K-Town Tofu & Grill

 

6

35

Linda L.

Santa Clara, CA

I'm giving this place 5 stars for the "dol-pan bi-bim-bap," the warm and attentive service, and the yummy korean side dishes.

I took the advice of the previous Yelpers and got the dol-pan bi-bim-bap, which turned out to be pretty excellent! Instead of using a hot stone bowl, they used a hot stone sort of a plate, which allowed more of the rice to crisp up on the bottom. I also had them mix it for us at our table, which was really nice since i'm too lazy and impatient to mix these things thoroughly.

The downside is they close at 9:30, so don't count on this place to be open for your late night cravings!

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4

50

Kevin C.

Cupertino, CA

I feel like this restaurant is a little understaffed, but the service from the owners is first-class all the way.  When my friends and I visited (our first time), it looked like there were two women working the kitchen and a third woman (the extraordinarily friendly and helpful owner) taking care of everything else.  I have heard that her husband is usually there to help, but he was not on this occasion.  Accordingly, the service was somewhat slow at times, but we did end up getting everything we wanted.

Really though, the owner was extremely courteous and seemed to take a genuine interest in us beyond the typical server-customer relationship.  She introduced herself and asked a bit about us; it was really cool.  A number of regular customers who came in were greeted warmly by our outstanding hostess.  Top-notch customer treatment.

The food didn't knock my socks off, but it was very, very good.  Heeding advice from yelpers of yestermonths, I went with the #32 (dol-pan bi-bim-bap) and asked our hostess to mix it for me.  Really great.  Crispy rice, beef, mushrooms, sprouts, etc... spicy but not too spicy.  Great recommendation, and I pass it along to you... #32, and when it arrives, ask your server to mix it for you.

The side dishes were also pretty good.  I wasn't really feeling the broccoli or sprouts (matter of personal taste)... but one of my friends ate those with his spicy dish (some sort of kimchi soup).

And at the end of our dinner, we were brought fresh watermelon wedges!  Really the perfect way to end the meal.

The restaurant is clean from ceiling to floor.  The colorful paint job is interesting without drawing too much attention.  The atmosphere is very comfortable.

Most dinner entrees are roughly $12 (plus tax and tip).  (Lunch is cheaper.)  Considering many of them have no seafood or have little meat at all, this seems a little steep.  In fairness though, you're almost guaranteed to be full by meal's end, because you can request (free) refills of the side dishes.

So it's not perfect (sometimes slow service, mediocre pricing), but it's got some really strong points (incredibly friendly service, very good food).  It's worth trying, even if only to meet the owners.

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10

54

I.Like.Toast O.

Menlo Park, CA

One of the tastiest perks of Korean food is the wide assortment of side dishes (or "appetizers" as my boyfriend calls it).

Last night my boyfriend and I went out to this new Korean restaurant and I was really eager to try it, especially because of their many tofu dishes.  I love tofu (and food, in general).  We got to the restaurant around 8:30 p.m. and it was a great time to go.  There was one other table occupied, and being one of a few customers, we were able to take advantage of their hospitality and their customer service.

Being a fluent Korean speaker, I immediately asked the owner for recommendations.  She enthusiastically pointed us in the direction of the bibimbap ("mixed rice") which includes marinated beef, sauteed mushrooms, sprouts, and bitter greens.  I was especially intriuiged by the last item, as I normally do not see bitter greens included in bibimbap recipes.  Alongside the bibimbap, I ordered the bulgogi and potsticker combo, which was a great choice.  Before I get descriptive, let me just add that my boyfriend ate it up-- literally, figuratively, and completely.

Their food really remind me of my Mom's cooking.  Of their selection of side dishes I really enjoyed the crab cake, which includes scallions, eggs, and imitation crab.  It was well seasoned, not too salty, and has a great texture.  My boyfriend enjoyed the cabbage kimchi, and they also had "mook" which is a savory "jello" that is seasoned in a soy-sauce and sesame oil dressing (an example link to the dish follows: http://deliciousbiting...)

With the side dishes, a small bowl of rice, our bibimbap, and our bulgogi (seasoned beef), and our potstickers... we had A LOT of food.  The bulgogi was my boyfriend's favorite because of the seasoning and the marinade.  We also really enjoyed the potstickers because it had a nice crust on the outside and a moist filling.  I especially loved this because it has a beef filling instead of pork, which is really fatty and sometimes overwhelmingly greasy.

My favorite was really their bibimbap, which was really fantastic.  The red chili sauce provided a little bit of heat and flavor to the rice, the egg was perfectly fried sunny-side up, the bean sprouts were lightly flavored with sesame oil, and the mushrooms had a great texture.  Remember those bitter greens I mentioned earlier?  It's a really great addition to this dish because it provides a flavor contrast to the whole dish.  The slightly sweet and spicy red chili sauce and the bitter greens with the egg and mushrooms meld together into a symphony of savory, salty, and nutty flavors.  This is especially true because the rice was brought to us in a stone earthenware cooktop.  The hot stone cooktop develops a nice crust on the rice and it's very tasty.

FYI and recommendation:  If you order this, ask the owner to mix the bibimbap for you.  Just watch her mad mixing skills... it's really an art form.  No joke.  Plus, she mixes it correctly for maximum flavor and texture contrast.

Overall, I'm very enthusiastic about this place and I look forward to eating there again.  Being Korean, I love finding these Mom & Pop restaurants that really do the cuisine justice.

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3

11

Kieve W.

Sunnyvale, CA

Overall the service was very friendly, but very slow. We waited for a long time before the food came, and they didn't give us the side dishes while we waited. Seemed they only have two people working, and needed both to cook, so we didn't have our tea refilled until our food came. (There were only the 6 of us plus another table of two in the restaurant at the time).

The restaurant was not hard to spot, but we were a little hesitant to go in because it was empty with only two customers inside, and the kitchen looked dark. We went in anyway, thinking this was the Choi's that Yelpers have given great reviews for, and were met with happy, friendly greetings.

The food was really good/tasty, though the portions were not as big as we had expected for the price. I'd give the food 4 stars, but 2 stars for the service, which averages out to 3 stars. Oh, and as an update: After trying out the seafood pancakes at Choi's, I like the one here better, even though the portions was smaller, I could taste more of seafood than the onions/vegetables. The one from Choi's is bigger with more vegetable, which I think took away more of the seafood taste.

We will probably go back again, but I think Korea House is better and closer to my house, so I'd probably go to Korea House next time.

So here's the prelude story in case you are interested:

After reading the wonderful reviews on Yelp (Korean Restaurant in/near Sunnyvale), we decided to give Choi's Kitchen a try. I called the number listed to make a reservation. When I called, the lady told me that they had moved to this address and is now called K-Town but it's still the same restaurant, with same menu and food as before, just with a new address and new name. So silly me, I thought the information on Yelp was outdated, and decided to submit the address/name change. A very nice Yelper wrote me almost immediately and informed me that the address was correct for Choi's and it's usually very busy as per other reviews had indicated. Upon further investigation (yes, I went and visited the "correct" Choi's today), I found out that Choi's was originally at the K-Town location but moved recently. The address on Yelp was correct but the phone number was still the old one. Hopefully now it's all straighten out and no one else would make the same silly mistake I did. :P

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