Seoul Jung Restaurant

First the good:
— the place is clean
— tables and dining room pretty roomy and has a nice feel
— service is pretty good
— Banchan is pretty good
The bad:
— it is a bit overpriced — though about what you’d expect for a hotel restaurant
— the food we had was bland
I ordered the yukgaejang which, when done right, is spicy and very flavorful. The yukgaejang here might as well been served with just red colored water.
My wife had the Kim chi jigae and she had the same reaction to her dish.
The broiled fish my son had seemed ok, so it wasn’t all bad.

Ridiculously overpriced for way below average korean food. Walking in here, I knew it was going to be more pricey than most places because of its location. I ordered nang myun for $ 15.00. Probably one of the worst I’ve ate and the portion was so small, I left still hungry. My mom and dad shared a stew because they dont eat much in the first place and they werent too hungry. The server who took our order says to us «you know that the soups for 1 person right?» with this attitude. Ummm yeah thanks for letting us know. Then the food just takes forever to come out. This party of 3 that came after we ordered got their food first. Our stew comes out then like 5 minutes later mine comes out. I wasn’t planning on tipping but they conveniently added 15% tip to my bill. This place would never last if not located here. If you’re staying in the Waikiki area, do yourself a favor and drive out of the area for better Korean.

The service: EXCELLENT! very attentive!
The food: very authentic Korean food. All staffs are Korean and menu is in Korean too. Majority of customers are Korean that means the food is very authentic.
Love the beef ribs! Super tender and flavorful.
A little bit pricey but food is delicious.

And excellent Korean food because it’s in a major K pop hotel. And you can tell when you got a manager watching everything on the floor. It’s not like the street level mom and pop kimchi restaurants. The key is that it’s clean the booths the servers and clean the toilet is clean so you know the food is clean. The bulldog he was non-​fatty beef grass fed Hawaiian beef. They use Hawaiian sea salt and do not use MSG. I think they should have downbeat trance music that would be interesting.

They give more snack to Korean than other countries’ people. And it is slower to serving.

Worst Korean food I have ever had. I’ve lived all over the world, and have traveled to over 32 countries, this not only may be the Worst Korean food, but the worst food ever at a restaurant.
I’m 100% Korean, I am a trained professional chef. My advise. Don’t eat here. It’s quite terrible. The quality of meat is poor, the banchan was really disappointing, and I had to ask for it… In fact, I had to ask for everything.
The only thing that was semi decent was the rice. No joke.
The only plus side is the complementary pineapple at the end.
Avoid this restaurant. Sweet staff. But really bad food
Save your money for something yummier.

They have great food and good service. They don’t speak a lot of English, but I was able to convey to them that I need to eat gluten free, and I think they got it. They said their soy sauce doesn’t have gluten in it, so I was able to enjoy the Bulgogi. Loved it all. We both enjoyed it. It’s hidden away in a little hotel. Very authentic.

I was told by a Korean lady at the international marketplace that this place is good when I asked her where to go for Korean food. I take her words for it since she is Korean and she may know better. This restaurant is located on the 2^nd floor of Waikiki beach resort which once belong to Korean Airline. I was amazed how good the food taste especially Galbi meat. Although it may be pricey but it’s worth the try.

This place is so overpriced and so not great. Truly, I can make better Korean food myself and my Korean cooking skills aren’t even that amazing. I ate the side dishes because well, veggies are somehow hard to come by in Honolulu. Otherwise, you couldn’t have paid me to.
Service was also sparse (more so than normal), brusque (??) and not very intelligible. At one point a lady waved at my phone and said «no» … and for like 20 mins I wondered whether she meant that I couldn’t use my phone in the restaurant. My friend speculated she simply meant that they didn’t give out wifi. Well, gee thanks, I wasn’t even asking. Didn’t even open my mouth, in fact.
What a waste of time and money.

They have lunch specials here. I got the Dol Sot Yuk Su Bulgogi Set. Serving is large. The set comes with the Bulgogi soup, grilled chicken and a bowl of rice. The bulgogi broth is tasty! It has vermicelli noodles in it, beef, of course and some of that white mochi pillow-​like thingy that I don’t know what they call in Korean. I really like this dish and I was very full.
Service was great. Fast and everyone there is friendly.

First Unilocal review. I couldn’t resist writing one because This was The Worst Korean food ever! Please don’t eat here. This is not representative of Korean food. Had there spicy noodles, not spicy just salty. They must have just taken the sea water and poured it in with the noodle. Kimchi tofu soup was edible. Equivalent to what a starving college kid would make. Just mix kimchi with water and heat. You have there over priced dish. The server came twice, when we ordered and when the food came out. Great service! Overall, just horrible experience. We should have went to McD. I use Unilocal a lot to find good eats so I love good accurate reviews and this is my most honest and accurate review.

Food is not bad, especially the Kalbi, but the service was less than good and efficient. We were there for an early dinner with reservation (at 5pm), where only 2 – 3 tables in the entire restaurant (of around 40 – 50 tables) were seated. We had to call different individuals to get our order taken care of. The barbequed (already cooked) meat dishes are very nice, and the smaller vegie dishes (kimchi, etc) were not as strongly seasoned (not bad, depending on individual taste). The price is pretty expensive for the amount of food served per portion. We checked in for the «Free dessert» and it turned out to be just some pineapples cut into squares — a bit deceiving on the advertising. Overall, food is not bad if you are not in a hurry.

