Gone!!!! Unbelievable after 30+ years.......... Another reason why ....homeowners in Irvine have to leave town for a decent Korean meal. They will be missed. If they open up at a different location - please post.
Steve del Castillo
Bleah. Gave our food to another table. Food portion to small for the price. Beef Rib soup was mostly broth. ??♂️
Jay Q.
I used to go this place often for their tofu soup,seafood pancake and short rib soup. The Korean lady who worked there before the pandemic was nice to us and always take care of us whenever we came. However, it seems like they stop hiring servers anymore. The owner do the serving job by himself now. He always sitting there, being on his iPad. He doesn't really understand what customers requirement and he has no serving technique. Pls hire some real servers to do the serving job !
Rosemary T.
Horrible services. This is probably one of the worst tofu restaurants in Irvine. My husband and I went around 7:30pm to order a tofu soup and a short rib with tofu soup combo. First off, the restaurant were empty, so I don't even get why food took 20 minutes to come out. Then, we asked for fried fish, the owner told us you should have came earlier cause they ran out. What kind of restaurant are you ran out of fish at 7:30? And what's even better is we finished our banchan and asked for more... well.... how dare we... no more either cause, again, we should have came earlier. So my husband asked for the status of his short rib 30 minutes into our meal. The respond was not oh I'm sorry I forgot or I'm sorry let me check the status. The reason was did you order it? Horrible horrible service. Would never come back here again!
Corey Pak
Good service, good food. Tastes like home cooking. Easily overlooked in the plaza bc the bigger restaurants. If you're looking for classic Korean food and a hug from the inside this is your place
Nhi Nguyen
one of my favorite mom and pop Korean restaurant in Irvine!
Madison P.
Super good soon tofu! We got sat immediately and service was quick! The soup was very flavorful and came with rice.
JK K.
This place has gone way down with no server left so the owners happen to serve and they seem and act so upset all the time now! The owner guy was never that friendly but I used to like the owner lady but now both are bad! I try to understand that they are short handed due to COVID but that's not good enough excuse to run their business like this! I won't go back although I like some of their dishes but due to bad vibes now, it's not worth it.
Cody W.
Service was slow. Took almost 45 mins to get our food. Then after 30 mins the owner has the audacity to tell us to leave since there's a line at the door. One of us didn't finish eating yet. What a j**** never coming back. I highly suggest you go somewhere else. Quality is not what it once was, more expensive and they give you much less.
Edwin K
Business hours for Saturday was not 11am, it’s all depends on whenever the white hair elderly looking man finish playing with his iPad.. (Signs on the door is only an illusion ?)
What happened to this restaurant? Two years ago this was a striving Korean restaurant: cheerful ladies offering you warm tea, greeting you in Korean. Wonderful warm smells coming from a home style kitchen with fantastic food. Long lines formed on the weekends, to a point when they would open up their second floor. Now, the prices are up and the food amount is 1/2 what it once was. What happened to Kaya? The restaurant was taken over by an elderly grey haired tyrant that I have named The Warden. You can feel the oppressive cloud of anger, control, and frustration. His employees have been reduces down to a young bus boy and himself. None of the kind ladies are there anymore. How can it be so bad? Read the current reviews. Do not engage the Warden, or you will end up in solitary confinement, or kicked out of the place. If you ask for him to close the door, he won't. If it's really cold, then deal with it. If you ask about the food, you might be laughed at. I feel so sorry for his employees, they shuffle around with their heads down, counting the time until the day is over. Oh yeah, the times the restaurant is open or closed depends on the Warden. Don't ask for warm tea, no, they don't have that now. Remember, there is no warm tea in prison. This place will be gone in three months.
Edwin K.
Business hours for Saturday was not 11am, not 11:30am, nor 12pm. It was all depends on whenever the white hair elderly looking man finish playing with his iPad.. Pssssst.. (Business hours sign on the door is only an illusion, don't believe everything you see.. )
Jasmine L.
This is the first time in my life I've been shooed out of a restaurant. Me and a group of 3 other friends got seated around 6:00 and the banchan and soondobu arrived 30-45 minutes later. We only ate for about 45 minutes the owner unapologetically said "there's a long line waiting outside you need to pay and leave." We barely got the bill and he said this to us 5 minutes later. I understand it's a busy Saturday night but we actually weren't inside the restaurant for all that long and I still had soup left in my bowl. Honestly the tofu is just okay - I think people come here because all the lines in the area are massive. Do yourself a favor and just go somewhere else unless you want to be rushed out the door in less than an hour with slow and rude service.
Andrew L.
Wow. It's so sad how this once beloved restaurant fall so far down. The 2 stars are for the good food only that's it. The portions are half than what they used to be but costs a couple of dollars more. The owner is stubborn and gave my dad and I attitude for asking him to close the door since it was cold and rainy out. The soon tofu and BBQ beef combo came with about 8 bites of meat on a plate. We only got a small bowl of rice for 2 people. Hopefully the employees read these reviews to get some feedback. How sad. I hate write bad reviews.
Amanda H.
