The quality of this place has been going down for the quite a while now. Given there's no kbbq nearby we had no options. The service is pretty subpar, side dishes are old and only can be refilled once. Meat quality is horrendous, and dishes come dirty. The side dishes have a stale taste and cannot be refilled. Which as a Korean, is the first time I have heard of it The meat is frozen and has the old freezer taste. Even after cooking it leaves a bad after taste. The chadol had no fat, moksal has at stench, kalbi is now as thin as 2 brisket layered. Just poor quality overall. The Korean servers looked miserable. I tracked one down to order a stew and he said "why are you asking me, ask your server". I asked him if he can get my server, he walked away and ignored me. Like all Asian restaurants it's a bad sign when there are no Koreans eating there. Cutting corners and terrible service. It's easy to fool non-Koreans with this level of quality but this is the worst kbbq I've been to in the states. Hopefully this review is a wake up call if they end up seeing it. read more

A solid Korean restaurant choice in the Boston area! The meat is also very reasonably priced with good portions - there can be a bit of a wait time (especially on weekends), but if you're not in a rush, it's pretty chill to wait! Only thing I would say is that not all servers are attentive to cooking the meat for you, so it wasn't clear to me if we were expected to cook our own or if they were supposed to do it for you. Our server would skip us several times until a different one noticed and she started coming to our table more. I don't mind cooking the meat myself but appreciate clarity on if I am to be doing so. read more

I used to go here a lot during my time in college. I enjoy their side dishes before the bbq. I like the variety of meats that are offered. People are always open and willing to help or assist with orders. It has been my go to spot for Korean BBQ while in town. I enjoy the ambiance and it feels nice and clean. read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

My family and I have been here for over 10 years through many changes of management. This by far has been the worst management yet. The waitresses were rushing us non stop and kept turning our grill off while we were still cooking! Bring old Koreana back. This is the end of an era. read more

Food was great. Service was excellent. It was a line out front, but they made room for a single day of walking distance from my Airbnb. I was a happy camper. read more

Great KBBQ! It was my first time eating here, but I've heard great things. It lives up to the hype! We (2 people) got the sam gyup sal, deung shim, seafood scallion pancake, and the bibim naengmyun. The meat was SO GOOD. The servers cook it for you, and the meat was expensive, but high quality. Both meats were big portioned, and it was enough food for two people. The bibim naengmyun was our favorite as well. I've never had it before, and I liked the soup flavors a lot. I think we couldve skipped the scallion pancake, it was just okay. Overall, this place is expensive, but I think it's worth it. Would def come back for more KBBQ. read more

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The food was mediocre at best, and the service was terrible. One of the staff, an Asian woman who appeared to be a manager or related to the owner, was especially rude and scolded our table. They served me the wrong dish, and instead of apologizing, she blamed us for the mistake. The restaurant itself wasn't very clean either--I even found chili peppers on my supposedly clean plate. I won't be going back. The experience really ruined my day. I recommend the same who are planning to visit. read more

I found a WAD of hair in my food. Beyond disgusted and nauseous bc it was so balled up and looks like there's LINT in it too. I brought the seafood pancake home since I didn't finish it. I ate a piece of it when I looked down and there it was, the ball of lint and hair.. Food was ok and service was pretty fast. But disgusted about the hair, I will not be returning. read more

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I went with my friends on an evening night and they were decently busy. The food a bit pricey, but tasted good and the ambiance was nice. The issue came when we had paid and we're on our on the way out. One of the waiters came running and shouting after us to tip more, saying they'd get in trouble with their manager if we didn't. This has never happened to me before, was a wildly inappropriate way to handle the situation, and makes me question what kind of management this place is under to pressure their employees to do something like this. read more

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My favorite Korean BBQ place in Boston area. The side dishes are delicious and free. Always go for the japchae with beef. Use lettuce as wrap for the meat and out garlic in it, read more

Koreana - Seaweed Salad Kimchi Extra Sides Extra Lettuce - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is our favorite Korean BBQ place in all of MA. Despite the draw of AYCE Korean BBQ buffets, they do not compare to the quality ingredients and service of a real place! Located in Cambridge, MA, this place is always PACKED around dinner time no matter what day of the week - but weekends are with the longest wait. Pro Tip: they take reservations 24 hours or more ahead of the time you want to dine - so call them to RSVP before you go. The service is wonderful and the food is delicious. My favorites are the scallion pancak Galbi, spicy pork bulgogi, spicy marinated chicken, and the soondubu jiigae with pork and a cracked egg on top. Their side dishes are also very good! read more

