Kimchi Garden

With the exception of the kimbap and the soft tofu soup, the here the food is just pretty not special.
The nice thing about this place is the large amount of seating, so if you have a large group (you’re in a club or you’re just the type to roll with a large crew) it’s great to just host everyone here.
The kim nap here is probably the best kimbap I have ever had. I don’t know why it’s just addictive, and tastes great even after you take it back and eat it later.
Heads up is that if you are ordering kimbap over the phone. Don’t make the mistake of calling «sushi-​like». I’m pretty sure the owner got offended. So I apologize to the owner and to anyone else who is offended by this. It’s kimbap not sushi. So I always make sure to call it correctly now.

I am always reluctant to go to this restaurant given the owner always seems to be in a bad mood. But hell one time my friend suggested going and we didn’t have a whole lot of choices so I said okay why not. Who would’ve thought that this would be the last time I would ever go to Kimchi Garden… and I don’t regret a tiny bit of it.
Food:
Just as usual, I ordered the BBQ beef plate, nothing special or inspirational about it; beef is almost as stiff as Costco beef jerky. Other things are okay, I’d give it a ²⁄₅ overall.
Ambient:
Well you have a TV that always plays soccer matches so if you are into that.
Overall, quite okay, I don’t feel uncomfortable with it.
Dining Experience:
One incident definitely dictated my overall experience: the owner SCOLDED me like a dog for not having the correct ticket!
He’s got some balls but the fact that he wasn’t willing to concede for his customers suggests that he is worse than Jar Jar Binks, not worth my time! I have never been schooled at a restaurant and I will never ever come back. You can have Jar Jar Binks but not me.
Verdict
Food ²⁄₅
Ambient ³⁄₅
Dining Experience −2÷5
Score = (2+3−2)÷3 = 1
If math says I should give it a ¹⁄₅ so be it.

Hook: Big, group-​friendly Korean (and Japanese?.. they blur the lines a little despite being called Kimchi Garden) restaurant.
This place is not the worst, but definitely not great or authentic at all. Just like the Unilocal Review/​s description of a 3-​star rating, it’s «A-​OK». The greatest redeeming qualities of Kimchi Garden are the large portions, extremely diverse menu, and the fact that it can seat large parties.
With that being said, I do enjoy Kimchi Garden’s beef kimbap and kimchi fried rice, the latter of which I believe is better than that of its competitor, Bears Ramen House.
Expect to pay at least $ 8 for most of its menu items, and to have an above average wait time for food.

It makes me SO SAD that some people think this is authentic, quality Korean food.
Everything is so mediocre and bland.
On the bright side, portions are big for a lot of the popular dishes like kimchi fried rice and ddukbokki, so it serves well to satisfy an immediate and/​or desperate need for Korean food. But as a Korean-​born, LA-​raised girl, this just doesn’t cut it.

Went here almost everyday, like tofu soup/​soy bean soup/​short ribs/​Rice cake and Ramon but unlike rice cake soup

I love this place!!! It’s affordable and the serving size is always generous, usually I split the meal up into lunch and dinner. I love the kimchi stew here, it’s spicy and very addictive. There are pepper, kimchi, pieces of tofu, spam, rice cake, clear noodle and one to two slices of beef. I felt like they could be less stingy with the beef, but I guess you can’t really expect too much for the price. The rice and the three side dishes are given in big portions as well. The flavors are definitely there, and I love getting this dish on a cold winter day. However, during the busy dinner hours, it would take them over half an hour to make this.
The beef kimbap is really nice too, very large portion. Compared to what you would buy in a supermarket for the same price, you get around double the amount. Plus, they make it on the spot.
I’ve had the seafood pancake a few times. It’s okay, but it’s more pricey compared to the other dishes. The owner would carry it to my table, since it’s very hot (Usually it’s a self-​serve system where you pick up your own dishes). That was very kind of him.
The other dishes that I usually get are the kimchi fried rice and the omelette fried rice. Again, large portions and generous amount of kimchi/​tomatoe/​egg/​spam/​etc.
There are plenty of spaces to sit, which makes it a good place to hang out. Overall, I would recommend this place for someone on a budget.

A Saturday night with close friends. We ordered soybean soup and the black bean noodle! 炸酱面 is a bit different from the Chinese one, which I’m more used to, but the Korean one is not bad, given it’s widely introduced in a lot of K dramas :) spacious place, typical Korean food, affordable price.

Really was not all that impressed by this place. The prices are okay and portion sizes are reasonable, but it’s just not good Korean food. There are much better places to go, but if you want a somewhat quick dinner, this place will work — just don’t expect super yummy food. The only nice thing is that they do have a large space as well as a tv.

This place is alright, but definitely not the greatest Korean food that Berkeley has to offer.
The BBQ beef was slightly bland. It’s that kind of food where at first it’s quite enjoyable but like ¼ of the way through you get really tired of it and wish you ordered something else. The Dukbokki is pretty good and the portion is big. Their ramen is delicious and it tastes exactly like the instant Shin black ramen you can get at Ranch99/​any Asian market.
Also, they’re the only Korean restaurant I know that serves Miso soup (Japanese) with their meals.

Beef kimbap to go with a side of kimchi and tofu– perfectly sliced to fill you up without stuffing you.

