Gaboja Sojubang

With 3.3 333 333… reviews for every friend, I present my 300^th review, which happens to be a 3 star rating. We also had 3 dishes but no, this ain’t the twilight zone. Wait, I also had 30 fans a day ago, but someone added me bringing the total to 31. DAMMIT! Ok, I’m kidding.
I had lunch here today with a Korean friend. He did all of the ordering. We had:
Tuk kkochi — popular bar food, basically fried tuk (dduk) on a stick with gojuchang poured over it. This version was breaded then fried, nice textural contrast with the chewy inside, but got quite boring after the first few bites. My friend said he preferred it unbreaded. It came with 6 dduk each on 2 sticks for $ 4 or so.
Bi Bim Bap w/​Dan jang jigae (spicy bean paste stew) — Had the stew before, but never with Bi Bim Bap. It was good combined but hard eating the stew on its own. It was pretty salty/​spicy. The stew came with mushrooms, tofu, cartilage of some kind, and scallions. Bi Bim Bap was ok, it came with all the veggies some ground beef & over easy egg. I like the stone pot version myself though. Posted special for $ 8.99.
Kimchi soo jeh bee — Tasted like Kimchi jigae, but included «dumplings». Dumplings turned out to be a rice ball or clump with no filling. It came with sliced potatoes, scallions, and kimchi. Broth was good but not great.
They gave us 4 panchan: napa kimchi, bean sprouts, black beans, & fish cake. The best was the bean sprouts, well seasoned with sesame oil and salt. The napa kimchi was very paste-​y, didn’t enjoy it much.
I’d like to try the Tong-​dak (whole fried chicken) and tukbokki but one of the posts here says the tukbokki is pretty bad. I don’t think they serve it with chol-​myun here, my favorite version.
Only place I’ve found other than the defunct Koko House that serves it this way, is a small place in Honolulu. I’d also like to add that Koko’s Tong-​dak was also amazing, rotisseried THEN deep fried, retaining all the juiciness. Why oh why did it have to close?
There you are, my 300^th review. The quest continues…

Just had lunch here and was pleasantly suprised to find a new Korean restaurant across the street from Seoul House on around 13^th and Webster.
The place is clean and very new looking. I was worried because I arrived here for lunch at noon and the place was completely empty.
With that, the quality was not bad. The kimchee was very good quality and I ordered a combination soft tofu soup which came with rice.
Everything was presented nicely; the food wasn’t too spicy but still flavorful. The portions were reasonable as was the service.
The tea wasn’t spectacular but enjoyed the environment and look forward to having dinner here sometime.
Nice new find.

I hate to see a restaurant fail, especially a Korean one and especially in this part of Oakland. But I was pissed walking away from this restaurant last night.
The food and the service was terrible but I was really pissed off at myself for being such a wuss! I am not a shy person and generally I have no problem speaking my mind but something happens to me in Korean restaurants. I lose that mean, don’t mess with this girl attitude because although I am one of them, I’m scared of all Korean women. While my mom and my older sister can demand whatever they want at a restaurant, openly criticize the food only to have the owner bow humbly and shower them with free food, I can’t even ask for water without feeling like I’m being unreasonably demanding.
My younger sister (just like me — mean as hell but equally scared of Korean women) and I were there with my kids at 6pm. It took quite a while for the food to arrive. The dumplings were clearly store bought and deep fried and not in the least bit tasty. The fried chicken wings were smothered in this grossly sweet mess reminiscent of the red sauce on the sweet and sour chicken served at suburban Chinese joints. The dukkboki (rice cakes smothered in spicy sauce) was utterly gross. The only thing that tasted okay was the kimchi chigae but at $ 12 overpriced, in my opinion.
Then it got worse. We had to ASK for rice. And we did not get any banchan, not even kimchi! When I asked the server about it, she looked surprised and said «oh, did you want some banchan?» Then she walked away and we did not see her again until after we finished our food and we fetched her to bring our check. I should also mention that we were the ONLY patrons in the entire place so she was not busy. I know that I should have reminded her about the banchan but at that point, I was so disappointed with the food and the entire experience that I just wanted to go. I also wanted to escape the loud and sappy Korean pop music that was blaring throughout the place. We quickly finished our meal and got out of there. And like idiots, we tipped 18%. See what I mean?
A new rule: I will not return to Gaboja. I will not go to any other Korean restaurant without a mean fobby Korean woman there to represent my interests. Or a pastor. Koreans will never mistreat a pastor because they’re afraid to go to hell.

We saw the «grand opening» front banner. We had been circling the neighborhood near Oakland Museum without luck, looking for a decent place to eat lunch. We went in and read the menu — kind of foreign to us. But the pix showed the food. What the heck! We better eat here!
I ordered the seafood combo soup ($ 7), expecting some noodles. But surprise! First came the traditional Korean starter in 6 separate small dishes. They were seasoned anchovies, kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), tofu strips, cucumber slices, bean sprouts and turnip. Each item was seasoned differently with its unique taste. The presentation reminded me of food scenes in the S. Korean TV series «Dae Jang Geum». How special!
Next came the soup in a glazed earthen ware. It was piping hot. I stirred around inside and saw mussel, shrimp, fish, squid, tofu, onion, carrot, cabbage, and even a whole egg being cooked by the heat as I watched. The soup was very tasty and full of flavors. Nearby a small steel container had warm rice inside. I guess instead of noodle, Koreans eat rice with the soup instead. I really like this dish.
But she ordered the vegetable noodle soup ($ 4), which was a disppointment by comprison. There were plenty of noodle and veggies in a clear soup. But the soup was little seasoned. The waiter taught her to pour the special thick soy sauce on the noodle. But the taste was something we do not accustomed to.
This is a very interesting place. The interior is modern, with wide screen TV and hi-​fi system (playing rap songs for lunch). I guess these are the bar attractions. The table setting is neat, comfy and spacious. Service was great.
This is a delightfully little restaurant that serves authentic Korean food for a budget price. Expect surprises even when you order from the picture.