The only place you can get live Octopus in Houston Octopus & soju or Sashimi & soju is great combination. They also have live Avalone, and you can get Avallone sashimi. read more

This is definitely one Korean spot that i've been curious to try, especially that ganjang gejang (raw marinated crab). Like many places along Longpoint, it's unassuming from the outside.. but don't let that fool you as this is a true mom and pop restaurant that's clearly built a loyal following over the years. You can often see local Korean regulars (always a good sign) and the vibe is rather authentic. (You can even book a private room for larger groups) Now, about that crab: It's clearly a specialty here, and I did enjoy they topping the dish with this savory, tangy marinade. And If you're a fan of raw crab, you'll likely enjoy the challenge and reward of cracking these.. but it's messy work (even with the gloves) and the flavor just wasn't for me personally. I will say good things about the classics: the banchans were plentiful, and the barbecue offerings were solid, Nothing overly fancy, but reliable. They also have a modest selection of beers and sojus. We didn't have any Korean speakers in our group, but the staff was patient and efficient. The menu can look intimidating at first glance, but you should be fine.. I may not order the crab again, but I'd definitely come back to explore more of the menu. read more

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I think this might be the only place that serves raw marinated crab in Houston. The crabs were fresh and marinated to perfection, with a savory, slightly tangy sauce that had just the right amount of spice. The marinade was packed with flavor--garlicky, a bit sweet, and rich with a deep umami that enhanced the natural sweetness of the crab meat. The crabs were served cold, which really helped balance the intense flavors of the marinade. It's messy, but so worth it! I'd recommend this for anyone who loves seafood and is looking for something bold and different. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Best Korean restaurant in town. This last time, I was here with a big group of 9 and we were seated in the private room. We got a bunch of stuff including chopped up octopus that was still moving. I didn't taste it but my husband did and said it was super delicious. My favorite dish here is the tofu soup. It's so flavorful compared to what you get at some other places where it's just bland no matter how spicy you specify. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Gahhh I did it! I ate LIVE octopus. Truly an experience with my fellow Yelpers. No bells and whistles here, and as authentic as it comes. This is a mom-and-pop place. Be patient. We had a large group and was seated in their "private" back room. If you plan on having a party of 6 or more, I highly recommend reservations or call ahead for seating availability. James' wife did most of the ordering for us. Keep in mind, live octopus is not available year-round. Call ahead to confirm. Here's what we ate (as much as I can remember): Seafood Pancake - Served warm and accompanied by a nice dipping sauce. Stir-fried Pork Skin - I don't hate it, but ya know pork skin has a slimy, chewy texture that I don't fancy. Stir-fried Octopus - Yums! A cooked, savory version. Live Octopus - For the bold and brave! Not bad. It was cut in bite sized pieces. I dipped it in some sauces. I would def do it again. Soy Marinated Raw Crabs - I enjoyed this dish very much. Bursting umami flavors. Flounder Sashimi - Fresh and well prepared. Flounder Soup - The rest of the flounder (from the sashimi) in a soup. The fish bones add a depth of flavor. This was served at the end with rice and banchan sides. Our server was kind and always said "thank you and you're welcome". We had a larger party, and I appreciate her tending to us when we rang the service button. The alcohol selection is very limited. Mostly soju and domestic beers. An unforgettable experience with amazing food and friends. read more

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Came here for lunch with the hubby. I had the seafood rice in the stone bowl. It was very good, very filling and loved the crispy rice on the bottom. My husband had the spicy beef soup. It was okay and needed more soy sauce or fish sauce. The banchan was adequate. read more

