Okay yeah so I came here during my spring break... and when I walked by this past week, I noticed that it was already closed??? Interesting.
I'll review the place just in case it ever opens again I guess: decent experience with okay Korean food. The friend and I ordered japchae, kalbi, and a regular bibimbap. Nothing extraordinary. Service was pretty good but you could tell that it was a new restaurant based on the way that the waiters and waitresses approached us. I was definitely amused to see how the entire theme of the restaurant was about k-pop which was pretty cool I guess.
tldr; okay place, but I would rather drive further to Cupertino for better Korean food
Stopped in for a late lunch (between 3-3:30pm) as the lunch menu on the sidewalk next to their door caught my eye. One other customer was inside. When they brought my water they handed me their dinner menu. When I stated I was there for lunch I was told lunch ended at 3pm. I pointed out that they were still advertising lunch as noted on their menu next to the front door. It didn't matter. I kindly told them I was not having dinner in the middle of the afternoon and left. Every other Restaurent on the block was serving lunch so I ate elsewhere. Who is running this place who thinks customers will pay for dinner in the middle afternoon? Perhaps they should take note of their empty room and model their business based on customer needs.
Review Source:Decent option on Castro for Korean food. Got the tofu soup with beef on mild. Would definitely opt for at least a medium next time as there wasn't too much flavor in the soup. Prices are reasonable pretty reasonable compared to other Korean joints in the area. Good variety of banchan and as usual - unlimited refills. The ambiance is pretty nice and clean inside. Walls are plastered with a lot of pictures of what I assume to be K-pop stars. Worth checking out if you're in the area.
Review Source:Had lunch at the restaurant at 18th and Castro a couple of weeks ago. The food was good, the service excellent and the only negative was we had to wait about 10 minutes for green tea as we got there just as they opened their doors for the day.
There lunch menu is a fairly good deal for the Castro and they have a pretty good selection of items on their lunch menu.
I have noticed something about YELP ratings. They tend to validate my assumption that food is just as much a fetish as is sex. For every three or four 5-star there will generally be at least a single 1 star. However if the majority of ratings are in the three to 5 star rating you will most likely get a good meal.
Would I eat there again? Yes.
3 Stars from me. Pretty cool place. Rather small. Food was good, nothing amazing but was tasty. I went for the Kimchi fried rice. It came with a fried egg on top. Good service, fairly quick and all were very polite. Place really started picking up and got full around 7-8 PM.
The atmosphere is pretty cool. I'm a big K-pop fan so it was cool seeing posters of Girls' Generation, KARA, 4MInute, Ace of Angels, etc on the wall. One big screen TV in the middle is constantly playing Kpop music videos while another smaller TV had the Giants game on. Was perfect as I was able to watch the game while jamming to some Lee Hi and eating some fried rice.
Price was also fairly good. Me and 2 friends each had our own dishes as well as splitting 1 kimchi fried pancake for under $50. Around $44 total for all 4 dishes. Good deal for good food. Worth checking out if you're in the area.
Well its popping but I dont know what the hype is about. The food is average at best.
We had a wide variety of dishes but nothing made my tongue do the harlem shake.
I've eaten at many korean places and this was lack luster compared to any of the others.
The gnats flying around also made our meal way less appetizing.
Sorry no love here k pop.
This review is only based on service and their korean chicken wings.
I came by on a Friday night with my bf to order the infamous korean chicken wings. We were immediately greeted by their bartender and was advised to sit at the bar to order our takeout. After we placed our order of KFC and the other one chicken wing available ( i forgot the name), we decided to enjoy some flavored soju while we wait. The bartender was really friendly and gave us our drink shortly after ordering. He even took 2 shots with us. Lol. Just about the time we finished drinking, our fried chicken was ready. We ran home (we only live .5 mile away), to enjoy the crispy fried chicken. Unfortunately for us, the fried chicken was over-fried and dry. What a disappointment that both orders were dry. The flavors were good but it was hard to enjoy when the meat is overcooked. I'll have to go back and try again to see if its a consistent problem. However, I'll also willing to try their other menu items. Stay tuned for a review update.
My husband and I came here for dinner. We ordered pot sticker, beef short ribs and bibimbap... We liked them all. Pot stickers were juicy, ribs were good and well marinated. Bibimbap was good..
service is 8/10 too. As per the price tag, I think it's pretty good deal on Castro anyway.
Just FYI, we have tasted the real korea food in the past few years in South Korea.
The place is clean and there is friendly wait service. The wait staff are willing to explain dishes patiently. Don't deviate from the menu too much as in asking for mild instead of hot. It will completely change the dish. This should not be the case in some circumstances but at this restaurant dishes became too bland and tasteless. It is also way too loud in the restaurant. One has to yell across the table to be heard over the Korean Pop songs blasting through the speakers. Kalbi tasted cheap and was much too fatty. It is supposed to be marbled but the dish that we received was mostly fat with a small amount of meat.
