Kunjip Restaurant

Best Korean food in the bay! I don’t mind driving 40 minutes to get here every weekend. The beef bone soup is amazeballs. I like adding the salt, green onions, and hot sauce myself. I always see friends from all over the bay so the sentiment must be shared by many.

My boyfriend and I randomly stumbled in here while waiting for a table at Tobang (which was an hour wait and we were literally dying). There was a wait here as well but nothing compared to Tobang. As we were looking at the menu, we noticed a friend and obviously we were like, «Yo dude, is this place good?» «Yeah bro, get the galbi jjim. It’s fiyyyuuuuh.» That was the end of that short interaction and we proceeded to wait. We were seated and saw the picture of the glorious galbi jjim — okay we’re down.
We ordered the spicy galbi jjim and it was to die for. How come I never knew about this until now? Anyways, it was super tender and flavorful. It’s served in a clay pot like bowl with broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, and a hard boiled egg. I loved ev-​er-​y bite. Like seriously, my mouth is watering right now. The only downside is that it costs an arm and a leg ($ 45 for one order) but NO RAGRETS here. Another thing I really enjoyed is this spicy cold noodle dish. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s a must. It’s slightly sweet and spicy and is topped with cucumbers, Asian pear, and meat. Get the two I recommended and you’re good and ready to go.
The banchan is limited but they do it right! I’m so hungry that I’m planning another trip here this week…

DELICIOUS spicy galbi goodness! Get the maeun galbi jjim (spicy galbi stew), NOT the plain galbi jjim. Trust me; the spicy-​ness is what makes it so good. The stew comes with plentiful HUGE chunks of tender beef rich with flavor, sweet potato chunks, baby carrots, broccoli, and an egg, all sprinkled with sesame seeds. Take your meal a step further by soaking the rice with some of the sauce. Yuuuummm. My mouth drools just by writing this.
Service is excellent. Side dishes (kimchi, cucumber, radish) are unlimited and tasty as well. GET THE MAEUN GALBI JJIM. Yum yum.

My family and I came to eat here for breakfast. The only items I could see on the menu were soups and cold buckwheat noodle dishes (bibim nyangmyun and mul nyangmyun). I’m not sure if there’s a separate lunch and dinner menu.
I ordered the ox tail gom tang (ox tail soup). Everyone else ordered the sul lung tang and galbi tang. I only really tasted my dish, so the food portion will be based on what the gom tang. You could really taste the flavor of the ox tail in the broth itself, which lead me to believe that the broth is slowly cooked for a while. They are generous with the number of ox tail pieces. Definitely put lots of green onions and add salt/​pepper for taste. The side dishes that were provided were only pickled dishes such as ohee kimchi (cucumber kimchi), kimchi, and gkag doogee (radish kimchi). My favorite was the cucumber kimchi — pretty darn good! I think for $ 18 the soup was kind of expensive for how it tasted. But maybe that’s because my dad can cook a delicious whole pot of it, so I’ve definitely been spoiled. But overall, I would definitely come back!

Came with a group of 8 people and managed to secure seats in a semi private room. This place only has 11 items on the menu, so it was really easy to pick what to order. A lot of these dishes I’ve never seen before, so anything I picked would have been a new experience.
The beef short rib stew is soooooo good and definitely the highlight of the meal. I also tried my friend’s order of bimbim naeng myun and this was also delicious! Extra noodles are free, so it is a perfect dish to share.

One of the better Korean restaurants I’ve come across.
The inside décor is quite the attraction,
They also have great quality food plus fast and friendly service albeit somewhat rushed and great-​tasting banchans.
It’s a bit pricey though.

