Just the banchan alone, this place gets 5 stars. I got the veggie bibimbap and yum! All my meat eating family members got meat and they loved it. I especially love that our kids pound the japchae. They have highchairs and kid fork/spoon so that's a win too! read more

Choi's Garden now has a brand new location, and name! I'm glad I tried this place before more people found out they opened because we were able to get in with minimal wait on a Saturday night. Most of the patrons were Korean. Immediately I was struck by the clean interior as well as the many, many employees in red bustling around. This is not the kind of Korean restaurant with only aunties working that rarely check on you. The employees ranged from young local English speakers to older Koreans, and they're all very helpful. The banchan was plentiful, and this was the very first time at a Korean restaurant that I was actually ASKED if I wanted a refill on them. A new and foreign feeling to me, but I liked it. For kbbq, they provide salt in sesame oil, garlic, jalapenos, and ssamjang. I asked if they had other sauces and our server brought out 2 shoyu-based ones. The lighter colored one with chili flakes was good. We came for the meat combo to grill, which includes ribeye, brisket, beef tongue, and boneless kalbi. Of these, the brisket and tongue were my favorites. The other 2 cuts were on the tough/dry side when cooked, but that brings me to my one gripe...the grill temperature. The grill definitely ran hot, resulting in constant monitoring of the meats. One slip and it turns into an overcooked mess. When we tried to turn it lower, the grill kept turning off. Aside from that one issue, I had a great experience overall and I will definitely be back to try some of their other options. read more

Korea Garden - Meat combo - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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They're back and better than ever!! By they I mean Choi's garden!! I was mourning their sudden loss and hadn't gone back to the old location when I read about how it just wasn't the same. Then to my surprise the hub says hey have you heard of this new Korean restaurant? And as I'm looking at menu pics I recognize the brown font and layout and sure enough reviewers are confirming choi's is back!! But it's better than before! New stylish digs with a large long layout (apparently this was the old home bar?). A couple of private rooms. And swanky uniforms with Korean flags on the sleeve. Super cheerful service that you're greeted with and sent off with! Park in the back rather than the front bc backing out for driving challenged people like me is rough. Plenty of banchan and delicious flavors! Everything is a bit more pricy but what isn't these days? Overall just happy they're back!! Got the dolsot bbb that stayed hot the whole time and the naengmyun! Delicious!! read more

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Korea Garden is currently my favorite Yakiniku / Korean Restaurant at the moment. What sets them apart is the service. There was not a moment where they weren't checking on your drinks, or meat to see if it was cooked. They had a large variety of banchan also. The brisket was some of the best quality briskets I had at a yakiniku. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Korea Garden - Look at the marbling on that brisket - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Our party of six people just had a feast; ordered the prime brisket, Ribeye cap, marinated kalbi, kalbi tang and the crab soup. Everything was delicious. The beef was very high quality and the marinade was perfect and not too sweet. The service and food 5 stars by a mile. We will be back. read more

so the parking lot is small and tight. luckily there's a parking guy that helps direct you to a stall. inside was immediately greeted and seated. place is clean and wel lit. filled with carts and menus and serving items. the tables have a cook top on them. one side has small seats, the other side have tables for bigger groups. we ordered the meat jhun, LA small bone kalbi. and bibimbap. we were given 10 different types of banchan, a bowl of rice, and bowls of myeokguk (seaweed soup). I the meat jhun meat was soft and egg batter was fluffy. dipped in the tangy sauce went well with rice. I thought was good. the kalbi I chose was the LA small bone marinated. they had all different ones. super tender, nice flavor, came out on a hot sizzling platter with some onion. I enjoyed the meat. the bibimbap was filled with very fresh veggies, rice, some kogi and an egg. mixed yourself with kochijang. was good. read more

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We recently visited Korea Garden for the first time to celebrate a friend's birthday, and I gotta say it was one of the best Korean barbecue experiences I've ever had! We ordered the combo set, which included ribeye, brisket, beef tongue, and kalbi. We couldn't resist adding pork belly to the mix as well. All the meats were top notch, super fresh and high quality. Along with the barbecue, we tried the tofu soup and seafood pancake, and both were absolutely delicious. Their banchan is one of the best tasting and we kept asking for more because it was that good. The service here is excellent. The server cooks your meats for you so all you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy your meal. It really lets you focus on the food and the experience. While it's on the pricier side, the excellent food and attentive service make it well worth it. I would definitely come back again and highly recommend this spot to anyone looking for authentic flavorful Korean food. read more

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Spicy Kalbi was very flavorful and a lot of meat! Ambiance was cool and clean! Service was excellent. All the side dishes (banchan) were fantastic!! read more

