Koja Grille

I really don’t know how this place has so many stars. This food was really bad.
I stopped here because I saw on Unilocal that they had bulgogi cheesesteaks. Their Korean version of a cheesesteak. I was so excited because I love Korean food and cheesesteaks.
So it’s bulgogi, fried onions, kimchi and cheese. Sounds like it would be great right? Nope. Maybe from somewhere else. The meat was fatty, scarce and lightly seasoned.
Also ordered the Korean wings and they were a disappointment. Bland and not crispy.
The cheese steak came with a side of fried dumplings and they were really good. Maybe the other food here is good. But what I had wasn’t.
The guy at the counter was very friendly and that was really good customer service, I would take less friendly service with great food.
I wouldn’t return.

Earlier today I placed an online order. When I got here to pick it up, there was only 1 person at the cashier. There was nobody else there who could give me my order. I stood there in front of the cashier for more than 10 minutes as he took someone’s order over the phone. It was outrageous. It’s an outrage this place is so understaffed. Nobody in this place cares about the customer.
I was excited after 10 minutes when the cashier finally hung up the phone. I then proceeded to receive my order. He gave me a bag but only half of the items were in the bag! I kid you not. He then found the other parts of my order elsewhere.
How this monkey of an employee is employed here is beyond me. This person was absolutely clueless, nobody here cares about the customer. They will make you wait absurd amounts of time and maybe they will help you give you order if your lucky enough if they are not busy on the phone. I even asked the cashier ‘is there anyone else here to help me’? He explained no, this is it. Wow. I guess that’s pretty sad nobody in this place cares.
I will never in my life order food here again.

Best Philly cheesesteak in the city without a doubt! And the spicy beef is amazing. Don’t listen to the food snobs on Unilocal.Koja grille is the place to go if you are looking for the best Philly cheesesteak in town.

I’ve eaten here at least 50 times. The food is always delicious. Cheesesteak is delicious, and so is hot n spicy chicken. Only flaw is the service is bad sometimes, but I’ll give it 5 still for being reliably good

I would give them 5 stars had they been consistent in whether or not they want to deliver to Fairmount. Nonetheless, awesome food and worth the drive to pick it up. You have to try the Grilled Kimchi with beef.

Wow, I was surprised this place was as good as it was (dont take that the wrong way). I didnt knwo what to expect but the food was very good. I had the bulgogi wrap, which came with 3 dumplings. I’ve also ordered wings and soba noodles, all that were very good and the price is right for the amount of food you get. All in all, good find and BONUS they sell premarinated bulgogi if you’d prefer to throw down at home!

Best asian food near temple.

Koja Grill has some of the best food I have tasted in the Temple University area. The restaurant was clean, the service was great, (bilingual owners and employees was a plus), the employees were respectful. I enjoyed the glazed butterfly shrimp and will definitely recommend Koja to anyone else in the area.

Pretty hard to find some quick and good korean food unless you go northeast. This is a great place to hit for some bibimbap and great wings. Cheesesteak spin off is really good too but i’m not much of a cheesesteak guy in general.

I think I ordered the wrong things when I got delivery here, because I was really excited about the menu, but was left disappointed with ²⁄₃ things I got.
Got the korean wings, the chicken teriyaki wrap, and the beef bulgogi.
The wings were oversauced, and the hot sauce had this strange chunky, sweetness to it that I was not a fan of. The meat itself was actually good quality, very juicy and each wing had a good amount of meat on it. But the oversaucing drowned the wings and ended up leaving the wings very soggy and unappetizing.
The chicken teriyaki wrap was really good. Came with mushrooms, carrots, rice, onions, peppers, and really well seasoned meat. Lettuce inside the wrap was a little strange because it got soggy after a while, but next time I order I’ll ask for this to be taken out. The fried dumplings on the side were really tasty as well! Nothing spectacular, but good.
The beef bulgogi was definitely tasty, but I was expecting more vegetables! It came with just peppers and onions, and in other Korean restaurants I’ve been to, the bulgogi comes with pickled vegetables, carrots, mushrooms, spinach. I was hoping for a veggie filled bowl and was left largely unsatisfied. Although, everything tasted really good, it just wasn’t what I expected.
I think I’ll try this again and maybe stick to the wraps and try the bim-​bim-​bop next time. Also hoping to try the Korean cheesesteak as I hear it’s pretty tasty!

