The menu is specialized so everything is really good and the cooks are very friendly and attentive! I've been multiple times and am looking forward to the next time! (The cucumber salad is really good but very spicy so watch out if you're sensitive to that) read more

KAOKAO Grill - Char shu pork - Barbeque Near Me - Berkeley, California

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This place is truly amazing. You can really tell the owner and manager love the craft and take pride in the food they make here. The chicken was superb and the chickpeas really wrapped the dish up nicely. The sauce and the crispy chicken skin has ensured that I will be back sooner rather than later. My partner and I ordered both primary entrees and the cha siu blew our mind. The sweetness of the marinade, the fattiness of the pork, and the tenderness of the meat made it the perfect lunch! :) read more

A very, very welcome addition to the neighborhood. This place is a treat! The pork is DELICIOUS! The ingredients are quality. The cucumber side salad was also delicious. People in line were raving about the eggplant, enthusiastic about the menu. "I never want it to change," said my friend who recommended it. I can't wait to go back for the chicken. Generous portions. This is a very casual place, perfect for take-out too. Friendly staff. read more

Great for take-out! Yummy food, but I don't recommend eating there because of noise from the fan (throughout the small restaurant). Cucumber salad - outstanding! Chicken - outstanding. Comes with rice and a very tasty chickpea curry (which you can also get as a side dish) Char Siu (pork) - delicious but very rich (fatty). I think this would be ideal split among 3-4 people as an appetizer/side dish. Comes with pickled cucumbers, which complement the meat nicely, and with rice - I would have preferred it without the sauce that was on the rice. Generous servings! read more

My friend and I tried KaoKao tonight for the first time and were pleasantly surprised by the food. My friend had the BBQ pork, and I had the chicken dish. Both were plated very nicely, which was a pleasant surprise. And the flavors were excellent! The pork was very juicy and flavorful; the chicken was also very tasty. We also ordered the cucumber salad-my friend can't eat anything spicy so greedily ate the entire dish, it was so delicious! The menu is admittedly pretty small, but I strongly believe that it's better to do a few things well than to have a big menu with less tasty dishes. We chatted with the owners and they were very friendly. I give them credit for opening during the pandemic. I know that looking in from the front door the place doesn't look that impressive, but it's definitely worth a try and I'll be going back! read more

Okay here's the deal, I'm a service industry lifer. I've had lots of food and most of it was 'good enough' and then there's food you have intimate moments with. The kind you contemplate giving it a key to your place it was so good, maybe telling your mom about them. KaoKao is that f*cking good! Small menu, but every item kills it. The egg sandwich with pork stole my heart and my favorite side of the bed. Consider starting a relationship with KaoKao's menu. read more

This place is amazing! The staff are friendly. The pork is cooked perfectly. It's tender and juicy. The chicken dish is also delicious! try both and then go back to get the pork again! read more

FOOD I got the KAO KAO chicken the chicken had a little kick but it was super flavorful and crispy skin also with the white rice it made it complete Service I had someone get it for me read more

Saw this place remodel a few months ago.and great that they open today.order the Kaplan char siu.cucumber salad sandwich.so delicious.will bring friend here to try next time read more

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10/5! Yes! Incredible flavor complexity, cooked to perfection. This chicken is some of the best in the bay area right now. Just try it. Great value. Maybe too good of a value? read more

The food was amazing! And beautifully plated. It was so flavorful and juicy. I had the char siu, and in the past at other restaurants, they're usually pretty dry and almost like gravy-less turkey in the eating experience. However, Kakao grills things very well! It was strongly flavored but the rice helped to balance things out. The only reason why I took off two stars is because it is very, VERY smoky inside. As in you could basically see a grey haze in the restaurant and it smelled very smoky as well. This was a surprise, as I've gone to K-BBQ restaurants in the past and even with everyone grilling away, it was not that smoky. I hope that in the future, they can invest more in ventilation and air purifiers because I came away from the restaurant smelling very smoky myself. read more

KAOKAO Grill - Char siu! - Barbeque Near Me - Berkeley, California

Excellent food that combines the best of different cultural cuisines! And very friendly service!

