Decided to check out Koba on a whim with my wife after I felt a hunger for Korean BBQ. I was surprised at how empty the place was. Double so after the meal, which was outstanding.
Service was attentive, responsive, and very helpful. We got the seafood pancake and shumai, and did the AYCE BBQ. We also ordered some Soju.
Dunno what the negative reviews are on. Maybe folks had a bad experience here or there, but I ordered my go-to choices at Koba and it stood up to my prior experiences at places like Jong Kak and Be-One, the latter of which was decidedly my favorite spot in Baltimore.
Check out Koba folks, this place seems great to me and deserves more love.
We liked it, but didn't love it. Would not dissuade anyone from trying it, just won't be going back and would want to try other places. For example, there is a place at the Casino at Arundel mills which has better quality food, nicer place and similar pricing. Or, KPOT in Towson which we haven't tried.
We didn't try the all you can eat buffet for $35.00 per person but just ordered food a la carte. The total was close to $70 with two appetizers, tea and two entrees. Again, the food was fine and good and probably what we expected. So try it if you like, I realize it gets good reviews which they do deserve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Aaron Elson
We got the fried chicken appetizer. At first we were so excited. It was delicious on the outside, but raw inside. Huge health issue.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Keri Rothermel
We went here to celebrate our honeymoon and we got the premium AYCE set, it definitely a fulfilling and delicious meal. They cook it for you in front of you which I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Thin Sliced Brisket, Premium AYCE BBQ, Seafood, BBQ, Tenderloin Steak, Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs
Steph L
This place is so good!! Staff is always friendly and the food is always delicious! Their cucumber kimchi is top notch!!! The kimchi fried rice is the best!
Gus S.
I love Koba and think it’s all great, but I was alarmed tonight to discover that the kitchen did not seem to know how to prepare spring rolls with shrimp inside. The spring roll they served us came to us containing significantly undercooked shrimp. The server apologized and brought us out a second spring rolls that was freshly prepared. When we cut it in half, this large uncooked shrimp spilled out. It was clear at that point that the cooks are not cooking the shrimp before sticking it inside the spring roll. It gets flash fried to a crispy exterior but the shrimp never cooks there. This is the mistake of a very inexperienced food prep person, and dangerous if they are consistently prepping and serving them this way. I tried to speak with a manager but was told they had not yet arrived. If the restaurant replies here and addresses this, I’ll add more stars for responsiveness and if they vow to address it with their kitchen staff. The rest of our experience and meal was great.
Used to like this place but it’s become way over priced. $37 a person plus tip and drink, including for my 13 year old daughter. Will not be back. Wasn’t busy on a Saturday night either. So clearly other people also avoid coming here.
Ian Bilyj
Friendly staff with good hospitality, and the service was FAST.
Food tasted great and was annexcellent value.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Bulgogi
Sigourney Frazier
I love the steamed mando and cold bibimap. Food tastes great!
First time trying and every thing was awesome and flavorful. Kudos for the bonchon bar!!! Definitely we will come again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Dominic Coor
SUMMARY: Dry and burnt food cooked in the back. Floors and tables are sticky and dirty. Bathrooms disgusting, urine and toilet paper on the ground, no toilet seats. NOT REAL KOREAN FOOD.READ BELOW FOR DETAILS:Heard good things about this place but this restaurant was absolutely terrible. My first impressions of this place was DIRTY, the floors were sticky when we walked in. When we were seated the server said the table just got cleaned so it was wet. It was not clean, it was sticky and smelled like a bucket of dirty water they use to clean tables during school lunch. They probably have many health code violations. The server was also very rude to this old woman who was helping her, making her run table to table and yelling at her. Don't get me started on the food. It was TERRIBLE. We got individual items as we had kids who would not eat much for the all you can eat option. The side dishes were very bad, at that point I knew the food would be bad as well. When we ordered the individual items they closed the grill. I guess they don't want to give you the experience of cooking the food if you don't spend a lot of money. The food came out after 20 minutes. It looked like Chinese food. Very sloppy and had vegetables and some kind of sauce on it. It was also burnt and stuck to the platter. They probably made it in the morning and just heated it up for us. I lived in South Korea for 2 and a half years and this was not real Korean Food. After we were done picking at our food, we went to the bathroom. The men's bathrooms were absolutely atrocious. URINE all over the floor as well as toilet paper and paper towels. There was only a urinal and a stall. The urinal was out of order and the stall didn't have a toilet seat. I got out of there as fast as I could, I didn't want to catch a disease. This was not real Korean food. I would recommend any Northern Virginia Korean BBQ (they are more authentic) also Firepan Korean BBQ in Silver Spring and Falls Church as well as Honey Pig which has many locations across the DMV. Do not waste your money here.