Review Source:Oh man...-_- just pass it..
Where to start. Got a groupon deal and came here. and wished I hadn't..
It took a little while for us to get seated. The prices were pretty good.
Order: I got the soondubu combo soup deal with the spicy pork(bulgogi) as my side and my bf got bibimbap.
We got our sides that come out with all meals: the kimchi wasn't flavorful. and all the other ones were just meh as well.
All of our stuff just didn't taste good. All the flavors were off and didn't taste like any of the other Korean food that i have had. I don't even know how to explain it. It was just bad and i need to stop thinking about it because it put me off on korean food.
just don't go.. it will pass just like the kpop phase will soon...
Tasty Korean food. Kimchi pa jeong (onion pancake with kimchi) was delicious and huge. Spicy pork surprisingly tender and very flavorful-- just enough heat, a bit of sweetness, minimal salt. Bibimbap hit the spot. Service was a little uneven with a waitress who was inexperienced but she was earnest about helping. Glad to have another authentic Korean option in the area!
Review Source:New spot in place of Barracuda sushi, so the layout and space looks exactly the same except for some new posters of Korean pop stars (which I enjoyed because everyone was really pretty to look at).
Food: My friend and I both got the Soon Tofu, which was flavorful and warm and super filling. I would recommend getting the "Extra spicy" as the regular spicy was pretty mild and it needed an extra kick of something. You can pick from various proteins or veggies, I got the veggie options and the soup was filled to the brim with enoki mushrooms, scallions, and lots of silky soft tofu. I didn't care much for the small sides of radish/cucumber/kimchi but that's a personal preference. Since I'm no pro at Korean food, I can't vouch for its authenticity but I'd definitely come back on a cold day for some tofu soup!
Close to home, solid Korean food. Â But we're not that far off from santa clara and the best korean food, so it's hard to make this spot a regular (mostly if I'm super lazy, which does happen quite a bit hehe). Â Fun kpop videos play, just wish that the music matched the videos, would make more sense and be less frustrating figuring out who was singing the song. Â Ok, that comment wasn't related to the rating :) Â We'll likely be back when I'm lazy again and craving generic korean foods (they have all types here, which is a plus, since most of the awesome places tend to specialize).
Review Source:This place does certainly pump the KPop music. They have pix of bands all over one wall but then abstract on the other. Strange. hey've got the outside area and a large dining room. Which unfortunately meant that the three people working there were understaffed and always running around (literally). Got assorted jeon and the Korean Fried Chicken. Former was a bit in the flabby side and I think for whay you get it's a bit over priced. The chicken was mostly well cooked but too much batter. Seems like most people were having good luck with the tofu but it was too warm that day for that. I think it's decent but if you can make it down to Santa Clara it's going to be hard to compare to the places down there.
Review Source:For a store that's called K-Pop Korean Restaurant, I honestly didn't feel it. You see, K-Pop stands for Korean Pop Music and I was expecting this store to really push the theme but sadly there wasn't more than a few pictures on the wall and the occasional music video playing on their TV. Nice restaurant but needs more K-Pop decorations.
[Service]
The service is great, servers are really friendly and very attentive, quick and ready when you need them.
[Food]
The first thing I ordered was the Hot Link Kimchi Fried Rice, a little bland and although I tried really hard to like it, it wasn't there. The portion size was a bit small and could have been bigger.
My girlfriend ordered the KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), which was decent to an extent but this time a little too much flavor. It kind of tasted like Tapioca Express popcorn chicken.. For a person that loves Korean fried chicken she also didn't feel it.
The thing that we both agreed upon were the side dishes that came with our meal. There's a wide variety and when you run out the servers are quick to refill. The side dishes: Cucumber, broccoli, lettuce, noodles, potato, bean sprouts, and kimchi.
[Drinks]
Normally my girlfriend doesn't like drinking, why? well... she turns red as a tomato but for some reason she insisted, and I happily joined. The Kiwi Soju we ordered was delicious and refreshing, and although my girlfriend did get pretty tipsy after one drink she really enjoyed it. LOL! (Cute Weak Sauce right?!)
[Tip]
The portion size for the Soju is huge so if you plan on drinking only a little, one order is plenty.
Overall, a decent restaurant with some needed work on portion size and food taste. I'll give it another try in a few months to see if this wasn't just a one time thing.
A-OK.