Koreana - From the top - sliced beef, Galbi, white rice, Soondubu Jiigae with pork and an egg, spicy pork bulgogi, and sides! - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Decent quality meat and attentive staff and good covid19 practice. We got the BBQ for beef brisket, galbi and pork belly. Galbi tang and yuk gae Jang soup were solid. read more

Koreana - Galbi, pork belly and beef brisket Veggie BBQ and Galbi tang - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I went here with some friends on a Friday night to hopefully try some delicious Korean food. While they did not disappoint, it didn't blow me away. Everything we ordered was decently mediocre; it satisfied our cravings, but didn't leave us wanting to come back. Yuk Gae Jang 7/10 - For about $7 (before tax), you can get a warm, filling soup. While it is small-sized, if you eat it with some rice on the side, it will feel you up. It has a good amount of tender beef and thin glass noodles. Dolsot Bibimbap 7/10 - The bibimbap was pretty solid. It wasn't mind-blowing, but if you're craving some bibimbap, this would fill you up. The rice on the bottom was only slightly crispy. The meat was decently seasoned and the vegetables were good. read more

Koreana - Yuk Gae Jang Soup - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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This place has been on my list of places to try for so long and it did not disappoint! There were so many vegetarian options but my favorite has to be the dimbimbop and the rice cakes! Spicy and so much flavor it's something you'll definitely start to crave read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Great food and attentive service make this place a fun and tasty experience! We ordered Scallops, Shrimp and Vegetables and it was a good amount of food with all the side dishes you get too. Cooking on the fire makes it all tasty great and fresh! read more

This is a review based on a takeout experience. I ordered Koreana for dinner on a weekday through their website. I had vegetable japchae and seaweed salad. The order was ready in about 20 minutes, and everything was packed nicely. They included four little side dishes for takeout orders. This place seems to be known for their Korean BBQ, which I didn't try. But I thought overall the food satisfied my Korean food craving! I would recommend giving it a try if you're in the central square area. read more

Koreana - Seaweed salad (bottoms right), Japchae (top right) - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Huge fan of Koreana. I've been 3 times and it has never disappointed. The best dish was the Ddok Bok Gi! It was an appetizer but I would go back and order that as an entree next time. I'd also like to try the BBQ, which looked delicious. read more

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Really surprised by how good the food was here! After trying other korean restaurants in the Allston / Cambridge area, I think Koreana is probably up there in terms of quality food and service. Obviously the food here and in Boston in general isn't as great as other cities (so comparing the food to nyc and LA ktown really isn't fair) but considering the small korean restaurant population In Boston proper, Koreana is pretty decent. The meat was fresh and flavorful, the ambiance was pretty good too - perfect for large groups and small groups alike, even during COVID. We started off our order with the seafood pancake (jeon). It was massive, chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside (really, the perfect consistency). This is Perfect for two people to comfortably share (we had leftovers after our meal)! We also ordered samgyupsal (pork belly) and chadol (brisket) to share. This was the perfect amount for two people. They honestly skimp on portion sizes though... three slices of pork belly for ~$21 and three rows of thinly sliced brisket for ~$23...so not the best deal and pretty pricey for what you get but Boston/Cambridge is pricey in general. The grills are pretty great and grill the meat well. Note during Covid, they will not help you grill the meat so be very careful to not burn and overcook your meat! Overall, I think this is a pretty solid choice if you're craving korean bbq especially. I would suggest coming with a larger group becasue they will be able to accommodate you and makes it slightly more affordable when eating the bbq. The portion sizes for meat is pretty small (probably the smallest I have seen in any kbbq establishment) but really good quality mean (aka not frozen!). Would def recommend if you're craving kbbq and don't want to skimp on quality. read more

Koreana - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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My family and I came here on Saturday afternoon. Prior to arriving, I called to confirm whether or not I needed a reservation - didn't need one. As we entered the restaurant, the staff rudely points at the hand sanitizer and says "sanitize now"...failed to greet us. We opted to use our own hand sanitizer; she glared at us until we finished. The tables were distanced to comply with the guidelines. The restaurant was nearly empty - only two other parties. Physical menus were not provided, strictly mobile (QR code). Water is upon request and required to pay for bottled water. We ordered the scallion pancake ($10), beef bibimbop ($13), galbi ($28) and bulgogi ($24). Scallion pancake was mediocre; nothing blew me away. The beef bibimbop was flavorless and lacked rice. I also requested for no mushroom, but it was still provided. Both the galbi and bulgogi was average. There is no parking lot - street parking only. read more

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Everything was fantastic From the service to the wonderful decor to the sashimi and bbq. All I can say is give it a shot and it will not disappoint. The bulgogi was delish and ample for two. Sashimi tuna was Devine. Next time I will try their bbq menu for two. Come hungry and enjoy read more