jeda suyao
This is my family’s go to restaurant. We eat here almost every other week. We really love it here. But tonight, this waitress was really rude!!! We understand that they close at 10pm and it was almost 10 but we were still eating and she forcefully snatched the plates even the ones with food in it! Yes, go ahead take the empty ones but still she could have politely asked if she can already take the plates out or asked if we are done. Also, maybe we wanted to take out the left overs. If they were in a hurry to clean up, there were two other groups who just stood up and she could have cleaned their tables first.
Ging Shamberger
It should be ashamed to call itself Korean BBQ. The chicken was dry, and had many splintered bones in it. The bi bim bap was average, but the egg was overdone. Seaweed salad, kimchi, were decent but the dumplings were some how tough, and soggy at the same time. Boba was also very strange tasting, almost bitter as if they'd over steeped it. Add on top that it's actually on the expensive side and we won't be back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Anisha Sawyer
You will have a true taste of Korea in every way! The food is delightful and the atmosphere is warm and fun! We love it here! This is a must try and you too will make it a fave!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dietary restrictions: Great place for those on Keto!
Food and service excellent
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Decided to check out Koba on a whim with my wife after I felt a hunger for Korean BBQ. I was surprised at how empty the place was. Double so after the meal, which was outstanding.
Service was attentive, responsive, and very helpful. We got the seafood pancake and shumai, and did the AYCE BBQ. We also ordered some Soju.
Dunno what the negative reviews are on. Maybe folks had a bad experience here or there, but I ordered my go-to choices at Koba and it stood up to my prior experiences at places like Jong Kak and Be-One, the latter of which was decidedly my favorite spot in Baltimore.
Check out Koba folks, this place seems great to me and deserves more love.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Thin Sliced Brisket, BBQ, Seafood Pancake
We liked it, but didn't love it. Would not dissuade anyone from trying it, just won't be going back and would want to try other places. For example, there is a place at the Casino at Arundel mills which has better quality food, nicer place and similar pricing. Or, KPOT in Towson which we haven't tried.
We didn't try the all you can eat buffet for $35.00 per person but just ordered food a la carte. The total was close to $70 with two appetizers, tea and two entrees. Again, the food was fine and good and probably what we expected. So try it if you like, I realize it gets good reviews which they do deserve.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
We got the fried chicken appetizer. At first we were so excited. It was delicious on the outside, but raw inside. Huge health issue.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
We went here to celebrate our honeymoon and we got the premium AYCE set, it definitely a fulfilling and delicious meal. They cook it for you in front of you which I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Thin Sliced Brisket, Premium AYCE BBQ, Seafood, BBQ, Tenderloin Steak, Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs
This place is so good!! Staff is always friendly and the food is always delicious! Their cucumber kimchi is top notch!!! The kimchi fried rice is the best!