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Is my food...moving? Oh my... This nondescript restaurant has been on my bucket list for quite some time. Why? They're known to offer some specialty fresh seafood, and they've been in business since the late eighties, catering to a mostly Korean clientele. I've visited many Korean restaurants on Long Point, and while small and unassuming, this place takes the cake for some of the most unique Korean offerings. Many of these specialty items happen to be raw and secured live in tanks, ensuring optimal freshness. Utilizing the larger private room, we were lucky enough to have a Korean speaking person and regular patron in our group ordering for us. She ordered the ganjang gejang--raw soy marinated crab, the raw flounder hoe, and the chopped and still wriggling octopus. Yes, you read that right. The writhing tentacles are certainly a sight to behold and not meant for the faint of heart. I definitely had to take my time chewing. The flounder hoe was delicious and light. The leftover bones and skin are made into a nice soup that is brought out once you're done consuming the flesh. The flesh of the raw crab was sweet and delicious. Certainly I will be back to try to more regular menu items and perhaps more specialty items. I definitely suggest coming with Korean speakers if you plan on having raw items, because I believe that portion of the menu is written only in Korean... The menu itself is not super descriptive in English, but I don't mind. It adds to the fun... Oh, and the kimchi is phenomenal. Definitely an authentic and hidden gem. I read more

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We were lucky enough to have a Korean speaking person in our group of about 8-10 in a closed off room. That's always nice because we can kind of be as loud as we want w/o being too much of a disturbance to other patrons. I would highly suggest coming here with someone who can speak and or read Korean since the menu was intimidating for me, someone who only knows English. This place is authentic though, so that's the trade off. This is the first time I've ever eaten the raw octopus that's still moving. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The taste was w/e to me, so I think I was more intrigued with the experience which was a positive one. The raw flounder sashimi was ok. I guess there are other types of fish that I would prefer in sashimi form in terms of taste and texture since I'm a big sashimi lover. I really liked the raw crab marinated in soy. I wasn't expecting to eat this much raw food, but here I am and still alive. Of course we had some beer and a lot of soju to help keep the good conversations going and food overflowing. read more

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Best Korean food in Houston. Love the live seafood, always fresh. Service was nice too. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Third time lucky, I took the edgier lines out of this review because someone really doesn't want this 5 star business to get this glowing 5 star review. Is it time to post this yet? Well damn where did my CLOCK GO? I can't even find my underwear, could wear a SOCK THO You know, just like Flea and Anthony Kaedis, he's my Red HOT BRO And then I can take them out for Korean at DOKDO Barbi is so hot like soup, she always makes the ROCK GROW Makes me so happy down below, makes my C*** GLOW And Kirk knew lots of aliens biblically, but who did SPOCK KNOW? Anyway, for homestyle Korean, you must go to DOKDO! WHAT! I absolutely love this little inconsistent Korean place, always delicious and rarely two servings the same. They're a lovely little affordable place with wonderful homestyle food. We get their spicy beef soup, and sometimes it's really really spicy, and sometimes it's nowhere near as spicy, and I don't mean anything negative by saying that. It depends on which trip, but it was always worth it. When it was way, way more spicy it was more worth it. Sometimes we love every bite and sometimes we don't love it as much. Some of the most unique and delicious and original homestyle home cooking of Korean food. Including all the soups that we love. Very inconsistent with the spice level, this little tiny restaurant represents the very best of what home-cooked Korean food can be. Nothing like your prototypical Korean restaurants, and every bit a wonderful little experience, which is very different every time. It has formally entered the rankings as one of the top five Korean places to eat food in all of Houston for us. It's very cheap as well and we highly recommend it to anybody. Yori Yori inside 99 Ranch nearby is my fave for soup, and Tofu Village is Chinatown's best, but here in Spring Branch, and if you want really home-cooking style, you won't get much better than Dokdo. And overall it's one of the best places we've been to for Korean, and one of the most family style Korean restaurants we've ever visited, so we can give it 5 stars, and deservedly so. We will so, so be back. Now we'll finish with Otis Redding. Sittin' in the mornin' sun I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes Watching the soups roll in Then I put them all away again, yeah I'm sittin' on the Dokdo with Bae Watchin' the soups roll away, ooh I'm just sittin' at the Dokdo with Bae Wastin' time I left my home in Montrose Headed up the Spring Branch way 'Cause I've had nothin' to live for It look like nothin's gonna come my way So I'm just gon' sittin' on the Dokdo with Bae Watchin' the soups steam all day I'm sittin' at the Dokdo with Bae Eating mine read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Tommy used to work on the Dokdo - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Definitely a whole in the wall. And I would consider this restaurant authentic. More authentic than Bellaire. I'm still getting used to Houston, but finding this spot after searching for Ganjang Gaejang for the longest time, I'm ridiculously happy! The ajummas are so sweet and adorable! Kept checking in on me and my friend and refilled our bonchons in a jiffy! Ugh. I love it here. The variety of food items they have, I swear, I'll keep coming back here. read more

