Seafood Pancake = Five Stars, it is the best dish they offer here in my opinion. I love the squids in here. The dipping sauce they serve with this is divine.
Kimchi Fried Rice w/ Egg = Four Stars, Iove that it has a sunny side up egg to mix in with the rice.
Fried Whole Chicken = Three Stars, Average Fried Chicken. I love the side salad from this dish.
Omelette Fried Rice = Four Stars, again with the egg on top. Love it!
Rabokki = Four Stars, starchy, spicy, chewy noodles and rice cakes top with fishcakes, and korean sausage. Delis!
Spicy Bulgogi = Four Stars, sizzling hot beef, what is not to love
Side dishes = Four Stars, side dishes are unlimited. I love the Jab Chae and Fishcakes.
Service here is decent and the amount of food they serve you can feed an army. Come with a group so you can try more foods. :P
Oh Past Memories :) an awesome place to catch up with good friends over some delicious soju. Be careful of the yogurt soju though! It doesn't seem like it but it can really mess you up. They have endless funions for your to enjoy while you're drinking to your hearts content. I personally like the yogurt soju (peach?) as well as lychee. Both are good but again, watch your alcohol intake and drink lots of water. It can really sneak up on ya. When I went recently, I got the kimchee fried rice. This was served with the typical banchan (unexpected!! they don't serve that with seafood pancake or ddukbokgi... or maybe I just forgot)
There is ample seating available, which is great for big parties :) I also love the ladies who work here! They are so sweet hahaha I wonder if they get tired of dealing with all the drunk people... Overall, I really love this place and it makes me feel nostalgic of my undergrad days when I come here :)
I always have a great time at The Past Memories. Â The staff are incredibly friendly and they always welcome us with warm hearts. Â This time we went, I had the chicken gizzards and spicy octopus stir fry. Â The portion for chicken gizzards seemed bigger than last time and the octopus was nice and hot/spicy. Â I enjoyed both very much; they both met my expectations. Â The service is always quick, the food delicious, and the atmosphere lively (it takes you back to old-school Korea). Â I'd highly recommend this place to chill with your friends, have a cold one, and just enjoy life. Â Good times!
Review Source:Cute little bar/restaurant. Â Got the seafood pancake, rice cake, fried chicken, and kim chi fried rice. It was for 5 girls. Â They serve big portions. Â Everything was great. Â The only thing I would not get or recommend was the fried chicken. Â It was not that great. Â But they serve these onion chips things that were eh. Â Good to munch on . Â Side dishes were really good. Â And service was good. Â You just push a button and they come when ever you need them. Â Unfortunately I wasn't able to try any soju since we came at like 5pm and I turn tomato red when I drink. Not very attractive. Â I would come again for drinks and kim chi fried rice. Â Everything else was ehhh. Â I might need to try more things on the menu.
Review Source:Came with some friends for my first visit to a "sooljip" and it's definitely a great Past Memory (although, a "memory" by default is something in the past, right? :p)
AMBIANCE...
The place feels like an old-school Korean drinking den with ample spaced wooden booths and old/new korean movie posters plastered all over the walls. Â Feels cozy with the air of food and good times all around.
DRINK...
My wife and a girlfriend split the Strawberry Makgeolli and it was quite tasty and made with seemingly real puree as its definitely more viscous that normal.
FOOD...
As for the food, we got a bountiful order of chicken gizzards, spicy seasoned chicken wings, and Army soup:
- Chicken Gizzards - Plentiful, flavorful and comes on a sizzling plate with onions, garlic and jalapenos...make sure to dip this into your oil and salt for even better results
- Spicy Seasoned Chicken Wings: This was just okay for me. Â They are covered in a honey-like glaze with some spice to it. Â I couldn't taste the spice and it was just an over-candied mess for me although my group really liked them.
- Army Soup - Now, let it be know that I normally HATE noodles soups (#1 because I'm fat and need to stay away from carb-laden noodles and #2 because soups make the ole fat boy sweat) but this is a dish I'll continue to crave now that it's hit my lips. Â
It's namesake comes from the Korean War, when the US military provided the Korean populace with rations of Cheese and Spam/Hot Dogs. These found their way into traditional Korean stews and BAM! Â
You can taste the cheese in the broth, it's loaded with noodles and veges, contains Spam and Hot Dogs, and is great bang for your buck.