Korea Garden - Spicy Kalbi and banchan - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Finally got to try this place my friends recommended! Went around 830pm on a Friday night, not too crowded got seated right away and there was parking in front. I was impressed by the clean bathrooms! The server was nice and honest, he recommended what he liked the best. I think we were a little too hungry. We got japchae, spicy rice cake, seafood pancake, grilled pork belly, stone pot bibimbap. The side dishes was so good ! You can tell the kimchee was fresh. I would definitely come back! My fave was the seafood pancake and spicy rice cake! read more

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The food was great! One of the best Korean restaurants I've been to. Out waiter Andy was very accommodating. Good service. Highly recommend this restaurants. read more

Clean, cheery atmosphere with parking in the front as well as on the back street behind the restaurant. Helpful parking attendant that looked for oncoming traffic on Kalakaua Avenue to guide us out. Food was excellent! Tasty kimchi and great assortment of banchan. Kalbi was tender. Cold spicy noodles were delicious and the vegetable pancake was the best we've had at any Korean restaurant in town. Service was top notch, friendly and welcoming. Definitely returning soon! read more

Please stay away from this rude place. We came in and as soon as they they see us, no smiles, no greets, just walking away. I was trying to be understanding, maybe it was because they were busy, so they didn't have time to do any of that. We just stood there for another 10', still no one came to see us. There was a lady at the counter, so I asked her, can you please tell me how long it would take to get a table. She looked up at me annoyed, and rudely told me that "ONE HOUR". That's it, nothing else. Everyone and every place that we went to on the island, were nice and courteous. I was shocked by this place behavior, especially there were many tourists sitting in the restaurant. People shouldn't be treated like this. Please head down further on the block and you'll get better Korean food and services. read more

Decided to try here when we were craving a nice bowl of spicy Korean stew... and it was SO GOOD! Plus they even serve a "large" bowl that serves two people. Located at the former Home Bar (off of Kalakaua near Donki's). There's a few parking stalls in the front and many more if you go down the back street, Kalauokalani Way. You'll see their brightly illuminated sign or the guy in the orange vest to help direct you. Pros: - Very friendly staff and lots of them. I enjoy the full service where they also help to cut/cook your meat at the table or mix your Steamed Short-rib bowl. They also communicate via radio with each other, which is cool. - The flavor was on point! Nice heat and flavor with kimchi dishes. The Kalbi and Short Ribs were very flavorful too. - Lots of tables and nice clean white tables! They also just opened in March 2024, so that could be why it's super clean. Cons: - YO! This place is SUPER COLD.. like you warm up as you cook/eat but they keep it pretty chilly in here. There's also not smoke vent thing above your table, and smoke wasn't a problem, so that may be why it's like that. - This isn't a real "con"... but I personally have trouble with KBBQ prices in Hawaii because in Korea it's really inexpensive for great meat and flavor. Still a good price for the service and value. Lol read more

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omg how long has this place been here?!? On that day, we had to limit our anniversary celebration to lunch, and our favorite places to eat are the ones we try out for the first time and absolutely love it. So this is now one of our favorites! This place is totally legit, straight out of a Kdrama - the atmosphere, the decor, the activity, it was great. The banchans - I had to retake the photo because more kept coming AND they'll refill ones that you request. And because it was our 30-some year anniversary, we indulged ourselves with not one but two orders of the marinated kalbi - yes, that picture is of TWO orders combined, and they were fabulous! Super flavorful, beautifully seared on the hot plate (it was cooked for us in the kitchen and brought out on that hot plate), so tender and savory. It's what everyone thinks kalbi is and should be and often don't really get that in a lot of places. But you will get that real deal kalbi here. Sure, it's fairly pricey like mostly everywhere else, but we're glad we ordered it. oh and our daughter who loves bibimbap of course ordered that and also said it was the real deal. But she also said adding a few pieces of our kalbi really enhanced it. and I had barely finished taking that picture when she snarfed down all the potatoes and fish cake. There was this one banchan that my wife thought was cod taegu - a very savory sauce, and it was soft instead of the more crunchy taegu she normally has. So she was impressed and ate most of it. I tried it, and it was very good. It turned out to be eggplant! so...I guess if someone wants me to ever eat eggplant, it'll have to be prepared this exact way! We also tried the lemon soju that our waitress recommended because it was the most popular. and it really was good. We split a soju that comes in that container with the lid, and by the end of it wow I actually felt it hit me (definitely hit my wife). Can't wait to try other flavors next. We'll definitely be going back! This will be a great destination when any friends from out of town visit. Lots of space inside, but I hope there was parking in the back or somewhere because that front lot is very limited - we went after it soon opened on a Thursday, so we were able to get a space...outside the fence. When we left, all the spaces were filled, which means half the people inside parked I don't know where. read more

