Okay this is the SPOT. Smallest Korean restaurant with amazing food and service. I think we found our go-to for Korean lunch. If you know me, you know I love spicy food and anything involving kimchi. When the waiter kept asking if I wanted more kimchi with an approving grin, I knew this was the right place. To start we tired the spicy rice cakes, japchae which I've only ever tried cold and LOVE but this version was hot and just as good. Both were so flavorful, the right amount of spice and just perfect portions. I couldn't be happier. Give me all the sauces and sides! We also then tried the kimchi rice with spicy pork and the bibimbap with beef. Both really good but I think I honestly like the kimchi rice better. The spicy pork was really the stand out! This spot literally has 3 tables but they also make sure to follow all covid precautions and we felt safe dining here. Highly recommend! read more

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Ahhh I love giving placed 5 stars especially when it's well earned. I love Korean food and this year especially I have been eating it more after having been introduced to it by a friend, and I say this all the time: I can't believe I JUST started eating Korean food. I'm obsessed with Kimchi fish cakes the sauces the pastes the spices. Everything. We got the Scallion Seafood pancake. It was a surprisingly generous portion (10/10) on this one for portion, flavor, and texture. We also got the Bibimbap with chicken. Also perfect portion to share for two. Love when the rice gets a little crunchy on the bottom. UFFFF. We finished it off with Seafood Japchae. 9/10, shrimp was a little over cooked and we actually wanted beef, not seafood. Small error and we didn't bother correcting because it wasn't a huge deal. Wish the seafood was more varied though. Overall, will DEFINITELY be coming back for the Soft Tofu Stew and the grilled mackerel. read more

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The staff was great. Service was just fine. The place is really cute. Even the little stools, rather than chairs, are comfortable, and together, the tables and stools present a very welcoming environment. The stools are also a perfect height for the tables. The food is another story. I wish with all my heart that I could be kinder, but the food was absolutely terrible. I I have been eating and loving Korean food for 35+ years. I have eaten Korean food in California, NY, over a and iver sgain at many different restaurants. I can never remember being disappointed. I love Korean food, so I learned how to cook some things, too, including Bulgogi, which is what I ordered for my main dish. Everything was dry and overcooked. I had the special: pork/chive dumplings, which came fried. I would have chosen steamed, but no one asked. They were so overcooked, I could barely taste the filling, and the dipping sauce was so bland that it didn't help much. One thing you can say about them is that they sure were crispy. I ate one. Ummm. Gave it another chance ate a 2nd, and said to myself, "What am I doing eating this?" And I pushed them aside and figured I'd wait for my main dish. My main dish was Bulgogi. Again, dry and overcooked. Barely any liquid in the plate, but I brushed as much as I could by dragging each bite across the bottom of the plate. Didn't help much. The onions were good in the Bulgogi, but the beef was not. The pieces of beef were also toooo small. The rice was nothing special either. It wasn't jasmine or any kind of rice with flavor. I left over almost all the rice and a significant amount of the Bulgogi - which Bulgogi I ate enough of to take the edge off my hunger, and then I stopped eating it. In the little side plate, there was cold steamed broccoli (no treatment or prep or flavoring with anything at all - certainly never seen it as a Korean side dish) and kimchee, pickles and bean sprouts, all 3 of which which were pretty good, and they were the only food that I enjoyed. I seriously do not get the ratings for this place. If I could give it a zero, if I could. I was very jazzed to find a local Korean place. Regrettably, I am super bummed. I did, however, enjoy the kindnesses of the staff. read more

You know it's going to be good when all the side dishes are fire! The food is Service was great. Spot is chill. Hole in the wall! read more

KAL - Spicy Pork K.F.C Wings Galbi Bibimbap - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

Really cute Korean place. I got the katsu and pork kimchi dumplings. Everything was very good. I'll leave this short but sweet. read more

