This is my new favorite Korean place after my first lunch visit. Parking is not difficult inside a plaza. The odd green and white banner sign makes it easy to spot. Once inside, the decoration is comfortable with Korean elements but not overly exaggerated or extravagant. It feels earthy, down-to-earth, and calm. The menu has a broad range of Korean food, and Sot Bap is the first time I have seen it in the Bay Area! It's kind of like Chinese clay pot rice, but it's cooked differently with different cooking devices. We were served hot tea, and our waitress was courteous, making eye contact and smiling. We were not rushed at the end of the meal and stayed chatting even after we finished eating. The 6 banchan we had were tofu and soybean sprouts, kimchi, broccolini with sesame seeds, pickled radish, macaroni pasta with corn and ham salad, and a spicy-looking bean paste. I like that the selection was evenly split between spicy and non-spicy options. I do hope the Banchan replacement is more frequent (we did not get any). We ordered Seafood Pancake and brisket Sot Bap. The seafood pancake is not as doughy or thick as what I used to see, but it is flavorful, not greasy, and the dipping sauce gave it a flavor up-pick without going spicy. It's good. The brisket sot bap came with a seaweed soup that is flavorful with some peppery kicks, a hot metal container with rice at the bottom, and all ingredients on the top (pickled yellow-reddish, dried dates slices, thin brisket slices. I was hoping the briskets would be in thicker cuts; however, they are very soft and mixed well with the rice. They also give you a sauce, which is sesame oil and soy sauce, and ask you to mix it in the rice bit by bit. Unlike the Chinese clay pot rice, this metal pot is super deep! I had to really dig and stir to mix it well, and I was a bit worried that there was not enough sauce to go with the rice. Luckily, the rice tasted with flavors (not sure if it was preseasoned or from the limited sauce). The dish was delicious to an Asian stomach, and by the time we dug to the bottom of the rice, a nice layer of crisp had formed, just like the Chinese clay pot rice. I wish they throw in an egg for this kind of dish, which they do, but with $2 extra. At the end, they gave out a small Korean cookie to complete the meal. The cookie is a bit sticky and not my liking. I would happily take the Yakult. In all considerations, my first visit was almost flawless and I am already planning a second visit with my family.
Zi W.
No service at all. Sat there for 40 minutes without food being served. No one checked on us. Asked for hot tea and received ice water instead. Left without anything served. Complete waste of time.
Wyatt P.
Went here with a party of 6. We went on a weekend and it was quite busy. On the way there, I called to see if there was a way to get a reservation but they said they can only do walk ins and do not take reservation. It was quite unfortunate because they stated the wait time would be 50 minutes. When we did get there the actual wait time was more like an hour and 10 minutes. 70 minutes total. Once we finally got seated, the servers were very nice and accommodating. It was their soft opening so the server was sometimes unsure of a few things but we got to order what we wanted. Once the food came out it was well worth the wait. Everything was so good and flavorful. Each food item felt reasonably priced. We got a bunch of gimbaps. Cheese Gimbap: you can really taste the American cheese slice Ondam Gimbap: standard original gimbap, can't go wrong Pork gimbap: kind of on the dryer side but still quite flavorful Tuna and mayo gimbap: very dry, feels like there is only a hint if Mayo, could use more We also got a beef army soup which was so much. They tell you it could feed 2 people but I felt like it could have fed 4 if eaten with one side. Very worth it. The raw marinated crabs were so good and very buttery smooth. It is worth trying. We got a bit more food, enough to have a bit of left overs but the stated food above were the most notable ones. The total bill came out to about $295 with tax and gratuity included. I felt like that was so worth it for 6 people AND we still had left overs.
Francis L.
2nd try! Trying to support the community & bringing my family this time. Food is great 9/10. I have no complain. Ambiance is great too! 9/10. Receptionist & staff is great! Except for this same old lady who just passes by speaking Korean and ignoring me when I was telling her something. She just basically walked away. Anyway, I guess I can't complain since I won't win against an old lady out of respect of course. I have pictures now! Check it out!
Meri T.