I’m not sure if Kimchi Garden is actually good, or if I just miss Asian food a lot. Both of the times I’ve been here, I ordered the bibimbap, which came with three side dishes and miso soup. The portions were pretty good, but I’ve definitely had better. I would say that the prices were a little steep for a college student, but I would still come back to get my Korean food fix. I like that they offer hot tea for free and how there’s plenty of seating with TVs playing Korean dramas (lol).

Kimchi Garden was pretty good. The pricing was a bit steep for a college student, but the portions were pretty much worth the price. I ordered the tonkatsu, which came with a lot of pork. It was almost too much for me to finish to be honest. I would suggest that if you’re a light-​medium eater to split the dish or eat half and save the rest for later. The quality of the meat was pretty good, but a bit dry. (3.5)
-.5 star for hot sauce being in my «clean» water cup

Of course this isn’t the best Korean food ever but i think it’s a great price for extremely generous portions and it also comes with side dishes. The food isn’t bad either. There’s also plenty of seating, perfect to bring big groups

The beef kimbap is very good! The seafood pancake has a lot of content in it! Delicious :)
The cashiers are very nice and kind Koreans! The place is quiet and clean! The beef kimbap is the best!

There are two things i get here. Bbq chicken and tofu soup. Ever since I discovered tofu soup here, I refuse to go anywhere else in Berkeley for the soup. I love the fish cake side dish, you can always ask for more if you want, and also the bean sprouts are seasonal. I love the tofu soup, you can have seafood, or beef and I usually end up getting beef. I’m not great with spicy but mild is perfect. The service is amazing but sometimes the food takes a while to cook if there are a lot of people there. This place have huge seating areas so big groups are totally great for this location!

Roomy space with lots of tables — good for large parties.
Also has large TV’s for football/​basketball/​sports, so great for parties who want to watch while eat.
Place takes credit card over $ 5 (visa or mastercard), which is always nice since the neighboring places are always cash-​only.
As for the food, very average — nothing special. Comes with complimentary side dishes like miso soup, kimchi, potato, fish cake, bean sprouts, etc.
The actual food is kinda bland depending on what you get. I personally stick to KIMCHI FRIED RICE (comes with egg, decently large portions!) and the JAP CHAE.
Occasionally I’d get the dukbokki, but not a huge fan of the bbq beef. Beef was hard to chew so not great quality, and it was really salty this time.
Overall — good place for some college student budget. Food doesn’t seem very fresh, but decent sized portions for a decent price.

Ordered 3 entrees came out to be a total of 25 $
— spicy pork = decent
— soy tofu soup = decent
— kimchi fried rice = prettty huge, came with a fried egg. but the flavor wasnt there
all the entrees came with little sides which consist of fish cakes, kimchi & sour carrots (not sure if its unlimited)

I’ve been here so many times and have not been disappointed for the food.
On a rainy day, I love ordering the hot tofu soup which comes boiling hot in a bowl. They also give a large helping of rice, fish cake, and kimchi.
I’ve also had their seafood pancake which was very good as well, although I thought it was overpriced.
There’s plenty of seating so if you’re having a small get together, this is a good place to have it. There’s a huge tv too so you’ll be entertained if you’re by yourself too.

I don’t know anywhere else in Berkeley that has beef kimbap! I love this place because one order is around $ 6, but you get so much food out of it!
There are plenty of tables inside and they offer free wifi! I like to come here for lunch because I can sit and catch up on some reading while waiting for my food to come out.
All of the dishes come with three side dishes and miso soup! You can also get hot tea for free as well!
This is a ³⁄₅ because I personally think their kimbap is the most decent thing on the menu. And the one worth getting for the money you’re putting in. The workers may seem cranky at times so I best be extra friendly to them! Also, sometimes it takes a really really long time for your food to come out. So be ready to sit there and wait!

I feel like the overall score for Kimchi Garden is pretty accurate. It’s a good place for college students to come for a close-​to-​campus, quick Korean food fix, but it definitely doesn’t rank high on my list of places to go when I’m craving Korean food.
The interior is pretty spacious, which is rare for Berkeley, but there are a good number of tables, even for larger parties, so that everyone can sit comfortably. You order at the register when you first walk in, grab tea or water before seating yourself, and your order number will be called for pickup at the window when it’s ready. I appreciate the complimentary hot tea and water, which are both self-​serve, as well as the condiment bar that includes the red sauce that comes in bibimbap, sriracha, and some black sauce that I’ve never tried.
Complimentary miso soup and side dishes:
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I appreciate these little details, especially since so many of the restaurants in the campus area omit them. The miso soup is watered down, but it’s nice to have something hot and soupy, especially if your entrée is dry. The side dishes change arbitrarily so you won’t know what you’re going to get, but kimchi is pretty standard. They have a marinated potato that’s pretty good, and the fish cake isn’t bad either. This time’s macaroni salad was something I hadn’t had before, and it wasn’t memorable.
Omelet fried rice:
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This thing is huuuuge! The concept itself isn’t new or anything, but I still don’t know how they can make something so big, have rice rolled up in it, and not have the egg break apart when they’re flipping. It’s pretty impressive, and it’s rather filling. I’d recommend this as a novelty item if you’ve never gotten it before just because of the size and presentation.
Bibimbap:
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The regular bibimbap isn’t bad, and the portion of rice on the bottom is really, really generous. The vegetables are also sliced well and pretty fresh, although not super flavorful without the sauce. If you’re interested in being full, I’d recommend this or the kimbap, both of which have pretty generous portions.