KAL - Kimchi pork dumplings - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Came for dinner at 6pm on Saturday night. Was busy but no wait to be seated. I got the seafood scallion pancake as a starter. Was pretty standard, I thought it could be crispier. Then I had the soft tofu stew with brisket. It was a bit salty and very flavorful however when eaten with white rice, it was pretty good. They don't skimp on the brisket and I always love the poached egg in the soup. My friend got the bulgogi combo which comes with a half portion of the soft tofu stew. Portion looked pretty big. The food comes with some standard side dishes of bean sprouts, kimchi, corn salad and they also had a radish dish. The waiter was very nice, my water cup was never empty. It's minimally decorated but did give me vibes of a hole in the wall type of restaurants in Korea. Would come again for a nice filling meal! read more

Hubby decided he wanted to try someplace new so we came to KAL for lunch. YUM .. YUM .. HOLY YUM!!! Lunch at KAL was delicious!! We looked at the menu and wanted to try everything but didn't want to be TOO greedy so we ordered 3 apps (KFC sweet & spicy chicken, spicy pork steam buns and beef bulgogi steamed buns), 1 shareable (spicy rice cake) and 4 lunches (spicy pork, omu rice with bulgogi, army stew and spicy seafood ramen). Relax, it wasn't just the two of us .. my son and mom came along too. KAL isn't a big place ... a real hole in the wall and we almost walked right by it. There's outdoor dining (I believe 3-4 tables) and indoor dining (4) 4 people tables and (2) 2 seater tables. Service wasn't bad, kinda slow .. we only saw the server when he brought us food and when we asked for more water and extra napkins. So ... let's get to the food. Did I tell you that it was so yum?!? It was. All the apps were so good. The KFC chicken was great, a wonderful combo of the sweet and the spicy wasn't spicy at all. The steamed buns were yum, I really enjoyed the spicy pork while the hubs enjoyed the bulgogi. From the previous Yelp reviews I was hoping to get pork belly buns but the spicy pork worked out just as well. I'm not a fan of rice cakes so I didn't really tough the shareable dish. Hubs convinced me to try the kimchi that was in it so I did. I thought the dish was a bit too sweet for my taste but the hubs ... he ate it up!! He even used the leftover broth/sauce and added it to his omu-rice dish. Getting to the omu-rice, it's not your typical slice down the middle and it opens up to a world of goodness. It's a scrambled/fried egg with gravy on top. The gravy here is made with peanut butter so if you're allergic like my son, you gotta skip it. While looking at the menu, the gravy for the tonkatsu was made with peanuts as well. The hubs enjoyed it but didn't LOVE it. He ate 1/2 with the gravy and then the other half, he ate with the rice cake broth/sauce. Our son had the spicy pork with rice which he thoroughly enjoyed. He said it wasn't crazy spicy but had a night kick to it. My mom really enjoyed the spicy seafood ramen. She commented on how chewy the noodles were and how she wanted to order some extra noodles. Can't wait to return to KAL in the near future!! Wishing KAL continued success for the remainder of 2021 and beyond!! read more

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Cute little korean place that is actually very hidden and hard to find. They have both indoor and outdoor option. Banchan - included kimchi, bean sprouts (I didn't eat this since I'm pregnant), sweet potato, and melon. They were good, but not mind blowing. Kimchi stew - what my husband got. He thought it was okay, and got it with brisket which he thought was flavorless. Spicy pork with side of tofu soup - what I ordered. The spicy pork actually wasn't that spicy, and was moreso sweet, and I thought was more like bulgogi than spicy pork. The tofu soup was really really hot, so it took me a while to drink it. This was very filling though so if you're hungry this is a good option! Overall service was slow, but waitress was really nice, and we weren't in a hurry. Don't know if it's always like this though or if they were just understaffed that say. The food was good overall, but didn't blow me away. read more

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I missed this place the first few times I walked down 30th Ave. Then one day, I saw someone go in to eat and realized the tiny shop existed. I grabbed a menu and was so pleased to learn they served omurice which I had been dying to try. Today was rainy and I needed a comforting lunch so I ordered the omurice for pickup and it was so good! The nutty gravy is so delicious. The presentation was also so nice, especially for takeout. The price is more than fair for the amount of food and the staff was kind and helpful. I look forward to eating here a lot more! read more

