My husband and I have been visiting this restaurant on nights. We don't wanna cook since 2019. It's very clean. The owners are very attentive. Soft piano music nothing loud and overbearing and you can just sit there and talk and enjoy your food. No red carpet spectacular events happen when you enter. But you are greeted courteously, professionally, and kindly. I'd eat here several times a week if I could. read more

Cuisine: 8 Service: 7 Decor: 6 Value: 8 Overall: 8 Is it possible to get proper Korean food in South Carolina? Why, yes you can. Not just decent, but actually excellent quality. Old lady serving the food also feels friendly and kind. I have been here a few times and always left very satisfied. My favorite so far has been the seafood soondubu, which is full of umami. The tofu is smooth, while there are plenty of seafood to make it tasty. This version is almost as good as any soondubu we have in NYC, maybe except BCD. Other things I would get again here includes their grilled galbi, kimchi pancake, and galbitang. I should also mention that the restaurant provides eight different banchan and they were all quite yummy. Since I can't find any good Chinese food here in Lexington/Columbus area, I will have to seek out my Asian fix from other places. This Korean restaurant may be one of my best options. read more

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Great comfort food. Quality is great. The atmosphere is casual. Service is prompt. The restaurant is spacious. The side dishes are endless. read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Dolsot Bibimbap (Mixed vegetables with rice in a hot stone ) Yookaejang ( Spicy beef with glass noddle soup) - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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The food was in between good and ok. It was a little sad to see many of the pictures and reviews were from years ago. I questioned if we were in the correct restaurant. However, the service was good and the food came out freshly cooked. read more

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Waitress was very nice and very efficient. Fried dumplings were really good. The bulgogi is lack char on the meat. The plate shouldn't be wet at the bottom. Meat should be cooked with a char on it. read more

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The restaurant is located in a shopping center with a few other Asian restaurants. The outside is well labeled and easy to see. The interior is spacious and looks like it was expanded it feels like it could definitely accommodate more people with more tables. We went on a weekday for lunch and I ordered the chicken teriyaki plate. The lunch comes with side dishes and a sunny side up egg on my rice. The chicken is pretty sweet personal preference would have liked it with less sugar. For taste not bad, my hubby got the seafood tofu not pictured, comes with shrimp, mussel and octopus, very distinct seafood flavor and well seasoned. For lunch not a bad price and flavor was on point, side dishes were not over seasoned so appreciated that. We definitely want to go back and try some other dishes, glad there's an ok mom and pop korean style restaurant. We went to Obok down the street and it wasn't good ... read more

Very good ! $9.99 lunch specials. I got the Bulgogi. I also can't the Mandoo fried dumplings and they were homemade and delicious. The sauce, kimchi and sides were all good too ! Clean and nice service. Got to give it a try :) read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Bulgogi - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

So amazing the lunch special is my favorite you get so much and it no more than 15 at most and the owners are very sweet

We were in the Columbia area for a casual Covid graduation photoshoot (meaning, no official graduation announced as of yet!), so decided to check out this highly raved Korean restaurant. Thanks to Covid-19, there was only 1 other table of diners placed well across the restaurant, so even my hubby agreed it should be OK to dine indoors. Plus, just as in Red Rocks, the waitress was wearing a mask. Though restaurant is a super-casual dive, it seemed pretty clean...and I noticed that they were going the extra mile to wipe down everything (like our menu even) while we ate. Kudos!! No Galbi Jjim, but they did have LA Galbi, so we ordered that, along with Chicken Bulgogi and Seafood Pancake to share...which all came with a ton of mini Banchans. I thought their Seafood Pancake was especially good...and really liked the Galbi, but thought the Chicken was just OK. My hubby, however, loved the Chicken. I would have liked a bit more kick to it. Also, I liked all the Banchans. Everything on the table was thoroughly authentic, and on par with Pepero and Choi's Korea in Charlotte. Sadly, there were a few things that could have been better... The place was barely air conditioned!! Guess it was understandable given the Covid crisis, but then it REALLY could have improved our dining experience...given the nature of the foods (hot 'n spicy), the outside temperature (hot 'n humid), etc.etc. Also, both the Galbi and Chicken Bulgogi came out in lunch-sized platters, and the Banchan dishes were tiny (though they did bring out more upon my request). Still, their food was sold...very authentic. Also, think the thing that I was especially impressed with was the fast, friendly, thoughtful service. The meal was so quickly prepared...all hot and fresh! Think we only had to wait like 5 minutes?? Also, again, the waitress was cordial, and conscientious enough to wear a mask all throughout our meal. Honestly, if the air conditioning was working and the pricing was a bit toned down (for seemingly reduced portions?), I would have given the place all 5 stars. Still, we enjoyed dining in...even in sub-par conditions like this...and we had no regrets of stopping by. read more