Been here twice, the char siu pork plate is amazing! The pork has an unbelievable glazed crust on it. You can smell them smoking it when you walk in the door. Service is a little slow, but worth the wait. My partner got the chicken and it is also delicious, smoky and earthy but still tender. read more

KAOKAO Grill - Kaokao Chicken and Chickpea Curry - Barbeque Near Me - Berkeley, California

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If you want to get smacked in the face with delicious flavor and the perfect amount of spice, this is the place. I told my partner that this is one of the best meals I have ever had. Crunchy, tender, perfectly smoked meat and the eggplant salad sauce was to die for. The owner treated us with as much care and attention as I treat guests in my own home and was so happy when we told them we liked the food. You can tell it means a lot to them. I will be coming back and bringing friends to support this great restaurant and the lovely young couple who own it. read more

KAOKAO Grill - Kaokao Chicken - Barbeque Near Me - Berkeley, California

Just WOW. We ordered one of almost everything on the menu, the chicken, the char siu, the eggplant, the cucumber and the chickpea curry sides. Literally everything was the definition of perfection. Both the chicken and the pork were delicious and full of smokey goodness. The sides were so good they could easily start a vegetarian restaurant with those as the star dishes. One of the best and most complete meals I've had in a very long time. Couldn't be happier with it and am very excited to eat here again and again. read more

Tried it out for the first time on a Saturday night and it was a little quiet and it took a while to get our food but then, WOW, the char siu was seriously amazing, probably the best I've ever had. The eggplant salad was so good, my 8 year old inhaled it, and then proceeded to put the slightly spicy sauce on her rice because she liked it that much (but then couldn't eat her rice because she made it too spicy). I ate way too much because I just couldn't stop. The sweet crackling on the char siu with the tender meat was so perfect. They have a serious smoker in the kitchen so you can believe they are about making that BBQ. read more

Friendly staff and delicious food. I do wish the pork was slightly less sweet but besides that, it's always a great time visiting Kaokao grill! read more

Small kitchen and really smoky restaurant. Chicken moist but really smoky, meat is a little pink inside due to smoke. Hard to describe flavor, tea smoked duck? Pork is good, a little fat to balance it out. Also smoky, I'd buy again if it wasn't so salty. Rice is well cooked but both curry/gravy were a bit different and would pass on it in the future. Eggplant is garlicky, but this with rice for dinner. Price are up from opening, $18 with tax each and eggplant is probably the best deal at a full pint togo. Hype? Sounds/reads better than it tasted :( read more

Got the sandwich and curry for lunch! The food was really good, and the price was pretty fair as well. Would recommend if in the area and want a smaller/less heavy meal read more

Very very good. My only complaint is that it was a bit too salty, especially certain bites (I think the sauce heavy bites?) which were extremely salty. The char siu was very tender, the fat seemed to melt off, the rice was very fluffy, the cucumber salad paired well with the meat. Overall, this place is far above average. I haven't tried the chicken yet. The only thing that's preventing this from being 5 stars is the amount of salt. Still, this place is better than the vast majority of restaurants and I'm excited to have it near me! read more

Got the sandwich and chicken plate. Both were really good! I thought the chicken was cooked perfectly and the smokey flavor paired well with the chickpea curry. Their oven was heating up when we got in (around 4:45) so they took a little while to get the food out, but the person who took our order brought out a complimentary cucumber salad since we had to wait. The cucumber salad was great and I will definitely get it the next time I come here. Service was good and the two people working were super nice. Casual atmosphere makes it a chill place to come eat. read more

The sandwich will change your life. Cheesy eggy meaty goodness on a soft English muffin. The pork is melt in your mouth but had this intense spiced Smokey flavor. You'll want to eat 2 of them! read more

very interesting concept and food! they do smoked asian bbq meats, like chicken and pork chashu. we could definitely tasted the smokiness from the chicken and the chashu, we especially liked the tenderness and taste of the pork chashu. also, dont forget to get the pork chashu sandwich! read more

KAOKAO Grill - smoked pork chashu - Barbeque Near Me - Berkeley, California

I went because of the high rating but was thoroughly disappointed. 1. They have only TWO main entrees on the menu and they were out one of them. Said it would be an hour's wait. 2. The chicken (dark meat only) was dry like white meat and totally over cooked. 3. Everything was too spicy for my liking. And nobody asked for my preferred spicy level (0) and it doesn't indicate on the menu that their food is spicy 4. No alcoholic beverages nor any interesting non-alcoholic choices. Soda and such. Yuk!! 5. The place is not really suitable for dine in. More like a take out chain. read more

Innovative fusion with a personal touch. I appreciated the use of South Asian spices.

