3sgCs8EthlGRTzjjej70A) . . . I pine for the days when green/red-leaf lettuce was the norm as it's more easily wrap-able, but I've been told Romaine is more "up-scale" . . . whatever, it's not as functional! Anyway, the meat was reasonably tender, but done medium+ so over-cooked for how Wagyu should be treated (med-rare at most) which probably was one reason for the tenderness I got. Attentive, friendly service, which is not that common in K-BBQ joints. 3.5 stars for the food. Rounding up for the service. read more

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Excellent meat combo + Excellent Special Skirt Steak (fresh, fresh and fresh) + Excellent Side Dishes = Excellent dining experience! Andrew is an exceptional host to all his guests every night. You can tell when this guy is very proud of the food he serves. Such a unique experience in this huge metro area. Came here with family twice in a month and both times they gave us a wow moment! Cozy family style dining without a lot of fancy lighting to lure your attention away from the food. If you want authentic fresh Korean bbq, this is the place to be. Thank you for bringing freshness to the table. We will definitely come again. Arrive early on a weekday (dinner only) is recommended. It is a killer having to wait while smelling other people's bbq. Enjoy! read more

This is my favorite kbbq place hands down. I love the quality of the meat, all their sides are delicious and the service is great. I always get the beef and pork bbq combo and a order of the cold kimchi noodles. It could be raining and freezing outside but I'll still order the cold noodles, that's how addicting they are! I love wrapping a piece of pork belly and the cold noodles and eating it together. I really just love the consistency of their food. It tastes the same every time I go and that's really hard to find nowadays. read more

This place doesnt inform their guest at the beginning that they charge a mandatory 18% tip for party of 5+. They instead chase you down and forces you to pay the 18% then showing it is written in the back of their menu. Go out of business you money grabbing trash read more

Looks like the owners have changed since last time we went there (2019). It used to be run by a cute Korean couple. But now it's run by some bros who prefer their friends and buddies to dine there. Service was preferential based on the fact if you knew them or not. Had to call them so many times to get one order in. Meat quality has deteriorated a lot and prices have gone up significantly. We'll definitely avoid this place. read more

Great service and just awesome overall experience. A bit pricey but honestly all the meats were delicious. I appreciate the hospitality. Thanks again andrew ! read more

Ok, so I was gonna give Ilbunjee 3-stars for the BBQ but after thinking back over our entire experience... I have to knock it down to 2-stars. I'm ok with hole-in-the-wall. I'm ok with high prices if deserved. I'm ok with bad service at certain restaurants. I'm NOT ok with High prices at a hole-in-the-wall that has average food, shabby interior and Terrible service. It took my bf and me 3 attempts to actually be able to dine at this place. The first time, they were closed (during open hours), the second time, they wouldn't give us 1 order of BBQ and it was just two of us so we decided to some back with a group, and the third time, we, and our group were finally served... barely. The meat was good, but that's it. It's not the traditional bulgogi and galbi, rather regular cuts of meat that you dip into sauces that they provide. It was good but not worth the mandatory 2 order and prices. I felt like anyone could cut meat and dip it in sauce. Service was terrible. 5 of us arrived on a Sat night and the place only had a few other tables of people. The waitress was nice when she came to our table but then she sat talking to other (Korean) patrons the whole night with HER BACK TO US. We continuously had to holler for her when we needed something or, get up ourselves to get someone. This is ok at some places but not when you're dropping 100$ plus on a meal. To make matters worse, they were out of the squid rice cakes that I had noted on my bookmark. Instead, they gave us baby octopus but, it was nowhere near as tasty as Dishes (inside the Paris Baquette center) and was twice the price. Disappointing. The kimchi was great but in general... they gave very few side dishes. I wouldn't go back because of the general disappointed feeling I feel towards it. There are too many great places close-by on El Camino! Won't see ya there! read more

Ilbunjee - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

It's a bit pricy, but I always enjoy coming here. I would recommend coming with a large group so that you can get the barbecue order, which comes with a good selection of sides along with your order of meat. The fish cake soup and the rice balls are very solid, and I like their salad as well. The beef brisket is a no-brained, but the pork belly is also very solid. read more

I cannot recommend this place more! This is definitely one of the best Korean BBQ place in the Bay Area! Their meat is fresh and taste soooo good! We had the combo meal and I absolutely love the beef brisket. Their side dishes are great as well. The potato salad is super yummy and I just cannot help but keep asking for refill lol. Their fish cake soup is very interesting and has a taste that I'm not able to describe but also highly recommended! Last but not least, their service is very good and they would even barbecue the meat for you if you're not good at it. TL;DR, totally a five star Korean BBQ place!! read more

We love this place. We have been to several top KBBQ places, both in the bay area, and in Los Angeles. Trust me, this is the best place value for money. The meat quality here is very good. We always get Set B - Pork and Beef. I especially like the pork, yummmm! We also get complementary fish cake soup and fish onigiri - both delicious. I never make a scene if we miss out on complementary stuff, but I do let them know if they forget my onigiri, since its so good! I don't understand why people complain about the service. This place is a really small place, has a homely environment and has one friendly korean lady managing the counter, what more can you ask for? I've seen really large kbbq places give bad quality meat and overcharge for ambience. read more

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MANDATORY 18% tip for party of 5+ but they wont tell you that because its written in small font behind their menu and forces customer to pay the tip once you ask for the bill. read more

