Gyu-Kaku
Categories: Barbeque, Japanese, Asian Fusion [Edit]
7862 Warner Ave#109
Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (714) 842-8333
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 5:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 5:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Sun 5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Garage, Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
44 Reviews for Gyu-Kaku
One of Gyu-Kaku's Favorite Reviews
I went here for a colleague's birthday and had an amazing time! Our server was very friendly and attentive. Food was amazing, especially the Kobe beef. Not sure about the drinks, since all we drank was Sake. :) A little pricey, but well worth it!
My fiance and i were looking for some sushi at around ten o' clock at night on a weekday but alas nothing was open, we kind of stumbled onto this place by accident. no sushi, but the whole "japanese bbq" thing sounded good. this place is basically within walking distance of our apartment and right across the street (an ideal location, to us, anyways). we walked in and got friendly service. once seated, we realized that there was a large pit in the middle of the table to BBQ the food ourselves, that was kind of weird but fun :D
we got three different things and drinks and it came out to a very reasonable, cheap price (from what i remember 21 bucks) the food was amazing and the atmosphere very nice. It's a good place to go to on late nights (it's open from 7pm-midnight--but i think they have just recently opened for lunch)
great place!
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What distinguishes Japanese BBQ from Korean BBQ? EVERYTHING, from the atmosphere, service, to the quality of food. From the moment we arrived, we felt the hospitality. Our server was very polite and checked on us often despite the fact that it was a full house. We also never felt rushed even though there were many people waiting in/outside. Don't you hate that feeling when the server hands you a check only 1/2 way into your meal as if he was saying 'Hurry up and eat!'
The decor is modern with very tall black ceiling and dark wood tables and leather (pleather?) booths. Ventilation is excellent since the exhaust fan sucks the smoke from around the grill instead of from the top.
We opted for the Samurai Prix Fixe meal. The Gyu-Kaku salad was mixed green topped with shredded cabbage and daikon, egg wedges, cherry tomatos, and sliced cucumber with thousand island dressing. Very fresh and light. The miso soup was excellent, nice rich broth with cubes of tofu and not at all salty like some other Japanese restaurants. The Sukiyaki Bibimba was soooo good! My fiance said he didn't even know Japanese had Bibimba.
There were 3 different kinds of meats; Prime Top Sirloin, Kalbi Short Rib Tare, and Bistro Haromi Miso. We both loved the Haromi Miso the best, then the Prime Top Sirloin. Kalbi Short Rib Tare for some reason fell short for me. Nevertheless, all the meat were very tender and nicely flavored in their marinate. We really didn't have to use the dipping sauce much.
The Garlic Shrimps were just OK. They were big jumbo shrimps but just too light on the flavor. I make a killer Grill Garlic Shrimps at home, so I maybe biased here. Lastly the Salmon Miso was excellent, too. It was wrapped in a foil and you place the pocket on the grill for several minutes until foil pocket puffed up. Really tasty. There was also a plate of vegetables (corn, Italian quash, mushroom, onion, and cherry tomato) which was more to please the eyes than the stomach.
This meal can easily feed 3-4 people. My fiance is a carnivore and we couldn't even finish all the meat. I was stuffed! After our dining experience here, I'd really have a hard time dragging Allen to a Korean BBQ restaurant. Yeah, it's that good!
Cool place and my friends and I eat here often.I don't normally review establishments like this one who already have an overall positive and high reviews.I'm sure what I need to say or add has been covered by the other reviewers.
I do like this place because it can accomodate comfortably to larger group party like 10 and up.
Coo friends..great food..lots of beer...can't go wrong and we always have a blast here.
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I love this place! I ONLY go on happy hour because i'm cheap like that. lol. jk. Happy hour is everyday from 5-6:30 OR 9-11:30. Large sake is $5 and unlimited select bbq beef is half off. That's right, you can get a plate of meat for like $3. How cool is that? And you cook it yourself. What more can you ask for? The staff is super friendly, decor is New York-ish. And you can reserve a table online to ensure a no wait. I always walk out of here plastered.
Great place to hang and eat with friends. Recommend making reservations.
Try the chicken wings, the tongue and the filet. Also good are the garlic noodles or rice.
Been to several location of this chain from NYC to Hollywood to Rancho Cucamonga and its consistently one of the better Japanese BBQ places around.