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Had a craving for Bibimbap and this place nailed it dead on with the flavor and food quality. The little tiny white dishes are included with the Bibimbap meal. There's so much food for each person, there's no way you could be hungry after finishing your meal here. The food came out in a very timely manner and was hot and fresh! The staff were so, so kind and shared suggestions based on what my husband was in the mood for on the menu. There's some other Korean restaurants around the area, this one is one that consistently has great, legit food. The environment was calm and peaceful. I have been here before and look forward to continue coming back. Definitely worth a visit and make sure you bring someone along with you to enjoy the experience with! read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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If you're looking for well executed Koreans chow, without a lot of atmosphere.... Okay cafeteria style atmosphere, you found your joint. There's a mini K-Town, down this way, and this was the better of the two joints visited. Using my LA K-Town top joints for reference, they put out some very respectable authentic food! The Japchae, clear sweet potato noodles with beef, were peppery spicy and rocked. The simple, but outstanding Korean Galbi was meaty, and perfectly cooked. The banchan , the sides, were simple, and small in portion, but all were super tasty. Service was very good too'! Do drop off the highway, like we did, and find this place! read more

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Very disappointing. Not clean, not authentic and not delicious. The restaurant was too dark when i walked in and the server was very rude. I wouldn't recommend this place read more

I love this restaurant. We came in with a party of 5 and our orders were taken very quickly. The food came out in a timely manner and the women serving us were soooo nice! The side dishes were brought out first, my favorites were the fish cake, sweet potatoes, and the marinated seaweed? Our server was quick to refill whatever side dishes ran out. I ordered the beef dinner box which came out to about $17.50. The dinner box is huge, you really get what you pay for! A huge serving of juicy bulgogi, so tender, sweet, and savory! The rice was plentiful and fluffy. It also comes with a side salad with ginger dressing, 2 pieces of kimbap, pickled cucumbers, a small serving of japchae, and some fried sides (shrimp, carrot?, and an eggroll). The fried shrimp was my favorite. I ate until I was full and still had plenty to take home! The owner also brought our table a plate of kimbap on the house! I love the staff and food here, will come back soon! read more

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We give this place the highest rating . I have been eating at Korean restaurants - for the majority of my life - this place is outstanding ! We loved our seafood soup and heated stone veggies/rice . Why go and pay a lot of money and not get all of the little samples of food in the vista . This Korean lady was authentically sweet and we could hear each other speak . read more

Came back with the same foood! Lol - Galbi (beef short ribs) - Pork neck bone stew - Hot stone pot bibimbap read more

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This place is small (being in a strip mall), but that is part of it's homey charm. The normal dinner items are pretty affordable... about $10-20 with their house specials being $30+. I know that sounds outrageous but please understand one house special is enough to feed at least 3-5 people! I mean that bowl is humongous!!!! So, splurged because I really wanted a whole fish perfectly prepared. I decided on the Yellow Croaker. I've never had it but I love the local type of Croaker we get so decided to try it. It came with a small bowl of bean paste soup. On the menu as a dinner item it comes with your choice of meat but here it was just the delicious vegetable soup. A hint of spice but pretty mild and I didn't ask them to make it spicy hot . Holy moly that bad whole Croaker!!! So awesome! The menu says charbroiled but it's actually perfectly fried. Not sure what kind of seasoning was on it but was simple and tasty. The skin perfectly crispy, and if there was breading it was perhaps just the lightest dusting of flour which let the delicate flavor of the fish shine through. Now, alot of people are intimidated by a whole fish. Many people are used to only eating filets of everything. But any chef will tell you that all meats taste better when cooked on the bone. So here is the trick to eating fish on the bone. First locate the top fin (if it hasn't been cut off). Gently pull and remove it. There is a small amount of meat clinking to the fin bones but it is negligible. Now take your fork and gently work it into the gap left by the removed fin. Gently lift the filet away from the bones at the spine. Patience and care must still be taken when eating the filet. Take small bites and savor the flavor of the fish as you use your tongue to gently feel for any small pin bones. You can now loosen the underside of the fish from the tail and use the tail to lift the. Ones away from the second filet. Or you can turn your fish over and carefully eat the other filet. There are tasty little hidden gems of super flavorful meat under the chin and if the fish is large enough at the cheeks under the eyes. The advantage to taking your time is that you truly get to savor your meal and it gives your brain time enough to register that you are full. This is good because too often we eat so fast, and in such massive quantities that by the time our brain catches up and tells us we are full, we've eaten sometimes 3-4 times the amount we should have. So, one of the best whoje fish I've had in about a decade! Great flavorful soup, and as always those numerous yummy pickled veggies on the side! Great service and ambiance what with the Korean television playing on the big screen TV. Accept the challenge to try a new cuisine and you will not be disappointed with this gem of a korean restaurant read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Yellow Croaker and Bean Paste soup - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

