Ondal

Horrible taste, service was really bad too never going back … And really expensive

I had a wonderful experience and just loved the food… The monk fish was amazing. The service was very good

Quality and taste of the crab stew went down. This used to be one of my favorite spots too. :[ I’m very sad and disappointed. It’s not worth the $ 60 for the smallest size (which is a medium) anymore. Also asked for spicy but it was mild and bland my last 2 visits. I guess it’s not served spicy anymore? Service was bad as usual. I always seem to encounter rude service and feel rushed here. They now charge an extra $ 1 per serving of fried rice and sujebi at the end. Make sure you order it though, it’s worth it! They still serve a good amount of banchan (side dishes). Overall, Ondal is a decent place to eat but pricey and frustrating cause the damn service. Wish their broth quality and taste was more consistent too. I wonder if the second location is any better? I need to find another spot in Ktown like this. Any recommendations?
Valet available in front by the hotel.

Everytime I come here, it is crazy how rude the staffs are. But this experience really boggled my mind. My family and I came here for dinner and as soon as we got our dish I find a piece of hair in there. When my mom confronted them I turned towards the kitchen where I can hear the cook cursing and saying that it was from our table and not hers. I was really shocked becos at this point I had already lost my appetite and the cook and the waitresses were giving us this evil stare as if we had done something wrong. With no apologies they make us a new dish. One of the waitress even came to us quietly muttering out its not from the kitchen. And i looked at her «it was inside the dish as soon as i put my chopsticks in there!!» Unbelievable. I look at the owner and we make eye contact but she turns around to quickly ignore the situation until after we had ate and asked for the check. She then comes to apologize. Shaking my head I just paid the check and left quietly and told myself I will never come back here again. There are way better restaurants that actually have good people and better quality food than this place.

Best freakin crab soup I have ever had!!! Meat in every crab and eggs inside too!!! So freakin delicious!!! The ladies were super nice and the service was awesome!!! I’m coming back here next week. Parking is downstairs and free during lunch.

Fresh seafood. I have had better soup somewhere else. Service is good as a Korean place. Good to hang out and drink some soju and be silly

I was a little reluctant to come here last night, after seeing all the bad reviews, but gave it a chance anyway. Went with about 6 girlfriends for dinner and our visit was surprisingly very pleasant. Went in about 8pm and got seated right away. We ordered a large spicy crab soup and medium spicy galbi jjim. Both were really yummy! I preferred the galbi jjim soup better because it was spicier. After the meal, we had a lot left over and they made some fried rice for us. With the rice, they give you cold radish soup. After that, they give you shikhye for dessert. Splitting the tab, we each paid about $ 35.00. I think it was so worth it, considering how big of a portion they give you. All the side dishes were really good too and they weren’t stingy with it!
The service was really good for us. All the ladies were super nice and accommodating to us. They filled everything we needed to fill (side dishes, water etc) very fast and politely. We left a 20% tip for the service, because we were actually very pleased.
Parking is $ 2.00 valet in front!
I’ll definitely be back here and its perfect now that the weather is getting cooler!

Was the only customer and had to ask for every single thing since the 4 waitress were chit chatting about something they bought. Left only 5 dollar tip for the 67 dollar check, which i thought more than enough for their rudeness. However the waitress said out loud as she saw me leaving the 5dollar bill on the table «the bill is 67dollars»
Ignored her and just left.
Shouldve just left a penny.
Seems they think gratuity/​tip is a mandatory.

If Unilocal has 0 star, i would give it it instead. We had to wait about 15 min to place an order and we had to shout out several time just to get their attention. When we finally got a hold of them, they would so quickly walk away so we couldn’t even finish saying our request. It was certainly our choice to give them 10% for such a horrible customer service. And the server lady pointed out that we tipped them too low and stood right in front of us to change the amount! I should’ve read the Unilocal review before going there. The servers there don’t deserve 20% tip they forced us to leave. I would never return and would tell everyone to stay away from this place.

NAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Go to ondal 2 or even better the one in garden grove cause even tho this is the original it just isnt good. It’s reallllly expensive and you don’t really get your money’s worth. Also it smells like fish in the restaurant which is no bueno and idk i just had such high expectations that i was super disappointed after. The dishes were alright but like not really as fresh as i expected. we ordered two dishes the crab stew and the agujjim. Together it was like 100 $ and i was like WHAT. RIIP OFFFFF. The one good thing is that their agujjim has humungous pieces of fish which is nice but other than that nahhh. Id rather go to garden grove cause it’s much cleaner, the side dishes are much better, and the food overall is much fresher

I was really excited to try this place because it’s known for its crab stew, but unfortunately, it didn’t fulfill my expectations. The crab wasn’t meaty and didn’t taste fresh at all. It’s fine if it’s been previously frozen, but this thing felt dried out. No juicy, tender crab meat that I’m generally used to :(There were also these little mussel-​shaped things that popped in your mouth and squirted some juice… It was strange. I had no idea what it was, but it tasted suuuper fishy. My friend and I both agreed it was unappetizing, and steered away from that in the stew. The broth was light and tasty though, so there was at least one redeeming factor.
Their selection of banchan was really good though, as they even gave a pancake and salmon collar. They also give huge portions of bean sprouts within their soup, which I didn’t care for.
Overall, I give this place 2.5 stars. The half goes to their selection of banchan, but with the cost of the meal (about $ 60 for two people), it’s not worth it. I don’t see myself returning.