Korea Garden - Marinated Kal-bi (double order) and banchan - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I went to visit Hawaii and we craving Korean food, so we decided to try this restaurant . The food was delicious and we also really enjoyed the side dish so much especially the cucumber kimchi and the cabbage kimchi . The service was great, and inside restaurant very nice and clean I recommend this place. read more

Their staff is amazingly good and they take care of you as if you're family. Their food tastes homemade with care and love. I enjoyed their side dishes as well as their beef soup and fish grill. This is my go to in Honolulu. read more

Korea Garden features quality meats that can be prepared for you or cooked table side. They feature a wide selection of complimentary sides from bean sprouts to an assortment of Kim Chee flavored vegetables. The restaurant is clean and inviting. They have been opened a year but looks like they just opened yesterday. That how well kept they are. Staff was very helpful and they help cook the meats for you. Not like other local Korean yakiniku restaurants that just brings the meat to your table and expect you to do all the cooking. Overall the taste and tender meats make this one of the standout Korean restaurants in town. Value - 5 stars (portions are large enough for 4 people) Taste - 5 stars Friendly staff - 5 stars Parking - 5 stars (free parking available in the front and back of the restaurant) Overall 5 stars. If you love Korean food and good kal bi check them out soon. read more

The family had my Mother in Law's Birthday celebration here and I can honestly say that everything we ordered was spot on! Service was excellent and we all enjoyed the quality and tasty foods. The ban chans were plentiful and we can't wait to come back again! Highly recommended! read more

Korea Garden - Ban Chan - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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My friends have been raving about this place. My daughter and I finally went to eat at Korea Garden. Very nice ambiance. There's limited parking in the front and backside of the restaurant. When we got there (backside parking lot) , the parking attendant guided us. Better to reverse park. The food was excellent (over $300 and we left a good tip) and we had leftovers the next day. The wait help was spot on, always checking on us and filling the water. Excellent restaurant!!! read more

This place is probably the best yakiniku spot I've been too so far. Really Nice venue. The selection is amazing. There's enough parking. One thing I was impressed about was their service. They were super accommodating and always checking up on us. I recommend this place . read more

Excellent food and service, so good we went twice in 3 days! Friendly service and clean environment !

We were craving some Korean food, so we decided to check out Korea Garden. Its conveniently located It's only a few minutes in a Uber from the major hotels in Waikiki. The meat portions are pretty generous. We ordered 4 portions of meat for 4 hungry adults and we had a decent amount leftover at the end. The chef's specialty galbi (suwon wang galbi) was actually pretty good quality, but the garlic and oil it was smothered/marinated in was bland and we weren't given any salt or dipping sauces. We just used ended up using kimchi, green onion salad etc because it was so bland without and salt or sauces. I actually preferred the pork belly, which had perfect thickness, but again, they didn't bring any dipping sauce for that either (ie oil with salt, which is pretty standard at most Korean bbq places) so we had to ask for some. Also, I didn't realize it until the end, but it looks like they charge for refills on the veggies such as the green onion salad...kind of annoying because they didn't give us a lot of the green onion salad to begin with. The service was decent, but not anything to rave about. They were friendly enough, but they were inconsistent/lazy with grilling the meats for us and we had to take over ourselves many times. Overall it's a solid option if you're craving some Korean BBQ in Waikiki area. The quality of the meats and the food itself is great, but I think they can work on the service aspect a little bit. read more

This is the new Choi's garden. As expected great food, tasty ban chan and in plenty with refills when running low. Excellent service and nice clean contemporary dining space. Private rooms available also. Parking on both sides of the building, attendant present. read more

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I ordered the suggested stir-fried squid rice bowl (spicy), which came with seven different banchan. First, the banchan alone hit every flavor profile. It's like the banchan is the pre-game for the entrée. When the rice bowl was brought out, the squid was cooked PERFECTLY and was covered in a delicious red sauce that was gochujang-level spicy, which enhanced the stir-fry flavor. Lastly, to bring everything together, I had soju. It was served with a cold shot glass and paired well with the wonderful grilled and fermented nourishment that was left at my table. If you love authentic, flavorful food, you are doing yourself a disservice if you do not eat here. It had a chill atmosphere and the waitstaff was very helpful and patient while I chose my meal. read more

Korea Garden - Soju - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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I'm a harsh critic for Korean Food (I'm from LA) and the only reason I'm giving them 5 stars is I can't give them 10 (no, I'm not paid by them). Their Kalbi Tang lunch special is excellent and very well priced and their grilled short ribs are just sublime. read more