KAL - Omu-Rice - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

I loved this place ! Hands down, one of the best Korean restaurants I've ever been to. I came here on a Friday night with my mom. The restaurant looks a bit small when you walk in as there is limited seating, but when you try the food, you will be in paradise. For starters, we were brought some bowls of kimchi, potatoes, radish, and squash so we wouldn't be left feeling hungry as we waited, which was nice. For the appetizer, my mom and I ordered the steamed kimchi dumplings. As my main course, I ordered the Spicy Rice Cake with ramen and cheese. Overall, the food tasted very authentic and delicious. The spicy rice cake dish had the right amount of flavors and spice to it. I'm a big spicy food lover and I was left very impressed. Our waitress was very friendly as well. She assured us that it would take some time for the food to come out since it was busy, but we didn't mind as it was totally worth the wait ! Prices are fair and the portions are great. Highly recommend. Can't wait to bring my friends here in the future :) read more

KAL - Spicy ricecake - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Absolutely love this spot!!!! - it's like a wholesome meal you can have at a home away from home. The decor is super cute and cozy to have a good authentic Korean meal. My server was suuuuper friendly (also very tiny and pretty which was a plus) and was on point with everything!!!! Literally love everything about this place. I can't wait to try everything else on their menu. read more

KAL - Donkatsu & kimchi jeon - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

I ordered takeout from here through Grubhub. Sincr moving from Manhattan, I have been looking for a good Korean restaurant. Usually I try their takeout before going to the restaurant. It was highly rated on Infatuation so I figured I would give it a shot. I got the dumplings and the bulgogi japchae which came with 4 banchan. The food I ordered was okay. The bulgogi was lacking in some flavor. And the banchan wasn't the greatest. I am chalking it up to the fact that I had it delivered and it's probably better straight out of the kitchen. Not to mention, the delivery driver did not let me know that my order was dropped off at the front desk.... So it could have been sitting on the desk for several minutes before I picked it up. I'm not sure if I would order from here again. read more

Great small and cozy spot for authentic Korean, with relatively unique items on the menu. The crunchy tofu was the best item we tried, delicious. All other items were great; the K.F.C. soy garlic was very sweet and we'd probably opt for no cheese on the seafood pancake if we ordered it again. read more

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Came here on Thursday where their alcoholic beverages are half off! Had some amazing plum and raspberry wine. I love that they serve water in coffee mugs! Got a kick out of that. We tired the pork buns which were suburb as well as their fried chicken wings. We ordered the bulgogi and the marinated beef. Their food presentation is amazing but the food is equally as good. You can just taste the freshness in their food. Great service overall! Prices are great. Looking forward to many more meals here. read more

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Good combos ! Kinda small proportions for their price but overall Not bad . Services is lil slow it's usually just one person . But yeah overall would def come back read more

super tiny place but it's super yummy a lot of flavor ! prop. are smaller ok . they have a. great lunch deal . love all the sides as well

The Best Korean Fried Chicken in Astoria. I can tell they are using fresh oil every day. Liked their side dishes. Most importantly, their waitress and manager were so kind to us. Visit here if you want a good Korean Chimak! read more

KAL - Soy garlic fried chicken - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

Honestly I don't go out to eat Korean food since I'm so used to eating my moms korean food, but this place is SO ON POINT. I LOVE how flavorful the food is without it being overly seasoned like most ktown spots. Side dishes- classic!! Portion size- beyond filling! Interior- cute and casual! Food- TRUE KOREAN GOODNESS. This is definitely a hole in the wall that's soo underrated. Service is impeccable!! Also owner is such a cool guy. REALLY NEED TO COME BY. I've had various dishes here and they are soo consistently delicious. read more

KAL - Grilled Mackerel Soybean Stew - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Food is good! Seating is limited. Honestly not sure if they can seat parties bigger than 2.

