Forget BCD. This is better food and better service.
Mengshu Z.
Wonderful addition to the Culver/Trabuco plaza. Serving homestyle Korean food, Kaiu Soft Tofu is a classic eatery with great prices, great food, and great service: Expect a line given that it has just opened. We ordered two lunch sets: Kalbi and Bulgog, which included a respective soon tofu, as well as side dishes and rice. Like many restaurants, I could have easily eaten my fill from the Banchan alone. The scallion pancake was my favorite.While the Bulgogi was not memorable, the Kalbi was well seasoned and had a great smoky flavor. Will be back for that!
Rochelle 'Shella' T.
Great place to have good tofu soup. You get a variety of a Pa carte or lunch/dinner set.We were a family of 12 6 adults and 6 kids. It was great to find a place to get a variety of Korean food without the frills. Each of our kids got the food the they wanted. They didn't have to share with food that their parents wanted to have.My kids and I got a combination of 2 lunch set: Galbi and Spicy pork. I particularly liked the tofu soup that came with our dishes. We got the house special and beef tofu soup topped with egg. The Beef short ribs (Galbi) came juicy and tender. The spicy pork comes on a sizzling plate. It's great in keeping the meat warm.It was my first time to have the steamed rice served in the stone bowl with the cover. Apparently, you're supposed to get 90% of the rice and leave the rest to soak in water. Keep it covered while you're having your meal for the water to absorb the rice flavor. This dish becomes a dessert to enjoy after having a good meal. You drink the soup as a rice-milk.
Melisa Masri
I went here after several days of mostly fast food due to traveling and needed a palette cleanse badly. This was perfect. I am a huge fan of mapo tofu and was game for anything remotely similar, but was not sure what to expect. I ordered the tofu with vegetarian dumplings and it was devine. It came with perfectly cooked rice, delicious fried fish, and a bunch of sides. Loved the cucumber and the bean sprouts. The soup was absolutely delectable (I chose mild) with just enough spice to give it a kick. The service was quick and friendly and the water was served with ice and super cold- just perfect. I definitely suggest giving this place a try. It does have meat and can accomodate vegetarians and vegans.
Jonathan K.
Service was slow, they didn't really help us to more side dishes (took lots of raising hand and asking repeatedly), and food is very normal soon du boo. They also try to use this machine that delivers the side dishes, and it's honestly kinda annoying. The machine is wandering around the room, takes up space, and it's hard to reach over to grab the side dishes.Maybe this is because it's a grand opening, but they need to get act together. Work on service, and caring for their customers, who can easily go elsewhere with better service, for the same price.
Zian Li
After eating home today, I had severe diarrhea, and I felt that the vermicelli of bancan was a bit stale during the
Angela C.
Was excited to hear that Kaju was opening up in Irvine (the same owners as the amazing Kaju in Garden Grove!), but was a little sad that instead of another soondubu restaurant, it was taking over Koba Tofu (which was solidly delicious). Located in Daiso/Ralph's plaza on Culver/Walnut/5 Fwy.Came here for lunch, and just felt like it wasn't as good as Koba used to be, or as good as the Kaju in Garden Grove. They have a robot serving up side dishes, and it plays music every time it's delivering food. Can be a little jarring to hear the first 10 seconds of BTS's Permission to Dance (and I say this as a huge BTS fan) every 5 minutes when you're trying to enjoy a peaceful meal.
Tiffany N.
Kaju took over Koba Tofu. They remodeled inside. Nice and clean. The restaurant has a robot that delivers the food to the tables, which got all the guests curious.The servers are friendly and attentive. The restaurant is packed so a little louder than normal but definitely recommends this place.I highly recommend their Italian sandwiches. Absolutely delicious!
Jennifer H.
