Love this place! Great food, fantastic service & reasonable prices!

Popped in to Spoon totally by chance: needed to get a carry out lunch including something I could conveniently eat while driving back to work in South SF. Server helpfully suggested a roll to go with my bibimbap favorite. Both were excellent! If I am ever in the area again I'll be sure to stop at Spoon!! Recommended!! read more

The food here is good, especially for the price. I came in on a pretty cold evening alone, but with my dog, so I asked to sit outside. A young male server was kind enough to turn on the heater outside and brought water for my dog. I was feeling extremely hungry and couldn't decide what to eat, so I ordered multiple entrees (no shame). I had the kimchi fried rice wrap, ramen, and kimbap. The portions were decently large and it all tasted so good. Of course, I wasn't able to finish it all but I packed it up to go. The only problem I had was there's a sign that says "wait to be seated" outside, so I signed my name and stood outside the door for quite a while. It wasn't busy at all, and the servers were looking at me and saw me sign my name, but no one came to help me for probably 10 minutes. Since I had my dog, I couldn't go inside otherwise I would've asked to be seated... other than that I liked the food and when I was served, the waiters were pretty nice. read more

I had a fantastic first experience trying Korean food at Spoon! Since it was my first time, I will say that my review doesn't carry as much weight as someone who eats bibimbop on the regular, but I still feel compelled to give them a thumbs up! Simple decor, helpful staff, and good prices, especially for how much food is brought to the table. I had a hankering for soup, and the spicy ramen with pork was delicious. I tried my sister's dolsot bibimbop, which was awesome. Spoon is unassuming and a great place to expand your culinary horizons. Yum! read more

I heard good things about Spoon, but that was not my family's experience. We got bulgogi, short ribs and a kids chicken bowl. When i ordered I was told that the bulgogi was a large portion, enough for two. TWO? Two toddlers maybe. It wasn't very sweet and there was more fat than beef. My daughter couldn't eat her chicken and asked for oatmeal because her chicken was so hard and dry. Did they save the scraps for their to go customers? Everyone was disappointed and found other things in the kitchen to eat. Wasted time and money for sure. Will not be repeating this mistake. read more

The food here is well-prepared. The menu has more variety than I expected from such a small place. The place is really clean. The service seems a tad slow. Plenty of parking. I've seen families and groups of various sizes in here and everybody's always well accommodated. I plan to be a regular at this place for sure. read more

Excited to try this place out. Check Yelp for closing time so we aren't the jerks that show up five minutes before closing. We arrive at 9:32pm and the sign outside, just like Yelp, says it closes at 10pm. Walk inside and one of the servers says "sorry, we are closed". I point out the sign. He says that they want to be closed at 10 so they close the kitchen at 9:30 (and it was literally 2 minutes after 9:30!!). Why would you say that you close at 10 if you can't get food after 9:30. Ridiculous! read more

Just had the Spicy Ramen with Chicken! They asked how spicey I wanted it and I said very....it is and it is soooo soooo good. Very friendly and fast service. Ordered the soup to go and was out in about 5 minutes. Will be back soon. read more

Tried this place twice, and the only dish that was decent was the soon doo boo. The jap chae, and few other items we ordered were substandard and some tasted pretty bad. The service was lacking, and it was a struggle to get more water or napkins. Not a true authentic korean place....food tasted like a student or amateur was cooking in the back. read more

Conveniently located on Ashby Ave with plenty of street parking. Indoor and outdoor seating. Service was good. Our server was friendly and it did not take long for our food to be served. The soft tofu soup was ok. I've tasted better. The appetizer dishes were ok too, but none were especially good. read more

TRIGGER WARNING: review contains DIARRHEA!!! I came rushing in to this lovely place post Kid's gym a little stressed and a lot hungry! I think the staff was a little put off my coming in with a stroller, but alas my arms can only hold so much. Anyhow, I proceed to get Mung Bean Pancake, Vegetarian Japchae, and Bacon Kimchee Fried Rice. Staff said it would take 10-15 minutes for food to come out! Super reasonable. I take the stroller and me back down to the Kid's gym to look for a still-very-lost water bottle :( and then head back over to have my food handed to me! Yay! But when I go outside to check what's in the bag, I realise my Bacon Kimchee Fried Rice is switched for a Chicken BiBimBop so I head back inside--the third time I go back in with hands-full and stroller to ask for the correct food. Finally! My little one and I are all set! Except we realise the Mung Bean Pancake can't live without the Citrus Soy Sauce and the Vegetarian Japchae needs flavouring (meat can't be the flavour for obvious reasons). The Bacon Kimchee Fried Rice is so good--reminds me of my old Hawai'i-kine-grindz days, but here's the hook and sinker folks--after consuming the Bacon Kimchee Fried Rice I am ASS-aulted with diarrhea! FIVE TIMES. I have a good feeling it has something to do with my egg not being cooked enough. I get that the yolk's supposed to be runny, but I don't think so much of the egg white should've been runny. Sadly, I kept eating despite my bowels saying I shouldn't go near that egg...alas I have learned my lesson. When staff switches your food by accident--take the accident and run before you have an accident called Diarrhea. read more