Of all the Korean restaurants I've been to, KAL is the best! There is a lot of Korean restaurants around my neighborhood in Flushing, but it can't beat the taste of KAL. It really is a hidden gem in Astoria ^^ The staff is super friendly and attentive. I always have a great time every time I go there. Everything about the restaurant is good except for one thing.... all of their food is delicious it is hard to choose! I always choose something new to try and I am never disappointed. read more

Great food and service!!! A great way to get authentic Korean food in Astoria, highly recommend if you are in the area! read more

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Really good Korean food and large servings for extra meal and great price Didn't try the bulgogi omurice but that's on priority for next time read more

KAL - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

Impressed. The food was great. They also used a quality brand of rice. (Anyone who's ever lived in Korea or Japan will appreciate this.) Customer service was also spot on. I had the Bulgogee Stew. It had a sukiyaki like taste. Atmosphere is also nice, the tab was reasonable and both of us left full... Will definitely repeat! read more

I find Kal to be the best place to go when it's just a hint too chilly outside. You walk into the coziest space and then are served some bites which are delicious and typically a bit spicy. I really enjoyed how piping hot and crispy the fried chicken was, how squishy the rice cakes were and how delicious the spicy pork was wrapped in some lettuce. I did however put too much raw garlic in when wrapping the spicy pork, but that was poor decision making on my part read more

Moved in about 2 months ago and have been trying to find a reliable Korean restaurant that can deliver the goods. KAL is a cozy Korean restaurant that delivers on warm customer service and can satisfy your Korean craving every time. I recommend their crispy/savory Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) and their beef spicy tofu soup. read more

The beef from the beef bibimbap taste so wired. Imagining chewing on a piece of rotten meat, this is what lingers in my month right now. I believe the meat had gone bad. Looking at how the meat looks, you can see a bubble-like texture from the fat part of the meat. I am really doubting what I am having..... I have order from Kal several times and never received anything this disgusting. If anyone from the restaurant sees this, please taste a piece of your beef.....disgusting. read more

KAL - Beef Bibim Bap - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Cute little hole in the wall. Pretty good korean food at a decent price. The staff was also very nice. read more

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I would have to say that this spot falls into my top ten Korean digs. It's a very small joint in the middle of bustling restaurant scene in Astoria. The staff is very accommodating and the food is on point. Food: I would have to say the chicken wings we got was not the best since Korean spots are know to have amazing wings, they'll have to work on that. My 2 cents" The rest of the food we ordered made up for the wings. My dish was served as I've expected. It's like a match made in heaven when the food taste as good as it looks. You are a very happy person. My partners meal was the classic bibimbab which she said did not disappoint as well. Overall, a solid 5 star for this joint. Minus the wings of course. My new Korean joint is Astoria. Yesss. read more

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Small hidden Korean gem in Astoria! I was pleased with the quick and friendly service. Shared pork buns, grilled beef brisket, and spicy rice cake between two people. Hands down the best spicy rice cake I had in years. I'm all for the sweet and savory rice cakes, not too spicy! Bf raved about the spicy pork main dish. I had the mushroom bibimbap. The mushroom bibimbap comes out in a hot sizzling stone! It had a variety of mushrooms and I think it's a great option for vegetarians. You can add the gochujang sauce to your preference. Each main dish got it's own cute plating with the side dishes. Loved that part. They also sell Korean liquor by the glass, so we each had a bokbunja (Korean raspberry wine) and Seoljungmae (Korean plum wine). It was nice trying out the drinks without having to order the whole bottle. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood read more

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After finding out there's another small korean restaurant near Astoria. I was wanting to try when they first opened but didn't have the chance to until April 19th. Inside is really small that there is about 7 seperate tables so I wouldn't recommend if it's coming by with large groups of people with that amount of tables and seats. There was guy working there and was got seated after the table was cleaned. The food I ordered was good but thinking that the guy waiter working there said "what does my father wants" he wasn't my father so due to that I decided to take the stars off. Please next time DO NOT JUDGE people by their appearance. I ordered mushroom hot stone bibimbap and beef soup. All the food I ordered was great but I just wished the hot stone pot was a little bigger because it was really hard to be mixed. The water tasted as sink water so didn't really bother touching the water. There's really nothing special on the menu but in the future if I ever in the area again will come by otherwise not a favorite place to go. Someone wrote a review, that person is right don't fall for 5 star review. I don't know how this place got almost 5 star review but be honest next time. read more