First time here since the grand opening. K-Pop is newly remodeled and spacious with an extensive menu. Â I had the jap chae and hubby had the mixed tofu soup. I think the banchans were lacking in flavor and quantity but a couple of them were decent. The Jap Chae was flavorful with a nice chewy texture and sweet sauce but I got super thirsty after a while. I didn't like the mixed tofu soup very much but hubby thought it was good enough. Will need to try out some more dishes soon!
I still prefer the Tofu House on Calaveras Blvd in Milpitas, and they extended their menu as well!
Service was attentive and quick which is always important.
Apparently you can go wrong with Korean food. Salad had a minimal amount of dressing, soup was cold, and the entrees were too moist and without much flavor. The Bulgogi was knee deep in some sort of liquid, I want to say bulgogi sauce but it was without flavor. The Bibimbap was the same too, too moist. When I mentioned to the waiter that the soup was lukewarm he responded with a critical tone "So you want another one!?".
They are a new restaurant though and it looked like they were still getting things in order. From my experience today, however; I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.
In A Nutshell:
*Is there a badge to be the first person to Gangnam Style in this new establishment?
*So glad there's a Korean option along the Castro, pretty perplexed why there wasn't one like - EVER (until now)
*On to the food. Â Came in on MLK Day and took a stab at the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap ($10 something) which was above average.
*I need to comment on the attention to detail of the Banchan (side dishes), they not only presented well but the ingredients were first class.
Overall, K Pop was a good go for the first time and I told the owner Mr. Cho that I'd bring my fellow co-workers not too far in the future (maybe this week).
The food here was mediocre. Service was pretty good. There wasn't much of a kpop vibe to the restaurant maybe save the occasional kpop song playing in the background and a TV with kpop music videos being displayed.
We had the tepk bok ki? (squishy spicy rice stuff) The kimchi fried rice with hot links, two varieties of fried chicken, and the appetizer which resembles a tempura like coating over a variety of different meats.
None of it stood out, funny enough we pretty much all agreed the radish side dish was the best tasting thing.
The fried chicken was over saturated with sauces.
The kimchi fried rice reminded me of a cross between chinese and filipino fried rice; however lacking a clear advantage in flavour over either one.
I've had better tepk bok ki at karaoke joints that do not specialize in food.
Seems like I'd come back here if I was visiting a friend in the neighbourhood that favors korean/japanese spirits but for the food I'd be hard pressed to pick this place.
Editing here after three meals so far. Â (My goal as usual: look past single-visit impressionism, start-up quirks, etc. toward what might be expected in a typical visit).
K-Pop adds to downtown MV's longtime Korean restaurants -- popular friendly Totoro "tofu house" nearby (841 Villa) with its endless fresh kimchi, and Ginseng Korean BBQ (475 Castro). Â K-Pop's wide menu is more mainstream Korean than Ginseng's; its presentation more elegant than Totoro's (and K-Pop's prices are slightly higher) -- though Totoro is hard to beat for family-run friendliness.
"Kpop," "K Pop," "K*Pop" are alternative spellings, but I asked explicitly, and was told, write it "K-Pop."
Owner of Barracuda, the Japanese restaurant formerly here, closed its sushi bar and re-opened as an expansion of SF's K-Pop Korean (on another Castro Street, coincidentally). Â This new K-Pop is a work in progress, menu and details evolving, new employees, happy-hour offerings in the works. Â Bar currently includes Sapporo, Kirin, and Shock Top "Belgian White" on tap.
Mushroom "Soon Tofu" hot pot tried 1st visit, medium spicy. Â (There's a 1-to-5 spiciness range, this was 3, came mild for my taste, will try hotter later.) Â Small salad (sweet-spicy vinegar dressing); then six "side dishes" (banchan) of various vegetables fresh, marinated, or in combination. Â Then individual tofu stew, bubbling in heavy ceramic bowl, rice on side. Â Stew had soft tofu and three mushroom types in very light broth with scallions. Â (I think a vegan meal -- unlike Totoro's nearby, K-Pop's hot pot had no fresh egg cooking in it, and K-Pop's was slightly smaller.)
Also tried: vegetable man du dumplings (Korean gyoza) on 2 visits: well made, fresh soft wrappers, came w/ dipping sauce. Â Seafood pa jeon (savory large pancake with scallions), a big hit, light batter, easily shared among a few people. Â Bulgoki (shaved marinated lean bbq'd beef) with onions and mushrooms, popular, needed a spoon to serve the glorious savory juices. Â Bi bim bap (classic Korean rice bowl w/assorted cold vegs, meat topping) -- competent, unexceptional.
"Side dishes" coming sometimes abundantly (once, they piled up endlessly in multiple rounds, a touch of inexperienced rushed service) added an elegant, upscale, character to the mostly very worthy main dishes, and an impression of good value for these very satisfying meals which have so far totaled $13-$18 per person ALL-inclusive, with light drinks like tea.
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