I love this place!! Service is the best! Pricing is better than what you think when you walk into the place because you think "Damn this is gonna make a dent in my wallet" when you walk in. But no, its completely do-able (even for a college student). The food you totally cook yourself but they give you great directions on how to cook the meats and veggies to your liking. The sauces are great, my favorite is the "spicy one" but it isnt so spicy. Their bibimba (new school fried rice) is the best....hands down. If your looking for a good dinner place to eat with you and your significant other or even a group of family and friends. This is the place. And now they serve lunch. Even better.
I don't ususally give it a 5 star, but i love this place. i only been there one late night for dessert, so i didn' t get a chance to try their meat and bbq. i love the design of the place and the atomsphere. its great.
my friend and i tried the best desert ever and we both wanted to come back. the waiters were awesome. they were so polite and we had great services.
My husband and I ate at this chain 3-4 times per week when we first discovered it in Japan. Must have been something in the marinade that we craved and just had to have.
I love the atmosphere in this place although it's kinda weird to see non-japanese people talking in japanese... ::shrugs:: Anyways, I only come here during happy hour because the food is super cheap during that time. Keep in mind that this place is not to make you full but more like to make you feel just about right.
I've only came here on thursdays and fridays so I haven't tried the other happy hour meats yet (everyday day has dif. items), but those two days have pretty yummy happy hour meats. The sauces they have lined up on each table is pretty good too. In fact, the sweet sauce made two of my friends addicted to it.
There's another thing I like about this place and it's the fact that when you leave the restaurant, you don't smell like you were spinning in a bbq grill full of meats all day long.
On another note, is it weird to enjoy playing with the tongs and meats on the grills at this place? Because whenever I come here, I always feel so giddy to mess with the grills and the tongs =P.
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im a sucker for yakiniku and this was the first one ive ever been to on the west coast. albeit it was a chain, i was very satisfied with everything from the food to the interior design to the service. 4 stars cause it's nothing special, but honestly i have no complaints!
I have celebrated 3 birthdays here including my own, and eaten here quite a few times. This is one of my favorite bbq places to go to. The meat is flavorful and the service is good. My favorites are the kalbi short ribs, the rosu garlic, and the hirami skirt steak. If you like chicken you should also try the yuzu pepper chicken breast. The garlic noodles, spicy tuna & avocado salad, garlic mushrooms, and japanese sweet potatoes are also a must try! I would totally recommend this place to meat lovers!
We came here on Friday to celebrate my boyfriend's friend's birthday. This place was definitely loud and the decor was pretty fabulous. We got there a little late so I'm not sure what the group ordered (as in what exactly they ordered). I tried the chicken, kalbi, Chilean sea bass, and shrimp. Personally, I thought the sea bass bordered on fishy-tasting but no one else thought so. Maybe I'm just picky. The bimbambap (or so it's called) is pretty good. The edamame and salad were just whatever, but considering they're rather minor players, it's fine.
I was quite fond of the dipping sauces. Our party took up three grills but while the other two were flaming like Armageddon, ours was a Brownie Scout troop's at best. Luckily, our super nice waitress came to change the coals (or whatever it is) and then our fire roared away like our ancestral cavemen's.
The bill was pretty high, at about $40/person including tip. Truthfully, it was because three members of our group drank like there's no tomorrow and so the bill was inflated. They (the alkies, not Gyu- Kaku) split the bill evenly, which I think is kind of sucky. My boyfriend and I didn't partake in any libations so we felt gipped. However, this isn't Gyu-Kaku's fault and it didn't factor into my rating. For now, they get 4 stars but if we go back and I like it even more, then I'm willing to bump up.
We would come back again for either Happy Hour or at least without others. The portions of food actually seem pretty generous, looking at other people's tables.
Oh, and for those of you who are worried about smelling like dinner, no worries. I left pretty devoid of smells.
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Definitely an excellent dinner experience, a party of 3 ordered the samurai platter, which came with everything cept dessert.........a tasty salad which surprised me, because most japanese salad dressings don't do much for me, tho I failed to ask what it was, miso soup, some fried rice and quite a variety of meats, most of which were already marinated. Turned out to be a perfect amount for normal eaters....of course, my appetite does not qualify as normal, so we also tried a couple of happy hour options and got 2 more plates of meat while we were restin--I will be back for hh-LOL.