I'm vegetarian so I ordered the mushroom soon dubu and it was honestly the best vegetarian tofu soup that I've had in a restaurant.
Gone!!!! Unbelievable after 30+ years.......... Another reason why ....homeowners in Irvine have to leave town for a decent Korean meal. They will be missed. If they open up at a different location - please post.
Bleah. Gave our food to another table. Food portion to small for the price. Beef Rib soup was mostly broth. ??♂️
I used to go this place often for their tofu soup,seafood pancake and short rib soup. The Korean lady who worked there before the pandemic was nice to us and always take care of us whenever we came. However, it seems like they stop hiring servers anymore. The owner do the serving job by himself now. He always sitting there, being on his iPad. He doesn't really understand what customers requirement and he has no serving technique. Pls hire some real servers to do the serving job !
Horrible services. This is probably one of the worst tofu restaurants in Irvine. My husband and I went around 7:30pm to order a tofu soup and a short rib with tofu soup combo. First off, the restaurant were empty, so I don't even get why food took 20 minutes to come out. Then, we asked for fried fish, the owner told us you should have came earlier cause they ran out. What kind of restaurant are you ran out of fish at 7:30? And what's even better is we finished our banchan and asked for more... well.... how dare we... no more either cause, again, we should have came earlier. So my husband asked for the status of his short rib 30 minutes into our meal. The respond was not oh I'm sorry I forgot or I'm sorry let me check the status. The reason was did you order it? Horrible horrible service. Would never come back here again!
Good service, good food. Tastes like home cooking. Easily overlooked in the plaza bc the bigger restaurants. If you're looking for classic Korean food and a hug from the inside this is your place
one of my favorite mom and pop Korean restaurant in Irvine!
Super good soon tofu! We got sat immediately and service was quick! The soup was very flavorful and came with rice.
This place has gone way down with no server left so the owners happen to serve and they seem and act so upset all the time now! The owner guy was never that friendly but I used to like the owner lady but now both are bad! I try to understand that they are short handed due to COVID but that's not good enough excuse to run their business like this! I won't go back although I like some of their dishes but due to bad vibes now, it's not worth it.
Service was slow. Took almost 45 mins to get our food. Then after 30 mins the owner has the audacity to tell us to leave since there's a line at the door. One of us didn't finish eating yet. What a j**** never coming back. I highly suggest you go somewhere else. Quality is not what it once was, more expensive and they give you much less.
Business hours for Saturday was not 11am, it’s all depends on whenever the white hair elderly looking man finish playing with his iPad.. (Signs on the door is only an illusion ?)
Restaurantji Recommends
What happened to this restaurant? Two years ago this was a striving Korean restaurant: cheerful ladies offering you warm tea, greeting you in Korean. Wonderful warm smells coming from a home style kitchen with fantastic food. Long lines formed on the weekends, to a point when they would open up their second floor. Now, the prices are up and the food amount is 1/2 what it once was. What happened to Kaya? The restaurant was taken over by an elderly grey haired tyrant that I have named The Warden. You can feel the oppressive cloud of anger, control, and frustration. His employees have been reduces down to a young bus boy and himself. None of the kind ladies are there anymore. How can it be so bad? Read the current reviews. Do not engage the Warden, or you will end up in solitary confinement, or kicked out of the place. If you ask for him to close the door, he won't. If it's really cold, then deal with it. If you ask about the food, you might be laughed at. I feel so sorry for his employees, they shuffle around with their heads down, counting the time until the day is over. Oh yeah, the times the restaurant is open or closed depends on the Warden. Don't ask for warm tea, no, they don't have that now. Remember, there is no warm tea in prison. This place will be gone in three months.
Business hours for Saturday was not 11am, not 11:30am, nor 12pm. It was all depends on whenever the white hair elderly looking man finish playing with his iPad.. Pssssst.. (Business hours sign on the door is only an illusion, don't believe everything you see.. )
This is the first time in my life I've been shooed out of a restaurant. Me and a group of 3 other friends got seated around 6:00 and the banchan and soondobu arrived 30-45 minutes later. We only ate for about 45 minutes the owner unapologetically said "there's a long line waiting outside you need to pay and leave." We barely got the bill and he said this to us 5 minutes later. I understand it's a busy Saturday night but we actually weren't inside the restaurant for all that long and I still had soup left in my bowl. Honestly the tofu is just okay - I think people come here because all the lines in the area are massive. Do yourself a favor and just go somewhere else unless you want to be rushed out the door in less than an hour with slow and rude service.
Wow. It's so sad how this once beloved restaurant fall so far down. The 2 stars are for the good food only that's it. The portions are half than what they used to be but costs a couple of dollars more. The owner is stubborn and gave my dad and I attitude for asking him to close the door since it was cold and rainy out. The soon tofu and BBQ beef combo came with about 8 bites of meat on a plate. We only got a small bowl of rice for 2 people. Hopefully the employees read these reviews to get some feedback. How sad. I hate write bad reviews.
I'm vegetarian so I ordered the mushroom soon dubu and it was honestly the best vegetarian tofu soup that I've had in a restaurant.