OVERALL
All-in-all our meal cost $42 before tip and my party was stuffed with the help of panchan and onion-ring chips. Â This is will definitely be a stop anytime I'm in GG.
I love this place. Awesome place to just hang out with friends. Service button is a plus and kind of necessary since the ladies tend to mind to watching TV or cleaning things, but we still got a water refill without needing to ring it. Despite that the ladies still come around often enough. The decor was fun they had old technological things in a case, what seemed to be a telephone pole and traffic lights. Food was pretty good especially with some soju or an $11 pitcher of beer. I also am in love with the concept of banchan.
I had both the seafood pancake with kimchi and without and I did not really notice the difference in taste too much. *4 stars*
JP Love was interesting it was like a pork katsu drizzled in cheese and other things with a side of the typical Korean salad. *3 stars*
Corn cheese their cuisine has somewhat of a pattern a lot of stuff drenched in cheese which I guess is good with alcohol. Taste was pretty good. *4 stars*
Fried chicken was kind of plain I was hoping for some Korean seasoning or something. *2 stars*
Korean BBQ pork was good but really expensive for what it is. *4 stars*
Definitely recommend going to this place with a group since it tends to get pricey. The servers were also more friendly than other Korean places. Worth a try if you are in the area.
It's a decent place to hang out on a weekend when you want to chill and drink with some friends.
The prices for Hite and Soju are a little pricey when you know how much it costs at HMart. But the staff is friendly and the their JJ Love House Special (or something like that) is good!
I also like how they give you the complimentary onion ring chips!
I'm not much of a drinker...I just never could stomach the stuff without looking like a tomato.
Yogurt soju for $20 ....dude that bottle is a good 18 shots. I swear it taste like the korean drink milkis mixed in with soju. The stuff goes down real smooth and you just don't feel it till a bit later.
Food is expensive in my opinion. Large seafood pancake is around $12-13 and it's the size of a big ass human head. The bulgogi in a stone pot is around $15 and me'h. I notice korean bars are just not the typical bar, there seems to be a synergistic relationship between food and drink. It's really a place you come to eat relatively good/pricey food and have drinks to accompany.
I like the bell you push at your table. Make it easier  to flag service down.Plus, it looks like a korean folk village inside .
i EFFFin love this place. its a good place to have lunch, dinner, or a night out drinking with your friends. Their food are pricey but its soooo good. LOL! I also love the fact that their open till two, which is a plus for me after a night out drinking with friends ;p. Who say you need pho after a long fun night when you can get some Kimchi ramen noodles with rice cakes. =B The waiter and waitress are really friendly and they dont hesitate to reheat your food when it get cold. I have tried many places but this one is for me.
Review Source:Came here to drink with coworkers, thought the restaurant name was so weird...drank and ate and then ended up forgetting what happened at the end of the night! Â Oh Soju, my enemy!
Anyhow, the Soju they have is really good. Â Every flavor we tried was good. Â Food was also good, we got the Chicken Wings,Ghalbi, Seafood Pancakes, Dukbokki, etc. Â Nothing bad.
Also the servers actually check on you which is nice for a change!
The only negative was that it was super crowded when we came so we had to wait to be seated but a great place to drink/eat with friends.
Come here to do more than drink... and this night WILL be a past memory.
A lot of creative street-fair Korean food, on top of Awesome Soju, is what makes this place great. Â It can get packed during peak hours on the weekend, so plan accordingly.
Seafood Pancake, Raw Beef, Gal Bi, Chicken Wings, Chicken Gizzards, its all good! Â These are the items I usually order, along with maybe 4-5 Sojus, and 3-4 Bottles of Hite... and you and 6 friends are off to the races.
The waitresses are also very patient, and fun, and know that people are there for a good time. Â Food comes out fast, as do drinks, and they are more than willing to take care of you. Â I Love this place.
Only reason this is not 5 stars is its a little pricey... Can anyone tell me why Korean food is soooo expensive!?!
one word: SOJU!!!