All in all, everything was excellent, the short ribs in the spicy miso marinade, the skirt steak, and kalbi ribs, and especially the filet were the most popular amongst our diners, and the fried rice was tasty, too, tho it never got crispy or crunchy or whatever the server said it should do, but it was still excellent.
Fun delicious experience (not necessarily inexpensive). Much better than shabu shabu, imo, quality and texture of the meat after cooking is much better and its marinated, so it has great flavor, not just boiled in water, and has all the sauces, which aren't even necessary cause the meats already taste great...so even if its a lil more expensive(not much), its worth it cause it tastes MUCH better.
Would definitely return, I see why it's busy all the time.
calling for a reservation would probly be a good idea, specially if its during peak hours.
I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.
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Pretty good food with nice decor. I had already been to the ones in Torrance and Beverly Hills and there wasn't much difference except for the fact that hardly any of the workers are Japanese. Which, in the end, isn't very important as long as the service is friendly. I ordered my usual: bibimbap, kimchee, garlic shrimp, assorted vegetables, sausages, a bunch of the beef dishes and it was all good. Make sure you get on their mailing list, they always send updates on all of their specials. Which are pretty awesome by the way. A lot of the stuff is 50% off during their happy hour! The only thing I wouldn't recommend here is the salmon....it's pretty bland stuff!
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We came for dinner last night and boy were we pleasantly surprised. The friendly blonde hostess, helpful waiter, nicely decorated restaurant.... best of all, was the food. My hubby and friends had shrimp, fish, and various types of beef (kobe, marinated filet, etc.) all looked to be of excellent quality. They said everything tasted really good as well. There were plenty of vegetable options for me such as the garlic mushrooms, sweet potatoes, corn, zuchini, portobello mushroom, etc. All tasted really good but I didn't really care for the cheesy broccoli (its possible I cooked it for too long tho, oops). All in all, an excellent and fun dining experience! We will definitely be back.
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Went here a couple times usually for happy hour on the weekdays. Compared to most "cook on your own" places, this one doesn't leave your clothes smelling like beef afterwards. The ventilation is excellent as well as the dimly lit atmosphere. The staff is also very attractive!
The chicken and the veggies in the aluminum wrappers are the best things here. The veggies are buttered to perfection! You also have your typical beef choices which are pretty decent. I also tried sesame flavored ice cream for the first time, it has a toasty taste to it, like nothing I've ever tried before but got me craving it for weeks!!
It can get pricey if you're really hungry, but it's a fun place for smaller groups. The restaurant is not too big in size so I imagine a large group could be waiting for awhile. The happy hour is excellent with the drink and meat specials depending on the day of the week.
If you find a better asian happy hour, I am a man and I will have your baby.
I am so confident that Gyu Kaku has the most budget friendly happy hour ASIAN menu that I am willing to bet my friends dog on it. The Kirin pints are $2 and the happy hour menu changes daily. Grilled rice balls and smores are da bomb! ...especially at happy hour prices.
Our waiter was super resourceful and the bathroom cleanliness is spectacular. Remember, I am a man of my word and if you find a better ASIAN happy hour, I will have your baby.
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= SERVICE =
(+) friendly service: explained soy sauce jars and menu, checked up on table
(+) fresh smokeless charcoals added to grill when seated
= TASTE =
* Geisha Course * (+) 9 different items (-) nothing spectacular or I don't have the taste palette for high quality Japanese food
* salmon dish * (-) tasted like everyday salmon
(+) smokeless charcoal = smokeless food
= AMBIANCE =
(+) upscale decorations: bamboo, dimmed lights, decorated walls
(+) clean atmosphere: floor, tables, chairs, & grills
= PRESENTATION =
(+) menu: clean metal binder with laminated pages, Japanese & English lettering, great selection, some pictures
(+) grill: clean, as if it was never used
(+) food: plated okay, looked fresh
(+) nice coasters
= VALUE =
(+) cooking experience can be fun
(+) supposedly high quality meat & charcoal
(-) Geisha Course not filling: vegetable plate was lame & other plates were way too bare for the price ($60)
(-) paid highly for atmosphere and touted quality over quantity
score: 4, 3, 5, 5, 2
I went here with my friends for our birthdays. Wow was this a treat!