We had a great Korean lunch yesterday at a restaurant that I always love their veggies. We got the hot rock bibimbap which is my favorite. The hot rock crisps the rice on the bottom and continues cooking the veggies and egg as you stir from the bottom. Excellent!!! The individual servings of extra veggies is just a plus. There are too many to list. This place is on Decker Blvd and has been recently painted and upgraded that was much needed. read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Veggies - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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We went to this restaurant and it was very good. Located in a business plaza with a lot of traffic flow going in and out. The restaurant exterior and interior was nothing to look at but the food and service was very good. They have lunch specials from 11am to 1230p and a small menu of other Korean food choices. Sorry no pics of food nor menu. Hungry as usual and forgot to take pics. Lol read more

LOVE korean garden! i've tried so many korean restaurants and this one is so perfect to us. it's so cozy and delicious.

What a gem! Ate here while passing through on a road trip. Quintessential hole in the wall with AMAZING food. Great service. They clearly care about you liking the food. You can get a solid array of different items decked out with different kimchee. The dolsot bibimbop and the short ribs are real highlights, but all was great. read more

I'm finally back to this place after a much needed break. I heard there was a new owner and chef so I had to see. I had the Spicy Squid Stir Fry (Ojingeo Bokkeum ). This new team has managed to bring the authenticity of Korean Cuisine back to The Midlands. The Korean Side Dishes (Banchan) are plentiful and the main entree is worth the money. Like a person in recovery, I have long-awaited the day to get a taste of Uijeongbu City from the hands of a great chef. Katchi Kapshida read more

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The short ribs and spicy pork bulgogi were excellent. Service was good. The place looks like a dump but the food was good.

Just Marvelous! With all the Korean restaurants on Decker Blvd, it's hard to stand out, but Korean Garden has really made a name for itself. They're located in a strip mall area and have a large parking lot. They have a party room for big groups, a TV showing Korean news, and pictures of food decorating the walls. The Food: They have a pretty extensive menu for anything Korean that you could want. If you're indecisive, they have lunch/dinner boxes and as always their Korean BBQ dishes come with side dishes. We ordered the Galbee Dinner Box, Bulgogi, and Shrimp Fried Rice. The meats are the bomb/bee's knees!!! They win for having the best tasting tender delicious meats. The Galbee and Bulgogi was probably some of the best I've ever had. I liked my dinner box because it came with A LOT of food which included mandu, kimbop, rice, salad, and some noodles. The shrimp fried rice was aromatic and tasted great too. However, I was a little disappointed with their side dishes because of the lack of variety. There were only 9 of them when most Korean restaurants usually have around 12 to 15 side dishes and the ones they had were just the basic ones. The service was also only okay. The Korean lady that served us was nice and courteous. Unfortunately, a large group came into the restaurant after we ordered our food and they got slammed and disorganized. We still got our food out in a reasonable amount of time, but they didn't refill any of our drinks or side dishes and we had to ask directly at the front in order to get our checks. Overall, this place is awesome and is worth a try! Arirang is usually my to go place for Korean, but this place has earned a spot as my second favorite Korean restaurant in Columbia because of their high quality meats. read more

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Family business with good food and good company. Ahjumma is always helpful and the banchan is really good! I recommend the galbi and nengmyun! read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Special Hot Dog - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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One of the best restaurants that I have been to in Columbia, SC. The food is served fresh and hot. Nothing beats authentic, traditional Korean food. I got the sundubu with beef. Make sure you get a bottle of soju to go with your food. Can't eat Korean food without some soju. The workers were kind and friendly. We had a long conversation with them. read more