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We stopped in to try korean bbq and found this spot to be great. They seated us quickly and the food was brought out fast. We enjoyed the two meals we ordered and would eat here again. read more

Very average korean food. Came here around 8:30 PM, place was nearly empty with some a couple of outdoor tables and LOTS of indoor seating if you want to do korean bbq, or order a large stew (they do not allow the hot pots outside). We chose to sit outside - they provide hand sanitizer and menus are on a QR code, which was very nice. We ordered a bottle of flavored soju and a jar of yogurt soju. We ordered a vegetable soondubu, a seafood pancake, Galbi tang, and la carte sliced beef brisket. Seafood pancake had very little seafood - mostly carbs. However, I thought it was flavored very well. Soondubu was pretty average, don't really remember it tasting great or terrible. Galbi tang was quite good - I enjoyed it, especially on a cold night. The beef brisket was terrible. My friend who lives around the area warned us not to get it, BUT WE DIDN'T LISTEN! And we were full of regret!! It tasted as though they boiled the beef in water. Little flavor and cooked in a way that wasn't what we expected. Overall, I thought the place was very average, some dishes were good some were not so much. I'd come here again for food if I lived in the area but I can't say that this place really stood out in my mind, and as a visitor to Boston, there are many other places that I would go if your time is limited. Seems VERY OK! read more

A+ for achieving higher levels of mediocrity over the years. Went last night for the most rushed meal of my life where the staff will continuously come over to try and cook the meats way faster than you can eat it so you can enjoy your $36 galbi cold. Pork belly also stiff and super dry like the staff here. For the love of beef stop trying to touch the meats. Staff is more worried about trying to leave exactly at 10 on the dot rather than cultivate a decent dining experience. Downhill. Vibes definitely off in this place. Get meats from Hmart and grill your own stuff at home, this place ain't it. read more

HORRIBLE, horrible service! We made a reservation last evening for my friend's birthday. We were going to go at 8:30, but they close at 9:30pm, and requested we make our reservation at 8pm to give us plenty of time to eat. We arrive and first thing we're greeted with on this 95 degree day is a dining room thats at least 85 degrees. Full of people, they seat us when our party is all accounted for. I understand the a/c could have went out, not their fault, but it still was an unpleasant surprise nonetheless. We are seated and are served waters by someone other than our waitress. - By the way, we are all workers of the food industry ourselves and conducted ourselves politely and respectfully. - Our waitress was completely disrespectful and her attitude was uncalled for. She was mean and annoyed with us the whole time for simply sitting at the table. "What do you want?" was the first thing she said to us. We didn't know if she meant drinks, appetizers, entrees... all of it? We had just sat down. And then of course, she was ticked off that we were still looking at the menu when we had literally just scanned the QR code to view the menu. Regardless of that fact, we really didn't take that long to make our decisions, considering she was rushing us and staring daggers into our souls to get on with it. Pretty much the entire night she was avoiding our table, left us with no water, would walk by us and report back to her fellow coworkers and they'd all look and talk about us for some reason. When she would come by it was to rush the meat cooking and to toss it around. AND she was literally turning the grill down every time she walked by, to the point where we had to turn the flame back up ourselves because our meat wasn't cooking. When she noticed, she said "Can I turn this off now? Are you done yet?" If I had a dollar for every time we said thank you to her. We asked for ice cream for my friends birthday. It's funny because they were trying to rush us out of there, yet she took a million years to bring out the ice cream. And when she brought it out, she slammed them on the table passive aggressively in the middle of us having a conversation. It was literally 8:50 at this point. 40 minutes till close, not ordering any more food. Chill out babe. But the cherry on top, was the TIP. THE FORCED TIP. They take a 20% tip from parties of 5 or more. Our party was of exactly 5 people who asked of nothing and not only tolerated the blatant disrespect, but thanked her for whatever she did do. THEN, it asks for an additional tip on top of the first tip!!! I too have a job where I rely on tips. But it's the fact that she knowingly chose to be so rude to us, because she was already getting a 20% tip from us. So, why be nice if you don't have to? They're gonna tip you anyways!! Completely messed up. I tip everywhere I go, and even with this experience, I was still going to tip. But most definitely not 20% to be treated like crap. Food was pretty good, portions were small. read more