We came during happy hour today when the rosu ponzu and the sukiyaki beef were 50% off and beer was $2. That allowed us to splurge and order some more dishes. We got the rosu ponzu, sukiyaki beef, Best II, bacon-wrapped asparagus, beef tongue, sweet potato, butter mushrooms, assorted veggies, kimchi, kalbi soup, rice ball, drinks, grilled mochi and ice cream dessert, and.... possibly more but I don't really remember.
I like places where you cook your own food, especially when fire's involved! For the pyro in me, I had fun roasting some napkins, but that's not something edible. The edible things were really good! I think my favorite meat was the misuji flat iron steak. MAN was that tender! mmmmmmmmmm.
Since it was me and a friend's birthday, the restaurant's crew got together to sing happy birthday to us and gave us some lip-smackingly delicious desserts. It was a glass filled with ingredients for a s'more, and 3 different ice creams (green tea, vanilla, and lychee). Wow, so good!
The service was really good. The ventilation was excellent and my friends and I left with no traces of bbq smells on us. =D
What the restaurant could improve on is to offer a non-sesame oil for the grill since some people are allergic to sesame. I mean seriously, what restaurant doesn't have plain ol' vegetable oil? However, they did say that we could use the oil from the lemons they gave us, which worked fine. It was just a little more time consuming than simply brushing on sesame oil. My friend was let down by their kimchi because she expected them to serve their special house blend that she had in Japan. Also, the green tea was REALLY brown! That ain't green tea, that's brown tea!
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Update: Wow, the people at Gyu-Kaku sure do their homework. One of the servers just messaged me some info about the tea and cooking oil. The green tea has a brown color because "Hojicha is green tea that has been roasted over charcoals which turns the color to a red/brown. It contains less caffeine and is not uncommon among Japanese restaurants." Also, the oil isn't really needed for the grills, but is provided for the novice customers (granted, we did say that it was our first time here).
No word on the kimchi though, haha.
Their awesome customer service even extends outside of their establishment! I am impressed =)
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I've been to this place three times, so you can tell I'm definately a fan.
I like fun Japanese restaurants like Benihana, so I really loved the idea of cooking your own food on a small table grill. It's a really good place to take a bunch of your friends, as the atmosphere is pretty casual and the happy hour prices are great. Kirin is one of the better Japanese beers, so it's great to be able to get a pint of it for $2 during happy hour. The soju drinks are quite flavorful as well.
Pretty much everything that I have sampled is good, though I especially recommend the misuji flat iron steak with garlic sauce. It's more expensive than many of the other choices, but it's absolutely delicious. The garlic noodles, the ahi poke, and the Japanese spicy sausages are also wonderful. They used to serve a great egg flower soup but I didn't see it on the menu the last time I went.
The only downside to this restaurant is that you can rack up an awfully large bill for pretty small portions, though if you don't order the most expensive cuts of meat it's not too bad. I'm a glutton, of course, so my bill is always around $100 for two people because I just love that flat iron steak.
I'll definately go again.
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When I first walked into this place, I thought, "Ooooh trendy." But then again, to me, it's like an oxymoron to eat at a trendy bbq place. The whole point of eating bbq is to get all stinky and down and dirty.
Service - 5 stars for helpful service w/ a smile from the time we walked in to the time we left. Also, that was the fastest that I have ever received my water.
Price: you are paying more for the ambiance than the food.
Drink: The green apple shochu was a dangerously yummy fruity alcoholic beverage. Famous last words: "It's just like juice." Doesn't taste so much like juice when it comes out though.
Food:
Appetizers: Bacon-wrapped asparagus and bacon wrapped enoki mushrooms. Hit me right in the Achilles heel. Damn these bacon and veggie combos. You got meh. You got meh good.
Crunchy seaweed w/ cream cheese: gave me a good idea of what to serve as a snack for my next party. Good w/ the ahi poke. Not worth it for the price, though. You could just buy a brick of cream cheese w/ a packet of nori and have at it. I was a sucker for the cream cheese.
Ahi Poke: Not the best, but better w/ the cream cheese and nori.
Kalbi Soup: Best part of the meal. Very good.
Sausages: good w/ the sauces, but nothing spectacular.
Kobe filet: You call this Kobe??? Maybe the cows were not massaged enough or they didn't drink enough beer.
Seabass: Tsk. Tsk. Alas, I was sorely disappointed. I usually love these supposedly rare suckers. Had a funny aftertaste.
