Dong Hyun Jung

UPDATE: First, I need to get this out of the way—this is probably the first and last time Korea House will ever prepare Soondae Guk for anyone. The ingredients (to get it perfectly right) are very hard to find in Austin. Because I am Korean myself and a regular at Korea House, I begged the owners to put an end to my search (4+ years) for authentic Soondae Guk (my favorite dish) in Austin by specially preparing it themselves. They were kind enough to prepare a Soondae Guk feast for me and my friends (a group of ten). It was also pretty pricey ($25/serving, which is higher than their usual $16 - $20/serving for their guk dishes on the menu). I also asked if they would put it on the menu, but they told me that it would hurt the business, most likely because less people would get it for its higher price and the profit margin is probably much lower than the dishes they offer, which I totally understand. It was perfect. Best Soondae Guk I've tried in the USA and holds its own against the ones in Korea. From the first smell, I knew this was the real deal (oh, how much I had missed this wonderful smell). The blood sausages was cut by the chef herself (you can tell that this wasn't some cheap factory Soondae) and tasted great, the intestines and liver (and other mystery pork meat) had the perfect bite and was full of flavor explosions, the bone broth was rich, and they provided all the essential garnishes and seasonings (chopped green onions, toasted ground sesame seeds, dadaegi seasoning paste, and salted shrimp). They also served it with rice (of course) and plenty of their usual side dishes, which I always love (except one of them). They checked in with us a few times to see if everything was great, and we had no complaints. Best dinner I've had in a while. 10/10 highly recommend if they serve it again (which they won't for now). A good idea would be for them to add it on their menu as a special request or a preorder item and let people make reservations for it... just an idea. Their other dishes are great too, so be sure to check them out if you haven't already... and remember, the first Wednesday of every month is FREE (within their condensed menu). ORIGINAL REVIEW: Best homestyle Korean restaurant in Austin. I've been here several times. The first Wednesday of each month is free, but the menu has much more variety and items to choose from when you pay, and portions are much larger as well. The items to choose from are still alright when I went for the free meal, and I would say one of the items on that free menu is among the best tasting out of the dishes I have tried regardless of paid or free. The food is mostly authentic, but I do feel like a couple of dishes were modified maybe to suit the American taste buds or because they just wanted to put their own spin on them. For example, I had the Yukaejang, and I felt like it was too peppery (not too spicy though) and covered up the bone broth flavor a bit, but it was still pretty good. The spicy baby back ribs was pretty good as well, and it had a nice sweet touch to it (not that spicy for my taste buds). I think the Bulgogi is too sweet, but it still tastes good. All these complaints are minor though. My favorite is only on the free menu, and that is the radish ribeye stew. It tastes similar to a Yukaejang and it has a very nice, rich beef flavor. They need to add this to their paid menu! I think the free meal every first Wednesday of the month is a great idea. It is good for the community and I would bet it also helps the business by letting people try the food first so that they can come back whenever they are craving some Korean food.

Uma Marawar

Always great service and food ! My favorite is bulgogi dolsot kimchi bibimbap and kimchi tofu udon . Both cooked well with lots of flavor. They also give a bunch of side dishes when you order food which is great because it’s like the size of an appetizer. Great for date night. Good vegetarian options if you don’t eat meat

Black&White Photography

Korea House offers some delicious authentic Korean food at a fair price. The staff is friendly and polite. We only had to wait for a brief moment to be seated. First off, it was refreshing to get a large variety of banchan. Each one was tasty, from the fish cake, cucumber kimchi, soy potato, cabbage kimchi, daikon radish, to korean peppers. Also, they don't charge extra if you want more (becoming rare these days). The dishes are flavorful and addicting. I recommend the dolsot bibimbob, Korean pancake, ojingeo bokkem, and bulgogi. Keep up the great work! 🙂🙏🏼

+3

Yzabelle Onate

Had a delicious, comforting, and satisfying lunch here! We stopped by on a whim and were seated right away. The restaurant has a relaxed, welcoming vibe and was pleasantly busy for lunchtime without feeling crowded. I ordered the chicken bulgogi lunch special, which came with soup, salad, and a generous spread of banchan. The bulgogi arrived sizzling hot on a cast iron plate—fresh, flavorful, and perfectly cooked. The side of rice made it a hearty, well-balanced meal. Service was excellent—everyone was incredibly kind and attentive without being overbearing. I’ll definitely be back soon. A great spot for a cozy and delicious Korean lunch!

王思晗

The food is very good. We really love the spicy beef soup (forgot the Korean name). But you have to wait to be seated for potential over 1h for dinner. And the price is a bit higher than the online manu.