It also helps when the food is pretty good; granted, the food is overpriced compared to the 50 other korean restaurants within its 5 mile radius. Don't let the cheesy name deter you from coming. It's kind of hard to find. It's located in the same plaza as cham soot gol; it's this free standing building toward the front of the plaza area. It's a super chill mom/pop shop and is perfect for loud, obnoxious happy hours.
I'm slowly turning into a regular at this place thanks to my co-workers. After a night of team-building via kbbq and karaoke, I introduced my co-workers to fruit-flavored soju. You'll find various flavors of soju here - mango, apple (their favorite), lychee, etc etc.
First, I love the decor. Walking into this joint really feels like I've gone back in time to Korea when I used to live there. The telephone poles with old signs, the shingled rooftops, even the traffic lights  remind me of a home long past. The ambiance truly brings back "the past memories" and I couldn't have given the place a better name.
WIth your order of alcohol, standard fare of onion chips (crisps) and saw-woo-kang (shrimp chips) comes hobbling out. Just like how peanut and dried fish/octopus goes with beer, those two snacky things go perfectly with soju. It's complimentary when you order soju.
They also serve various food items as well. My non-Korean co-workers thoroughly enjoyed the popcorn chicken. They tried the dried fish - but none were willing to return to it. Eh - more for me! :D
The crowd is varied depending on when you go. Obviously, the late-evening into the late-nite hours on a weekend will bring a loud, energetic crowd. Even though seating arrangements are separated by booth cushions and walls, you still have to shout across to get your words heard. On a weeknight, however, the place turns into a low-key, quiet chill place. I must be getting too old for loud, obnoxious ambiance haha xD
It truly is a perfect place to briefly wind down from a long day of work with a few friends. Give it a try - and definitely try the apple soju. It's silent and deadly. ;0)
It's a little hard to find, as it isn't labeled "The Past Memories" in English. It's located in the same plaza as Cham Sut Gol... if that helps :)
Past Memories is a great place to come when it's late at night and you're in the mood for some rich Korean food, a couple snacks, and a couple bottles of Hite beer & soju. They used to offer cuttlefish jerky along with complimentary onion chips but now they only serve the onion chips - no complaints here! There's a bit of a language barrier when it comes to communicating with these waitresses but even considering that, they provide amazing service! One night, my friends wants to play a round of titanic & our waitress, who overheard, brought us all the necessary items, even knowing which glass and shot glass would be best suited for this little drinking game!
I love that their interior is decorated like a busy Korean street corner & there's music ranging from Kpop to Kaskade playing on their oversound. Their dishes are all hearty and satisfying. My favorite is hands down the seafood pancake! But I also love their military stew (ramen, spam, cut up hot dogs, beef, tofu, etc) and bulgogi! & of course their complimentary banchan (sides) :) extra kimchi, please! I would definitely recommend Past Memories if you're in the area.
Came here by the recommendation from a friend a while back.
YOGURT SOJU (S: $13, L:$20)
- tasted just like the yogurt with hints of soju
- not too sweet or too strong
- with the large probably get about 15 shots of soju
STRAWBERRY SOJU Â (S: $13, L:$20)
- in the green bottle it looks like crap (red and green make purple)
- taste wise not too bad
- ended up tasting like strawberry juice
- with the large probably get about 15 shots of soju
SEAFOOD PANCAKE WITH KIMCHI ($18.99)
- i've had better
- lots of octopus mixed into the pancake
- the pancake just wasn't crispy enough and kinda wished there were more veggies in the pancake
- I also think they mix in sweet potato shavings into the pancake
- decent but not the best
FRIED CHICKEN WINGS ($13.99)
- basically just fried chicken wings American style
- was really hoping it would be like Kyo-chon or Love Letter style with the soy garlic flavor
- the dish comes with 8 pieces so goes by pretty quickly
- nothing special
ENVIRONMENT: casual drinking atmosphere with a hint of an offshore feel with the bells and the interior infrastructure. Feels like you're in an Asian Bubba Gumps or something. It can get quite loud depending on the guests in the house. They do have TVs playing basketball games (or at least when I was there).