Dessert: Yakimochi ice cream. This was a novelty for me: grilled mochi (rice cakes) served w/ ice cream. Cooking the mochi was like watching those shrimp chips (kropek?) blossom in hot oil.
Yes, we enjoyed our meal. However, the Kobe and the seabass were the deal breakers for me as I expected these to be the best part of the meal. If I were going to spend money to cook my own food, I would much rather go to Tsuruhashi where I know my happy dance comes out every time.
Bottom line: Gyu Kaku was a lot of fluff. It's like a really fancy sundae with all the whipped cream, syrup, and the cherry on top, but once you dig down to the bottom it's really just vanilla.
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My boyfriend and I went to dinner and we had a blast. We had the happy hour special and spent less than $40.00 for veggies and thinly sliced beef. There was a cool vibe here, we'll definitely go back.
Went there on a friday night at 7pm with a group of 4 people. Didn't get seated until about 9 pm which by then half the restaurant was empty. The server kept telling us "oh you're next, you're next". I still don't know know why we waited that long...stupid...yeah maybe or we just kept believing the server every single time she said we were next....I like to think we got bribed by the free edamame and tea and round of beers....ok.....yeah stupid. The food was good....nothing spectacular which I think for the price should be. The portions the give you are rather small....luckily since we waited so long our hunger subsided. The ambience is pretty cool...its mostly young people and they play music and its pretty loud. It would be a cool fun spot to go for dinner before the night out. Needless to say....have reservations if you want to come here on a friday or saturday night. I for one, reservations or not, will not come back. There are other places way better.
I've seen Gyu Kaku in La all the time since I go there a lot, but I decided to try it out this time with my family. They're usually open from 5-12 so don't plan on going there for lunch people. Good thing about this restaurant was that it was kid friendly bc I have a 3 year old niece, and a 5 year old nephew, worked out perfect. The service was great, unfortunately the food was okay, we got the poke, the family meal, and the meat lovers plate. What I liked most was with our family meal, they had a stone pot that was filled with a flavorful rice that some veggies and beef in there, I really enjoyed that. Everything else was okay, pretty good. I would much rather goto Tsuruhashi, but they're always so crowded unless you go there when they first open, overall I had fun here, but to return, I most likely will not just because Tsuruhashi is down the street and it's just perfect.
Gyu-Kaku makes for a fun dining experience--cooking your own food over a charcoal grill in the middle of the table Japanese BBQ style--with terrific food. The ambiance of the restaurant makes Gyu-Kaku a great place to dine with friends; the service is energetic and friendly, and the setting is tasteful and clean. But mostly, the food is great.
For me and a friend, we ordered one full and one half order of two beef dishes (I believe it was the kalbi and the harami), two grilled vegetables (shitake mushrooms and zucchini), and a yaki onigiri. It worked out to be a great amount of food for the two of us (just enough to leave you satisfied but able to contemplate desert).
I would recommend Gyu-Kaku for groups--small parties of two or larger gatherings of family and/or friends--as a restaurant that provides a delicious meal with the great entertainment of cooking your food at the table.
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The first Gyu Kaku I ate at was in Hawaii. After that, I've tried their locations in Pasadena, Sherman Oaks (twice), and now here in Huntington Beach. I must say this location had the best service. To me, Gyu Kaku is the whole package. Good service, good food, good ambiance. Does that mean that sometimes, you're paying for how the place looks and how dim the lights get? ...Yes... Other reviewers have said they're overpriced, but you gotta admit that you do get the whole package. Like I said, Huntington Beach had the best service so far, really attentive staff that makes sure you're not burning the place down... I mean not burning your food. If you tell them it's your first time, they definitely don't leave you out in the dark. They explain how their establishment works.
As for the food... YUM! Sure, some can say that they don't give you much, but what did you expect?! This isn't a buffet! Our favorites, especially at this location because for some reason, their food was better than the other So Cal locations, were: Hawaiian Ahi Poke, Misoo Hirami Steak, Rib-Eye w/ponzu citrus soy (YUM x2!), Sliced Beef Tongue, Garlic Shrimp, Mushroom Medley, and Original Bibimba. And although you don't necessarily need anything extra to make your food taste better, they have their 3 special sauces on the table. My favorite has to be the miso one. The food is good right off the grill, but the food is better with their sauces.