Koreana offers a wide selection of Korean cuisine as well as kbbq as the name suggests. I thought the food quality was average - a solid option if you're craving kbbq and don't want to travel far, but really didn't impress me. Around dinnertime the place is pretty packed and you may have to wait for a table or just make a reservation. When I went with my family, they did provide a decent portion of meat with each order (my go to is always the chadol baegi - beef brisket). I like that the meal comes with pickled radish to wrap with the meat given that not all kbbq places offer this. The korean pancake was also not bad and was pretty thick. The bonchon (korean side dishes) quality needs some work - wasn't a huge fan of their kimchi. I also thought it was strange that they give only one of each sauce for the kbbq as opposed to a personal sauce cup for each person, like I am used to at other kbbq places. read more

What a fun and tasty experience. We were late for our reservation but they were nice enough to accommodate our party of 6. Very helpful to figure out how to order enough food and everything very fresh and flavorful A new favorite place to go. read more

Sunday lunch at 11:30 am for a group of 7 plus 1 stroller. There's a full bar, sashimi station, and plenty of tables of built in grills. The place was quite with plenty of tables for our lunch. We ordered table bbq for six people, our choice of cut was the pork belly. Additional dishes included a fish stew, vegetarian bimbimbap, an order of dumplings,and chap chae. Plenty of sides dishes followed. Everything was fresh. The traditional vegetables and flavoring sauces accompanied the pork belly for your wrapping. Our table ordered a couple of Asahi on draft, that came out nice and cold. The staff was attentive despite how busy they were. We had the side dishes filled a couple of times, water glasses were always filled, and quick with any requests we had. Our party size added an 18% mandatory gratuity. Overall, it was my first and won't be my last time at Koreanna. Parking is street. Plenty of free spots on Sundays. read more

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We walked in on a busy Friday night. Our party arrived in two waves -- the first wave to grab us a table sans reservation -- which is how we found out that they only seat full groups. Even so, it wasn't long -- like, maybe five minutes -- before we were seated at half a large table with a grill in the middle. Server(s) got to us immediately. They were patient and efficient as one of our party did the ordering for all of us. We got the Chum Churum soju to share. In fact, everything to share! The kimchi scallion pancakes and a stirfry. And then rounds of grilled meats and veggies which comes with oodles of sides. They're all good but not all identifiable. What is this thing I'm eating? It doesn't matter. It was all good. And by the time we left, the line waiting to get in filled the entry and vestibule and spilled out onto the sidewalk. We got there just in time! read more

Koreana - Chum Churum - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Force customers to give more tips. I was about to leave and the waiter just directly came to our table asking us to change the amount of tips. read more

When I moved to Boston last year, I was cautioned by friends to not expect the same quality or variety of Korean restaurants as are available outside of DC in Annandale, VA (or certainly in Ktown in NYC). But Koreana will fit the bill, at least for now. I made a reservation to come here with colleagues, which was great because there was a super long line and I'm not sure if anyone who walked up without a reservation was able to get in yesterday. We ordered bulgogi, jumullok galbi (boneless), and some soju-based drinks. Here are the highlights: -While the prices are a bit on the high side compared to the overall portion size, the boneless galbi and bulgogi were great. These two dishes + the banchan actually filled up the three of us, so the meal ended up being fairly cost-effective. -One ding: Doenjang (soybean) paste is my FAVORITE thing to put on barbequed meat. Like, I basically later the meat in it and add rice into a lettuce wrap. The doenjang here is really sweet and it's much lighter than it would normally be elsewhere. I wasn't the bigest fan of that but put it on the meat liberally anyway. -The menu has a variety of apps like mandu and individual dishes like dolsot bibimbap (will have to get that next time). It's written in both Korean and English, which is great because sometimes the Korean is easier to understand than the English translation, but their menu translations are really quite good. -I like that they mostly let us cook the meat because that's part of the experience. The servers would come by from time to time and adjust the grill's heat or do other things like that, but they didn't run the whole grilling process, which is a positive for me. read more

What is this 3.5 nonsense! Koreana is our go-to for Korean BBQ. It's not a budget meal but the portions of meat are generous, banchan refills are seemingly endless, and the variety is excellent. We typically order one or two things of sushi, the kimchi pancake, bulgogi, and jumullock galbi for 3-4 people. Often we order double bulgogi because it's that good. Parking can be tough in this neighborhood so give yourself plenty of time to find it. Central is a quick 5-7 minute walk away if you prefer to take the T. It's always best to make a reservation in the evening, whether you're a large party or not, because it gets busy and stays busy. Ignore the 3.5 and go. Your belly will thank you. read more

I've been eating Koreana for the past 3months dining in approx 8times. One things for sure this place is consistently good. The pan-Chan condiments could be use 3-4more dishes amongst the ave 6dishes but that's my preference. Here I am having the spicy beef soup (red) and the meat dumpling soup. Delicious!!! I am in my happy place read more