I went here a few weeks ago and my god the food is good. They're focusing on a few dishes - order the pork and the chicken because they will blow you away. For the price to what you get - I can't think of it's equal. read more

A friend took me to that place and it was delicious. We got the marinated chicken and char siu pork to share. Both were great. Tender and juicy meat, super flavorful and large portion for the price. Highly recommended! read more

We were disappointed they didn't have chicken today around 11:30 am. So we got two orders of the pork. The pork was delicious, but the serving was so small I had to give my son my portion because he was still hungry. The sauce on the eggplant salad is good, but it's a giant serving of not very flavorful eggplant. I sopped up as much sauce as I could and left most of the eggplant. The service was just ok. I hope they find their footing. read more

Unique offerings and I liked the flavor - I would have given 5 stars but the Cha Siu I had was super salty and very unevenly so, that it really ruined the dish. Too bad. read more

We ordered one of everything. Yes, it is that good. My new obsession! Reasonable prices to boot.

Best charsiu rice I've ever had in America! The staffs are incredibly friendly, I would recommend this place to anyone who's craving for great charsiu rice. read more

The food is excellent! I can't have soy or gluten and I saw they have a yogurt marinated BBQ chicken so ordered that. They also made their cucumber salad soy free for me and mentioned if I give them a heads up they can do their char siu pork soy free. I'll be back for that! The staff were all extremely kind and accommodating. Now onto the food. The cucumber salad was so good it had a rich almost kimchi like flavor. The chicken was incredibly delicious, the meat so tender and flavored all the way through to the bone. Our server said they smoke it in house which is probably why it had such deep, well seasoned but not over salted flavor. And the best part , the had a crispy skin! The whole meal was flavorful, plated beautifully and affordable. I didn't take pictures shame on me but go see for yourself. read more

Stopped in for lunch. I ordered the chicken which was excellent. The eggplant dish was also great - and a large portion that I could not even finish (recommend sharing). I can't wait to go back and try the other menu items...go before the word gets out! read more

Had the char siu rice and the eggplant salad. Char siu was not too sweet, and the perfect blend of smoky and fatty. Sauce that came with the char siu was subtly umami from the fermented black bean, but not overly salty like some black bean based sauces can be. The eggplant salad was delicious - the sauce is similar to fuqifeipian and the portion was very generous. Perfect with the hot rice, and I had leftovers for lunch the next day with more rice that I made myself at home. read more

Simple and clean menu, with sophisticated plating. Owners are very friendly. My family loves it. Highly recommend it.

Incredibly good food for a relatively low price (especially for what it is). The char siu and the eggplant were our favorites but everything we had was fantastic. Great marrying of the two cuisines/techniques read more

Do yourself a favor if you are in Berkeley/Oakland. My daughter found this place on TikTok. She always seems to find the greatest restaurants. Anyway, went with my son-in-law and daughter recently, and it blew our minds! Everything was great, and the owner was so sweet and kind. It's a good thing. I don't live in the area because I would be there all the time! Make sure you sign their wall!!! So good! Highly recommended. read more

We just went tonight and tasted each of the things on the limited menu. The pork was fantastic- perfectly cooked. The chicken had all the best of chicken tikka without the guilt and much more of the flavor. The chicken was so flavorful and tender. It has a kick so get it on the side if that's a problem. The eggplant salad was also worth getting. It's not pretty, but it's good! read more

Really excited about the prospect of smoked meat and Asian flavors. However, felt disappointed by the smoked chicken, it was well seasoned but pretty dry, even for dark leg meat. Surprisingly my favorite was the cucumber side dish, well seasoned, very refreshing, delicious, and memorable. Honorable mention for the eggplant side which was also very good. Otherwise Yelp wants me to comment about service and ambience, both good, although the space is somewhat small and the parking very limited. Overall, I might go back to try the pork if I'm in the area. read more

My wife and I visited on a Friday night and had a delicious meal. The pork was to die for and the sandwich is basically a perfected Egg McMuffin. The staff was super welcoming and friendly. Do not sleep on the cucumber salad. That stuff was addictive. read more