Oh, I forgot to mention... We've tried their Dorayaki Ice Cream and their S'mores. But our favorite is the Yakimochi Ice Cream. It's just fun watching the strips of rice cakes fluff up on the grill!
I know, Gyu-Kaku is a yakiniku BBQ chain and the emphasis is on its grill-it-yourself meats and what not, but I'm giving five stars strictly for their udon, the best I've sampled yet.
The Goma Negi udon ($8) arrives in a heavy stone bowl, the broth bubbling over from its scalding temperature. I'm always a little terrified that the waiter or waitress is going to spill the boiling contents all over me. Luckily, that's never happened. Alas, I still haven't mastered the patience it takes for the hot broth to cool down, I'm always burning my tongue.
The udon noodles are the thickest, most luscious noodles I've found, swimming in an incredibly savory broth. There are gummy chunks of golden baked fishcake (not the generic pink and white versions used everywhere else), along with sesame seeds and chopped scallions. An egg is usually cracked into the bowl, but I usually opt to go without it, I like my udon un-muddled. A good sprinkling of chili powder and squeeze of lemon and I'm a happy slurper.
There are other kinds of udon as well (maybe kalbi or kimchi with beef?) that I haven't bothered to try yet because I'm so completely infatuated with the Goma Negi.
Otherwise, 3.5 stars for their yakiniku selections like the citrusy Boneless Yuzu wings, Harami Miso skirt steak, Spicy Ponzu Sea Bass, etc. Tasty things, yes, but the portions are too meager for what they charge! I'll stick to the udon!
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What a cool place to eat meat. Their happy-hour specials are very reasonable too. AND... the manager there is very friendly and deserves a raise, so if you go fill out the questionairre and let them know. (Yeah, he's a buddy of mine lol) Plus, he's a master chef, and if you especially like spicy foods he has some tricks up his sleeve to tantalize your tasebuds.
Decor is traditional Japanese bbq, yet trendy at the same time. And they make the non-Japanese staff greet you in Japanese, pretty funny.
I give it 5 thumbs up.
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After eating at the Torrance location a few times and enjoying the food, I decided to take a few friends to try out the Huntington Beach location. The wait was quite long (~50 min) but we went on a Friday nite with no reservations so i guess that was to be expected...
Portions are fairly small for the meat portions but i usually get one of the Prix Fixe combos which includes miso soup, edamame, salad, rice, grilling veggies, and about 3 meat/seafood choices.
I got the Meat Lover's combo ($25) which included shabu shabu beef, short ribs, and bistro setak. The bistro steak w/ miso marinade was tender and tasty and the kalbi short ribs w/ garlic sauce was also very flavorfui. We got an order the kobe kalbi was a little disappointing. Overpriced and not really that tender. You have your choice of a soy, ponzu, and chili dipping sauces. By far the best one was the chili, but it does have quite a little kick.
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the rice and miso soup. They were actually some of best I've had in L.A.
Overall the atmosphere is laid back and hip at the same time. The service was so-so.....and we ended up having to ask for the drinks after our appetizers had already arrived!
Definitely try this place or any of the other locations but be prepared to dole out a little green if you wanna be stuffed.
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This place is pretty cool. It has great GREAT interior design. Very trendy looking. The prices follow the looks, PRICEY for what you get. like 9 bucks for 5 small cuts of meat. They have many types of seasoning that gives it variety. The drinks are pretty expensive too. A kubuta is like 11 bucks for a shot. Don't get me wrong I know its expensive sake, but other places offered it in a cup that overflowed into the holder which is cool. This place used a shot glass. LAME. The service is great here too, they're mostly college kids. You bbq the food yourself, but the grill is cleaned as often as you like and they have a cool venting system that sucks up the smoke around the bbq itself.
When you do come, TRY HAPPY HOUR. I think they changed it, when i went it, WAS 5 - 6 (LAME) but they offered half off 4 types of meats and 2 bucks beer and like 5 for a pitcher. I think now it depends on what day you go for 1 type of meat and cheap alki. Either way I do really enjoy it here and would recommend anyone to come, but expect to spend about 70 to 80 bucks for two people on a regular dinner night. They are not open during lunch so don't bother. They also won't let you take the meat to go unless you cook it, so unfortunately you can't satay it later if you have leftovers.
