Let me first start out by saying that we discovered this restaurant last year (2023) and have frequented it a few times and really loved it. We went this past Saturday (2/24/24) for dinner, we did the grill and apparently we all 3 got food poisoning. It’s 4 days later and we’re still sick and I have a couple of boils coming out on my face. Will probably have to go to the drs if not better soon. I’m writing this to see if anyone else got sick on this day. I don’t think I will ever be able to eat Korean food or meat again.
Derek F.
The ladies were nice, so I appreciate that. But I'm just honestly disappointed that I paid $22 for a meal that had a pube hair amount of beef, like come on now. Like you really expect me to be happy with a few fucking scraps of meat. They hustled us flat out, I don't appreciate this service. FUCK THIS PLACE
Anthony Diaz
Worst dine in experience I've ever had, first off I am a local. We called days in advanced and let them know we where coming with a B-day party of 12. We arrived and they had our party split with two tables. Sure that's fine. We started an order off with X2 $150 BBQ orders. And let them know we intended to order more. A lady came and only set two grills. When we asked if we could have another grill so everyone could grill their own food she refused. Saying we needed to order at least two more dishes to get the 3rd grill. Sure fine we tried ordering two pork belly's $40 each. Then they said not enough the pork belly is too greasy you need a 3rd protein to get the extra grill going. We asked politely then eventually tried arguing our point that we will order more we just wanted to get an order started, And all they wanted to do was argue back. She had her point to get across and she got it. It was very hostile, The manager lady was very argumentative, and for people who are about to spend $600 with a forced 18% gratuity it had to be her way or the highway. So we went to sapporo's and had a wonderful night.P.S. The gentleman who was initially serving was very nice and professional and tried to mitigate but mentioned that the manager which I'm assuming who was the lady will refuse to give us the grill if we don't order what she says we need in order to get another grill going. It felt like she was strong arming us.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Christina C.
Nice to have a Korean place in Marina. Everything was good. My favorite was the beef soup and the kalbi. Ramen tofu soup is not worth the price. It's instant ramen noodles with some tofu. We will go again! It was busy on a Sunday night and only 2 people handling the tables. There was some waiting.
Mengda W.
We came here because New Korean Restaurant was closed during holiday. What a wrong decision! This restaurant is 1 star because the food is poor and pricy, worst Korean food I ever had. The staff is rude too. You can go to New Korean Restaurant, just 2 blocks away.
Michelle Ruiz
Staff is nice and food is delicious. We always go for the Spicy Pork Lunch and the duboki plate.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sean Jerems
This restaurant has authentic korean food and the food is delicous. I would recommend this place for anyone looking for korean food. The owner is korean and knows their stuff.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sam Lee
Food was bland. Has to add salt and pepper to clay pot. Cost too much for bbq. Not your typical Korean bbq.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
doritolover1
For being short staffed when I went, they did a very good job attending to us. My only complaint was the foul smell coming from the restroom it smelled like sewage, and it was worse into the women's
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
B W.
As others mentioned, this Korean BBQ uses charcoal grill instead of gas grill and is not all you can eat. So on the pro side, the meat is tasty, but I found it is expensive because we were still hungry. On top of that, the ambiance is not very nice. The whole restaurant could use a remodel. Additionally, the owner tries to be funny but insulted our college-aged daughter calling her a little girl because she looks young for her age. It's okay to be surprised initially that she's younger than she looks but the joke gets stale and annoying when he keeps focusing on that.
Food was excellent and so was the service. Great ambiance. Very spacious inside too. This building is old and have been around for more than 25 years. Excited to visit again. Under new ownership and it neither looks or tastes anything close to back in the late 1990s. Food was always delicious and good back then and currently, they haven't lost touch either, but it's not the same experience. Generous portions still served. Upkeep is decent and clean. Friendly staffs. Tables and chairs are spread out. Free public parking lot all around. We usually come here for bean curd stew, seafood/crab soft tofu stew, spicy bulgogi, bibimbap, and BBQ chicken or pork with lots of onions. Huge cup of cold water included. Prices are not bad at all for casual Korean lunch, but note that BBQ dinners can be costly nowadays. The banchan side dishes are usually much better with the full BBQ meals. We enjoyed the plain banchans too. Soups and stews are extremely hot in temperature. We left with a happy and fulfilling stomach. Glad they are still in business. Old Korean mom and pop style restaurants are always original and best. Definitely great for large parties or groups. Wide interior. Nothing too fancy here. They are not far from the freeway too. Nice. No lines and no crowds on regular weekdays. You are guaranteed to find lots of available seats and tables here. This place still deserves recognition. It's been here forever. Come before or after you leave Monterey, CA. Delicious.
Chrystal B.
I'm very impressed how cleaned, and the BBQ Chicken, BBQ Spare Ribs, Pork BBQ really tender and delicious and customer service is amazing.
Nguyen N.
Great food and service. The owner has great humor and honest. This is not a fancy place but more familial space.
Ivan Rojas
One of the best places in marina to eat at. The waiter helped us out a lot since it was our first time, he was really kind and helping he made the experience 10 times better I recommend this place 10/10 would go again.
The food is excellent I felt it was a little expensive, but the quality of the food is worth every penny. I would have to say Korean food is my favorite now and I love this restaurant highly recommended.