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Since we are going pass through the Columbia South Carolina, I have look up Yelp recommendations. I found this Korean restaurant close to the highway. There were actually three Korean restaurants nearby but we have chosen this one. This restaurant has good traditional tofu pot. I have ordered the combo. For $14, I got seafood tofu hot pot and the grilled short rib. The seafood tofu stew is a good one. I like it bubbling hot. The seafood is pleasant. The short rib is grilled in the excellent way. My wife got the BibimBap. It top with every thing but they are good taste. All the meal come with 10 small dishes for appetizer. I would said they are very traditional dish. I like at least 6 of them. Can wait to revisit. However it is too far in Columbia South Carolina. read more

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Many Korean restaurants are to be found up and down Decker boulevard varying in price and quality. This place had pretty good Galbi short ribs but for lunch they will run you about twenty dollars or more depending on your tipping after the meal at lunch. The Banchan small little dishes will cost you .99 if you want more than what's brought out to your table. But food was overall good a little higher than most Korean restaurants in the area but it all depends on what you order that day. My only complaint was the wet mop smell that hits you like a ton of bricks it leaves a wet stale smell in the air and is hard not to notice while trying to enjoy your meal. read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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The food here is amazing. Their galbi (short ribs) was super juicy and their spicy pork was intensely savory. If you don't know what to get you can't go wrong with their galbi. I will never forget the ajusshi here though. When he brought out our waters, I asked for barley tea. He said okay, turned sideways as if to walk away, but then turned back and took my water with him. I stared at the table where my water used to be and then at my boyfriend and we both kind of sat quiet for a second. And then we just laughed. Oh my god, ajusshi, please, take my water, and serve it to someone who won't waste it instead, hah (okay, seriously though I hope he tossed the water)! I had a very different experience with the service from what others have mentioned (the staff was not super friendly nor very attentive). But personally service has never been super important to me when dining at a Korean restaurant (unless it's AYCE BBQ!). From some of the Korean dramas I've watched, I've noticed that a lot of standard restaurants in Korea either come with a service call button on the table or they shout "excuse me/chogiyo" across the restaurant to get a server's attention (and as long as your tone of voice doesn't indicate otherwise, no one would be offended by the yelling). But yeah, even if my water is taken away over and over again, I will definitely come back here to try everything on their menu! read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Galbi - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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This is excellent Korean food! I had the soft tofu stew with short ribs and rice, plus I ordered dinner to go, which was spicy pork with rice. All of it was amazing!!! So good! The servers were very nice too. Busy place which means they know what they are doing and are going to be around for a while. They also do many of the small kimchee dishes as appetizers which is very tasty. You can ask for more of those if you desire more of them. Will definitely be coming back here again! read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Food was excellent. Service was good with check ins and refills without asking. We look forward to visiting each time we are in town. read more

sad because I loved eating here but my experience on Thursday around 8pm was not good. I usually eat here when I want some korean food in Columbia but I'll probably eating at Arirang from now on. I've been eating here because I love their bulgogi dinner boxes but after the rude waitresses I don't think I would wanna come here again. I planned to come eat here for my birthday with a few friends that were in town. I told the waiter we had 10 people coming and he set the tables up in a weird shape for 15 but it was fine. I came in at about 7:40 and it there was an average amount of people. Not too many people but enough. My friend came in and sat like 10 mins later and then we finally got our waters. While we were placing our orders with our waiter he gave us strange looks and said the food would be too small when some of us said we would share (some of my us had eaten a little while ago and weren't too hungry and I never finish the dinner box in general so I always share food with my boyfriend). Apparently another waitress didn't think he got the order right and came back to make sure he got the right orders by calling each order out to each of us to confirm. She also gave us weird looks and told us it would be too small (but it really wasn't). We got our food before we got our sides. My bulgogi box came out first. When we were almost done eating a lady kept coming out and watching us which was really weird. She would just stand in the walkway in front of us with her arms crossed watching us eat (I really hope she didn't do anything to the food or anything it was just really sketchy). My friend thought there was a little piece of plastic in his tonkatsu but honestly idk but she also kept trying to look over at him when he was pulling it out of his mouth. When we were almost done eating she asked us if it would be all on one check (but I think she just wanted us to get out of there already) and we told her they would be separate and when my cousin asked to pay she told her to pay at the front (I don't really understand why she would ask if we would be paying at the front but I mean I guess to get the checks in order? But you have to tell them what you ordered at the register anyways so I really don't get it). There's like a 10% discount if you pay cash as well. We were told to leave tip at our table and there was a lady cleaning it up for us and I laid our 21% tip (even though the service wasn't that great and don't really deserve it we just felt so judged the whole time) and she stopped cleaning to count the money immediately as we walked away. I'm usually very tolerable about service especially when they have broken English and are old but like that was so rude to have been so judged as a customer when you're just trying to enjoy your meal. There were 9 of us and they still wanted us to order more than we wanted as if they wouldn't already be getting a good amount of money. The food is also a bit more expensive than Arirangs. Overall, I'll definitely be eating from aririang from now on for Korean food because their service is much kinder, the food is cheaper, they give you a bunch of sides, they don't judge you if you just order a small rice, and my cousin likes their kimchi soup better. They also have a bidet in the women's restroom which is cool and they were the first korean restaurant I've ever had. read more

