Gaboja

Best quality meats (beef, pork) all around. Food is authentic family style and no nonsense. Price is comparable to K-​BBQ places. However, quality is solid 5 star. I discovered the place some 15yrs ago and have been going there when ever in SF/​Berkeley area and ‘need’ K-​Food. The drive to Santa Clara is ~40min but certainly worth it. Local K’s favor the place so lines can be long on weekends. I see that they have expanded their space so the log jam may have improved for weekend evenings (was there last week).
Great K-​BBQ and food. My wife & I love this place. Solid family style and for corporate/​group outings with 3 large rooms for private occasions.

Yes, this place is a little pricey, but I would rather pay a little more for great food, service and variety. But, taking into account all of the side dishes that come out, I would say that this place is actually priced quite reasonably.
I went here yesterday with a coworker and we got Combo 1, which was really good! It was Pork Belly, Brisket, and a lot of other side dishes. There was a littleeee too much food for the two of us, but we managed to shake around a little more space in our bellies to finish almost everything!
We also ordered the spicy chicken with cheese which was pretty good! They knew this would all be too much food for us, so they offered us a half portion instead and only charged us for half! I thought that was a really great move and it’s acts of service like this that make me keep wanting to come back!
If you ever need a restaurant with a private room or area, Gaboja is an excellent option. Don’t hesitate to hold your work lunches here!
Next time, I can’t wait to try the spicy eel, and the fried chicken! I will be back :)

My girlfriends love this spot for our girls night out since they like the lady working there. Unfortunately the service is so slow, they’re literally in the back, bringing out all the food themselves, getting their own dishes, etc.
A bit pricey for what you get. If I had the choice to pick, I wouldn’t pick Gaboja.

I went this place yesterday with a group of 6 people. The quality of food was not bad but the amount is not enough for the price, so we had to order additional foods to fill up our stomach. Side dishes were suppose to be served as the number of people but they served short. The waitress were rushing us out of restaurant before we entirely finished our foods. All this little things made us feel little uncomfortable, however the raw fishes that we had were fresh and good.

I love the staff. They are sooooooo sweet. They have good quality meat.
It’s the only BBQ place I will go to and I love all the way in Milpitas.

Delicious side dishes and lots n lots of meat!!! You will not leave disappointed. Excellent for samgyupsal and chadolbagi. Their dwenjang chiggae is just like mom makes. Yummmm.

This place was a pleasant surprise. We were a little taken aback by the prices but we found the quality of the meat much better than Gooyi Gooyi. The very gracious hostess cooked the meats to perfection (rare and super tender) and made suggestions as to which dipping sauces go best with each type of meat. There was lots of banchan that they refilled as the dishes ran low. I love that they use chilled glasses and the water pitcher is ice cold. Loved the steamed egg. The soybean soup was good too. Overall we had a great time. We will be back.

Yes, the first time I came here was because Gooyi Gooyi was too crowded. But I am so glad it was, because I love Gaboja.
The previous times I went to Gooyi Gooyi, since I am not Korean, I didn’t really understand the big deal about BBQ pork belly, since it was always dry and not very flavorful. But after having it at Gaboja, TOTALLY get it. The quality of meat here is sooooo much better, which keeps me coming back.
The service at Gaboja is great. The waitresses recognize my friends and I even though we come about once every 3 or 4 weeks. They even remember our regular order (we’re predictable.) They grill our meat to perfection and give us suggestions on dipping sauces and banchan that best compliment the meats. They’re total sweethearts.
I find the atmosphere to be more enjoyable, too. It’s not overly crowded or too loud, but not at all stuffy. We always feel comfortable talking and laughing through our meals.

A nice little mom and pop Korean BBQ restaurant. The food is good, the customer service is nice, the place looks very clean, and they deliver (HUGE competitive advantage). The only bad part is they are located next to a perverted adult video store, so you see creepy men and women walking in-​and-​out of that place.

Great place to go to for late night eats without much wait. Initially tried to go to the restaurant next door Gooyi Gooyi, but wait was extreme. Kalbi short ribs was tasty. Food was decent with a good amount of sides, but fried chicken was a definite miss. Meat was slightly red. Waitresses were nice though. Tried to recook the chicken, but results were the same. Therefore, paid for fried chicken that I did not dare eat.

