Scott White

This place gets packed! Make reservations because you’ll want to go here. The food is very good and the service equally good. The setting is slightly upscale casual so you’ll see a wide audience, but clearly everyone is enjoying the company, the food, and the time. I don’t live here but will definitely come back next time I’m in town. For appetizers we got the crispy eggplant Parmesan (so so good) and crispy calamari. For meals, 3 of us ordered the bolognese while one had the spicy rigatoni vodka, which absolutely rocked. For me, that’s a go to dish. Definitely must try this place.

Not a bad place but not necessarily a keeper for me. It helps there’s parking nearby and the service is very good, as well as clean inside. The atmosphere is comfortable and a nice setting to go with someone. However the food is average tasting. The miso soup is like most restaurants so not standout. The salad was a little disappointing. The bowls have been sitting in a refrigerator for awhile, which is obvious because the lettuce has no crunch or crispness to it. And the dressing needs work. I ordered yakisoba and found it slightly on the sweet side, and had no ginger, which helps make yakisoba pop. My wife had the unidon, which she enjoyed (but I suspect not strongly), and my son had the poke bowl, which he said was ok, but not a keeper.

Not impressed, and quite honestly disappointed. Ok. So there’s free parking but that’s probably the highlight. We were greeted pleasantly and seated but after that I feel service went dry. I will say the ambience is very nice but the food did not cut it, and for the price I expected much better. My wife’s $19 curry was more of a soup (and a small one at that) with essentially no meat. We counted 2 tiny pieces of red bell pepper for vegetables. She was extremely disappointed. My recommended galae noodles were nothing to boast about. For appetizers we got the garden herb rolls, which were just vegetables rolled in rice wraps. To be fair, that’s what showed on the menu so I can’t complain.

I’ve to this place numerous times but the last two visits were not good, and my latest visit sealed the deal for me. Getting there is easy enough and there’s free parking (which I appreciate) but with a focus on food, I’m honestly concerned. I don’t expect stellar service given the type of whole-in-the-wall restaurant that it is, but still... I am fine with the atmosphere being what it is but the last two times I felt the quality of the food has declined significantly. The bon chons (little vegetable dishes) aren’t the same and some of them don’t taste right. While I usually get spicy pork bulgogi, I tried the cutlet and found it fine. My wife had a soup with beef and lots of vegetables, and my son had pork belly to make wraps. The sad part is when we were done, he asked for a box to take the rest. The owner literally put the plate of vegetables on his meat, took it somewhere to box it, and then didn’t even pack his vegetables. So a plate on the table was on his meat that was packed. I’m questioning the cleanliness of this place and won’t be back.

I’ll go back but my last trip (last night for dinner) was weird. While every other visit was great, this one was a turn off. We got seated quickly but asked 3 times to get our order before they came. And when the food arrived, the flavors were very bland and unimpressive. If it was my first time there I would have been done but I’ll give them this as an off night. For seating, expect it to be very low key. Not somewhere to go to impress a date. I always get the spicy pork bulgogi and my wife always gets kalbi.

Overall not a bad experience but for the price I would have hoped for better. Parking will cost at least $10. They validate but the first $10 is on you. The setting was not bad but I ended up with the sun beating down on me for most of my meal. The server was friendly but didn’t check on us which, for the price, shouldn’t have happened. For our meals, the flavors were pretty good but I can tell you my food was cold. Not sure why. I know we waited a while so I wonder if the server was not checking or something else.