I love Koba and think it’s all great, but I was alarmed tonight to discover that the kitchen did not seem to know how to prepare spring rolls with shrimp inside. The spring roll they served us came to us containing significantly undercooked shrimp. The server apologized and brought us out a second spring rolls that was freshly prepared. When we cut it in half, this large uncooked shrimp spilled out. It was clear at that point that the cooks are not cooking the shrimp before sticking it inside the spring roll. It gets flash fried to a crispy exterior but the shrimp never cooks there. This is the mistake of a very inexperienced food prep person, and dangerous if they are consistently prepping and serving them this way. I tried to speak with a manager but was told they had not yet arrived. If the restaurant replies here and addresses this, I’ll add more stars for responsiveness and if they vow to address it with their kitchen staff. The rest of our experience and meal was great.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Thin Sliced Brisket, Brisket, BBQ, Ribs
Used to like this place but it’s become way over priced. $37 a person plus tip and drink, including for my 13 year old daughter. Will not be back.
Wasn’t busy on a Saturday night either. So clearly other people also avoid coming here.
Friendly staff with good hospitality, and the service was FAST.
Food tasted great and was annexcellent value.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Beef Bulgogi
I love the steamed mando and cold bibimap. Food tastes great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
First time trying and every thing was awesome and flavorful. Kudos for the bonchon bar!!! Definitely we will come again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
SUMMARY: Dry and burnt food cooked in the back. Floors and tables are sticky and dirty. Bathrooms disgusting, urine and toilet paper on the ground, no toilet seats. NOT REAL KOREAN FOOD.READ BELOW FOR DETAILS:Heard good things about this place but this restaurant was absolutely terrible. My first impressions of this place was DIRTY, the floors were sticky when we walked in. When we were seated the server said the table just got cleaned so it was wet. It was not clean, it was sticky and smelled like a bucket of dirty water they use to clean tables during school lunch. They probably have many health code violations. The server was also very rude to this old woman who was helping her, making her run table to table and yelling at her. Don't get me started on the food. It was TERRIBLE. We got individual items as we had kids who would not eat much for the all you can eat option. The side dishes were very bad, at that point I knew the food would be bad as well. When we ordered the individual items they closed the grill. I guess they don't want to give you the experience of cooking the food if you don't spend a lot of money. The food came out after 20 minutes. It looked like Chinese food. Very sloppy and had vegetables and some kind of sauce on it. It was also burnt and stuck to the platter. They probably made it in the morning and just heated it up for us. I lived in South Korea for 2 and a half years and this was not real Korean Food. After we were done picking at our food, we went to the bathroom. The men's bathrooms were absolutely atrocious. URINE all over the floor as well as toilet paper and paper towels. There was only a urinal and a stall. The urinal was out of order and the stall didn't have a toilet seat. I got out of there as fast as I could, I didn't want to catch a disease. This was not real Korean food. I would recommend any Northern Virginia Korean BBQ (they are more authentic) also Firepan Korean BBQ in Silver Spring and Falls Church as well as Honey Pig which has many locations across the DMV. Do not waste your money here.
This is my family’s go to restaurant. We eat here almost every other week. We really love it here. But tonight, this waitress was really rude!!! We understand that they close at 10pm and it was almost 10 but we were still eating and she forcefully snatched the plates even the ones with food in it! Yes, go ahead take the empty ones but still she could have politely asked if she can already take the plates out or asked if we are done. Also, maybe we wanted to take out the left overs. If they were in a hurry to clean up, there were two other groups who just stood up and she could have cleaned their tables first.
It should be ashamed to call itself Korean BBQ. The chicken was dry, and had many splintered bones in it. The bi bim bap was average, but the egg was overdone. Seaweed salad, kimchi, were decent but the dumplings were some how tough, and soggy at the same time. Boba was also very strange tasting, almost bitter as if they'd over steeped it. Add on top that it's actually on the expensive side and we won't be back.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
You will have a true taste of Korea in every way! The food is delightful and the atmosphere is warm and fun! We love it here! This is a must try and you too will make it a fave!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dietary restrictions: Great place for those on Keto!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Thin Sliced Brisket, Beef Brisket, Brisket, BBQ, Egg Souffle, Bibimbap, Ribs, Salad, Beef Bulgogi, Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs, Bulgogi Brisket
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