Food was good. But they made us chose a bigger size for 3 people when we wanted the small one. And then they made us pay for more tip than expected to pay. She dragged me to the front to show me the tip we were supposed to pay. There was nothing on the receipt.
We were forced to stay and pay.

Well, you definitely cannot come here without at least one person who speaks Korean. It is nestled in a kind of sketchy part of KTown, the menu is mostly in Korean (English translations of the titles, but not descriptions), and I’m not sure any of the servers spoke English at all.
My friend and I shared the crab in spicy sauce and I thought it was pretty good — flavorful, spicy, and the bean sprouts were really yummy! In typical Korean style, they serve everything with lots of side dishes (kimchi, potato salad, tofu, egg, pickles, seafood pancake, etc.) so if that’s your thing, go for it (steer clear of the walnut tofu — not very tasty). Be careful around the grilled fish — they serve it bone-​in and I’m not really sure all of the pieces were meant to be eaten…
Service is bizarre in the sense that the ladies know what they’re doing and are quick, but you really have to snap and yell to get their attention — thank god my Korean friend was with me and knew that it’s typical for Korean restaurants. Don’t think you’re being rude if you need to wave them over for something — we asked for forks and extra plates, and they were more than happy to accommodate.
Portions are big, but the prices are steep. Dishes run between $ 35-​$ 80, so be prepared to either share with a bunch of people or take home leftovers.

The only thing I regret is not reading the Unilocal reviews before I came to this place. I didn’t know you could get both sujebi AND spicy fried rice!!! I got the sujebi after the spicy crab stew meal and was completely satisfied, I don’t think we would have been able to finish the rice even.
Yeah, the service is pretty horrendous as the old korean ladies are jaded and apparently don’t think they need to work for their tip because they’ll chase you down if they don’t think you gave enough. What a joke.
We ordered the spicy crab stew which was exactly what we wanted actually I left happy and full. Usually crab is not filling so I was pretty satisfied.

This place is a small hole in the wall in a hotel. It reeks like a crab house, so you will come out smelling like one.
Service or the lack of: (¹⁄₅) The server brought the food and then she went to her own table to eat and chat with her friends. When we called her for a water refill or to ask her a question, she acted like we were bothering her. Ummm lady, it’s your job!
Food: Spicy galbi jjim (²⁄₅) It had a slight crab taste, and it just wasn’t good or tender.
Parking: Valet or street parking
Def will not return.

Horrible customer service.
I had this restaurant bookmarked on my Unilocal for months. Finally, I was in the area and couldn’t wait to stop by and try their spicy crab soup. We entered the restaurant and were greeted warmly and seated. Didn’t take long before we placed our order for the $ 60 medium spicy crab soup. Ok, so initially I was surprised about the price but I was really excited because I assumed that for that price it would be a really great quality delicious soup! Also, I was excited to try a new Korean restaurant and seafood dish.
Once our soup arrived one of the servers cut open some of the crab legs and put the crab meat in the shell. Alright, that’s nice but it wasn’t necessary I’m more than capable for doing that for myself. Thanks but no thanks. Little did I know this would be a source of contention (see below) for them.
Throughout the meal I noticed how bad the service was: the banchan dishes were rudely tossed on our table, I asked the server what one of the banchan dishes was and she looked at me with such disdain and didn’t even try to reply (I get it they don’t speak English but at least try to communicate), we had to flag them down several times to refill our water pitcher because the servers were too busy giving each other shoulder rubs.
The soup itself is a lightly flavored crab broth with an excessive amount of bean sprouts (it’s a TON of bean sprouts) and tiny pieces of crab meat. The quality and flavor was mediocre. It was not worth $ 60 or the unpleasant experience of dining at the restaurant. Once we paid our server brought the merchant copy receipt and stayed at the table watching over me as I was signing the receipt. Due to the mediocre quality of the soup and horrible customer service I gave the server the minimum tip amount that she EARNED. I always tip a minimum amount and add more based on the quality of the service and not the total of the meal.
Once she saw the tip amount she proceeded to berate me and ask me why ??? Her words exactly «I cut crab I bring water. I always get a $ 15 tip ! I need more «IN ENGLISH then she gave me back the receipt and harassed me to give her a bigger tip. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was shocked and didn’t know how to react to her behavior. The person I was dining with couldn’t believe it either. I reached into my wallet and was going to give her some extra cash. However, I realized that if I gave her more money I would give in to her bullying.
I stood my ground and told her no that I wouldn’t give her extra money and she just stood there and stared at me angrily and proceeded to yank off all the dishes and water pitcher off of the table and started to say things angrily in Korean to the other employees.
I told her that I needed to speak to the owner or manager and all of a sudden she didn’t understand what I was saying. But a few minutes ago she was demanding a larger tip in English. We left after I knew that I wouldn’t be able to communicate with her.
Overall, I left the restaurant feeling disappointed and sad. Why !?! Because I love Korean food, culture and Ktown and this was a horrible experience. I went out of my comfort zone to try a new restaurant and cuisine and was faced with bad customer service. I will never go to this restaurant again.

