After being fed several videos on IG singing the praises of Yoo's Place, I'll admit I was both hopeful and skeptical of what they showed. The former because everything looked and sounded so good; the latter because it's hard to know whether you can trust what some of these foodie accounts are saying is truthful or paid for. Given how I write Yelp reviews, the irony in saying that doesn't escape me. However, now that I've been here several times, I can happily report that everything those IG accounts said was entirely true!
Even though their complex isn't very large (parking is usually easy, but it can be scarce at time), Yoo's Place itself is decently large and always seems to have tables available for groups large or small. Similarly, their menu is rather extensive as well, to the point where it took us a while to figure out what we wanted to try most the first time we came here. Whether it be their appetizers, soups, stews, cold noodles, hot noodles, BBQ meats, stone pot dishes, bossam, broiled fish, galbijjim, and even omurice and Chinese dishes. In short, too many dishes for me to try before finally writing this!
-- BANCHAN
For the most part, all of these were great! Of the bunch, the fishcakes, kimchi, and radish were my favorites. I also like the kabocha a lot, but they sometimes slather too much mayo/sauce.
-- HAEMUL PAJUN - Seafood & Green Onion Pancake
As weird as it is to say, this almost came with too many goodies, as it was chock full of seafood and green onions. Definitely a nice problem to have, but I do wish there had been a bit more batter to make this crispier.
-- HAEMUL KALGUKSU - Homemade Noodles with Seafood
I don't get this often, so I don't know how it compares to others, but this tasted so good! The noodles had such a nice chew to them and I love that they didn't skimp on the seafood. Plus, the portion is large enough where you could easily stretch this into two meals!
-- SEOLLEONG TANG - Ox Bone Soup
Similar to the Haemul Kalguksu, this was one hearty bowl of soup! The broth was rich and beefy, there were several large chunks of meat, and there was a lot of noodles in this. Plus, I liked that they also included a lot of veggies and strips of eggs, too.
-- DAKNALGAE TWIGIM - Deep Fried Chicken Wings
Despite falling a bit short of what we hoped for, this was still pretty solid. While the portion initially seemed light (only about eight wings), each piece was HUGE, the batter was crispy, and the chicken itself was juicy. I just wish it had been a little more flavorful.
-- LA GALBI & (SUKEO) SOON TOFU COMBO - Marinated Beef Short Rib and Seafood & Beef Soon Tofu Soup
The LA Galbi was great - meaty, well marinated, tender, lightly charred, and the portion was sizable for a combo. As for the Soon Tofu, it was terrific! The tofu soup was rich and hearty, had a good mix of beef and seafood, and was just so comforting.
-- JAJANG MYUN - Noodles with Black Bean, Pork, Cream Sauce
Maybe it's because I haven't had a legit Korean Jajang Myun in ages, but this was pretty good! The noodles were perfect and I love how it came loaded with plenty of pork and onions. The sauce had a bit of an aftertaste to it, but I still liked this.
-- KODUNGAE - Broiled Mackerel
This was delicious! Compared to the one we had at BCD, this one was deboned better and was just as big, if not bigger. Plus, not only was it still really moist, but the mackerel still had some crispy edges, too.
-- KALBIJJIM - Braised Short Ribs
While I do wish this had more chili peppers in this (it was really yellow), the taste of this was still awesome. More importantly, there was a fair amount of short ribs, which were so tender and meaty, along with rice noodles, glass noodles, cheese, and vegetables. SO GOOD!
-- NAENGMYUN - Sliced Beef & Vegetables over Noodles with Spicy Sauce
This was on the house (possibly from ordering the kalbijjim) and, even though it might have been a scaled down version of the dish, this was still so good! The noodles had the perfect chew, there was just a touch of heat, and the overall flavors were amazing!
In addition to the food, the service here is fantastic. All of the workers are super friendly and the kitchen gets dishes out very quickly. What's more, the workers will happily refill any banchan dishes and every table comes with a small thermos of beef bone broth that is just so PERFECTLY DELICIOUS! Even when it's hot out, it still hits the spot - it's just so warm and comforting! Honestly, it's one of my favorite things at Yoo's Place!
With so many options in Irvine and around the rest of OC, I know there may very well be better places than Yoo's Place, especially when it comes to a specific dish. However, I can't imagine that Yoo's Place isn't among the best of the bunch. At the very least, it's the best I've tried thus far and I wouldn't hesitate to keep coming back even as I try more places in OC! read more