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Authentic Korean! We came for the Soy Marinated Crabs and Live Octopus Sashimi. They were out of octopus (make sure to call ahead) but the crab was delish! We also got the jap chae which was kind of soupy. We were dubious bc we'd never had a soupy japchae, but to our surprise it was really good! We had a couple other dishes I can't remember, but overall we really enjoyed the food. Although we enjoyed our experience, I had to say it was a little intimidating. Certain items on the menu were strictly in Korean with no English translation. Also, the Korean lady serving us was curt with us seeming to be slightly annoyed whenever she spoke to us. I guess it's part of that authentic Asian charm lol. read more

This place is a must try, got the soy marinated crab, bibimbap and seafood pancake. The soy marinated crab is a must try, you get 3 whole crab for $25 which is pretty good! 9/10! The seafood pancake is a must try, it was crispy and so much seafood in it 10/10 and the bibimbap was good too 7/10. If you want some good Korean food come try here! Staff was also very friendly, service is 10/10. read more

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Came here to try their raw marinated crab and it did not disappoint! I've been craving raw marinated crabs ever since I had them in Korea on the last trip there. The staff was lovely and very attentive. Of course I tried other stuff on the menu but the food just smelled too good and I had to dive in. Their short ribs are super flavorful and has a nice smoky flavor. They even have dotorimuk (acorn jelly)! Can't wait to visit again for more raw marinated crab! read more

Dokdo Restaurant - raw marinated crab - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

An authentic Korean restaurant, for sure! Somehow I saw this restaurant on TikTok and decided to try it out because of this marinated crab! A delicious dish that didn't smell fishy like we thought or too salty from the soy sauce! But the taste is flavorful. One thing is that just the parking problem but overall everything is perfect! read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Soft Tofu with Seafood soup - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Dokdo can be pretty easily missed. The sign is in Korean, so be sure to review pictures of what to look for. I went during lunch time and before i could say what I wanted the waitress already knew what I was there for. We can thank Tiktok and these trends lol. I ordered the Gejang ( Marinated Raw Crab) . It came with various different sides including rice, kimchi, fish cakes etc. I was also given what tasted like tea. I had to look up the reviews to determine that it was wheat tea. That wasn't my favorite, but I did take a few sips. This was my first time trying the marinated raw soy crab and I must say that I enjoyed it. If you're someone that like raw sushi or sashimi, this will taste no different. 10/10 recommend to anyone looking to try new things. read more

Delicious authentic korean food! Great service. Quaint little Korean restaurant right on long point. Highly recommend cannot wait to go back read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Grilled Atka mackeral - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Really enjoyed our experience there. They have a nice fish tank and the staff were knowledgable in introducing the dishes to us. Price are rather steep, but worth it if you want fresh seafood. Probably the only place in Houston serving live octopus and raw marinated crab. I was really excited for the crab but sadly they were very difficult to eat, requiring extensive use of the cracking tool. In the end, there also wasn't a lot of meat. The spicy codfish stew was SPICY, but flavorful. Fish was soft with a nice bounce. Seafood bibimbap was our favorite. I've only had traditional bibimbap before this but this was very refreshing. One big con is that they don't give a full bowl of rice for some reason. Our rice bowl came half full, and we had to pay $1.50 extra for more rice. Sucks when all of the food is so rice-oriented, including all of the banchans. read more

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I've been coming here since my Korean friend introduced this place to me. Their food may be a bit pricey but mostly I come here for the service and the food. Place: It's a little small. And could be kind of hard to find. They don't have a lot of space for parking, but across the street there's a huge parking lot so it's ok. Service: Is really good. The ladies who work here are very nice Food:I love it. I love their chitterlings! Also their Kamjatang is really good although they can be a little pricey but they are worth it read more