We had tried coming here for the grand opening a few weeks prior, but the lines were crazy long, so we ended up leaving. This Friday night, we decided to check this place out. The estimated wait time on Yelp was 20 minutes, but the time was inaccurate, so we waited much longer. When we finally got seated, our orders were taken quickly, and we were given rice quickly. I liked that the rice came covered, so it stayed hot when the rest of the food came out. The banchans came out pretty quickly. They were solid. I got the galbi tofu soup ($15.99) and tried mild. My boyfriend got the combo with galbi and seafood soup. My dish was pretty good, but I admit that I am weak sauce when it comes to spicy, so I honestly could barely focus on the taste because my mouth was burning. The soup had a generous amount of tofu, which was nice and silky. The galbi in the soup was also tender and delicious. Definitely would have loved more galbi in the soup. The rice helped to balance the spice, but still, I think I will get the white soup next time! My boyfriend thought his meal was average. They also forgot his galbi, and I had to wave the waitstaff multiple times before they brought it out. The galbi was quite burnt when it came out, so that was a no-go. Overall, I think the galbi tofu soup would be a 4/5 if I could tolerate the mild spiciness. Docked a star for the inaccurate wait time and for my boyfriend's poor experience (delay in getting his galbi, and getting served burnt galbi)
Kwan K.
Thursday night dinner only only a few tables filled. Order a bibimbap and a soup spicy pork combo.Food was just alright, not better than any other soondoobu place. Probably a little worse if I'm being honest. Rice comes in the stone pots, spicy pork was a good portion. Soondoobu comes with a good amount of tofu for the small.Worst part of this place is they use a delivery robot and at first it's confusing, am I supposed to grab the stuff off the robot or is someone going to do for me. I saw people do both. Robot is blasting the same BTS song every time it is activated, pretty annoying.Overall not great but not bad
Have prices really gone up this much for tofu soup? I would've been fine if the portion and quality were better though. Between the two of us, we shared a tofu soup + galbi/short rib combo ($30) and pork cutlet ($20). For the tofu soup, we opted for an oyster tofu soup which came with two pieces of oysters.. The soup itself was pretty standard, however, I would agree with my partner that the galbi/short rib was marinated and chargrilled pretty well. This was probably the highlight of the meal.The pork cutlet which was on the special menu was an item that I would not recommend. It came pretty late into our meal probably cause it's not a popular dish that people are ordering. The cutlet was prepared fresh but it was pretty thin and dried. It came with donkatsu sauce which helped moisten the cutlet a bit and cabbage salad on the side. I feel like I had more satisfying meals elsewhere paying this price.
Phi D.
Yelp reviewUpon coming in, there is an electronic stand (Yelp) that you check in to be on the waitlist. It will also advise an ETA base on the number of people in your party and the parties before you, which is nice because there's other things in the area you can check out while you wait if time permits.Upon arrival, the ETA provided to us (party of 2) was 11-21 minutes. We were seated by 19 minutes. Not bad for a busy evening and short staff in my opinion. Maria was our waitress and she was such a sweetheart. Shout out to Maria!!Given the circumstance, the service was great and exceeded my expectation. However, the food was nothing special compared to the original location in Garden Grove. It wasn't horrible, but there was a lack of flavor in the tofu soup. The sides, however did help elevate the taste a little bit along with the meat. And we did order the spicy pork Bulgogi. Bulgogi wasn't bad, but I wouldn't say it was anything special either.I do think the robotic waiter did add a little sense of humor, and some unique interaction. The ambience is a little bit loud, but not due to the restaurant, but just a lot of people at the time of service. When paying attention to the musical background, it actually wasn't that loud.Towards the end of our transaction, a different waitress did approach and recommended coming during slow hours, which I'll probably consider to see if there's any difference in quality of the food.
jane moon
What the hell? Vegetable tofu soup has no broccoli, no onions, just a few mushrooms and CANNED/FROZEN peas, corn, carrots. Complete disappointment.
Samantha Huang
Korean soft tofu soup is hands down my favorite food so it's a big deal for me to say that this is my FAVORITE place to get it! I love the richness of the broth. It is so much better than BCD (and I'm not the first to say so). The employees work so hard and are so kind! I love :)
Y Bom
The price has gone up quite a bit... 30 dollars for chicken teriyaki? We used to come here frequently before Covid time but this is the last time we are here.
