4501 Campus Dr
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 725-0516
http://www.kobatofugrill.com
Dr. P noticed a new Korean restaurant opened across the street from UC Irvine campus. Koba Tofu Grill serves Korean tofu pot and BBQ. They also has a to-go window that sells Korean tacos.
We decided to try this restaurant one night. We didn't know if the restaurant was going to be busy or not on a Saturday night, and called ahead to make a reservation.
The restaurant was only about half full. So actually no reservation was needed.
Dinner is about $2 more expensive than lunch.
Hite Beer ($0.99)
We started the meal with a small bottle of Hite Beer because there was a sign at the door saying that you can get a Hite Beer for $0.99 with any combination meal order.
Banchan
Their banchan selection was quite limited. We got kimchi, broccoli, bean sprout, glass noodle, and one fried fish per person. The fish was tasty. Glass noodle was good. But I didn't like their kimchi. The kimchi didn't have much flavor, and felt like it didn't "sit in the jar" long enough.
Kimchi Soon Tofu ($8.99)
We ordered one soon tofu + BBQ combination plus one more soon tofu. Dr. P had seafood soon tofu, and I had kimchi soon tofu. We both ordered the soon tofu spicy, and they WERE spicy! The tofu was silky and the broth was flavorful. Pretty good soon tofu.
BBQ Beef Rib + Soon Tofu Combination ($18.99)
BBQ Beef Rib was really good. The meat was juicy and fatty. I think there were only 6 pieces, and I wished there were a lot more.
Koba Tofu Grill had good soon tofu and BBQ. It's good to have another option for soon tofu besides BCD in Irvine. There's another soon tofu restaurant on Walnut in the 99 Ranch Market that we want to try. Anyone been there before?
Yes, that does seem a bit expensive. But it looks good! I did try the one near Ranch 99, and it was pretty good, too. I didn't think there was anything special, but is where we usually go for Korean food.
ReplyDeleteI also really like Mr. Chen's (or Mr. Chew's?) in that Ranch 99 parking lot, too. They have a great beef noodle soup, pot stickers, and this meat pie thing.
I think you meant Chef Chen. ;-)
We've been meaning to try that restaurant FOREVER!
Definitely will go there very very soon.
Hi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteThere's a Koba Tofu Grill on Culver/Walnut (where they are doing all the construction work). That's the one Honeybuns and I usually go to. Kaju Soft Tofu on Walnut/Jeffrey is good too, their kimchi has more shrimp/fish taste to it, and you get more banchan. But since we don't speak Korean, I personally feel that we get not as good service as the Koreans do. Hence we end up going to Koba more. There's also Kaya, between India Cook House and Super Irvine market. Their soondoobu is supposed to be great.
Oh yeah, now you mentioned it, I remember seeing Koba at Culver/Walnut.
Kaju, Kaya, Koba... why are all the names start with K? haha....
I think we're going to try Kaju next, then Kaya after that.
Thanks for the info! :-)
If you go to Kaya, their octopus dol sot bibimbap is reaaaally yummy! I also like the Koba on Culver & Walnut better than the one newly opened near UCI. Kaju is also good but I personally like Koba on Culver better.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to try all the places you mentioned,
and the octopus bibimbap for sure! Thanks, Ashley!
Kaju is the best one in Irvine.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely will try Kaju soon! :-)