Very hole in the wall vibe that you get from this restaurant. You can tell it's a very authentic korean restaurant because the sign of the restaurant is in korean. Some parts of the menu (like the sushi/sashimi) portion was all in korean, so we had to use our google translate app to scan and translate it for us. The sashimi were fish we weren't too familiar with though, so we opted to be more basic when we went. It's not your typical tuna and salmon, but they seem popular for their flounder sashimi. It's a small restaurant with few tables, but there was only one other person there when we went on a monday afternoon. The seafood pancake was one of the best ones I ever had. It was very crispy and they had lots of different types of seafood in it too (e.g., clams, squid). I came to try the raw marinated crabs. I like that here they give you the heads and the claws, so you basically get the whole crab. The only other place that has raw marinated crabs is bori and they only give you the body. They give you a seafood cracker, so you can crack the claws and get all the little pieces of meat out. The also give you gloves to eat this, so your hands won't get punctured by the crab shells. This was my first time having these crabs and I really liked the soy flavor. The flavor was very deeply marinated in the crab meat and I didn't expect regular blue crabs to have so much meat. When you squeeze the body of the crab, you can get a huge chunk of meat out. I thought it was cool how they gave us the heads, but I wasn't able to scoop out too much from it. It just had a lot of the marinade sitting in the head. read more

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! ! ! Everything was fantastic! ;-) You must try the spicy chicken feet and the Bossam! Lovely staff and everything was authentic! We will definitely be back! read more

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I love this Dokdo Restaurant because the food was very delicious and the people is very friendly. Jame was very helpful! He tell me what is good in their manual because this is my first time here. I enjoy their food, I cleaned up all the side dishes and my soup bowls. It was so good that I order flied squid meal to go! Thank you Jame!!! read more

Dokdo Restaurant - My favorite side dish was seaweed! - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

I ordered mackerel for lunch and when it came out, I knew right away it was over cooked When I told the server that it was kinda overcooked, she went into the defense mode She said, mackerel is normally tough and I said this is not the first time I had it ( I am sixty years old and fish is my favorite dish. I always order mackerel when I go out to Korean restaurant because I don't want to cook fish at home). She went on and said cooking at home is different than the grill they use. I said I don't cook the fish at home and she said " what do you want me to do then??" Very rude I said I just want you to acknowledge it and she walked away Be aware of their service and the quality. It's a fish place so I thought they would know how to cook it Not so, I think you should think twice before ordering the grilled mackerel and what kind of service you will receive read more

Restaurant has a different sign at the front, but once you find it, it feels like a hole in the wall restaurant. I feel although it is an authentic restaurant. I was served by an older woman, felt like a mom and pop vibe. But we ordered one soup dish and the bossam dish which is the boiled pork belly dish. The bossam came with this spicy oyster side dish which was spicy and so good. It was such a pleasant surprise. The pork belly was plenty and very juicy. I was afraid it would be dry. And the spicy rib soup we got was okay, I would try something else next time. All in all a very good experience. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Bossam - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I find it so difficult to find a well executed seafood pancake, but dokdo's came to the table crispy and perfectly cooked through. Came for the soy marinated crab but everything else was equally as delicious! read more

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Never ever coming back here again. None of the food I ordered tasted great. I haven't write a review in a long long time but because of this place I had too. Save yourself a trip. Lady here was nice but doesn't make up for food. Originally came here for soy crab but they didn't have that. The sashimi was way over priced. The way they cut the fish was so chewy. Couple of last pieces was right, not chewy. None of the food stand out. I don't understand how this place have high ratings. Plenty of other Korean restaurants that taste better. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Hole in the wall spot I'd driven past many times. Really clean inside. Food was light and clean. This is a Korean style sashimi spot so you'll have your appetizers, main sashimi plate, soup after. Service was kind and spot on. No complaints read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

