Final Thoughts: 4.50/5.0
My sister and I decided to go here for brunch today. I was craving some Korean food and this place has been on the list for a while now. Overall, my experience was very nice. The food was amazing and service was A+, as well. Will be a 5 star from me today and am hoping to come back for their other food items on the menu.
Food:
Rose Tteokbokki: 4.5/5
Both items that my sister and I chose today were amazing. It's such a comfort food because of the thick hot sauce and then that combined with the remainder of the toppings. This dish comes with the rice cakes, fish cake, egg, and sauce. The sauce is truly the highlight of this dish. It was just spicy enough, cheesy, thick, umami, and sweet. The sauce is typically made from gochujang and then milk or cream is added, so it gives it that rose color. The consistency of this one is just right for me. Other places can make it really thin, but this place made it nice and thick. If we added noodles to this, it would have also been amazing. Very rich and creamy. For the rice cakes, they were also of a good texture. Not too chewy and had a bite to them, as well.
Stone Pot Bbibimbap: 4.5/5
Another great dish that we chose here. When the bowl came out, it was sizzling hot and we could hear the sizzling of the rice crisping up at the bottom of the plate. At the bottom, the rice continued to cook and became this nice crispy rice layer. All of the ingredients were nicely plated on top. Combined, the flavor is very savory and umami. This dish is a good balance of all of the macros with the rice, protein, and vegetables. We added the gochujang sauce on top for the additional flavor. This combined with all of the ingredients mixed together was chef's kiss. Along with the bibimbap, it comes with the seaweed soup on the side.
Banchans: Delightful
The banchans included kelp salad, kimchi, black beans, fish cakes, marinated spinach, and pickled radish and carrots. My personal favorite was probably the fishcakes, kelp salad, and black beans. All were nicely balanced in flavor. I do prefer the kimchi at other restaurants, but this one was also quite good. That is more of a preference for me though. The textures are also nice with the variety of banchans provided to us today. Their policy is that they will refill when the dish is empty.
After-Meal Dessert: Yakgwa
Upon getting your check and finishing your meal, they do provide you a little packaged yakgwa. This is a Korean Honey cookie. Quite sweet, but it's very small. Just a little sometime to complete the meal or bring with you after finishing.
Waiting List/Reservations: Both Available
Of note, this place does take reservations beforehand. They only allow this for parties of 5 or more. If you have a party of 9 or more, they recommend calling the restaurant directly for assistance. Parties of 4 or less may simply walk in and are not given the option to make a reservation beforehand. A waitlist on Yelp is also provided, so that you can monitor the crowd at the time.
---------
Quality: Made to Order
The food items seemed to be made to order. They really didn't take super long to get all items to come out, but they were all piping hot and sizzling, which I appreciate. Their banchans also look really nice, as well. Overall, appears very fresh and to order.
Price: Leans more on the expensive side.
Their prices do appear to be more on the expensive side. The price range for the main entrees are within $20 to $30 with some outliers being +/-$5. Their larger food items and more expensive food options will also lean more on being around $40+.
Service: Very Attentive
Our waiter was very attentive since we came through the door. He explained everything well from the menu to ordering items on the tablet at the table. He checked on us multiple times and always made sure we were doing well. This is something he did with every table that came in, as well. Very polite on top of that. There weren't that many groups during the time that we were there, but seems like he would still retain most of this attentiveness even with a larger crowd. Very much appreciated.
Ambiance: Modern and Sleek
The interior is quite dim lit on the outside, but is lit up well with their lights and lamps on the inside. Fairly big and spacious on the inside. The interior looks quite modern and sleek, which I like. There are screens, windows, Matches the scene quite well. I would come here for a nicer type of meal.
Location/Parking: Small Plaza
The restaurant is noted to be on San Tomas Expressway and El Camino Real. The plaza itself looks quite small and there are only a few shops next to it. The parking space appears optimal for their scale of a plaza too. My sister and I came earlier in the day, so waiting and parking weren't an issue at all. This is perhaps a bigger concern for the dinner time rush. read more