Amazing quality food that I can't stop thinking about! Recommend going with a smaller party bc it gets crowded FAST. They were only taking walk ins for the soft opening but not sure if that will change. We arrived at 5:30 for only a party of two and waited almost an hour, but it was worth it. We got spicy raw marinated crab!, kalbi jjim, and spicy seafood hand cut noodles. I have been dreaming of going back. Also--front of house staff was SO KIND and gracious (I didn't catch his name) even when it was so hectic!
Jakhongir B.
4 stars only for this dish which is very unique and very delicious. You can taste the quality of the meat and ingredients. Nice and clean restaurant. Good service.
Phoebe K.
I was disappointed in the pork tofu soup (soondubu). I do want to put a disclaimer that I've never had a restaurant tofu soup that uses minced meat as the meat, so that definitely impacted my impression. If that's something you like/expect/enjoy, then you will probably enjoy this. However, I order meat tofu soup for the combination of tender meat pieces with soft tofu, and I did not get that experience with this soup. It also had almost zero pieces of tofu - there was an egg in it that was masquerading as the tofu. It did have more fresh veggies than I expected, but I personally place the importance of that below both meat and tofu. The broth flavor was just okay. Banchan was average. I unfortunately couldn't eat the tartare for medical reasons, but it looked pretty. The person who ate it mentioned it was okay. The ambiance, as many have noted, was a 10/10. The decor, menu design, lights, even the bathroom was clearly composed with thought. The service was okay. I would come back to try other menu items because the vibes and the decor were so nice!
Mai S.
Newly opened Korean restaurant! Came on Tuesday lunch at 12:30 and waited 5~10 mins. But crowd was gone after 1pm. Aside from limited parking, I loved everything about the restaurant! from authentic Korean food to nice decor and touch of the restaurant to attractive & friendly customer service! All the food taste fresh and good but I was especially impressed with their rice. They served in a metal pot and the rice texture was perfect and fluffy. Almost all the customers except us are Korean so you know it is authentic and good! They served Sikhye (homemade rice drink) at end of the meal which went well after eating spicy food. Cannot wait to come back and try more dish!
Tram H.
Fiance and I decided to stop by Ondam on a random Saturday for a late lunch (around 1pm). We put our names on the waitlist and it was about 30-40 minutes before we were seated. The interior is all new, and can hold a pretty good amount of people. I wouldn't recommend any groups larger than 10 if you want a comfortable fit for a table. We started off with the meat pancake which doesn't look like much, but we both enjoyed it a lot. Then we got the clam kalguksu and chicken sampler platter. The clam kalguksu was nice and comforting - filled with a lot of clams and mussel and definitely more than enough to share between the two of us. The chicken platter was probably the star for me. I wasn't sure which sauce was which and I definitely had 1 more favored over the other; but in the end they were all crispy, saucy, and juicy so it was a favorite among both of us as well. The menu had such a variety of dishes, we had a hard time choosing because we knew we couldn't order as much as our stomachs wanted to. Definitely looking forward to the next time we can come back and try everything else we had our eyes on.
Ann N.
We came for dinner, and the wait was about 30 minutes. The layout is gorgeous and cozy! We were seated in the left corner by the waiting area, where it's a little harder to catch a waiter. The younger crew provided better service, while the older one was hostile. They offered a seaweed mayo side dish that had a nice crunch to it. The mushroom shrimp, resembling a fish cake, was nicely balanced; the shiitake did not overpower the shrimp. Surprisingly tasty! The Pollack roe sot bap came out looking too pink and soft. We requested it to be cooked a little more, but the request was rejected. After three small bites, it was found to be salty and bland at the same time. The Ondam Gimbap looks like a gimbap but lacked flavors of a gimbap; H-Mart does it better. The spicy stir-fried pork was the best dish ordered. Perfectly marinated and cooked, although it wasn't spicy at all, even for someone who can't handle spice.
Came at an odd time 3ish on Sunday. The interior is very nicely decorated. Great for a cute date spot. Service was nice but they seemed a bit understaffed or still figuring out their groove. We waited a long time for water and they barely checked on us the entire time. Getting the check took a while since they didn't seem to be paying attention. The food is good so I hope they get the staffing figured out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Hanna T.
