Mama’s Restaurant

THE Best Korean food! Lots of good traditional food on the menu. I highly recommend the Bulkogi. Whenever I take newbies here they want «safe» and tend toward the «teriyaki chicken». Trust me on this… Take their menus and order them the Bulkogi. The grill tables are fun for parties and groups but even if there are just 2 of us eating, we still get a grill table. One of my favorite restaurants in the world.

This should already be on your list as it is the only restaurant that offers Korean BBQ, but push it up even higher because it is delicious! The bulgogi and kalbi were dreamy and marinated to perfection. All the side dishes are scrumptious in variety. We went on a Sunday evening and our servers were on top of it, asking us if we needed anything, but not to the point where they were hovering. As soon as we were done grilling our meat, the heat was taken away to not smoke over. Absolutely recommend Mama’s!

Pros: It’s one of the only Korean restaurants in town.
Cons: Everything else.
I am Korean and I grew up eating Korean food. To begin, the food here is incredibly overpriced. This might be due to lack of competition from other Korean restaurants in town, but many Korean dishes that are usually found for $ 5 – 10 elsewhere are $ 15 – 22 at Mamas. The menu is overpriced especially when compared to the quality of the food (low). While their selection of banchan (the side dishes) has improved over the past several years, but it is still nothing to write home about. While I would consider the dishes «authentic,» remember that «authentic» does not always equate «good.». Most of the dishes could be made at home with a much better taste, which is never a good sign for a restaurant. I love supporting local ethnic restaurants, but I recently decided to boycott the place.
For the bbq side of the restaurant: The quality of the red meat is low. Meat is tough, does not taste fresh, and is often over-​marinated (possibly to mask the low quality of the meat?). If you are familiar with Korean bbq, you will find yourself disappointed. With that said, if you are new to Korean food/​bbq, you probably will not be able to tell the difference. If you’re curious about Korean food, I suggest going out of town for your first try. But if you’re willing to pay the price, please don’t judge all Korean cuisine based on your Mama’s experience. I promise, it’s better elsewhere.
TL;DR Overpriced with low quality food and meat.

Dec. 24, 2015, Christmas eve, 12:45pm. I was having lunch there with my wife, a 1-​year old baby, and a friend. We were the only guests in the restaurant.
Our baby dropped a small empty plastic bowl and a spoon on the floor, as a baby usually does. We left them on the floor and continued eating. Suddenly, a mid-​aged Korean man walked in, and, seeing the bowl and spoon on the floor, he immediately walked toward us and YELLed to us (including the baby):
«Do not toss food on the floor! This is MY property! Do not do that ever again!» As he turned around and walked away, I explained, «This is an empty bowl…»
Before I could finish a sentence, he yelled back, «It doesn’t matter!» Then he yelled to the staff in the kitchen in Korean language. We didn’t understand his words, but guessed that he was blaming the waitress and other ladies in the kitchen.
As our waitress was then approaching us, we explained to her what happened. At that moment, the mid-​aged Korean man yelled to us one more time: «If you don’t want to eat, you can leave now. I don’t need your money. SHIT!»
Yes, he said «shit» to his customers, including two ladies and 1-​year old baby, the reason being that the baby dropped a bowl on HIS property.
At certain moments during his yelling, I felt a sense of threat, and I quickly thought about calling 911. But, it is Christmas eve, and I have a guest, and I am only coming back to B-​town to visit. We left — as he suggested, without touching much of the food.
The Korean waitress girl seemed equally shocked. I tried to tip her anyway, but she refused to accept it.
I have been living in the States for seven years. This is my first experience of being yelled at as a customer in a restaurant.
I am not sure whether the mid-​aged Korean guy – the owner of this property – has any mental problem, or he has anything particular against a Chinese family (such racism would be deplorable). One thing I am certain about regarding this experience is that, this guy can be a hazard to children.
So, if you are taking your babies to this Korean place, think twice, and watch out against this mid-​age Korean guy. Just to help you identify him, he had his head shaven, if not originally bald.

I’ve been meaning to write my review here for weeks ! This is prob my favorite «group date» night spot. We only come in for the Korean bbq part (I’ve never done the menu side) but then again why would I?
So let’s talk bbq. Yum! The Bulgogi is all you need to get … I’ve tried the pork, the chicken, the shrimp and I always wish i would have gotten just the Bulgogi beef. So good. And I love the whole «cook your own meal» too. It makes the dinner fun and entertaining … And I love the little side dishes… Not gonna lie i don’t even know what half of them are (fish? Vegetable? Potatoes… Doesn’t matter) but they are all delish …
The service is great too! They came and changed out the charcoal pans ANYTIME it got even a little smokey. We were very impressed ! Love love love this place

Service seemed understaffed and they kept forgetting our requests.
However, the BBQs are always super flavorful and taste authentically Korean. The amount of side dishes they provide also make up for their rushed service. I would say the best ones are the kimchi, acorn jelly, caramelized potatoes and fish cakes. You must ask for refills if you want more.
They don’t change the grills (at least in my experience). The beef (bulgogi) and squid was almost overly marinated, however the pork was yummy with an external sauce. They didn’t cut the beef much so there were huge slices.

Haven’t been here for a while and sadly I was a bit disappointed. Loved coming here before because of the side dishes. Now I’m not sure if they are under new management, the main food did not taste the same. Service was not good either, never got a refill on my drink. I think the only thing that saved their rating was the side dishes — good variety.

Very disappointed.
Not so good tastes and over priced than foods quality.

Wow — nice find for Korean barbecue near the IU campus. I give it 5 stars alone just for having charcoal BBQ. The beef bulgogi and spicy pork bulgogi were fairly decent portions and tasted great. Side dishes were plentiful and the service was good.