The service here is tip top, and even though I was late to arrive for my reservation on a busy night, the hostess was extremely accommodating.
The all-​you-​can-​eat (tabehoudai) special has no time limit like a lot of places, so you can relax and eat much as you want without rushing. The dining area is very clean and comfortable, well organized and thought out to provide privacy without feeling cramped. These small touches make all the difference in ambiance. The décor is modern and simple, which makes the dining experience feel a little more relaxed and casual. Just right for this kind of place!
The food is high-​quality, and since there are so many different kinds of dishes, the staff are careful to explain how everything should be eaten. Very helpful, since I am not exactly an expert with Korean-​style yakiniku. Everything they served was excellent without exception.
I suggest you give this place a try, since a Unilocal review doesn’t really capture to joy of dining here. This is a hidden jewel in the heart of Waikiki.

Food is a lot. Went for $ 39.99 all you can eat. Services is super good. Meat is a bit salty. I am buzz lol Soju one bottle is $ 16 hahahha. Nice like This place will come back. Spicy not too spicy was expecting more spicy lol… duh but overall it’s kim yeo is our server she’s amazing

This restaurant is a perfect example of what not to have in a hotel in Waikiki.
This restaurant is located conveniently on the 2^nd floor of Waikiki Resort Hotel.
I come here every so often for meeting Korean folks. I have been coming here since when this place was called Dong Back Jang. The food is okay. One star is for deteriorating service from the waitresses. Most of waitresses gather around cashier and spend their working hours chitchatting not serving their customers. I have to repeatedly remind the waitress for the food I ordered so she will check the kitchen and see if my food is ready, instead of talking to other waitresses. Water and Ban chan would not be refilled unless you keep nagging about them. I don’t know what happened. This place used to be one of the better Korean restaurants in Hawaii but it is really bad now.

My mum and I came here for dinner with our Korean tour group. The tour agency, USA Tours, has a relationship with this restaurant and often brings its clients here. It is located on the second floor of the Waikiki Resort Hotel, which apparently is owned by Korean Airlines. Our tour guide had called them before our arrival so we were immediately seated at two 4-​top tables (we were a group of 8 for dinner). Stew was already cooking on the burners on the table and servers soon brought out rice bowls and four side dishes. We had a vinegar cucumber/​seaweed side dish, sliced radish, kimchi, and beansprouts.
I get that a lot of older Korean people may not like to try new foods or just want to eat a nice Korean dinner after eating Western food all day, but I felt like this was a waste of a meal that could have been spent eating local Hawaiian fare. And if you are not Korean, there is definitely no reason to come here because the food isn’t even good. While I am biased against most Korean restaurants because my mum is such a good cook, Korean restaurants in LA are far better than this. (Granted, that shouldn’t count since LA also has the highest population of Koreans in a city after Seoul.) I found the stew to be just mediocre and thought the same of the side dishes. Not much to say about the rice. I really just ate because (1) it’s «free» (included in our tour cost) and (2) I was hungry and I had no other options.
The service was just okay. Our servers were fast in the beginning to bring out everything, but then we never saw them again except for when someone at our table would yell for service (where are the table button thingies I’m so used to seeing at Korean places?!). I can’t comment on the cost since our tour guide took care of it, but I don’t think whatever the price was would be worth it for such mediocre Korean food. This review isn’t completely fair since I didn’t even get to see a menu and they might have better food offerings, but I guess we’ll never know…

A group of us went there for dinner a couple of weeks ago and the place was busy! It is located on the 2^nd floor of the Waikiki Resort Hotel, parking entrance is Koa street and is free with restaurant validation. Our server was a tiny Korean lady who spoke little English but she was very pleasant. We ordered the set dinners and i had the kimchi (kimchee?) soup with fried fish. The kimchi soup was to die for! I could get enough of it! The prices at Seoul Jung are mote expensive than most other Korean restaurant but the food is worth every single penny! We would definitely come back again! Five plus stars for the food and would give five for service also if the staff would offer their recommendations during food order, the menu was a little overwhelming, wirh so many delicious choices!

Korean BBQ real style cooking (cook your own meat)=1 point. Server pressures us in a non busy environment to order and demands which one we get, not welcoming. After you sell your left pinkie to pay for meal, server gives you extra kimchee to put in your to-​go box, food sits in fridge and gets thrown out because roommate thinks kimchee smells like stinky socks. :(=one point more. I love Korean BBQ, I love learning more about Korean culture, the food is good… the service at this place gave me the feeling that they didn’t want us there. The sign said open. Next time I’m going to Mikawon. That place re-​opens in two days and I can’t wait! The owner even recognized me!

Before our Fourever Fab Show at the Pacific Beach Hotel, we visited Seoul Jung as we had a 20% off coupon. Unlike Korean restaurants in our area, this place was very clean and spacious.
We went early and was a bit ignored as the staff was busy setting up four tables complete with ban chan, hot pot etc. This huge party arrived at 5:35 and were out of the restaurant by 6:10 p.m. I noticed that there was no conversation, but the food must have been good as most of it was devoured.
I got full by just eating their ban chan and seaweed soup. Although limited with the number of dishes, it was all good.
We ended up taking most of our entre back to the hotel to enjoy the next day.
I usually hesitate to use a coupon, but the waitress said «of course» (that we’ll honor your coupon) with a welcoming smile.

koreans