4/5: Octopus Sot Pat was okay. Sadly the octopus wasn't seasoned and the veggies were minimal, so the dish is very simple. I wish there was more octopus, most bites are just rice and veggies with light flavor of soy sauce! While the bowl looks small, it holds a lot of food. I dumped the soy sauce/oil which really helped the dry rice. I assume it's dry to encourage the bottom rice to get crispy, which it did. It also came with a small pork bone broth, nice touch. Goes very well with the main dish, but if you have a stone bowl, you can easily recreate this. Side dishes are good, especially the spinach. Workers are very efficient and very quick. Atmosphere is top notch. The menu's front panel is like a traditional Korean door. They have a traditional-contemporary Korean interior, I can tell the effort they put in.
Mel N.
We came on a weekend night in the rain and waited for ~45 minutes for a table of two. Despite the crowds, the staff was very polite. We were asked to move tables before ordering and got a complimentary side of the cheese tteok for the inconvenient. As far as menu selection goes, I was quite impressed. There's lots of variety on the menu and a few dishes I hadn't seen at other Korean restaurants in the bay (traditional tteokbokki and sot bap). We ordered a beef gimbap roll, the traditional tteokbokki, steak sot bap for two and it was plenty. Our favorites were the gimbap and ttteok :)
Susan N.
Food was 10/10 and service was 9.5/10! This was my family's and mine first time trying the place and it's fairly new too! I think they had their soft opening seeing how there was a big banner that said so. The wait was very long, but that was because it was dinner time. They only accept walk in reservations and they don't take any reservations through the phone. It's more of a first come first serve situation. The parking in the area is small, so you'll be really lucky if you get a spot there! The place looks small, but big at the same time. The waiting area was small but they had nice cushions to sit on. I guess the unfortunate part is just being by the door. Every time the door opens, a gust of wind comes through and freezes our family! It was funny seeing my mom go back and forth on where to sit to avoid the wind! When they gave us the menu, the menus looked so cute! It looked like a small door opening to see what the restaurant has to offer! It's such a nice concept! The food was SOOO GOOD!! The side dishes came out first and my favorite was, what looks to be, spicy marinaded raw squid! It was salty and slightly spicy. The large chunks of garlic makes the side dish tastes even better! I'm a garlic girlie and I'm not afraid to show it! I usually like kimchi at Korean restaurants, but I wasn't a big fan of theirs. It was more on the sweeter side and I didn't really taste any salt related factors. We ordered four types of gimbap: Tuna Mayo, Stir-fried Pork, Ondam, and Cheese. My favorite was the cheese one and we kept talking about it the entire time. It was so good that we ordered another plate close to the end of our meal! The tuna and pork felt really dry and I wished there was a little bit more mayo for the tuna. We also ordered Spicy Marinated Crab, Abalone Sotbap, Budae Jjigae, Beef Tartare Bibimbap, and the Meat Pancake. The crab wasn't too spicy and it was very flavorful! I was anticipating it to just be spicy because that's the experience I've had at other places, but this took me by surprise! It was so good. The meat was soft and easy to eat. They provided gloves for is to eat with too! I only tried the abalone, but it was so buttery! It didn't taste fishy at all! The budae jjigae was pact with so much flavor! We had it near the end of our meal and it was perfect. It felt comforting and makes you feel warm especially on a cold day! The bibimbap was pretty good too. I really like the beef tartare. It tasted like it was in some kind of brine and it had so much flavor. The pancake was okay. The meat tasted like bulgogi and it was juicy and soft! The service was really good! The host was pretty funny and hearing him yell out people's names outside was funny as well. He was super nice and kept reassuring us our table will be ready soon. The servers were very attentive and very friendly! Since the place is fairly new, they weren't too familiar with the menu but it's ok cause they were trying their best! There was a funny moment when they refilled our waters. The first time around they gave it to us in a plastic water jug. The second time around they gave it to us in a fancy teapot! It took us by surprise and my sister thought the server was gonna pour tea in her water! Overall, I would love to go here again! I think the food you get is worth the price. Also the way they plate their food is beautiful and the food comes out pretty fast!
Lina W.