The last time my mother and I had seollungtang together was two winters ago. That was in Seoul at Korea’s oldest restaurant. Today we’re in America, heading over to Kunjip in Koreatown San Jose. The literal translation of «kunjip» () is «big house,» but it refers to the eldest son’s house. Or oldest brother’s house. Traditionally Koreans would visit their kunjip for celebrations and feasts.
Kunjip Restaurant is sandwiched between a barber shop and a hair salon. It shares the Kiely Plaza with a Korean gift store, Indian catering company, as well as another Korean eatery proudly named «To Bang.»
Within the five minutes we are seated, the middle-​aged waitress asks us what we’d like. Within ten minutes after we get our food, she places the bill on the table. Don’t be offended. This type of service is commonly experienced in Korea, particularly the hole-​in-​the-​wall joints. Instead of feeling like the workers want you to leave asap, take it as a freedom to pay whenever you want without having to wait or ask for the bill.
The waitress set three varieties of kimchi: napa cabbage, cucumber, and radish. And in that order I tasted. Each are spicy with varying levels of sugar. The napa cabbage kimchi is freshly made and is one of the sweetest kimchi my taste buds have ever experienced. I prefer super fermented kimchi that taste more like an entrée than dessert, so I am not a huge fan of their version. My mother and I agreed the radish kimchi is the best of the three. Cucumber kimchi was a close second with its coating of sesame oil.
It may be a chilly November day, but as my bowl of nengmyun approaches, I greet it with a warm smile. All restaurants I’ve been previously served buckwheat noodles in their nengmyun; Kunjip uses sweet potato noodles.
Pierce the nengmyun broth with your chopsticks and lift. Strands of sweet potato noodles cling onto each other like a newly-​formed couple. Forget trying to untangle. Take a bite, only to find out how easy it is to masticate in comparison to buckwheat noodles.
Buckwheat noodles are slippery, chewy, and grey brown with black specks. Sweet potato noodles are white in color and easy on the jaw. It is a friendlier option for senior citizens with fragile teeth. My mother and I are not grandmothers just yet. We prefer buckwheat over sweet potato noodles.
While the nengmyun is a tad too sweet, Kunjip’s seollungtang we do recommend. It’s perfect for those cold dark winter nights when you’re feel like there’s something missing in your heart. That missing puzzle piece is seollungtang, my friend.
Though born and raised in Korea, my mother is not a huge fan of soups with meat simmered in it. She views it as if a cow took a bath in the water. Moo sauna. Regardless she finds the seollungtang at Kunjip to be delicious.
Upon my initial visit, my mother’s friend recommended Kunjip’s galbijjim (steamed beef short ribs). I trust their opinion as they are an intelligent chef. So with confidence, I advise you to try it :)
Now we’re ready to deal with the bill, which comes with ginseng and cinnamon-​flavored candies. $ 24.90 USD for two people. Fairly priced.
Verdict: I’d return for the seollungtang. See you every winter, Kunjip!

I’ve been on a cold noodle binge and have tried cold noodles from 2 other places before having it at Kunjip. I had been here before for the oxtail soup, which is really good as well, but their cold noodles is what takes the cake for me. Everything about the cold noodle dish here is perfection. The broth has a delectable, light taste and their noodles are the perfect consistency. I also really like that they put julienned cucumbers in it and the quality of their meat is better than most places. This place has turned me into a cold noodle addict! I’m def making this a weekly go-​to spot!
Oh also, this place gets packed so expect to wait for a table if you arrive after 12.

YESSS! Do yourself a favor and get the #10 Galbi Jim (beef short rib stew) with a bowl of brown rice. The stew looks deceptively small, but I shared this with 2 other hungry people and we were stuffed after.
The whole thing came out piping hot and bubbly, along with a small selection of side dishes (kimchi, pickled cucumber etc).
The beef literally falls off the bone but they also give you scissors to cut them into bite sized pieces so you look less barbaric when you eat it. The egg, potatoes, carrots, and broccoli were perfectly done; not under or overcooked. Yumm.
It was rainy today and this hit really the spot. If you’re having a bad day, this will definitely turn things around, I promise. I’ll be back!

On a cold winter day, it doesn’t get any better than Kunjip’s noodle soup.
There soup is really tasty and flavorful. If you are just ordering for yourself, the #2 is a great choice. But if you are looking for a meaty-​chunky-​saucy dish… You have to check out the $ 40 beef bowl dish. It sounds expensive and it IS. This dish is a good dish to split and everyone can try some of the delicious beef. Really doe. The beef is good.
The service is «they will give you what you need» type of service. They won’t hover to check if you need any refills or if you need extra napkins. Whether you like that or not, just ask for whatever you need.
Overall: will return if I’m feeling for some Korean style soup.

My favorite Korean restaurant in the area.
I’ve come here many times and always get either the galbi tang or the oxtail soup. Both are amazing. The galbi tang is both sweet and savory and has plenty of vermicelli noodles in it. The oxtail soup is perfectly milky. There is also salt and green onions on the table to add into the soups. They also give you 3 small dishes. The kimchi here is my favorite, and they are always quick to refill.
Service is decent and prices are reasonable. Definitely recommend checking out their soups.