Let me first start out by saying that we discovered this restaurant last year (2023) and have frequented it a few times and really loved it. We went this past Saturday (2/24/24) for dinner, we did the grill and apparently we all 3 got food poisoning. It’s 4 days later and we’re still sick and I have a couple of boils coming out on my face. Will probably have to go to the drs if not better soon. I’m writing this to see if anyone else got sick on this day. I don’t think I will ever be able to eat Korean food or meat again.
The ladies were nice, so I appreciate that. But I'm just honestly disappointed that I paid $22 for a meal that had a pube hair amount of beef, like come on now. Like you really expect me to be happy with a few fucking scraps of meat. They hustled us flat out, I don't appreciate this service. FUCK THIS PLACE
Worst dine in experience I've ever had, first off I am a local. We called days in advanced and let them know we where coming with a B-day party of 12. We arrived and they had our party split with two tables. Sure that's fine. We started an order off with X2 $150 BBQ orders. And let them know we intended to order more. A lady came and only set two grills. When we asked if we could have another grill so everyone could grill their own food she refused. Saying we needed to order at least two more dishes to get the 3rd grill. Sure fine we tried ordering two pork belly's $40 each. Then they said not enough the pork belly is too greasy you need a 3rd protein to get the extra grill going. We asked politely then eventually tried arguing our point that we will order more we just wanted to get an order started, And all they wanted to do was argue back. She had her point to get across and she got it. It was very hostile, The manager lady was very argumentative, and for people who are about to spend $600 with a forced 18% gratuity it had to be her way or the highway. So we went to sapporo's and had a wonderful night.P.S. The gentleman who was initially serving was very nice and professional and tried to mitigate but mentioned that the manager which I'm assuming who was the lady will refuse to give us the grill if we don't order what she says we need in order to get another grill going. It felt like she was strong arming us.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nice to have a Korean place in Marina. Everything was good. My favorite was the beef soup and the kalbi. Ramen tofu soup is not worth the price. It's instant ramen noodles with some tofu. We will go again! It was busy on a Sunday night and only 2 people handling the tables. There was some waiting.
We came here because New Korean Restaurant was closed during holiday. What a wrong decision! This restaurant is 1 star because the food is poor and pricy, worst Korean food I ever had. The staff is rude too. You can go to New Korean Restaurant, just 2 blocks away.
Staff is nice and food is delicious. We always go for the Spicy Pork Lunch and the duboki plate.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
This restaurant has authentic korean food and the food is delicous. I would recommend this place for anyone looking for korean food. The owner is korean and knows their stuff.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was bland. Has to add salt and pepper to clay pot. Cost too much for bbq. Not your typical Korean bbq.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
For being short staffed when I went, they did a very good job attending to us. My only complaint was the foul smell coming from the restroom it smelled like sewage, and it was worse into the women's
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
As others mentioned, this Korean BBQ uses charcoal grill instead of gas grill and is not all you can eat. So on the pro side, the meat is tasty, but I found it is expensive because we were still hungry. On top of that, the ambiance is not very nice. The whole restaurant could use a remodel. Additionally, the owner tries to be funny but insulted our college-aged daughter calling her a little girl because she looks young for her age. It's okay to be surprised initially that she's younger than she looks but the joke gets stale and annoying when he keeps focusing on that.
Restaurantji Recommends
Food was excellent and so was the service. Great ambiance. Very spacious inside too. This building is old and have been around for more than 25 years. Excited to visit again. Under new ownership and it neither looks or tastes anything close to back in the late 1990s. Food was always delicious and good back then and currently, they haven't lost touch either, but it's not the same experience. Generous portions still served. Upkeep is decent and clean. Friendly staffs. Tables and chairs are spread out. Free public parking lot all around. We usually come here for bean curd stew, seafood/crab soft tofu stew, spicy bulgogi, bibimbap, and BBQ chicken or pork with lots of onions. Huge cup of cold water included. Prices are not bad at all for casual Korean lunch, but note that BBQ dinners can be costly nowadays. The banchan side dishes are usually much better with the full BBQ meals. We enjoyed the plain banchans too. Soups and stews are extremely hot in temperature. We left with a happy and fulfilling stomach. Glad they are still in business. Old Korean mom and pop style restaurants are always original and best. Definitely great for large parties or groups. Wide interior. Nothing too fancy here. They are not far from the freeway too. Nice. No lines and no crowds on regular weekdays. You are guaranteed to find lots of available seats and tables here. This place still deserves recognition. It's been here forever. Come before or after you leave Monterey, CA. Delicious.
I'm very impressed how cleaned, and the BBQ Chicken, BBQ Spare Ribs, Pork BBQ really tender and delicious and customer service is amazing.
Great food and service. The owner has great humor and honest. This is not a fancy place but more familial space.
One of the best places in marina to eat at. The waiter helped us out a lot since it was our first time, he was really kind and helping he made the experience 10 times better I recommend this place 10/10 would go again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Pork BBQ, Ramen Tang, BBQ Beef, Spicy BBQ Pork & BBQ Beef
The food is excellent I felt it was a little expensive, but the quality of the food is worth every penny. I would have to say Korean food is my favorite now and I love this restaurant highly recommended.