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KAL is a cute little Korean restaurant in Astoria. It doesn't have that many tables, but since we went around 9pm, we got seated quickly. The first thing we noticed as we entered the restaurant was the large chalkboard art on the wall. It has some manga-looking (?) characters drawn on with a few menu items listed. We ordered the Spicy Rice Cake, the Basic Bibimbap, and the Hot Pot Bulgogi. There is a daily special and for Wednesday, it was the Spicy Rice Cake ($4) which we ordered. For four dollars, it came in a pretty generous size. I like the texture of the rice cakes because they were kind of soft and chewy. Both the Basic Bibimbap and the Hot Pot Bulgogi had beautiful (or should I say very instagrammable) presentation. Each dish came in a wooden tray with four small side dishes on it. The Basic Bibimbap ($14) had a fried egg, beef, and some vegetable on top. The portion was big and they didn't skimp on ingredients. The Hot Pot Bulgogi ($14) consisted of the soup and a bowl of rice. I could definitely taste the beef in the soup, but at the same time it was not too oily or salty. Lastly, we got two Mochi ice cream as complementary desserts! We would definitely come back again and we are so happy about this new addition to the neighborhood. read more

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Best Korean food in the area hands down. I dine in or order delivery at least once a week and the taste stays consistent. Servers are super friendly and attentive. Highly recommend! read more

For my appetizer, I had steamed vegetable dumplings, fried beef dumpling. For my entrée, I had bulgogi. The steamed vegetable dumpling was average. The fried beef dumpling was very good. As for my main course, it was good looking and flavorful. The service was great. Although, It's hard to tell if that would be the case if it was more busy. read more

KAL - Korean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Pretty yummy. Ordered delivery on a Saturday night and got the bulgogi (?) which was surprisingly yummy. Also got pork buns and bibimbap, which had an over cooked egg on it. But all in all, I enjoyed it. read more

I love this restaurant, food so good to me I love Korean food so much and good service too. Highly recommend!

Great food and great portions. Staff was kind and frequently checked up on us. Have gone back many times

Stumbled upon this new Korean restaurant in the neighbourhood. Blown away from the moment we saw the menu. This is exactly what we need and want! Give it a try they specialise in traditional Korean dishes. PORK BELLY BUNS Very juicy and tender pork and the buns were soft melts in your mouth SPICY FISH & RICE CAKE The warm spicy sauce in this dish makes everything all right with the rice cake and fish cake. What's not to love? $13 for two beers and this rice cake appetiser SEAFOOD SOON DUBU This spicy tofu soup is soothing to my soul. The broth is complex but yet refreshing. I can definitely see myself coming here during the entire year and delivery/takeout. BEEF BIP BIM BAP Sizzling hot stone pot bowl of goodness with beef and veggies and crackling rice read more

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A tiny little gem on busy 30th Ave- don't miss out getting a meal here! Went with my sisters on a nice day. There were a few people but no wait so we were quickly seated. (I want this place to thrive but also love that it's a hole in the wall- those places often have the best food). We ordered spicy pork, grilled mackerel and bulgogi omurice. My favorite was the spicy pork- juicy, perfectly flavored and came out sizzling. The mackerel was delicious if a little small. The omurice was also a great choice but I only wish it had more gravy on it. Our meal also included several small veggie dishes for the table to share (I forget the name of this but it included kimchi, tofu, picked radish and 2 others I forget) the food was fresh, flavorful and we were full by the end but didn't feel gross about it. Highly recommend and will definitely order again! read more

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what a wonderful addition to astoria! I hope this place stays for a very long time. good, quality, comforting food at an insanely great price served in the cutest atmosphere. while this place only probably seats 7 small parties at a time, its worth risking a trip out here. the ddukbogi was soft and garnished with a beautiful flower, and for just a dollar more you can make it melty soft with delicious mozzerella. The brisket sundubu wasn't the flavor i was expecting but it was still yummy. the tofu is soft but soy sauce marinaded and the egg is already broken into for you. there was also a very generous portion of beef inside it as well, which is much appreciated :) my boyfriend had bibimbap and it was delicious as well. each entree is served with a bunch of fresh banchan. more than likely i'll come back here and try everything else. so glad i gave this place a chance! read more

Great food and awesome service! We ordered bulgogi japchae, spicy pork bibimbap, pajeon and spicy bao among two adults and two kids. The food portion was way bigger than we expected so we thought we'd ordered too much. And yet, we ended up finishing everything and kids want to go back to the restaurant. Thank you! read more