Recently, since my moving to Cupertino, I have been re-introduced to the world of Korean BBQ, this place having been the most recent, and one of the best as well. My flatmate actually brought this place to my attention as a place I need to try, and, we did! First off, the place isn't very big, but it's not tiny, it's an adequate size for a hole-in-the-wall. The free soup that comes with the main entrees is actually really good! I loved every bite, and it never got old. The side dishes as well were good! Interestingly, they have a side dish of potatoes, I have NEVER seen that in a korean place, it was really good! They also have walnut shrimp as a side, which was also really good! We got a ton of beef, and loads of pork, and it was all so amazingly good! The side sauces to go with the meat, complimented it all very well! Lastly, onto the service. It was actually amazingly well! The lady that helped was was very welcoming and helpful all throughout our meal. She always filled our glasses with water, and made sure the meat was taken care of with haste. We never had to wait for meat or anything to be ready, it just was!! The price is a bit steep, however, for the quality of service and food, I think it's a nice place to go every now and then! Overall; I was very satisfied with the food and service, I will definately come back again in the immediate future!! read more

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This is a Korean bbq place with great quality for their meats. There is definitely a noticeable difference in quality compared to all you can eat places. It is more expensive than all you can eat places but you are paying for the quality. We had the beef and pork combo! The side dishes that comes with it is really good! I loved the fish cake soup, I never had something like this before. Also, the rice balls were really tasty! Overall, I would come here again! read more

Dining at Ilbunjee feels like eating at home with the traditional gas stoves, smaller space, and mother-like attention to detail from the service staff. But don't let the cozy interior fool you- the quality of meats here exceeds majority of high-end BBQ restaurants in all of South Bay. The owners and their son, Chris takes obsessive care over the food they put out on the table. I once overheard a conversation between them, where they were planning to throw out an entire batch of premium wagyu over one customer's complaint- a cut of meat that I was enjoying thoroughly and there was no problems with. This sounds out of place, but this restaurant also serves the best cold noodle dish I have ever had. It's a "must". read more

WORST Korean BBQ experience in the Bay Area, from a customer service standpoint. We called and reserved for a group of 5 for 10:30pm. Although they say they're open till 12:30am, they called us and asked us to come ASAP as they close the kitchen at 10:30pm apparently. We arrived well before our reservation and were seated. We were ready to order and wanted to start with the minimum selections mentioned on the menu (at least 2 orders) as their main combination BBQ platter for groups was not available. We asked for the octopus from seafood category, which the waiter said was not available - we asked for the shrimp instead (only other option), which the waiter gracefully didn't recommend saying it's not fresh (THANK YOU for Atleast being honest- the only reason for the one star!!) We proceeded to request the minimum 2 selections for BBQ (one pork and one beef selection as written on the menu) to which the waiter replied that we needed to order atleast 4 selections, actually 5 selections but giving 1 discount as we were a group of 5 and said it's their policy and also that we had to order it all at once as they're closing the kitchen. But this "Policy" is not mentioned on their menu or anywhere in the restaurant (MENU CLEARLY SAYS MINIMUM 2 SELECTION). The BBQ was already expensive - avg. $50 per selection, and we would have ordered 3-4 selections if seafood was available and he'd been more accommodating. We walked right out and went across the street to another Korean BBQ restaurant with great customer service, food and open till 2am too. We experienced very poor customer service at Ilbunjee and I would not recommend this place to anyone else. read more

This place is deeelicious! Quality meat and plenty of food too! All the servers are extra nice. We ordered Combo B that comes with rib eye, brisket, pork jowl, and pork belly. The combo also comes with the Odeng soup which is my favorite and your typical side dishes and you can't forget about those tuna rice balls! You can definitely taste how fresh the meats are and the prices aren't bad for the amount of food you get.. we were stuffed! Only downside is the tiny parking lot but you can easily find street parking on the side street. read more

Review #088 - 2017 My younger sister and I weren't sure what we wanted to eat so I suggested Korean, but most places were already closed so she started Yelping and this place popped up and we made our way over. We showed up around 10 PM on a Friday night and the place was still quite busy. Seeing that all the tables that were already empty were still not bussed yet apparently means they were busy before we showed up. We asked for a table for 3 and were seated within 5-10 minutes after they cleared our table. We were pretty hungry so we ordered the BBQ meat set B, which consisted of 2 types of beef and 2 types of pork meat. I also asked for an order of the fish egg soup, but the lady was kind enough to tell us that we had plenty of food for just 2 girls and a baby. Plus, she mentioned that they have complimentary soup coming so we shouldn't need to order the fish egg soup unless we really wanted it. Very kind of her to help us save money. Everything was good! The meats were of high quality. We couldn't even finish cooking all the meat because we got too full and ended up cooking the rest just to take home with us. I'm glad our waitress told us not to order too much. She was very nice and accommodating. She took really good care of us, treated us like we were her only customers even though there were many tables still dining in. read more

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Food was excellent! Service was fantastic! Andrew was on top of everything! Really appreciate the great customer service and thorough explanation of the history and the menu! We will be back! read more

Ilbunjee - Tuna rice cakes - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

This is a really great spot for beef-based Korean BBQ. It should be noted that all their meats are great, but they have a (well-deserved) reputation for high quality beef cuts here - I am told by those who know that it is one of the best beef sources for Korean BBQ in the South Bay. We got Combo C and loved it - brisket was tasty and perfect thickness, rib eye was amazing, and octopus was delicate and super yum. Walking in, I first noticed that I was the only non-Asian person in the place. I usually take that as a good sign in situations like these ;) + Food quality is excellent + Some non-standard sides and starter soups make this place stand out from more Americanised Korean places + Service is extremely friendly + Family run + Open late! - Service isn't fast - Interior isn't pretty Honestly those two negative points didn't make a big impression on me. I enjoyed the slower pace of the meal, and I personally don't care as much about the interior look if the food is great. Which it was!! read more

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