I wanted to try a korean restaurant away from chinatown so we went to the spring branch area to eat. I was about to give up on Korean food in Houston. Enter Dokdo aka Il Me Jung. Easy to miss, especially if you can't read hangul. A definite hole in the wall looking place. I actually came because I read somewhere that they have soy marinated crabs. This time they didn't. We wanted something that we haven't tried before so we got the spicy stir fried octopus. Y'all, it was so good. Full of flavor and spicy. They didn't "whiten it down" or alter the taste in any way. and yes, if you read my reviews it does happen to me. Anyway, so good. I wish I could eat it right now!! Banchan was excellent. read more

Always searching for a go to korean place, this place was not it. We ordered the grilled octopus 1*, the dolsot bibimbop 2* and the seafood pancake 2*. The octopus was too tough, very hard to eat. The stone bowl rice was ok, but nothing great. The seafood pancake had too much white onion used as filler. Sadly the bachan was probably the best part of the meal, I enjoyed the eggplant and cucumbers. The meal cost $60, didn't seem worth the price for what we got. read more

I came here thinking this was a local family restaurant, But to my surprise it was more of a spot for young people to eat and hang out. The place was pretty run down, the prices were steep, but the service was amazing. We ordered the following: Cod spicy soup Squid stir fry Kalgiksu which is hand pulled noodle soup Cod soup had a nice spice, if it were thicker it would've tasted better but the soup was runny and thin. The cod needed some work with flavor, out of 10, spice level was 7. Pretty spicy. The squid stir fry was Also very spicy. It tasted great when it came out, but once I was two minutes in, the plate became extremely oily. The handpulled noodle soup tasted very peppery, as if they accidentally poured a little too much pepper in the soup. I felt like if it did not have as much pepper, this dish would've been a win. Overall, I'd come here for Korean food. I want to definitely try the eel. read more

I came here with intention try the raw crab dish. They unfortunately were sold out. End up ordering few items. Service was great, place muggy and warm inside and food is average for most part. I've eaten plenty of Korean food and this wasn't worst but wasn't the greatest. Seafood soup was little fishy like on bad smell side. The pancake wasn't crispy enough and veggies chop too big thick. We tried the raw octopus which was good if you like chewy food. It really had no flavor. Just cold and chewy, kinda remind me of tofu. It takes after sauce you cook/dip it in. I have admit I did like their chicken feet. Forgot save pictures of that but spice was just enough burn in your mouth width out a runny nose. read more

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The reason I rated one star because the service of young lady waitress was too bad ( not mention about food at all because truly food is good ) . Two days ago, we 3 people went there and ordered only one pancake , one soy crab, one seafood soup, not much! She the lady she never smile to us as welcome customers at the beginning; then, she brought only food to us, she never came to serves , asked for refill side- food nor fill water, and never ask us what we need thru the time we were eating. After that she came gave us the bill, I already tipped about 15% of the amount of money but she directly asked for 18% tip, and she contemptuously laugh to us...... That's not a respect customer, if she severed good I willing to tip more, we decided never come back this place even there's the best in town or whatever, If you don't believe me go there and see how I feel. read more

The waitress was very sweet and funny. We came on a weekday around 5:30pm and it wasn't crowded. The food was great and they gave good banchan. It was one of our party's first time having gejang ganjang and we all enjoyed it! The parking is a bit difficult but overall we had a great experience. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

The restaurant is kinda hard to find tuck away in a tiny parking lot. Not a lot of parking matter of fact the parking here sucks. The restaurant has two names. One on yelp and one on the actual restaurant is creates a bit of confusion. The restaurant is tiny and not good for big groups, I feel very cramp in a tiny space in the private room. My short rib was absolutely delicious and was marinated just right. And all the appetizer was really good. The sashimi does not look that good to me, and as korean foods goes not the best I had. I mean the food was good but not the best. Overall the price was decent , but the service was mediocre and the ambient make me feel like a sardine. For now I would said not the best experience I had. I would hold off on going back for a while. read more