Audrey L

Serene restaurant for authentic Korean food. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this restaurant. It is inviting, calming music and a warm interior welcomed me in. Located in the center of a shopping center, I was surprised to see a courtyard of a pond accompanied with a gazebo out of my window. The food was delicious. I highly recommend the seafood pancake, it was packed with seafood, they did not skimp! The bulgogi was also amazing, so sweet and savory. A huge part of what made this place outstanding was the assortment of banchan. We got so many and everything tasted so yummy and fresh. I had to ask for a refill of their fish cakes and eggplant. I highly recommend this place for a relaxing, comforting meal. Service could be improved, the lady in the front barely looked at us and seemed annoyed when we asked for banchan. Our waiter almost gave our food to another table and gave us our bill without us being done with our meal. But the food was delicious!

+1

Neena Raine

We were introduced to Korea House for their free meals on the first Wednesday of each month. We've gone four times now and enjoy our new tradition. The food is spectacular! The staff are friendly. Food is ready quickly. It is a limited menu on these days, but still a good variety. As the words has gotten out, it has steadily become busier. Plan to wait at least an hour to be seated. But it's worth it! We've shared a table to other people a few times, which was actually quite fun.

Took a bit to find this place, but once you find it, it's totally worth it. They don't have a huge menu but they do have your traditional and house specials, you can always dine in fir the BBQ. Got the Dolsot Bibimbap which was very good with the crunchy rice and fresh veggies, but very skimpy on the meats. Also got the House special braised meat with potatoes, it was OK for me, little bit on the sweet side but we got a ton of sides to offset that. Just wish it came with a side of rice. Very good and satisfying, I would definitely come here again

Great food. Though slow service at peak time on a Friday night. The pork and beef bulgogi for the BBQ were delicious. The kimchi pancake was not crispy enough. All the side dishes were great.

Julia Albing

Very chill, casual little spot. Solid Korean food, nothing flashy. Entrees come with tons of garnishes and pickled veggies. Pretty wide selection beyond just the standard bibimbop and bulgogi

Diem Allis

The exterior of Korea House is really serene with a peaceful pond, a little bridge, and calming zen music that set a nice tone before we even walked in. Inside, the space is roomy and comfortable, and the service was very warm and friendly. We sat in the non-BBQ section. We ordered the pork bibimbap, japchae, and kimchi pancake. The banchan that came with our food was plentiful and had a lot of variety. The rice in the bibimbap was mushy and lacked flavor. The kimchi pancake was bland, and the japchae noodles were a bit too chewy. Even though my friend was so excited for me to try this place, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

+3

Minna Kim

1st Wednesday of every month, EVERYONE EATS FREE @ Korea House!! One page set menu to order from (which makes sense), limited to one appetizer per table, and one entree per person! Service was surprisingly not as slow as I thought it would be compared to the insane amount of people that were there. Everything we ordered tasted amazing, but the pressure from seeing the line of people waiting outside made me want to get our food, eat, and hurry up out of there so that the next table could get sat! I hope everyone was able to eat, and a round of applause to the hardworking staff and to the generous owner who is providing all these free, delicious meals to our community every month! Thank you and God bless Korea House!

ArcticLove

The restaurant is clean and spacious, with a good ventilation system, making the dining experience comfortable. There is a wide variety of side dishes, but the overall flavors are fairly average. Both of the grilled meats we ordered were marinated. The sauces were on the heavier side, but they didn’t bring out the expected aroma or depth, and the meat quality was just okay, lacking any memorable flavor. Overall, this is a Korean restaurant where the atmosphere is a plus but the food is mediocre. It’s filling, but not particularly tasty.

+1

Rhea S

Waiter forgot about us for a while,5 of us total. Ordered various items and a soup, which ended up coming out at the end of our meal and was freezer burned old fish in the soup. Side dishes were good and the fried chicken. The only photo i took was of the state of the fish out of the soup.

Songchai Wattanavijitkul

We have been Korean House customers for twenty five years, but we are dissatisfied with the quality of Galbi. It contained all fat and so burnt. So disappointing.

Sarah Jeon

As Koreans, this was a very disappointing experience. I can only assume many of the wonderful reviews were written by those unfamiliar with authentic Korean food. This was very much reflected by the demographic of those dining on this Sunday night, as we were the only Koreans dining in this bustling restaurant. First off, the bachans (side dishes) were not up to par with any Korea restaurant I've ever been to. Much of them tasted far too fermented and lacked the freshness that you would typically taste in a proper Korean restaurant. We ordered 2 orders of the chadol meat to bbq (2 orders is the minimum) at $25 each, so a total of $50 for approx 12 pieces on each tray. Along with the meat, you receive a small plate of 4 pieces of green lettuce, some sauce and a few slices of jalepenos and garlic. Unfortunately, we did not receive the veggies until one of the meat trays was completely cooked and consumed. When the veggies finally arrived (after asking twice for it), we asked for another tray of veggies which typically is given freely at bbq restaurants but were shocked to find out that they charge an extra $5 for every tray of lettuce. The other dish we ordered was the kimchi chim which is typically a dish that is cooked for a looong time to the point that the kimchi is falling apart. It should also be served very hot (temperature). In this case, the kimchi was not soft at all and it came out quite lukewarm. We do not recommend this restaurant for anyone who is looking for an authentic Korean food experience. You will be highly disappointed.