Nicely decorated new restaurant. Great service and food. Must try. Be prepared to wait since there is no reservation. But it's all worthwhile. Very reasonable price. Tasty udon broth.
This is my new favorite Korean place after my first lunch visit. Parking is not difficult inside a plaza. The odd green and white banner sign makes it easy to spot. Once inside, the decoration is comfortable with Korean elements but not overly exaggerated or extravagant. It feels earthy, down-to-earth, and calm. The menu has a broad range of Korean food, and Sot Bap is the first time I have seen it in the Bay Area! It's kind of like Chinese clay pot rice, but it's cooked differently with different cooking devices. We were served hot tea, and our waitress was courteous, making eye contact and smiling. We were not rushed at the end of the meal and stayed chatting even after we finished eating. The 6 banchan we had were tofu and soybean sprouts, kimchi, broccolini with sesame seeds, pickled radish, macaroni pasta with corn and ham salad, and a spicy-looking bean paste. I like that the selection was evenly split between spicy and non-spicy options. I do hope the Banchan replacement is more frequent (we did not get any). We ordered Seafood Pancake and brisket Sot Bap. The seafood pancake is not as doughy or thick as what I used to see, but it is flavorful, not greasy, and the dipping sauce gave it a flavor up-pick without going spicy. It's good. The brisket sot bap came with a seaweed soup that is flavorful with some peppery kicks, a hot metal container with rice at the bottom, and all ingredients on the top (pickled yellow-reddish, dried dates slices, thin brisket slices. I was hoping the briskets would be in thicker cuts; however, they are very soft and mixed well with the rice. They also give you a sauce, which is sesame oil and soy sauce, and ask you to mix it in the rice bit by bit. Unlike the Chinese clay pot rice, this metal pot is super deep! I had to really dig and stir to mix it well, and I was a bit worried that there was not enough sauce to go with the rice. Luckily, the rice tasted with flavors (not sure if it was preseasoned or from the limited sauce). The dish was delicious to an Asian stomach, and by the time we dug to the bottom of the rice, a nice layer of crisp had formed, just like the Chinese clay pot rice. I wish they throw in an egg for this kind of dish, which they do, but with $2 extra. At the end, they gave out a small Korean cookie to complete the meal. The cookie is a bit sticky and not my liking. I would happily take the Yakult. In all considerations, my first visit was almost flawless and I am already planning a second visit with my family.
No service at all. Sat there for 40 minutes without food being served. No one checked on us. Asked for hot tea and received ice water instead. Left without anything served. Complete waste of time.
Went here with a party of 6. We went on a weekend and it was quite busy. On the way there, I called to see if there was a way to get a reservation but they said they can only do walk ins and do not take reservation. It was quite unfortunate because they stated the wait time would be 50 minutes. When we did get there the actual wait time was more like an hour and 10 minutes. 70 minutes total. Once we finally got seated, the servers were very nice and accommodating. It was their soft opening so the server was sometimes unsure of a few things but we got to order what we wanted. Once the food came out it was well worth the wait. Everything was so good and flavorful. Each food item felt reasonably priced. We got a bunch of gimbaps. Cheese Gimbap: you can really taste the American cheese slice Ondam Gimbap: standard original gimbap, can't go wrong Pork gimbap: kind of on the dryer side but still quite flavorful Tuna and mayo gimbap: very dry, feels like there is only a hint if Mayo, could use more We also got a beef army soup which was so much. They tell you it could feed 2 people but I felt like it could have fed 4 if eaten with one side. Very worth it. The raw marinated crabs were so good and very buttery smooth. It is worth trying. We got a bit more food, enough to have a bit of left overs but the stated food above were the most notable ones. The total bill came out to about $295 with tax and gratuity included. I felt like that was so worth it for 6 people AND we still had left overs.
2nd try! Trying to support the community & bringing my family this time. Food is great 9/10. I have no complain. Ambiance is great too! 9/10. Receptionist & staff is great! Except for this same old lady who just passes by speaking Korean and ignoring me when I was telling her something. She just basically walked away. Anyway, I guess I can't complain since I won't win against an old lady out of respect of course. I have pictures now! Check it out!