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Everything was very fresh. The Kimbap (sushi) was delicious and at a reasonable price. My favorite was the beef short ribs. They were tender and full of flavor. Definitely worth a try if you are looking for good Korean food. read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Galbi or Korean beef ribs - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Tucked away in a strip mall a KFC provided for an excellent landmark to mark where this place is. For Columbia standards I think this has got to be the best of them all. Again I came here with a few other Korean soldiers and this was the one I recommended and the one which they preferred. Overall the decor fits you're average K-town mom and pop restaurant with kbs playing on the big screen. Again staff here was really nice. The banchan(side dishes) here was plentiful and too many to name overall a great spread. I ordered the kalbi combo with tofu stew and for SC it was a great deal. Well seasoned Kalbi, who doesn't love short ribs. The tofu stew needed a little more spice and seasoning but other wise hearty with a bowl of rice. Overall much needed comfort food out here. read more

The food is very good. We ordered spicy pork and Bulgoki. The sides are small but good. It does not look like much from the outside but the food is excellent. The service not as attentive but good. read more

I'm quarter Korean. Grew up on Grandma's authentic Korean food. Been to Korea and ate a lot of food there. This place nailed it!! They're 100% authentic. Their dumplings were delicious and all 3 of my kids loved them. (Ages 11,9, and 2). Their Chicken and beef bulgogi was PERFECT and so similar to how my grandmother made it. Their KimChi was spot on. I'm hooked and will be back again and again. 5 stars for sure. Their service was very good also! Extremely nice people running this place. The inside and outside didn't look like much. But that doesn't matter to me when you get quality food like they serve. read more

The noodles are insane!!! Delicious... it's a small spot but the meals are big restaurant quality. The customer service is nice!!! There are a lot of options to choose from and all at reasonable prices. The most you'll have to worry about is seeing random cars riding by while you eat. If you are a person that has "squirrel" moments, get away from the windows and turn your back. Nice spot, I'll be back -Fitz read more

I was absolutely dying for some good Asian food in Columbia. We live 3 hours away from this area and we don't have a single Korean restaurant around. As we were driving through this area, it seemed that many restaurants are closed on Sundays. We were so happy to have found this place, and even happier that the food was delicious. A little family run Korean restaurant with Good, friendly service. I had the Bi bim bap and mandoo. Super yummy! Would definitely eat there again the next time we are passing through the area. read more

The interior is plastered with photos that represent Korean culture (food, temples, fermented jars, etc.), and they have a huge television on the back wall broadcasting Korean shows. Ordered the seafood pancake and black bean noodle that came with a number of side dishes. The potato side dish was really tasty, but everything else tasted pretty average. There are a couple other Korean restaurants in the neighbor that do the same dishes I ordered better and cheaper, so that's why this place only gets three stars. The ladies serving were really friendly, and food was brought out relatively quickly. read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

Everyone needs to come and eat atbrhos restaurants it's so good and the service is amazing they treat you like family this restaurant is one of my family's favorite places to eat they are a little pricey but uts very much worth your money read more

Korea Garden Restaurant - Baby octopus sides and rice - Korean Near Me - Columbia, South Carolina

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I went during lunch (1-2pm) on a Saturday. I can say I was a little bit hesitant a first since they seemed to be doing reservations and I was the only one in there besides a family that just finished BUT this place was amazing! The two ladies were nice and the food was scrumptious! I got the beef ribs with spicy bean paste soup. Everything was packed with flavor, I'm glad I had leftovers to take home too! read more