Koreana - Nice and spacious indoor seating for in-climate weather. I am excited to eat some warming food!!! - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Good Korean food with decent service. If you're looking for a place to fulfill your Korean food cravings- this place is it. The one thing I'd mention though is that they will take over the tableside cooking if they decide to, which takes away from the entire point of cooking your own food and eating at your own pace. They just threw everything onto the grill at one point (we didn't ask to), and made the dining experience feel rushed and unwelcome. read more

Koreana - Food - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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My go to spot for Korean food in the Boston area. Doesn't seem crowded when we go. Good service and good food. We like the shirt ribs and pork belly. Tofu jigae is great on a cooler day. read more

TLDR: solid spot Came here with some friends on a Saturday night with a reservation for the outside table. Couldn't do any bbqing outside but felt safer that way. Indoor dining is open too. Got the seafood pancake, some Kloud beer which was a good way to start. Then we go the chicken gui, and kalbi which came out nice and hot and we're quite good. The japchae and bibimbop were also very good. Finally I ended with a yogurt soju which was a nice sweet way to end everything. I don't think you're going to blow anyone away eating here but it's a very solid meal. read more

Really awesome dinner with good service tonight. We made reservations and even at 5pm it was pretty busy! The meat may be more expensive than some other restaurants in town but the selection of banchan plus the quality of meat is bar none. We had kimchi pancakes, gyoza, japchae, shrimp tempura (cane with veggies as a dinner portion), beef bulgogi and pork bulgogi. The banchan included were kimchi, bean sprouts, seaweed, soy bean paste, tofu, broccoli...and probably more that I'm forgetting! To be honest, all of it was a hit and we liked everything. The kimchi pancakes were crispy and delicious, the Gyoza were hot and chewy, the meat was so well seasoned and came with rice as well for everyone. Two or three servers ran the very busy restaurant like a tightly run ship. We were very happy and it was worth every penny. read more

Came here on Valentine's day without a reservation, which ended up working out. Upon walking in, I was impressed by the overall ambience. It felt spacious and lively yet intimate. Seeing all the little dishes and BBQ pits at each table really added an element of excitement to the experience. Before being seated, we had to tell the server whether or not we planned on having BBQ (which we did). She led us to a spacious table with a BBQ pit in the center. As mentioned on the menu, if you want BBQ, you have to order a minimum of two meats. We went with the Galbi (prime beef short rib, $29) and the Chicken Gui ($21). Plus, we got a scallion pancake to start ($11). Service was quick and consistent. I liked that the servers cooked the meat for us. Galbi was delicious, flavorful, and fatty. Chicken was solid but not quite as memorable. Plus, you gotta love all the delicious little veggie dishes that come with the meat. Scallion pancake was thick, crispy on the outside, and doughy on the inside - delicious! I'm dying to come back. read more

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Food was pretty bland, everything needed salt. I had to go ask for extra sauce, all the servers were on their phones.

As an avid KBBQ fan, I can confidently say that Koreana is the best KBBQ place in the greater Boston area. I've been going to Koreana for years and the quality of food there has been consistently high. Definitely get the galbi if you go here - my friends and I agree that it's the best meat entree on the menu. The meat is juicy, tender, and just melts in your mouth. You get a good variety of banchan at Koreana and the servers will cook your meat for you here so you can just sit back and relax. As other reviews have mentioned, Koreana is definitely on the pricier side compared to other KBBQ places I've been to. While service is very attentive, I do feel kind of rushed to finish while I'm here with how quickly the servers cook the various courses of meat. Overall if you enjoy your meat being cooked for you and your wallet is prepared for the slightly higher prices then I would recommend Koreana. read more

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Had a great time here last night with friends! It was our first time ordering a Korean BBQ meal. We had a blast and successfully were more than stuffed off two orders of Korean BBQ plates. We ordered: 1.) Oyster Scallion Pancakes - 5 stars (must order) 2.) Korean BBQ- Spicy Chicken - 5 stars 3.) Korean BBQ - Spicy Pork - 5 stars Koreana has the best scallion pancakes in that I've ever had- and I've tried a lot of different varieties! The pancakes were fluffy and fresh to order. The pancake itself was the size of a large plate- humongous and loaded with whole oysters! If you want to entertain friends and like Korean food, I highly recommend coming here. Our bill total came out to $65 amongst 4 people- what a steal! And the menu has a variety of other Korean dishes if you don't want to eat meat or prefer something like sushi or bibimbap. I highly recommend coming here! read more

Koreana - Oyster Scallion Pancake - Korean Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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