Amazing quality food that I can't stop thinking about! Recommend going with a smaller party bc it gets crowded FAST. They were only taking walk ins for the soft opening but not sure if that will change. We arrived at 5:30 for only a party of two and waited almost an hour, but it was worth it. We got spicy raw marinated crab!, kalbi jjim, and spicy seafood hand cut noodles. I have been dreaming of going back. Also--front of house staff was SO KIND and gracious (I didn't catch his name) even when it was so hectic!
4 stars only for this dish which is very unique and very delicious. You can taste the quality of the meat and ingredients. Nice and clean restaurant. Good service.
I was disappointed in the pork tofu soup (soondubu). I do want to put a disclaimer that I've never had a restaurant tofu soup that uses minced meat as the meat, so that definitely impacted my impression. If that's something you like/expect/enjoy, then you will probably enjoy this. However, I order meat tofu soup for the combination of tender meat pieces with soft tofu, and I did not get that experience with this soup. It also had almost zero pieces of tofu - there was an egg in it that was masquerading as the tofu. It did have more fresh veggies than I expected, but I personally place the importance of that below both meat and tofu. The broth flavor was just okay. Banchan was average. I unfortunately couldn't eat the tartare for medical reasons, but it looked pretty. The person who ate it mentioned it was okay. The ambiance, as many have noted, was a 10/10. The decor, menu design, lights, even the bathroom was clearly composed with thought. The service was okay. I would come back to try other menu items because the vibes and the decor were so nice!
Newly opened Korean restaurant! Came on Tuesday lunch at 12:30 and waited 5~10 mins. But crowd was gone after 1pm. Aside from limited parking, I loved everything about the restaurant! from authentic Korean food to nice decor and touch of the restaurant to attractive & friendly customer service! All the food taste fresh and good but I was especially impressed with their rice. They served in a metal pot and the rice texture was perfect and fluffy. Almost all the customers except us are Korean so you know it is authentic and good! They served Sikhye (homemade rice drink) at end of the meal which went well after eating spicy food. Cannot wait to come back and try more dish!
Fiance and I decided to stop by Ondam on a random Saturday for a late lunch (around 1pm). We put our names on the waitlist and it was about 30-40 minutes before we were seated. The interior is all new, and can hold a pretty good amount of people. I wouldn't recommend any groups larger than 10 if you want a comfortable fit for a table. We started off with the meat pancake which doesn't look like much, but we both enjoyed it a lot. Then we got the clam kalguksu and chicken sampler platter. The clam kalguksu was nice and comforting - filled with a lot of clams and mussel and definitely more than enough to share between the two of us. The chicken platter was probably the star for me. I wasn't sure which sauce was which and I definitely had 1 more favored over the other; but in the end they were all crispy, saucy, and juicy so it was a favorite among both of us as well. The menu had such a variety of dishes, we had a hard time choosing because we knew we couldn't order as much as our stomachs wanted to. Definitely looking forward to the next time we can come back and try everything else we had our eyes on.
We came for dinner, and the wait was about 30 minutes. The layout is gorgeous and cozy! We were seated in the left corner by the waiting area, where it's a little harder to catch a waiter. The younger crew provided better service, while the older one was hostile. They offered a seaweed mayo side dish that had a nice crunch to it. The mushroom shrimp, resembling a fish cake, was nicely balanced; the shiitake did not overpower the shrimp. Surprisingly tasty! The Pollack roe sot bap came out looking too pink and soft. We requested it to be cooked a little more, but the request was rejected. After three small bites, it was found to be salty and bland at the same time. The Ondam Gimbap looks like a gimbap but lacked flavors of a gimbap; H-Mart does it better. The spicy stir-fried pork was the best dish ordered. Perfectly marinated and cooked, although it wasn't spicy at all, even for someone who can't handle spice.