I don’t know what they put in their hot paste but I would buy that stuff by the gallon. (No seriously Koja, please consider branding your sauce!) This place does a great job of offering a wide array of traditional (e.g. yookgaejang) and nouveau (e.g. wings, cheesesteaks). Solid spot, hearty food, punchy flavors.

Pretty… pretty…pretty good. The wings are downright addictive, and I ordered the bibimbap which unfortunately arrived a little cold, but otherwise it tasted good. I hear good things about the cheesesteak which I will have to try sometime. Service was quick and friendly.
Additionally, some of these reviews are hilarious and from people who clearly don’t know Korean food. I grew up there, and FYI — traditional bulgogi is NOT supposed to be spicy (so stop complaining) and the fried dumplings are not small, that’s just the size that they are always made, lol.

KOJA, where were you when I was a student at Temple?!?
This has become my go-​to spot whenever I return to visit my alma mater (or am anywhere in the area!). This place was truly an oasis in the late night food-​desert.
I discovered it after I got into town late, and had a speech to give in the morning. Wasn’t really in the mood for a sit-​down meal. Just wanted something to take back to my hotel and enjoy before bedtime. After riding around campus, I decided to check this place out. I was overwhelmed with option after delicious option, but after much goading from my growling stomach, I decided on the Topokki Bulgogi with grilled veggies and these thick, tube-​like noodles (Mmmmmm… soooo tasty!). My boyfriend hopped on the bulgogi train as well and ordered a bulgogi cheesesteak.
Stop. You missed it.
Bulgogi.
Cheesesteak.
This is a THING!
And what a delicious thing it is! And now they have a spicy-​version if you want a little more stank on your steak.
I got the scare of my life not too long ago when I went up there and didn’t see the restaurant anymore. I thought they had closed down and had to deliver the bad news to my boyfriend. (No lie, he damn near shed a tear!). On my next visit, as I rode past the very much open establishment, I realized that I needed to go up one more block and I would’ve seen it. D’Oh!
The food is awesome. The service is quick and I don’t give a damn what anyone else in Philly says, THESE are the best cheesesteaks in the city. PERIOD!
Seriously, if you haven’t tried Koja Grille yet… what the hell is wrong with you?

Not even close to the real thing. Food has little flavor and on top of it, I got sick.

Mediocre Korean-​Japanese food. The Mrs went for the create your own entrée and ordered a hot & spicy chicken yakisoba. I got the chicken katsu. The Katsu was average but the create your own thingy fell flat on it’s face.

When some people go to Philadelphia, they think of Philly cheesesteaks. When they think of cheesesteaks, they usually think of either Pat’s or Geno’s. Those of you who talk to me about food probably already know that when I think of Pat’s or Geno’s, I think of paying ten dollars for the privilege of standing in a line, waiting for half an hour, and getting substandard tourist-​trap tier food. After the experience, most people now need to brainwash themselves into thinking that they’ve made some sort of good financial and or culinary decision, lest their common sense takes over and they realize that they’ve been suckered by an establishment that prides themselves in serving fake cheese from an aerosol can on top of meat so dry and haphazardly made that even pre-2000’s era Taco Bell would not think to use it in their food.
Enter Koja, a Korean place that does a real cheesesteak, with real cheese, bulgogi meat, and can give it some heat if you want it to. For the same price, or a little cheaper, you get a much better cheesesteak with some stuff on the side, with none of the soul-​wrenching guilt.
Although I’ve only been twice, and only ever had their bulgogi cheesesteak, I’ve gotta say it’s probably the best cheesesteak I’ve had in Philly. I’ve been to the famous, less-​famous, and local stores, and this place beats them all. The meat is great, and they use real cheese. Definitely get it spicy!

Fast food near a college campus usually is not that good and Koja is a prime example. We stopped by wanting an ethnic lunch and decided to go with dumplings and wings. I agree with a few other reviewers saying very nice things about the staff. But the staff can’t save the bad food. The dumplings were very greasy and the wings were way too dry. Avoidance is my advice.