SERVICE: Pretty decent for a Korean establishment mainly ran by older Korean women. They do check ID before ordering alcohol. They allow tables with underage to order drinks provided that the underage don't drink. They have those table bells should you need to request service. They refilled our water pitchers even without us asking and ocassionally came by to see how we were doing.
Overall, gave The Past Memories 4 stars because it's open late and actually give pretty good service. The ladies refilled our water even without us asking, which is rare in a Korean establishment. The food is okay. The drinks are reasonable compared to other places as far as pricing. Unfortunately they don't have any Happy Hour from what I saw on the menu. The place is open until 2 AM! Didn't have trouble finding parking either. Would recommend it to those looking for a Korean hub for soju without traveling to K-Town in LA.
One of the few sooljips (Korean drinking places) in the OC I've found with an authentic flavor/theme to it. I don't know how they got "past memories" from min sok chon (the business name in Korean meaning folk village), but it works and sticks better with the English speakers.
Place gets pretty packed and there was a decent wait. There were some rowdy youngsters inside, and then later I think a few of them were throwing up outside... But the inexperienced youngsters couldn't ruin my experience of drinking at a dark, cozy traditional Korean themed sooljip.
The seafood pancake was great, grilled crisp on the outside. The tong ddak chicken was good but I wasn't a fan of the budae jjigae. It was a little too home made style for me. The onion rings (Korean "funyuns" like snack) and shrimp crackers were free and endless. I couldn't stop eating them!
It's nice to have a Korean drinking place like this in the OC. 4 stars for The Past Memories!
I love dropping by here late at night for a midnight snack and sneak in some alcohol in my  system.
Cost: Somewhat pricey in general, but considering the fact that they open til 2am, I'm a happy camper so no complaints here.
Food: You can't go wrong with ANY choices. I've had probably 1/3 of the menu already and haven't really been disappointed once. And of course, their soju is highly addicting so expect to have a good time here with your friends.
Service: Very friendly staff. They are quick on their feet too. I even ordered to-go once, and they still provided the same happy service as they would for a dine-in.
Atmosphere: Very loud, but it's a very fun late night joint. Regardless of the noise from other parties, I'd still be able to have a good time. WARNING: Be prepared to run into ABG's and woo girls.
Decided to come to garden grove to litterally relive my past memories.
Food is better than most korean bars and service is quick. However, they did forget to bring out food that we ordered. Asked once and it got delivered.
Only 2 stars because it was filled with a bunch of younger kids who barely looked 21 and...they only allow to split on 3 credit cards. Doesnt make any sense. Everyome ordered their own meal (9 people) but we were only allowed to use 3 cards.....
Out of all three K-Bars' that I have been to (jang toh, and chol su being the other two), Past Memories is by far one of the better ones.
The Past Memories is definitely a place for a social gathering, a big enough spot to get completely sh*t faced, and eat delicious korean food. Be careful though, get too rowdy and you'll get kicked out like I did -_-
Some of the stuff that I would recommend are the military stew, cheese corn, grilled whole chicken, and J.P. love. Eat it buffet style and you'll be good for the night.
My gf has some past memories here, I just made some the other night. They apparently come here as a good watering hole to enjoy the large booths, good service and reasonable food.
I can't say the food is fantastic, but it's pretty tasty. Large enough to share with a bunch of people (I think that's the point) but it does get loud. (which is not a bad thing)
BTW, it's really easy to drive past Past Memories. Make sure to look up from your GPS to find the small sign.
My bf found this spot while looking for some new Korean places in the area. From the reviews and pictures, we figured we'd give it a try.
We went early so it wasn't busy, and we got a booth right at the front. The decor is supposed to reflect an old wood korean folk village. The walls are lined with old movie posters. Its definitely dated and sorta thrown together, but its fun, and has real telephone poles inside.
Their selection is not unlike many other Korean bars, lots of meat, some snacks, and good soju drinks. However, I loved their large soup selection, and just being the two of us, we ordered wayyyy too much food. We got a pork plate, corn cheese (a must!), potato bone soup, and of course it came with banchan. Every portion is meant to be shared, so the plates//dishes serve up to 3 or 4 people.
The flavoring for the meat was excellent, the soup was perfect, and the drink was strong but sweet. The prices are a bit high for 2 people to go out alone and eat, but we took a lot home, so I guess it was worth it.
