Kaya Sushi Restaurant

Upon entering, I was greeted with. "no sushi.  Korean spicy only."  I love spicy Korean food, so ... yes yes yes!  

I asked about the pork with vegetables, but was told 'no vegetables'.  So I got the pork with kimchi (jaeyook kimchi bokum). The dish was bright red from Chili Pepper Paste, served on a big serving plate, pork sauteed with kimchi over tofu.  Delicious and gigantic.  It didn't seem spicy at all, but I was sweating at the end.  Brown rice complimented this dish perfectly.  I couldn't finish the whole dish, but I tried.  

The appetizers (banchan) were very good, but there were only 5 dishes.  The cucumbers in vinegar was so good.  

When I was done, I couldn't find my waitress, so I flagged someone to get a check.  After leaving the money on the table, I did see the waitress on the sidewalk outside the restaurant chatting with someone.  
"thank you", I called to her.  
"did you pay?" she responded.  

I get the feeling this is a small restaurant that caters to the local Korean population.  

A Korean food guide in North Jersey could probably get many free meals by accompanying us non-koreans to different restaurants.

Notice the bad reviews are from non-koreans and the good ones are from Koreans?  Yea, this place is good.  Its not fancy dining but its kick butt small restaurant turning out high quality food for discerning Korean customers.  There's only a few Korean restaurants in the Pal Park Leonia strip that I would consider to be worth my money and this is one of them.  If you want fine dining and clothe napkins, this place isn't for you.  If you want an authentic, seasonal Korean food with Southeast Korean regional flare, do yourself a favor and check it out.

went here for quick dinner before going to King Sauna. wasn't very impressed with the spicy beef stew i had ordered. Friend enjoyed his sushi/salad/rice dish. I think the next time I come here, I will get the BBQ that other reviewers raved about.

the banchans were good and varied, but mostly veggies. The steamed egg was yummy.

service was decent but didn't refill water at all.