Forget BCD. This is better food and better service.
Wonderful addition to the Culver/Trabuco plaza. Serving homestyle Korean food, Kaiu Soft Tofu is a classic eatery with great prices, great food, and great service: Expect a line given that it has just opened. We ordered two lunch sets: Kalbi and Bulgog, which included a respective soon tofu, as well as side dishes and rice. Like many restaurants, I could have easily eaten my fill from the Banchan alone. The scallion pancake was my favorite.While the Bulgogi was not memorable, the Kalbi was well seasoned and had a great smoky flavor. Will be back for that!
Great place to have good tofu soup. You get a variety of a Pa carte or lunch/dinner set.We were a family of 12 6 adults and 6 kids. It was great to find a place to get a variety of Korean food without the frills. Each of our kids got the food the they wanted. They didn't have to share with food that their parents wanted to have.My kids and I got a combination of 2 lunch set: Galbi and Spicy pork. I particularly liked the tofu soup that came with our dishes. We got the house special and beef tofu soup topped with egg. The Beef short ribs (Galbi) came juicy and tender. The spicy pork comes on a sizzling plate. It's great in keeping the meat warm.It was my first time to have the steamed rice served in the stone bowl with the cover. Apparently, you're supposed to get 90% of the rice and leave the rest to soak in water. Keep it covered while you're having your meal for the water to absorb the rice flavor. This dish becomes a dessert to enjoy after having a good meal. You drink the soup as a rice-milk.
I went here after several days of mostly fast food due to traveling and needed a palette cleanse badly. This was perfect. I am a huge fan of mapo tofu and was game for anything remotely similar, but was not sure what to expect. I ordered the tofu with vegetarian dumplings and it was devine. It came with perfectly cooked rice, delicious fried fish, and a bunch of sides. Loved the cucumber and the bean sprouts. The soup was absolutely delectable (I chose mild) with just enough spice to give it a kick. The service was quick and friendly and the water was served with ice and super cold- just perfect. I definitely suggest giving this place a try. It does have meat and can accomodate vegetarians and vegans.
Service was slow, they didn't really help us to more side dishes (took lots of raising hand and asking repeatedly), and food is very normal soon du boo. They also try to use this machine that delivers the side dishes, and it's honestly kinda annoying. The machine is wandering around the room, takes up space, and it's hard to reach over to grab the side dishes.Maybe this is because it's a grand opening, but they need to get act together. Work on service, and caring for their customers, who can easily go elsewhere with better service, for the same price.
After eating home today, I had severe diarrhea, and I felt that the vermicelli of bancan was a bit stale during the
Was excited to hear that Kaju was opening up in Irvine (the same owners as the amazing Kaju in Garden Grove!), but was a little sad that instead of another soondubu restaurant, it was taking over Koba Tofu (which was solidly delicious). Located in Daiso/Ralph's plaza on Culver/Walnut/5 Fwy.Came here for lunch, and just felt like it wasn't as good as Koba used to be, or as good as the Kaju in Garden Grove. They have a robot serving up side dishes, and it plays music every time it's delivering food. Can be a little jarring to hear the first 10 seconds of BTS's Permission to Dance (and I say this as a huge BTS fan) every 5 minutes when you're trying to enjoy a peaceful meal.
Kaju took over Koba Tofu. They remodeled inside. Nice and clean. The restaurant has a robot that delivers the food to the tables, which got all the guests curious.The servers are friendly and attentive. The restaurant is packed so a little louder than normal but definitely recommends this place.I highly recommend their Italian sandwiches. Absolutely delicious!