I came here a few times with family when my parents have a crave for the spicy steamed monk fish. We had it elsewhere but they said this place is the most decent out of them all.
Food is alright. Its not bad but its not like wow either. But one thing I can assure is that they are pretty generous with the portion. We once ordered a small size and it had so many pieces of monk fish. Pieces were pretty large with lots of meat on it.
I dont like the ajumma servers. They are pretty rude and they are busy talking to each other or watching TV instead. I have to get their attention ALL THE TIME.
I would only come here when it is a family gathering but never alone with friends. They have underground parking and its free during certain hours and days. Otherwise, it is valet.

I’ve been to the other location, but it was my first time coming to this particular one.
We had a pleasant meal overall. The banchan was very good, they give you a wide variety, including some that you don’t see very often in other Korean restaurants, such as bean paste marinated veggies and dried salmon in spicy sauce. Now I know banchan changes all the time depending on what the restaurant has that day, so don’t get upset if you don’t get the same banchan as what I mentioned. The point is the banchan here is pretty legit, approved by older Korean grandmas and grandpas.
We ordered large braised monkfish and large crab stew. This was waaay too much food for 4 adults/​2 teens/​1kid, but we didn’t know how big the portions were going to be. The braised monkfish was very good! Better than most restaurants with lots of soybean sprouts and big pieces of fish.
The crab stew was o-​k. My mom makes awesome crab stew, so it might be unfair for me to judge. If you’ve never had Korean crab stew, this one is perfectly good. Especially after you let it boil for a while, the flavors deepen and it’s pretty tasty. (But my mom’s is way better!) anyways, we were happy with the amount of crab, and unlike a lot of people, we actually prefer lots of soybean sprouts in our stew. The soybean sprouts make the stew more flavorful, and we usually request they put in a lot of that into our dish.
At the end, they made hand rolled dough soup out of the leftovers (su-​je-​bi) and it was awesome. The texture of the dough was perfect, chewy with a bite, and it was the perfect ending, although I might try the fried rice next time.
Service is lacking, but pretty typical for a Korean restaurant. I had to ask for water 3 different times, although they were speedy when we asked for beer or soju.
Overall, this restaurant definitely has a niche in Ktown, specializing in crab stews. If your mom isn’t like my mom and you don’t get to eat the homemade version, I highly suggest you try this place out. Very casual and small, but pretty tasty and filling.
PS reading the reviews below, what is up with all the people leaving no tip or $ 1 tip and being proud of it… even if the service isn’t that great, I’d never consider leaving no tip. That is just wrong in my book.

Spicy crab stew.
Crabs were dry, no meat.
Soup was flavorful.
Soup had lots of sprouts and some veggies (they should call it spicy sprouts soup).
Side dishes were pretty good.
Fried rice at the end was good.
Slow service, granted it was on a friday night.
Everything was just ok, nothing great or special. I have nothing much to say about this place. The end.

I thought this place was good but seeing all these 2 – 3 star reviews I guess I was the only person that had a great experience here… :/
I went with my mom on a thursday I believe… Around 8pm and the place was packed! we were the last ones to get a table before the wait started, the place was really small and you can tell that they’ve been there for a really long time haha the signs were looking like a blast from the past and the interior was not even close to being modern but it had really korean– homey feel to it with the older ladies running around and serving you.
We ordered the ah goo jjim (Had no idea what it was but found out it’s spicy monk fish with A LOT of bean sprouts) we ordered the small $ 35.
When the side dishes came out I was surprised they give you so much in portion not in variety. They give you lots of broccoli I love places that give broccoli as side dishes it’s so good .:) teehee
They also gave us complimentary clam soup… which you can do without honestly. I don’t know… it was so bland but I guess it’s supposed to complement the spicy monk fish but really, it didn’t do anything it just tastes like water with clams… very little clams. haha
When the main dish came out I was actually surprised that the small was so HUGE. There were more than enough fish inside the dish, I thought it would be really small with too much vegetables and little fish but nope they made sure you were going to eat enough of that monk fish.
At the end you can ask them to make fried rice for $ 1 extra which I thought was TOTALLY worth it. just do it the $ 1 will feed you and whoever you’re with AND your lunch for the next day ahaha
The service was up to par, there wasn’t anything to complain about but that the ladies weren’t too friendly haha but… it’s ktown. ehh :) I can do without good service as long as it’s not HORRIBLE.
Spicy monk fish is a popular dish in korea but not a lot of places know how to make it well, this place has been in the same place for ages and I’m sure it’s still there because they are known for it :) They are also known for the spicy crab soup which I’ll come back someday to try!
Parking SUCKS, you have to valet… IF… IF you get lucky you’ll get street parking but I highly doubt it.