I really enjoyed the diversity of clientele, and I'm sure things would be much different if we had hit up the after hours. I was that tacky girl who broke her soju glass after pounding the whole bottle, but the waitress was really nice about it and said all that mattered was that no one got hurt. (oh ajumma!) Also, for my light friends, they speak English here, which is very helpful.
So the hubby & I are craving some Kimchi fried rice and Korean BBQ beef one night and decided to look around YELP for some suggestions. We found this place thats supposedly really good and lucky enough, its pretty close to where we were @.
We got to d place and was given a table right away by some rude chick, I didn't really mind the rudeness but whatever. After about 10 mins of trying to wave down the waitresses ( who have been trying to avoid eye contact with us the whole time ), we finally got to order. Waitress was still rude btw but we just kind of shrug it off thinking the food is going to be worth it because of all the hoopla.
Finally, the food came and it was a big disappointment. The kimchi fried rice was too saggy/sticky and the bulgogi and korean bbq beef was just ok.. UGH!!! what a waste of time. I could have given this place a 2 or maybe 3 stars but they seriously need an improvement on the employee's attitudes!!
a diamond in the rough!!!
I'm so glad my friend brought us here for a random weekday night outing. Â None of us were all that starving, so we wanted food to munch on in a trendy atmosphere....which led us to The Past Memories. Â This is a great place to chill with friends. Â I guess most of the patrons come here to get drunk, or with a central aim of drinking rather than eating, but this is a great place for the munchies. Â If I could eat one thing from here for the rest of my life, I would HANDS DOWN eat the seafood kimchi pancake. it was LEGIT.
Luckily I DON'T have to eat one thing for the rest of my life, though, because then I would be missing out on the variety of other food that they serve! Seafood kimchi pancake. fish cake. dukkbokki (sp?). Â gizzard (meh). Â fried chicken--spicy. Â onion ring and shrimp chips(um, GENIUS??). japchae. cucumbers. kimchi.
And of course, if you ARE here to drink, you must have Lychee soju. end of story.
If you're Korean and live in the OC, you know this place is the shit. Simple food and great Korean beer, what's not to love? I also fell in love with the corn with the cheese on it. I could eat that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dangerous stuff right there!
Not the best place to bring your family to, but a place to bring the homies and drink ridiculous amounts of beer and soju and stuff yourself with delicious and simple chicken.
Just be warned, there is a total language barrier when coming here. They speak very little English, but seemed fairly patient with us. I would just be patient with them and they should be patient back. I've heard there are a couple of mean servers, but luckily I was told that it didn't look like they were working this night.
Beer comes in a one liter plastic bottle (which I thought was awesome) and they give you a ton of small glasses to share. Sides like fish cake (my favorite), glass noodles (really great), pickled radishes (pretty amazing- they were sweet but not vinegary), spicy pickles and of course spicy kimchee. In our group of eight, we pretty much demolished the sides fairly quickly. The wait staff was speedy and kept refilling them at our request. They were complimentary- so why not? You also get some baskets that look like they're filled with Funyuns- they sort of taste like them but not. Accompanying them are these little crispy fish chips that I found pretty addictive. I don't know how many I ended up stuffing in my mouth, but I really enjoyed them.
Soju is probably now on my no-fly zone for drinks. I took a shot of it and thought I had sucked on a Purell bottle. No thank you, continue getting drunk Jeni C, it is your birthday after all.
We ordered:
BBQ Pork: Moist with lots of flavor. Loved the grilled taste that came with it.
Seafood Pancake: Maybe one of the best things I've ever eaten. It was full of squid tentacles and veggies which I loved. The pancake was seasoned well and stayed crunchy until the very end.
Fried Chicken: Not my favorite dish of the night- but it wasn't bad either. The skin wasn't like a southern fried chicken, it was almost like a puffy fried outer layer. It was good.
Hot Hot Wings: I could only muster up the strength to eat one. Those suckers were hot and left my tongue and lips numb for a few minutes.
Grilled Shrimp: These prawns were HUGE. They didn't have any real flavor, but at least they weren't fishy.