Restaurantji Recommends
Came at an odd time 3ish on Sunday. The interior is very nicely decorated. Great for a cute date spot. Service was nice but they seemed a bit understaffed or still figuring out their groove. We waited a long time for water and they barely checked on us the entire time. Getting the check took a while since they didn't seem to be paying attention. The food is good so I hope they get the staffing figured out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
4/5: Octopus Sot Pat was okay. Sadly the octopus wasn't seasoned and the veggies were minimal, so the dish is very simple. I wish there was more octopus, most bites are just rice and veggies with light flavor of soy sauce! While the bowl looks small, it holds a lot of food. I dumped the soy sauce/oil which really helped the dry rice. I assume it's dry to encourage the bottom rice to get crispy, which it did. It also came with a small pork bone broth, nice touch. Goes very well with the main dish, but if you have a stone bowl, you can easily recreate this. Side dishes are good, especially the spinach. Workers are very efficient and very quick. Atmosphere is top notch. The menu's front panel is like a traditional Korean door. They have a traditional-contemporary Korean interior, I can tell the effort they put in.
We came on a weekend night in the rain and waited for ~45 minutes for a table of two. Despite the crowds, the staff was very polite. We were asked to move tables before ordering and got a complimentary side of the cheese tteok for the inconvenient. As far as menu selection goes, I was quite impressed. There's lots of variety on the menu and a few dishes I hadn't seen at other Korean restaurants in the bay (traditional tteokbokki and sot bap). We ordered a beef gimbap roll, the traditional tteokbokki, steak sot bap for two and it was plenty. Our favorites were the gimbap and ttteok :)
Food was 10/10 and service was 9.5/10! This was my family's and mine first time trying the place and it's fairly new too! I think they had their soft opening seeing how there was a big banner that said so. The wait was very long, but that was because it was dinner time. They only accept walk in reservations and they don't take any reservations through the phone. It's more of a first come first serve situation. The parking in the area is small, so you'll be really lucky if you get a spot there! The place looks small, but big at the same time. The waiting area was small but they had nice cushions to sit on. I guess the unfortunate part is just being by the door. Every time the door opens, a gust of wind comes through and freezes our family! It was funny seeing my mom go back and forth on where to sit to avoid the wind! When they gave us the menu, the menus looked so cute! It looked like a small door opening to see what the restaurant has to offer! It's such a nice concept! The food was SOOO GOOD!! The side dishes came out first and my favorite was, what looks to be, spicy marinaded raw squid! It was salty and slightly spicy. The large chunks of garlic makes the side dish tastes even better! I'm a garlic girlie and I'm not afraid to show it! I usually like kimchi at Korean restaurants, but I wasn't a big fan of theirs. It was more on the sweeter side and I didn't really taste any salt related factors. We ordered four types of gimbap: Tuna Mayo, Stir-fried Pork, Ondam, and Cheese. My favorite was the cheese one and we kept talking about it the entire time. It was so good that we ordered another plate close to the end of our meal! The tuna and pork felt really dry and I wished there was a little bit more mayo for the tuna. We also ordered Spicy Marinated Crab, Abalone Sotbap, Budae Jjigae, Beef Tartare Bibimbap, and the Meat Pancake. The crab wasn't too spicy and it was very flavorful! I was anticipating it to just be spicy because that's the experience I've had at other places, but this took me by surprise! It was so good. The meat was soft and easy to eat. They provided gloves for is to eat with too! I only tried the abalone, but it was so buttery! It didn't taste fishy at all! The budae jjigae was pact with so much flavor! We had it near the end of our meal and it was perfect. It felt comforting and makes you feel warm especially on a cold day! The bibimbap was pretty good too. I really like the beef tartare. It tasted like it was in some kind of brine and it had so much flavor. The pancake was okay. The meat tasted like bulgogi and it was juicy and soft! The service was really good! The host was pretty funny and hearing him yell out people's names outside was funny as well. He was super nice and kept reassuring us our table will be ready soon. The servers were very attentive and very friendly! Since the place is fairly new, they weren't too familiar with the menu but it's ok cause they were trying their best! There was a funny moment when they refilled our waters. The first time around they gave it to us in a plastic water jug. The second time around they gave it to us in a fancy teapot! It took us by surprise and my sister thought the server was gonna pour tea in her water! Overall, I would love to go here again! I think the food you get is worth the price. Also the way they plate their food is beautiful and the food comes out pretty fast!
Nicely decorated new restaurant. Great service and food. Must try. Be prepared to wait since there is no reservation. But it's all worthwhile. Very reasonable price. Tasty udon broth.