We had tried coming here for the grand opening a few weeks prior, but the lines were crazy long, so we ended up leaving. This Friday night, we decided to check this place out. The estimated wait time on Yelp was 20 minutes, but the time was inaccurate, so we waited much longer. When we finally got seated, our orders were taken quickly, and we were given rice quickly. I liked that the rice came covered, so it stayed hot when the rest of the food came out. The banchans came out pretty quickly. They were solid. I got the galbi tofu soup ($15.99) and tried mild. My boyfriend got the combo with galbi and seafood soup. My dish was pretty good, but I admit that I am weak sauce when it comes to spicy, so I honestly could barely focus on the taste because my mouth was burning. The soup had a generous amount of tofu, which was nice and silky. The galbi in the soup was also tender and delicious. Definitely would have loved more galbi in the soup. The rice helped to balance the spice, but still, I think I will get the white soup next time! My boyfriend thought his meal was average. They also forgot his galbi, and I had to wave the waitstaff multiple times before they brought it out. The galbi was quite burnt when it came out, so that was a no-go. Overall, I think the galbi tofu soup would be a 4/5 if I could tolerate the mild spiciness. Docked a star for the inaccurate wait time and for my boyfriend's poor experience (delay in getting his galbi, and getting served burnt galbi)
Thursday night dinner only only a few tables filled. Order a bibimbap and a soup spicy pork combo.Food was just alright, not better than any other soondoobu place. Probably a little worse if I'm being honest. Rice comes in the stone pots, spicy pork was a good portion. Soondoobu comes with a good amount of tofu for the small.Worst part of this place is they use a delivery robot and at first it's confusing, am I supposed to grab the stuff off the robot or is someone going to do for me. I saw people do both. Robot is blasting the same BTS song every time it is activated, pretty annoying.Overall not great but not bad
Restaurantji Recommends
Have prices really gone up this much for tofu soup? I would've been fine if the portion and quality were better though. Between the two of us, we shared a tofu soup + galbi/short rib combo ($30) and pork cutlet ($20). For the tofu soup, we opted for an oyster tofu soup which came with two pieces of oysters.. The soup itself was pretty standard, however, I would agree with my partner that the galbi/short rib was marinated and chargrilled pretty well. This was probably the highlight of the meal.The pork cutlet which was on the special menu was an item that I would not recommend. It came pretty late into our meal probably cause it's not a popular dish that people are ordering. The cutlet was prepared fresh but it was pretty thin and dried. It came with donkatsu sauce which helped moisten the cutlet a bit and cabbage salad on the side. I feel like I had more satisfying meals elsewhere paying this price.
Yelp reviewUpon coming in, there is an electronic stand (Yelp) that you check in to be on the waitlist. It will also advise an ETA base on the number of people in your party and the parties before you, which is nice because there's other things in the area you can check out while you wait if time permits.Upon arrival, the ETA provided to us (party of 2) was 11-21 minutes. We were seated by 19 minutes. Not bad for a busy evening and short staff in my opinion. Maria was our waitress and she was such a sweetheart. Shout out to Maria!!Given the circumstance, the service was great and exceeded my expectation. However, the food was nothing special compared to the original location in Garden Grove. It wasn't horrible, but there was a lack of flavor in the tofu soup. The sides, however did help elevate the taste a little bit along with the meat. And we did order the spicy pork Bulgogi. Bulgogi wasn't bad, but I wouldn't say it was anything special either.I do think the robotic waiter did add a little sense of humor, and some unique interaction. The ambience is a little bit loud, but not due to the restaurant, but just a lot of people at the time of service. When paying attention to the musical background, it actually wasn't that loud.Towards the end of our transaction, a different waitress did approach and recommended coming during slow hours, which I'll probably consider to see if there's any difference in quality of the food.
What the hell? Vegetable tofu soup has no broccoli, no onions, just a few mushrooms and CANNED/FROZEN peas, corn, carrots. Complete disappointment.
Korean soft tofu soup is hands down my favorite food so it's a big deal for me to say that this is my FAVORITE place to get it! I love the richness of the broth. It is so much better than BCD (and I'm not the first to say so). The employees work so hard and are so kind! I love :)
The price has gone up quite a bit... 30 dollars for chicken teriyaki? We used to come here frequently before Covid time but this is the last time we are here.