I'm glad we did family style so I could try a variety of things. They were accommodating with our big group and we didn't feel rushed. You just ring a bell at your table (like at a KBBQ restaurant) and someone comes and attends to you.
If I could offer any suggestions, I would bring cash when eating here. Because of a language barrier, the check was a little confusing with multiple cards. They got it right, but it took a little time and like I said a little patience. I'd be down to eat here again. It was gooood.
A korean bar! Kind of! Either way if you're eating here, I think you're bound to make some great memories. I can see why so many people would come here for late night eats and drinks. Practically everything on the menu is totally designed to taste awesome when you're drinking.
I came here with my boyfriend because he was craving Seafood Pancake and I remembered that this place was supposed to have a good one. It was awesome. I mean we got the smaller size and it was perfect for us. Crispy and they didn't skimp on the seafood which was also a plus. We also ordered the Kimchi Fried Rice, and Gamja Tang. The kimchi fried rice was pretty average and it was a tad sweeter than I liked. The Gamja Tang was also not as good as some of the other places I've tried but tasty either way.
We originally started with just one drink but the flavored soju drinks looked so tempting to me. We ended up ordering the Strawberry and Pineapple Soju too. I remember I liked the Pineapple one a lot more than the Strawberry. It was just like drinking candy. Yummy.
I do believe that it's a little expensive here but it's not too bad. You're more or less paying to drink and eat Korean bar food. Enjoy! 4/5
The environment is dark & intimate, with bamboo shades from booth to booth to add some privacy. It has as an old school Korean feel with faded yellow wall paper covered in Korean scripts, complementing the dark wooden tables.
Don't expect the best customer service, as its run by traditional and older Korean women. At the same time, don't be surprised should they give you a bottle on the house, pressuring you to take some shots with them (like my last birthday!).
Enjoyed their fried chicken, cheese corn, crisp & clean Hite from the pitcher while pounding shots of soju mixed with yogurt (yokult). They also have other flavored sojus, like lychee (yum!) and raspberry.
The drinks are a little pricey, but the memories? Priceless.
My first impression was, "Another day to try out Korean food on Garden Grove Blvd."
If you're on Garden Grove Blvd., it's Korean food options galore. Besides all the options you have for Korean hair stylists, Korean markets, and Korean shopping, the best part about it is the food. Past memories is known for their multiple flavors of unique sojus, but I go there for their amazing bar food that hits those cravings. Korean spicy rice cake, seafood pancakes, kimchi fried rice, korean bbq, spicy stir-fry squid, fried chicken wings, you name it. They have it all. The point is, it's not your "healthy" Korean food, but it's your indulge-because-it's Friday kind of food. Stir-fry and spicy are key words in Korean bar food vocabulary...
The lasting impression? "Note: don't forget about the sea snails and chicken gizzard if you are feeling adventurous. It's tasty Korean bar food and the interesting drinks that someone like Anthony Bourdain might be intrigued to explore. A place worthy of saying that you have tried 'real' Korean food other than K-bbq."
Been hearing some of my friends coming here in the late evenings to eat and drink. It's in the Korean town of OC. We were quickly seated as we entered and the place was pretty full and lightly staffed. The food here is definitely Korean drinking food. The dishes on the menu range from noodles to fried chicken. The drinks are beers and soju. The pricing here is a little overpriced IMO. The service needs to hire more people to help out.
The soju we had here was not bad at all. The flavored soju tasted like candy. If you wanna get a good buzz you're going to have to drink a ton of it. You get complimentary onion and shrimp chips. I ordered the spicy rice cake. It came with rice cakes, red sauce, onions, beef, hot dogs, and green onions. The dish was pretty good like other places I've eaten it at. The fried chicken wings here were 4 plump wings. They came with a cole slaw which most Korean Fried chicken places provide. If you want a intimate time to eat and drink with friends then this is the place to share your memories.
Recommendation: Fried chicken wings and soju
We went here with my boyfriend's high school classmate who visited from out of town. His flight arrived around 11pm on a weekday, though there were some Vietnamese restaurants that were still opened, we decided to check out The Past Memories in OC since his friend had already munched on better Vietnamese food in TX.
"The Past Memories" - the name sounds like the translated title of one of those unnessarily long-episode-Korean dramas.
