Seoul Garden - San Francisco

Great Korean BBQ, full and extensive menu, unfortunately the BBQ tables were full so we sat at a table where the food was prepared in the kitchen and brought to us. Quality of food was great, but I prefer to cook my own meat so each person can get the meat as well done or rare as they prefer. Not as extensive variety of banchan as I would like, but the 6 or so offered were all good. Kalbi and oyster jun were very flavorful. I would recommend. The next time we go, I hope to get a table with a BBQ.

Pleasant environment, OK food, poor service, very expensive I wish I could be more enthusiastic about Seoul Garden, but it was quite a disappointment. The pluses: It was a pleasant environment, and the noise level was low, so it was a good place for a visit. The food was OK, but not special. Service was clueless and poor; although the restaurant was maybe 1/3 full, our waiter was neither knowledgeable nor attentive. What made me want to write this review was recalling how expensive it was for this very mediocre experience. A Jun pancacke basically a kind of fritter was $20; a 'fair ' barbecue plate was $39 Sorry, but I can 't recommend it

Seoul Garden? Seoul mediocre. High prices, slow service, bad food. You want more? They were out of the wine we ordered. The server announced that dessert would be green tea ice cream. Sounded nice, after a terrible dinner. She showed up with a half serving, for our party of 3, and said they were out of that flavor. Which could describe the meal. We had the BBQ Combo, at $100. Bland, dry beef that was an insult to the names bul gogi and short ribs. No sauce, no flavor. Bul gogi is supposedly marinated, stir-fried and succulent; short ribs should be tender. These two dishes were military grade. And the bedding for them, and a sad version of pork belly and a so-so chicken dish, was a sprinkling of chopped raw onions and carrots. Yep. The same stuff under all 4 dishes. Mysterious little side dishes appeared, with no explanations. A noodle dish, like the chicken, was passable. Nothing else was. Also: It took 30 minutes to get our food, and it all came at the same time. And half of it was cold. If the restaurant was busy, some of this might be excusable, but we were the only guests in the front room, and our friend checked the back, and saw only two tables occupied. Still, the long wait, and then the deluge of disappointments. Total bill: $170, with wine, sake $20 , tax and tip. And when I got home, I got a note from Open Table saying we had not honored our reservation. Although I told the host owner? my name and our reservation time, he apparently didn 't take notice. Must 've been just too busy.

The service was awful, with smoke and oil splattering on the face during barbecue. The side dishes did not measure up to those at other Korean restaurants. The pricing was excessively high for the mediocre food and overall dining experience.

My friend and I had hot pot for dinner. It was filled with vegetables, mushrooms, kimchi, tofu, and many more ingredients. It was spicy, so we had to ask for water. The staff were very attentive, we only had to ask for water once. After that, they regularly checked and refilled our glasses.