For a cold night in the Bay Area, what’s better for dinner than a bowl of hot Korean ox-​tail bone soup? I firmly believe that Los Angeles Korean food tops Bay Area korean food any day, but this place is a decent option if you’re in the Santa Clara area ever. It’s a pretty bare-​bones restaurant that only has 11 items… I definitely enjoy the simplicity of the menu compared to a place like the Cheesecake factory. Don’t come here for the service, cause that’s not what it’s about.
+ SUL RANG TANG: Ox bone soup with beef shank and white noodles. Their basic soup that’s got good flavor. Not too many fixings in this one but if you’re not feeling adventurous and want to go with the OG soup, this is the one. Add some salt and green onion depending on your taste.
+ GALBI TANG: Beef shortrib soup with jujubes and egg. This soup definitely has more of a fuller body than the Sul Rang Tang. The Sul Rang Tang is more mellow and subtle, while the Galbi Tang is more of a «in your face» soup. The shortrib is a bit of an afterthought as I don’t think it had much flavor or texture, but it was a satisfying dish.
+ GORI GOMTANG: Listed under their «Energy Tonic Soups,» the Gori Gomtang is an oxtail soup with green onions, dried jujube, and chunks of oxtail meat. This was my favorite of the three. The meat itself was very tender and still had flavor, and the soup itself didn’t need any more salt. Definitely warmed me up after freezing all day in the Bay Area!

My sister found this place last week and decided to take our family here today. Let me start off by saying that the food was pretty good. We ordered the galbi jim and the oxtail soup. The galbi jim was flavorful but not overly so and the meat was soft. The oxtail soup was great and the kimchi was one of the best I’ve had.
The reason I am giving the one star rating was because of their service. Our family has 4 people and my mom and sister don’t eat as much so we ordered 3 portions of food to share between the 4 of us. When we asked for refills of banchan, they refused because we only ordered 3 portions of food. I have never heard of such a thing before nor did I see any mention of this in their menu. Being stingy with the banchan at a korean restaurant is a huge no in my book.
Later on, one of the waitresses came over (without us asking) to give us more banchan, but the other waitress that originally refused us immediately rushed over and told her not to do it. Furthermore, the service here was really just nonexistent — no refills of water, no smiles or anything.
When we paid, we gave 9.5% tip and wrote on the receipt why we were giving so little tip (bad service, stingy on the banchan). We left and got into the car and one of the waitresses ran out after us and demanded we give at least 10% tip. When did tip start becoming mandatory? Unbelievable.
I will not be coming back here again.

Terrible, rude service.
I have always really liked the food here, so since it’s the holidays, I brought my family here for lunch to try it out. We ordered the large spicy beef short rib dish (#11), and another Galbi soup (#2). My mom and I can’t eat much, so this was more than enough; we even had leftovers. HOWEVER, when we asked for more kimchee and cucumber, the lady refused to give us a refill because apparently, the beef is a portion for two, and the soup is for one, and we had 4 people. I have come here multiple times before and have never run into this «rule»; this rule isn’t written anywhere either and this is the first time I have ever heard of this kind of thing.
So we left about a 9% tip (our bill was $ 53, and we gave $ 5) and I wrote a tip for them that they refused to refill; honestly, I didn’t even want to tip. As we were pulling out in our car, the same waitress came out and had the NERVE to ask for us to give a minimum 10% tip.
1. What kind of service did we get? We didn’t even get refills any time during our meal for our water.
2. Tip is supposed to be OPTIONAL, and based on the service. Normally I give a 15% tip for lunch; when I am happy with the service, I give a larger tip, and when the service is terrible (I rarely encounter this), I don’t tip as much. I can’t believe this lady had the nerve to come out, stop our car, and demand more tip.
I am very disappointed. I have always had a good experience here, but this just ruined it for me. I was planning on writing a review with 3 or 4 stars, but the lady’s running out to demand more tip completely ruined the meal and took even that away.
Apparently if you can’t eat a lot, don’t bother coming here because they won’t refill anything for you.
Tip: avoid the middle-​aged lady with the heavy pale foundation and round face. The others are all very nice and have always generously helped.

MMMMM Galbi Tang. I don’t know how long it takes for this restaurant to make the broth every day, but it sure hits the spot on cold days. If there’s anything that could make this dish better it would be more noodles and more beef. Otherwise this soup’s hard to beat. Each table’s got a bowl of fresh cut green onions, salt, and pepper for you to add to the soup to your liking. Soup is also served with a bowl of white rice which is nice.
Kunjip doesn’t serve as many side dishes as your average Korean restaurant (there’s only 3 different kimchi dishes), but that’s okay. The kimchi side dishes are pretty high quality and are perfect to munch on while you wait for your soup. And that wait is pretty short too :)

Came by for lunch the other day and it was a delicious visit.
Parking tends to be crunchy in their private lot, and there is plenty of street parking across the street!
We were able to be seated immediately upon arrival and ordered the spicy beef rib stew. The portion was huge, perfect for sharing. The beef ribs were very tender, flavorful, and slightly spicy. It also came with a few pieces of broccoli, hard boiled egg and potatoes.
A small bowl of rice, along with sides dishes of cucumber, kim chi, and unlimited green onions were also included in the meal.
Complimentary hot tea and candies were also available.
Service was okay, although slightly challenging to find a waiter since we were seated in the private room.
~$ 25/​head after tax and tip for lunch.