The Past Memories is disparate as compared to other late night restaurants I've been to because:
Yes it opens late (until 2am everyday and 1am on Sundays), the food is far most delicious. Seafood pancake is not too greasy and has lots of seafood meat. Kimchi fried rice is flavorful and has lots of meat as well. Seasoned chicken wings in spicy and sweet sauce are one of the most scrumptious and mouth-watering wings I've ever had. If you love wings, you must try this dish.
Though it opens late, customer service is superb. I am surprised that most of the workers are women in their 40s-50s, which I find strange for a late night bar. My waiter is very complaisant and patient with us, which I highly appreciate.
Monday night dinner!!!
I came here in a group of 2 at 8pm on a Monday night for some after work dinner. Â It was my first time and I enjoyed it. Â Here's what we ordered and its description:
Seafood Pancake- The small was freaken HUGE! Â It was pretty good, except it had too many long pieces of green onions. Â It contained octopus and various seafood items. Â It reminds me most of banh xeo. Â Yum.
Seasoned snail- Â Really good. Â Its more like pickled salad with pieces of snails. Â
Beef fried Rice- Came out with a cabbage salad. Â It was good but nothing super special.
Overall, our total was $40 with tip. Â Each dish is about $8-15. Â I thought some items were over priced and some were really cheap. Â For instance, the seafood pancake. Â It was as large as a large pizza and only cost $8. Â However, the rice dish just a small bowl as was $10. Â The service was awesome. Â The lady working really nice. Â We originally ordered more food but she was kind enough to tell us it was too much food and suggested other ideas. Â The restaurant itself is chill. Â I wouldn't call it a bar. Â Just more like a place to unwind and talk to whoever you are with.
CLUES TO TODAY'S JEOPARDY QUESTION: this place gets extremely LOUD! A Korean bar restaurant open late which attracts a predominantly Asian crowd of LOUD, obnoxious 20 and 30-somethings, drinkers and adults of all ages usually coming from dinner with a group and not ready to call it a night.
ANSWER: What is Past Memories?
Okay, so let me just break it down for you in categories...
The GOOD: the soju induced drinks are admittedly all quite tasty. I've tried the yogurt, lychee, lemon and grapefruit. The grapefruit being my favorite. You, of course, can get this beverage straight. For beer, it's the usual standard: Hite and OB. Not very filling beers which appeal to Koreans who like to enjoy heavy meals that often involve a lot of meat.
The dried fish jerky (juipo) is addicting and goes great with soju or beer. If you have not tried it before, juipo has a surprising sweet taste to it. Juipo tastes even better when toasted or grilled over a fire and is easier to tear into than beef jerky. Just a forewarning, though. Your breath and fingers will smell of roasted fish that will emanate and linger.
MEH - JUST OK: the food is pretty standard for a late night Korean bar restaurants or pubs like this. The seafood and green onion pancake (haemul pajeon) the previous reviewers raved about was too dry and rather bland, even after dipping a whole slice in soy sauce to saturate all that flavor.
I am not a fan of the other popular menu item here - the Korean Army stew (Budae jjigae). You get a very generous heaping of American cheese thrown on top of a huge stew of sausages, Spam, tofu, onions, green onions, chili peppers and ramen noodles. The cheese, to me, just throws everything off. I say why mess with an otherwise good thing? (The soldiers added it because food was scarce!)
I am rather surprised many others, including some friends of mine on Yelp, enjoy the food here. Then again, they probably were quite intoxicated (many people are here) and food always tastes better when you drink.
The BAD: did I mention this place gets very LOUD? Not my kind of crowd.
The VERDICT: I generally stay clear of places like this because of the LOUD, rowdy people. I don't consume much alcohol in public and there are a number of places open nearby that are also open late but serve much better food. On this night, however, we happened to be the group of LOUD, rowdy patrons that did not want the evening to end. So...
Some may come here to mingle and eat (again). Most come here to drink. Past Memories is a good late night option to do both. A soju and beer bar with a K-town vibe. The food is not horrendous and you get a lot of it. The service is friendly despite how busy it gets, although you will probably have to push the service request button to alert them and get their attention.
Yeah, not a fan but I'll be back here again when the occasion warrants. :-/
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