Temple University is a food island for the most part. There are a few good trucks, but not much else. Overpriced draft beer at the Draught Horse and Maxi’s without very good food. So a hungry person will need to know a few nooks and crannies to be satisfied. Tai’s Vietnamese is one; so is the famous crêpe truck, and the subject of this review: Koja Grille.
It’s more than passable. I like it. I’ve had the pork and beef bulgogi there, and though it isn’t spicy enough (even when I ask for it to be), it’s still pretty tasty. The flavors are deep enough and the food fresh enough to warrant multiple visits. The dumplings and chicken wings are nothing to write home about, and the cheesesteak is hardly spicy, more sweet in fact, but I still enjoy it and the portions too.
There is better Korean, that’s for sure. But if you aren’t in Olney or Chinatown, this place’ll do it.

Koja Grille’s audience is college students. It doesn’t try to be authentic, unfortunately. It’s method of operation is to have a decent presentation in its store, label their dishes to be reminiscent of actual Korean or Japanese cuisine, and go from there. Honestly, I don’t think anyone cares. It’s like the Panda Express version of Korean and Japanese food. Anyway…
nice decoration???
There are about 60 seats, mostly of seats of 2 and 4. Groups are also accepted, but be cautious during the busier hours of lunchtime. There are usually 2 – 3 employees on staff, and the line suffers for that. It took me quite sometime to place my order in line because the cashier was also doing other things that are meted out to another employee. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Efficient in terms of revenue, but service shouldn’t have to suffer for that.
Also, you have to kinda clean up the table yourself, with a bin for your trash and dirty dishes. I was fine with that, seeing how few people were working at the time.
view of the interior:
After ordering, the waiters actually serve you the food. Good for crowd control, since you don’t have a large crowd dawdling near the cashier and taking up unnecessary space.
A word before the review of the food. I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but I think for a place that charges such prices for their food for a not-​so-​decent portion, the taste should be spectacular. I’m from L.A., and I’ve dined in Koreatown enough to know the ratio of prices/​deliciousness to judge what is a «good deal» or not.
The dishes are of decent portions. It’s about $ 10 per entrée. It’s not much, and it doesn’t really fit the budget of a college student, but it’s something. I don’t know any other places around Temple that offer «Korean/​Japanese» food. I ordered the Pork Bulgogi, which was the special for the day (included a bottle of water or can of soda and an eggroll). Most entrees also come with a cup and a half of white rice. That was $ 8.49. I also asked for a cup of tap water, which isn’t self-​serve, strangely enough. Decent price, in comparison to the other entrees.
Pork Bulgogi:
The food isn’t authentic, as aforementioned, and therefore suffers for that. If this place could manage a dumbed-​down version of its food that I really enjoy, then kudos. But if you’re not going to be authentic with the food, please. please, don’t ruin it and potentially cause someone generalize all Korean food as such. Breaks my heart sometimes when I see people dislike and entire type of cuisine because of a bad experience at a place like this. Essentially, it was marinade pork slathered with chili paste [I love spicy ;)]. That’s the most essential form of Korean bbq, and it usually doesn’t fail. This place… failed. A bit too salty. Redeeming quality? They diluted the entrée with tons of carrots, celery, and lettuce. Can’t go wrong with those, right?
So.
Combine an unauthentic and less than reasonable portion for the price of pork bulgogi that barely passes, with okay service (the waiter mistook my friend’s order) and you get a dissatisfying experience. *sigh*. It’s okay. I was with friends. That made the experience much better.
Go somewhere else for Korean/​Japanese food. It’s not worth it, in my opinion.

After passing by this place all of last semester, finally made my way in when my friend came up with a «14 Free Dumplings» coupon. Free is always tasty in my books!
Thee dumplings, tiny as they were, were delicious! My friend ordered the teriyaki beef, looked pretty good, tasted the vegetables, not bad at all! The service was pretty quick and I was surprised to find it was table service? We Temple kids about to be spoiled, lol.
They have alot of option as you can create your own entrée between noodles and rice! Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!