«Galbi tang just hits the spot» — literally the only phrase I repeated the entire meal.
The boy and I spent the day hiking and now that the weather is chillier, we were craving a hot bowl of noodles. Something hearty to nourish us.
After a quick 5 minutes, we were seated and we got 3 dishes: Galbi Tang, #3 (Beef tendon), and the Bibim cold noodles. Please excuse my poor recall but with a little deduction you can tell what I’ve ordered.
There was an endless amount of kimchi (and varieties) alongside rice and barley tea. The Galbi Tang broth is incredible. The meat also just slides off the bone. My favorite clear noodles are used in the broth and it just soaks in all the flavor. I didn’t even have to add anything else. It was perfect!
#3 was a bit bland for me but the boy loved it. We forgot to add the salt/​pepper and green onions but it was still good.
Now let’s take about the cold noodles. We got the first one that’s a bit spicy and sweet. We didn’t know better and let it sit for a while as we ate everything else. A waitress walked by and asked us to please stir since it was sticky. As I began to attempt, another waitress stops by and takes the scissors and chopsticks and goes ham on stirring the noodles for us all without making us feel foolish for not knowing what to do. 1) thank you! She went to work to make the noodles edible and enjoyable for us, 2) I always feel a bit embarrassed when I don’t know how to «properly» eat things but no one made us feel bad. This makes all the difference for me. On top of that? It was delicious.
Ah, total lip smacking goodness. I want more.
Give it a try! :)

I would give this place 3.5 stars. I have a hard time finding good Korean food in the bay area. The service was really good. They give you cucumber kimchi, kimchi (has oysters in it… not a fan), and radish kimchi. I got the seoullungtang. It was good, but not the best. It came with rice noodles, instead of glass noodles in it. The meat was cut pieces and not on the bone. It comes unseasoned, so you add salt and pepper to your liking. I would come back to try other things on the menu.

Deicided to come here again since a friend wanted to get dinner here. My first experience wasn’t the best but what place doesn’t deserve a second chance?
My friend and I decided to get the barn gm yum (cold noodles in soup) this time… and well… changed my impression of the place and even convinced me to update my review. It was THAT good. The soup was light, vinegar-​y, and slightly sweet. There was some fresh watermelon, a boiled egg, thinly sliced beef, and slices of cucumber that gave variety to the dish andi complemented well with the noodles. The noodles were perfectly cooked – nice and chewy. Portion size was perfect and it was such a light and refreshing meal! Definitely coming back for more and to try the bibimnaengmyun (dry spicy cold noodles)!

:-D

Kunjip is probably the closest you’ll get to the restaurants in LA’s Ktown, and one of the few places in the Bay that has options like sullungtang. Unfortunately, the sullungtang didn’t quite measure up to my excited expectations. The good news is that their galbi tang makes up for it!
Both dishes came with hot bowls of rice, radish kimchi (my favorite), napa cabbage kimchi, and spicy cucumbers. Each table also has salt, pepper, green onion, vinegar, hot mustard, and chili paste so you can season your soup to your liking. Service was attentive, hospitable, and efficient.
GALBI TANG ($ 15):
I’d actually never had this before since I tend to love sullungtang so much, but I’m so glad my friend convinced me to switch it up. The broth is mostly clear and filled with large pieces of rib meat and glass noodles. Unlike sullungtang, it doesn’t seem to need much additional seasoning. I love dipping the rib pieces in the accompanying sauce, which consists of sweet soy sauce and jalapenos (I highly recommend adding a bit of the hot mustard to this to give it a little kick of heat). The broth was surprisingly deeply flavored given how clear it looked, full of meaty goodness and beef flavor. It’s the kind of broth where you keep wanting to take «just one more» sip.
SULLUNGTANG ($ 12):
Compared to this, the sullungtang fell sadly flat for me. Even after adding salt and green onion, it just didn’t have the depth that I’m used to tasting in ox bone soups in LA. A good sullungtang will have a hearty, bone-​rich flavor that makes it the ultimate comfort food, but this one didn’t do it for me.
Overall: Despite my disappointment that the journey to find good Bay Area sullungtang continues, I’m really happy to have tried Kunjip! I’ll definitely be back to get the galbi tang, and I look forward to trying the cold noodles some day.