Came here for the first time with a group to celebrate a friend's birthday. Food was pretty decent, generous with the banchan, although I've had much better Korean food in NYC. (Yes, I'm spoiled)! Ambiance and service were average. read more

One more Korean place to go to is always a plus for us because my wife love Korean food (we are not Korean ) located close to Don Quijote and the convention center, they have two parkings, one parking enter from Kalauokalani way, the other parking enter from Kalakaua Ave. The restaurant is pretty new so the inside is nice and fresh. They have two private dinner rooms. All the staffs are very friendly, smiling, checking on us often while we dine for dinner. They offer all the traditional Korean food menu like others, BBQ, stew, etc. they also cook for you when you order BBQ. There is a call button by the table side you can call for services. We ordered one stew and one ginseng chicken soup, they all come to the table piping hot. They have a lot of side dishes. I counted 10 total. While the side dishes are great, I found them a bit too salty. The food quality is good, but my wife said the beef intestine stew that she ordered, it is not as good as another place called. " H....G" . Although we this place slightly lower than our favorite Korean place, there are still a lot of menu items that we want to try out. For sure we will be back in a few weeks. When we exit the parking, they have a parking attendant stop the on coming traffic to let us out which is nice. ( great services) read more

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They always provide good service at a good price in a comfortable environment. Our family eats here routinely.

Came here for their lunch special and ordered the beef bulgogi set that came with your choice of stew . I was in awe at how much banchan they gave for just two people everything was fresh and hot and the service was nice. Also ordered a side of the veggie pancake and that was also delicious, the bulgogi was a little on the sweet side for my liking but tasty . The banchan was probably the best i've ever had so many options and so so fresh! I would like to come back and try their kbbq. The overall ambiance was clean and tidy and parking looks full on the outside but there's also parking available in the back of the restaurant:) read more

Korea Garden - banchan - Korean Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Korea Garden is not AYCE, but it's in my top three for Korean BBQ places in Hawaii. The meat is top quality and delicious and the banchan are next level. If you're looking for a nicer Korean BBQ experience, then this is the place for you! The service is great, very attentive staff will even help you cook up your grill meats and veggies, allowing everyone to dig in at once. The menu offers a very wide range of tasty Korean dishes, with many soups and noodle dishes on offer to go beyond what's on the grill. We've also tried their hot jap chae and several of their jun pancakes, all of which were excellent. Overall, this is a great upper-end K-barbs place which would be great for the whole family or for a nice date night. read more

The best Korean food, everything is so fresh and yummy. I like that they offer to cook the food for you if you don't want to cook it yourself. We got a set which fed 3 of us. The service was amazing! read more

Food is really amazing here! Our favorites are the galbijjim, meat jun, and the sullungtang. Wide variety of banchan. If it hadn't been for our most recent visit, I would leave a 5 star review. Unfortunately, we had an awful experience with an extremely rude and condescending waitress. We came in past the dinner rush and were seated immediately at a table for 3. It was a bit late for a big meal so we decided to order 2 menu items to share. The waitress gave us a dirty look and asked us if we were going to order another item and I told her we were not very hungry but that we can order more later on if needed. She shook her head and began to badger my dad, asking if he was going to order anything. At this point, we felt so uncomfortable and she pulls over another waitress and tells her that we are only ordering 2 items. This other waitress tells her multiple times that it's fine, so she finally shakes her head at us again and gives up. I tried to rationalize her attitude towards us by thinking from a business viewpoint that it's not good for customers to take up space and not order anything and instead refilling on banchan. So I decided to order another stew shortly after with this in mind. Not sure why I bothered because she treated us coldly through the remainder of the dining experience even though I had already done what she wanted... It made me realize that what she did to us was not ok and if she wanted us to order more she could encourage us by talking up some menu items, or even just informing us if there is some kind of order minimum. It's not that hard to communicate with a customer service attitude, especially given how friendly we were being towards her. We've always over ordered in the past so we never encountered an issue like this with the staff but we would have been happy to add on an item if treated with respect. Honestly, all the other staff are friendly but knowing she is there, we can't imagine ever dining in here again. To management: Please address this issue with your staff. There's no need to be rude or hostile towards customers that have been supporting your business. If there is an order minimum, just inform them courteously and go from there. read more

Food was great , good service ... lots of side dishes... nice ambiance ... I would recommend this restaurant for big group too ... it is best to make reservations read more

Ive been passing this place for over 4 years and I finally had a chance to try their food today. First thing I noticed was the staff was friendly and noticed great team work and communication. We went for lunch. Got the tofu soup and kalbi lunch plate. The banchan were all amazing. The food was amazing. Bathrooms are clean. Parking man was super nice as well. 10/10 good job read more