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With so many Korean restaurants located nearby on Long Point Rd., in addition to the new ones recently opened up in Chinatown, this miniature-sized local restaurant that looks kinda run down on the outside is definitely being challenged! I've been going to Il Me Jung for almost a decade but never have I really loved the foods over there because everything is just mediocre. I always order Japchae and Seafood Pancake at any Korean cuisine but this place does not do an extraordinary job on neither of 'em. The Japchae tastes sorta bland while the seafood pancake is so doughy as in not crispy enough and lacking seafood. I've also tried the Ginseng chicken soup and Abalone rice soup (juk), of which both are nearly tasteless! I understand that excessive intake of sodium is not good for health but C'mon! not tasteless!! Oh well, the server is more than happy to bring table salt to the table, if needed (and Yes, salt is needed!) However, after salt is added moderately, both the chicken soup and the rice soup become all flavorful and delicious like magic! On the other hand, the pork belly just sux. To the best of my knowledge, pork belly is supposed to contain a good amount of fat, but the pork belly here is NOT fatty at all; pre-cooked in the kitchen, the pork belly is hard and dry like meat jerky *tsk tsk tsk* According to the boyfriend, the flounder salad is pretty good but I've never tried it. The clam platter of which a photograph is shown in the menu looks interesting but the mollusks are seasonal and not always available. What I have enjoyed and loved a lot is the steamed eggs boiling in a hot iron bowl! *nom nom nom* To me, Il Me Jung is not the best option in town, but I keep coming back because the boyfriend likes it *Bleh* read more

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I still stand by this review. If anyone wants good customer service and good Korean food, check out BBQ Garden Korean Restaurant in Memorial. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

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I've been seeing so many people on social media talking about soy marinated crabs and wanted to try it for months. Was excited to see that this restaurant sold it. Along with the crabs, we also ordered bossam and we were truly blown away. I thought about the bossam for days afterwards and would have gone back the next day if I wasn't busy (and I live quite far away). The crabs were good too! Huge portions which I wasn't expecting for crabs. Would definitely recommend this restaurant. read more

Went to this place on my trip to Houston. I have lived most of my life in Houston and did recognize the original name of this restaurant. We ordered the $99 sashimi plate. What we got is not worth that much. We barley got any ban Chan (side dishes) and the sashimi dish they presented was a to make the amount of sashimi look like more than was there. Not impressed for that much money. Could have gotten more at one of those AYCE places or even a regular sushi place. read more

Dokdo Restaurant - $99 sashimi dish. Take a real look. Not much there. - Korean Near Me - Houston, Texas

Can we say - where has II Me Jung been my whole life? This was an accidental discovery. I dragged my non Yelper friend with me to try Korean Noodle House on Murray. Well, they are closed on Mondays so as we were driving on Long Point - there was a sign that said Korean bbq in front so we turned in. The outside of the restaurant can be misleading. It looks a little suspect. The inside is small but adorable. Along with Korean food, they also serve sushi. I tend to measure a place by the other customers and there were about 4 other tables of Koreans so that was a good sign. Our waittress was lovely! My friend ordered a soju drink which is an alcoholic drink taken as shots with or without pumpkin. That was interesting. complimentary - 6 selections of quick bites & egg soup appetizer - pan fried dumplings entree - marinated short ribs and seafood w/tofu soup I don't know what good kimchi tastes like but theirs was pretty delicious. And the egg soup was cooked in a clay pot and I took a quick liking to it. The pan fried dumplings reminded me of empanadas. They were filled with a little meat and a lot of tasty veggies. We dipped it in the side of spicy sauce that they brought us. The seafood soup is a blend of seafood, tofu and spices. It didn't seem that spicy to me but the soup was a rich chile colored red. Now to the magnificient part - marinated short ribs. I am not a ribsy kind of gal and was a bit hesitant about ordering this dish. Boy, was my tummy glad we did. It is literally a dish that will make your mouth forgive you for all your past indiscretions..... We agreed that we could have done without the seafood soup - it just didn't do much for either of us but them ribs....my friend even asked the waittress about the marinade afterwards. It is a bit pricey so go in with more than $20. Overall, I'd have to give this place two thumbs up. I was pleasantly surprised. read more

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Probably a very authentic Korean food spot, but the menu has no description of the food and waitress doesn't speak English to explain what in each dishes. Very overpriced, and with the combo meals, they try not to bring the star until the very end only if you ask for it, but won't deduct the price if you did not want it anymore. Most likely will not return to this place again. read more