A worm inside their cod. Found a couple more after this. A waitress first said she’s going to ask someone to look at this. Then she came back saying it’s a part of the fish (without anyone looking into this problem). Then another waitress came and I told her our problem. Again, she did nothing but bringing back our check. Can’t be worse…

Lunch prices are very good (7 bucks!) lunch portion is very good for most people. Chicken teriyaki was kind of dry. Bulgogi was delicious.

Their soup and barbecue is ok, but the meat there isn’t the best I had, a little hard to chew, and the price other than lunch hours is a little bit high, I usually order the miso tofu soup with shrewd pork inside and I really like the small plates they put before meal, so yummy^^

Never been here for dinner, but the lunch specials are KILLER! Definitely recommend. Service is efficient (as it should be for lunch time). Excellent kimchi (in addition to the traditional cabbage we had one that appeared to be zucchini that I really enjoyed). Spicy pork and bulgogi were very good.

The food here was above the average compared to other Korean restaurants in town, but the service was bad. Due to the fact that they have only 2 – 3 servers, you need to wait a long time to order the food and pay for the check.

Ugh.
First had to wait for 40 minutes to be seated at one of their BBQ tables, which would not really have bothered the two of us if it weren’t for the disappointing experience to follow. After finally being seated the waitress rudely snapped we must order at least two expensive meats or a full combo platter to be seated at the BBQ tables — I eat Korean food a lot and have never heard this requirement before and it was nowhere written on the menu. It ended up being way too much meat for the two of us (in large part because the meat quality was kind of sketch), and in general the entire staff seemed pleased to share their employment misery with us the whole evening.
The two kinds of meat we ordered — spicy pork and ribeye — were brought out before the kimchi platters or the coals; how appetizing to stare at raw meat! The quality was low and the marinade was very strange — in both our opinions the flavor was overly sweet and bitter. The metal grill was burned to a crisp after just one round and we ended up having to request for the grill to be changed out 5 times.
The atmosphere overall was a little depressing with no music, a smokey odor and slightly overall «yellow» hue due to lack of proper ventilation. After our long wait we were the last table and had the chance to enjoy several waitresses watching us a few tables over as we grilled meat in rapid succession.
Equal parts frustration, low quality and expensive. Won’t be returning.

The only place in Bloomington to get Korean barbecue also happens to be the best Korean restaurant in Bloomington! The restaurant is located in a shopping center that is currently being renovated but Mama’s is still open. While the décor of the restaurant isn’t flashy or fancy, but don’t let that fool you because the food is delicious.
We ordered kalbi, pork belly and soondobu soup which was more than enough food. We also got 8 side dishes of which my favorite were the kimchi, fish cakes, and scallion pancakes. The kalbi was perfectly marinated and our waiter cut the meat off the bones for us at the table. The pork belly was sliced thin and didn’t taste greasy or overly fatty like it does at some kbbq places. What was really different about this place is that they use coals to heat the bbq tables instead or gas or electricity like some places and I think it really added to the flavor of the meat. The soondobu soup came still boiling in a hot stone bowl and was filled with tofu, veggies, egg and some beef which was a great way to counterbalance all the meat from the bbq.
Being from Dallas, Texas I have had my fair share of Korean barbecue and I would definitely put this place in my top 3. I don’t think it’s fair to compare the prices here to the prices in places like Dallas and LA, I mean this is Bloomington. I think the prices are fair and definitely worth the fun experience. Would definitely come back with more people so I can try more things on the menu!

Got seated fast.
On the other hand, the meat is really low quality even for KBBQ, the selection is poor, and the prices are totally unreasonable. The vegetables they give you to pair with the meat is pretty poor quality, and its the first KBBQ place I’ve been that didn’t give you at least two external sauces to flavour your meat with. Not to mention that everything overly pre-​marinated (to hide the crappy quality) giving you next to no control over how you want your meat to taste.
What’s with the crappy banchan and inattentiveness of servers on refilling them? Refill empty side dishes, replace too-​dirty grills, and check on your customers every once in a while. That’s not really that hard to do if you have the time to be standing around just staring off.
You can get a substandard samgyubsal at Mama’s at the same price as a 36-​selection AYCE at Gen in SoCal that includes shrimp, Calamari, fondue, and the standard fare that actually tastes good beyond just being marinated, to the point of serving American Wagyu until at least last summer.
It might be unfair to compare KBBQ in Indiana to that in the West Coast, but if you’re going to serve something that’s less than half the quality and 200%-300% the price (depending on how much you eat) while offering limited variety, I don’t think you deserve the business just for being the only KBBQ place in town.

Big fan of Mama’s! Soybean soup is sooooo good! Traditional Korean full dinner is my favorite! You can both enjoy a delicious soup and a lot of grilled beef!

Big fan of Mama’s in Indy and had been excited to try to Bloomington location. While still pretty good, it isn’t NEAR as good as the Indy location.
The restaurant was nearly empty on a Saturday evening, but we were still rushed to order. While perusing the menu, three servers stood and glared at us. FIND SOMETHING TO DO, LADIES!
Combination appetizer was good, but the tempura at the other location is lighter.
Entrees arrived and food was a little bland (I know, how is that possible?)
I think if we had come here and had NOT been to the other location, we would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Finally got a chance to try the «cooking table» here. Usual selection of bulgogi, kalbi, pork belly with the salty oily dip, and some spicy chicken. Have to say, nothing beats meats on the grill. yum.
The banchan here are pretty good too. The tuna & macaroni salad is one of my faves.
Heard a rumor that IU is going to knock this strip mall down to install more parking spots.