We had a late lunch and wanted to try Korea Garden. Thankfully Korea garden offers lunch specials until 3 and we got there after 1. The menu was very large with so many choices. We were really excited for the banchan so we got a variety of dishes. We ordered the kalbi, chicken, and grilled mackerel healthy rice pots with soft tofu and kimchee stew sides. We also ordered the egg roll and kimchee pancake. My favorite part was the banchan! On the day we ate there we had a fun set of banchan that consisted of the normal kimchee, cucumber kimchee, bean sprouts. Shoyu potato, and tofu skins. The fun items we got were a shiraae salad, deep fried egg plant, some pickled yellow dish, and purple sweet potato salad. The BBQ chicken had great grilled flavor but there were some gristle parts. Everyone liked the kalbi. We didn't cook any of these meats so we had the whole table to store all the parts of each order. The healthy rice dish was a large pot of purple rice but didn't have much flavor. We got three bowls of it and could have done with just one. They offered the tea with a bowl so we could eat it with the rice but I enjoyed my food without it. I got the kimchee stew as my side soup. I wish it was more tangy but they probably use their kimchee from the banchan that has the same flavor. It was also very fishy so I think the side was the sardine kimchee soup. Service was good, some dishes we had questions about. We had some English servers that were easier to communicate with and learn more about the dishes. They have buttons to call for someone but they were constantly coming by with dishes we were able to get questions answered. They have a basket of wooden chopsticks and napkins under the table if you need them and don't want to use the metal chopsticks. Parking: there are a few stalls out front off kalakaua that you can get into and out. There is also a back parking lot off kalauokalani way that may be easier to get into. The stalls are very small so I suggest bringing a small vehicle. Update: I was craving the banchan and wanted so more so we ordered the BBQ chicken lunch plate on Sunday. I asked about the number of sides of banchan that we could get. They said 4 but we could also get the banchan side plate for $15 and that plate came with 6 sides. I tried to get specific ones that we got on Saturday when we ate in but wasn't given the option. I wish we could have gotten the purple sweet potato one again cause it was so good! read more

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This restaurant just recently opened. It had been always busy with all walks of people enjoying grilled food and or from the menu, we all ordered their lunch menu of cold Reimein with kalbi combo. Their side dishes galore! No other restaurant I know gives side dishes like here. We all love Korean dishes! It was my third visit here. The parking is fronting kalakaua avenue and in the back of their restaurant with a parking attendant. It was Sunday when I parked across the street which is public, the parking lot attendant said don't park thrrr the business building there will have my car towed, please park restaurant side! When did that street become a private street? I saw the sign but no where it shows no parking? There were more I should've taken a photo! All I can say is that building business is trying to bully the new establishment of don't park on our side which is not even within their parking lot! I saw no sign on that public road so next time I go there to eat I'll take photos! The food is totally worth going, the menu are full of delicious eats I'm sure! I'd like next time time try an item authentic to the Korean cuisine. read more

Food is awesome. Actually crave it. La Kalbi is so tender and tasty. Ban Chan out of this world. Service is quick and efficient. Restaurant is clean and usually easy to park- go in back. Only draw back is the prices can't eat here more often. read more

Food was great, service is on point. Only thing is parking was a little difficult. Inside had a great layout with some private style rooms. We will def come back again!! If you like Korean food this is a must go to place. read more

Came here near the end of July for the first time and upon going in, I loved the ambiance of the Korean restaurant. I got the feeling that they would have good Korean food (dem' cravings ya know). And here we go FOOD: Side dishes were amazing--I refilled many times because it wasn't too busy on that weekday. Quite costly but the cravings I had at that time for Korean food needed to be fed. Loved their BBQ Kalbi plate the most! I ordered jajangmyeon but it wasn't to par, so I was heavily disappointed about that. Tried kimchi fried rice too but it wasn't the best one on the island. Had their pork kimchi stew and that one saved my appetite! I went during lunchtime, so the price wasn't as expensive, so I recommend going before 3 pm if you want to save some bucks. Parking was kind of tight but if you are an experienced driver, you'll do just fine! read more

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One of the better korean restaurants on the island even though my 1st experience at Korea Garden was just ok. The parking wasn't the absolute best, and while the food and service were good-to-great, I tasted something really salty on my water cup around the rim which was really weird--I didn't know what it was so I just stopped drinking water. The parking situation isn't the best either, the stalls are kinda tight but parking attendant was super cool and I really appreciated the guys help. We had to wait a bit since it was a Saturday night but that's expected! read more