Good food for white people.. Hidden Gem? I think not. Bulgogi average at best. Noodles are from a package, gross. Standard fare, much better options in area. And the worst part is they did the typical serve the Korean couple first even though they came in later. I hate that. But that's what happens when u go to a Korean place. Prob never coming back, you shouldn't either read more

While the food was very good and very fresh, when I found a bug in one dish and drew this to the waiter's attention, I received no apology nor did I receive a replacement of the dish. And there was no offer to compensate me for their omission of a dish I had purchased. I had to ask and tell them I wanted at least some compensation. They begrudgingly gave me $2 off. read more

This place is definitely a good addition to the neighborhood. I love the fact that when my spirits are low at work, I can get a soondubu and everything will be alright. I enjoy the collection of ban chan including : radish, kimchi , broccoli , wakame, bean sprouts, and fish cakes My coworker got a rice plate which was huge! It included a soft egg dish and a giant salad. There was rice with furikake, spicy chicken and pickled radish. I'll say it again-Huge!! I'm glad we walked out of Mint Leaf and came here today. It was delicious. Lastly coworker is allergic to onion. So she asked for "no onion" and was advised on which ban chan she could eat safely. Plus one for a very knowledgeable staff. When I took some soondubu home, I asked to slide a little bit of the kimchi from the ban chan in, to which the waitress replied "Yeah! Who doesn't like a little extra kimchi?" Making friends through kimchi- I love it. Also there are hip little signs in places that say "Eat your vegetables" cute terrarium style flower pots in the windows, and the bathroom is way cute. How many asian restaurants can you actually say have a nice bathroom? This place has an awesomely cute and clean bathroom. read more

Came in during lunch time, the first impression is that its quite a popular place. Bursting with people and very nice atmosphere. Like the layout of the place, the feel of it. Talk to the lady at the desk and she says to sit down, so i find a table and took a seat. Ten minutes later no waiter comes to attend me, in the mean time three other groups of people come and are attended right away. Okay cool, sure I guess my business is not as important as everyone else. After fifteen minutes of waiting to see if the staff takes notice to me, to possibly bring me a menu or some water do I finally just give up and call one over. I am then told that I am supposed to sign up for a seat. Although the lady at the counter told me to just take a seat at a table. It is as this point where I realize that it i will be given a better service at a gas station mini mart. Which is exactly where I am headed to as seeing that at this establishment they lack one crucial and important key of any restaurant: Service. read more

If you're looking for pretty good Korean food with decent parking in the Berkeley/Emeryville area, this is the place to go to. I love the food and especially love the kimchi fried rice wrap. If I could come here more often I would. Highly recommended! read more

I trecked a long journey to come to eat at this restaurant that is basically in the middle of nowhere. The service was okay but I was very disappointed in my dalsom bibimpap. For one dollar extra, not only was my bibimpap smaller than the regular priced bibimpap, but the stone pot did not make my rice crispy. The taste was very average. read more

Affordable, Delicious, Attentive service. I really like the idea of Galbi rice plates, which isn't awkward to order sitting by myself. Usually Korean bbq places take orders more than two for table grilling. Here Galbi is nicely char-grilled in the kitchen and served on a cast-iron plate. The egg-souffle combo with the rice plate is awesome with a huge selection of banchans! I will stop by when I grocery shop at Berkeley Bowl west next week. read more

great meal with great service .Thank you Brian for making the experience very special for my family & I . we will be back soon .

Simple, tasty, friendly, reasonable prices, and a nice change of pace from french toast for brunch.

i heart bowl'd and i think spoon is a great additional option to eat nice homey korean food on ashby!

good option when you're craving korean but in a hurry. its the closest korean restaurant but geared towards non-koreans.