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I'm usually against these Japanese bbq's just because they are so pricey you just can't eat it all the time, but this place pretty much won me over. The service is good, the people are friendly, and as long as I remember that I'm going to be eating a $30+ meal, I've made my peace with it. Especially when I feel like eating meat! My FAVORITE is the Nakaochi Kalbi & Yaki Shabu.
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I went to the restaurant the first week it opened.
got food poisoned.
end of the story.
Don't think I will go back again.
it was a horrible experience and it wasn't fun. :( yucks.
The wait was long, considering that it was a friday night w/o a reservation. OKay, understandable....However, the wait was apparently longer when we got seated. Our server was a nice guy, however he seemed not to remember what good customer service was. Our drinks arrived after the food. We were starving from the wait!...But he needed to realize that perhaps it'd be nice for us to munch on some edamames, or sip some tea for the first 15-20 after sitting down. Some time after that, we got a salad. Some time after that, the soup, and then our main course......and then after we'd got midway thru the main course, the rice arrived!!! how long does it take to slice up meat, marinate it and throw it on a plate....and to cook the rice? The rice and the edemame should have already been prepared.
Anyway, I sound like I'm venting, but I'm not, just a few thing I think they could improve on. Perhaps I was too hungry to think to give another star.
But Food wise, it was good....borderline slightly above average. the dipping sauces complimented the meats well, but could use a little more "flava" The meats that you cook yourself really depended on how you cooked it. For instance, you can burn a really expensive piece of meat if you like it chared to a crisp. Accompanying the meats was a meager display of veggies. C'mon, the servings are already small, can't we get a few more pieces of greens, they're cheap? The sukiyaki rice that we substituted for the white rice was very good as well for the extra fee, with the addition of more meat.
Overall, this restaurant doesn't give you the best bang for your buck in terms of serving size, but don't go there expecting a lot. And my service experience may just be an isolated incident, but I'm sure they're capable of doing things right.
I gave it 3.5 stars, but I'll round up to 4.
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I love this place!
My girlfriend and I recently discovered this place after searching online and reading a few reviews here on Yelp. After our first visit we were hooked. They are doing some great specials right now that I believe are going on for a few more days. The staff has always been warm and courteous and we are now actually on a first name basis with a few of the servers and management. It's really nice to be remembered when you come in to a restaurant, especially when you know you are paying for the ambiance. Food is always out quickly, try to get in during happy hour to get good prices on the drinks though. I am a sucker for Korean and Japanese BBQ and I found the meats to be delicious, not the best I've ever had, but very good. The veggies were good as well and I recommend everyone try the Japanese Sweet Potatoes. Also, fun desert is the S'mores, I know its cheaper to make them at home but its just a lot of fun. I keep finding myself coming back and service is a big deal breaker for me. Gyu-Kaku knows their stuff and they have made a life-long customer out of me!
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The best time to go is Happy Hour, if you're hungry at that time that is. We like the Beef tongue and Hirami Miso. They do have some good $2 Kirin though.
The place has nice decor and trendy.
The portions were a bit small, but it's a unique place to try.
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Pretty good. I think Tsuruhashi is better tasting, but you'll most likely wait longer due to the crowd. The beef tongue here is killer though. Probably my favorite thing on the menu. The Kobe beef was ok... It didn't impress me too much for some reason. The ambiance is very cool though and the service was top notch.
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I first encountered this restaurant when I was in L.A. The older one on Pico Blvd in West Los Angeles is small but super busy. Then I was glad to find their Sherman Oaks location because they are newer and bigger, and the quality of the food is the same. After I moved back to OC, I was so disappointed that they don't have one around here.
This dire situation has changed when they expanded their operation into OC. I tried them the first month they opened in this Huntington Beach location last year. The food is same good and better yet, they're not as busy as their L.A. locations, so the wait, if any, is not long. This is one of the restaurants that I patron regularly.
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Trendy, fun, great food, great service, great happy hours! Also opens late! :)
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very decent Japanese Yakiniku, grill-it-yourself style.
compares to Korean BBQ
Pros:
- various tapas munu like bacon wrapped asparagus, enoki mushrooms, etc.
- great happy hour; different by the locations (check out the website)
- 3 sauces on each table
- good desert menu
Cons
- marinated too much, too salty
- why 3 sauces? already too salty...
- have to pay for the banchan, steamed rice and salad
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