Food tastes fresh here and pretty good. But a bit on the expensive side. Their side dishes are mostly about 4 different types of kim cheed vegetables. Not so great variety.. Had the bibimbop in clay pot, kind of expensive. It was fine, fresh, but nothing special. Probably the crispy rice on the bottom of the pot wasn't worth the extra price premium. My friend ordered the kimchee rice and it was better than I expected. I guess its pretty good for a small location. Service is relatively fast and good. Its good for late takeout. But I suspect they put a good amount of msg in their rice cake soup, as I've been very thirsty after eating that the last couple of times. Either that or I'm getting increased symptoms of diabetes. read more

Simply one of the best soups I have ever had, Korean or otherwise. Ordered the Korean Noodle soup with chicken (additional $2). BIG BOWL of soup came out boiling HOT... so be mindful! The vegetables, the chicken, the noodles, all so fresh. Perfectly seasoned. Just DELICIOUS. Came with about half a dozen small dishes of ingredients you can add to the soup. read more

Love the soon tofu. It's thick and hearty.

Solid Korean food and banchan with great service. I come here pretty frequently.

This was a fantastic Korean meal. Congratulations Spoon! I had the bulgogi with all the side dishes and absolutely loved it. : )

I love this place so much. My fave is the kimchi fried rice. The bulgogi is super bomb too. lots of fun drinks and little snacks section. We also got wings, the crab pancakes, and the bacon wrapped rice- all really yummy. my fave Korean food spot. read more

Traveled from Eureka to see my daughter in Berkeley. We tried this little place. One word SUPERB! Our entrees and appetizers were incredible. The prices were very reasonable and the service outstanding. I am new to Korean cuisine and the waiter showed me how to mix my bowl from the bottom up for traditional eating. The ginger tea is out of this world. If my home town had this resteraunt I would have my own table. Must stop for anybody. Btw they kept filling our side dishes free of charge. read more

delicious and quick Korean food. love the side dishes and their little market section of to-go items. can't go wrong with anything on the menu but love their porridge and bibimbap! read more

I had high expectations of this place but it was DIRTY and DINGY and the service was awful. Mediocre food and not the top quality ingredients I expect in good Korean cooking. Bleh. read more

Had I rated this place a couple months ago, it would have gotten 2 stars (my boyfriend, however, would have given it 5 stars). I almost always get the spicy ramen. This last time...it was out of this world. I don't know if they got a new chef or if the kimchi ramen is just that much better than beef, but it was unbelievable. I actually combined kimchi and pork. So tasty. And their little korean side dishes are so stellar. read more

I am very disappointed with the customer service I received from the guy I spoke to when I placed my bbq beef short ribs. The amount on their menu online showed $12.00 plus $1.00 for beef short ribs. The guy STATED on the phone that my total amount would be $13 plus. When I picked up my order, the same guy said "your total is $17.52." I asked why it was so much more, he pointed to the menu that has a different price than what they have on line. I asked him why he confirmed to me on the phone that my total amount was $13 (plus change), and his answer was "do you just want to cancel it?" A good customer service would be to apologize and charge me what he confirmed. You just lost a few Berkeley customers! No bueno! read more

I'd like to say this place has great food, I'd like to say they have great service but I can't. We arrived at 10:05, note the hours are 10:00am-10:00pm, and we were told they're closed. After removing phones from pockets to confirm time, again 10:05, and the hours on the door, 10:00am-10:00pm, the employee then informed us that the chef had not arrived for work. Didn't offer to seat us with drinks to wait or even offer a time frame for the projected arrival of the chef. read more

We went here for dinner on a Friday night. No one was waiting. Several tables were open, yet our presence was not even acknowledged. We waited for several minutes, and decided that if they couldn't provide basic customer service with something as easy as seating us and providing menus, then it didn't make sense to stick around. read more

The Spoon people were very responsive to our bad experience and have gone above and beyond to right the wrong. They're definitely back on the menu! I look forward to getting back to the awesome food. read more

We moved here from the part of NJ that was full of Korean markets and restaurants. We were concerned that Spoon wouldn't match up but our worries quickly went away with our first dinner order. Their menu may be limited but everything they prepare was delicious. We tried the tofu soup, fried rice, ramen etc. and they were all very yummy. We'll definitely return! read more

I truly do not understand how this place keep bringing people back. They are rude and dishonest with what they charge you; but that is not the main reason I am giving them minus zero. I saw with my own eyes (as I waited 45 minutes for my order to go) the same person at the cash rigester handling money and touching register machine and anything and everything went straight to the rice steamer without washing her hands and started packing the rice in the dishes. I saw kithcen utencils falling on the floor and picked by tge cook and simply put back on the same steel table that food was being prepared. When I asked the gal why she did not washed her hands before serving the rice in the bowls, she claimed she had wiped her hands with towel! That was absolutely not true. I was overchared, they were dishonet and rude, the food was cold, tasteless and most likely not FDA approved... read more

Consistently good food. Good service. This place is a gem. We've moved away from Emeryville and really miss this place!

Great food! They even gave me a small cup of chilli paste under my request, delicious! Great service!!