Came here with my bf because we wanted to try out Gooyi Gooyi next door, but it was super crowded. We decided to try out this place since we were craving for korean BBQ and boy did we regret walking in here. The cost of the food here is really high for the quality that you’re getting.
We ordered the tofu soup and it was not good. It was so bland that we could not even finish it. We also got an order of the Kalbi which was a bit steep at $ 25. Although it tasted good, it was not really the best quality meat and there were a lot of meatless short rib bones in it. For $ 25 I would kind of expect a lot more meat, not just bones.
Lastly, service was horrible for there being a total of 2 people in the restaurant aka my boyfriend and I. We were shocked that we had to ask for water and tea almost 3 times. It finally came after they delivered us our food which came like 30 – 40 mins after we ordered it. A bit long for it being this empty. We also had to ask a few times to get the bill. Funny thing is when we paid, they seemed to come right away.
We were both extremely disappointed with this place. When the bill came, it was pretty expensive and just not worth it. I guess you can’t always strike out when trying out new places. I am a huge supporter of mom and pop restaurants, however, I would not recommend this place to anyone.

The good thing about this place is it isn’t as crowded at the other Korean BBQ next door on Saturday @midnight. I could see why after we sat down.
Canned coke. Expensive menu. We ordered baby octopus and pork belly (2 thick slices) and our dinner came to around $ 60. Yowwws. Ripoff. And none of the meats were seasoned! Which is why you should ask for a bowl of salt n pepper.
The side dishes were very good. Kimchi soup was part of it. They don’t speak much English here, so you know. Parking is straightforward in the small front lot. I think there was parking in the rear too.

A common reason I read why folks go to Gaboja. .. «the wait at Gooyi Gooyi was too long» Yep, that’s why I wandered across the shared parking lot too.
What I had was a surprising and surprisingly good K-​BBQ meal.
Surprise #1 when I asked for one order of Jumulleuk (short steak marinaded in sesame oil, salt, pepper) and the waitress leaves and then comes back out and lights the BBQ table grill (
) Usually places say min 2 orders for table top grilling. .. maybe ’cause it was Monday and slow?
Then 6 plates of banchan appear (
). Pretty standard with kimchi, sprouts, fish cake. I think the dark one on the left was doraji, or bellflower root, which is not too common.
The well marbled meat is marinated with white and green onions (
) and it looks like for smaller orders they use a flat, rectangular grill plate vs. the large round ones you see in most pictures (
)
Surprise #2 when a small Doenjang Jjigae (soybean paste stew
) is delivered. I took this to go.
The servers take care of the cooking, but I grabbed the meat sooner to make sure it was rare to med-​rare (
).
For non-​marinated and these light marinated meats they bring ssam-​jang (gochujang /​doenjang based dipping sauce) and sesame oil with salt (
). Very tasty and tender meat. I liked the chunkier pieces where I got it more on the rare side.
And after I’ve been eating a bit, Surprise #3 appears. Gyeran Jjim (steamed egg casserole
) along with a couple more banchan (
). This was a little overcooked and burned on the bottom, but still decent.
Overall, a very good meal.
4.5 stars. Rounding up, because I’m easily bribed by «service» items.

Amazing place. Good food and great service. Servers were super attentive. The replenishment of side dishes was instant. When I dropped my chopsticks into the flames, and trying to fish it out, they handed me a new pair right away.
BEST thing about this place is that you don’t walk out smelling like Korean bbq! Love that!

It’s been a while since I’ve been here and all I can say is wow at all the recent changes. They expanded their restaurant and now have a nice large back area suitable for large parties. They definitely invested well with their exhaust system as you don’t walk out of there smelling like bbq.
Their menu has also improved as their offerings are more varietal and meat quality is excellent.
This place is located in the same plaza as Gooyi Gooyi, which I’ve also been to. However gooyi is much smaller and you definitely walk out smelling like bbq after eating.
Gaboja is more traditional of a place, and has way better «banchan». The owner is actually well known in the community for having one of the best Kimchi. The side plates there are fresh and great in quality and taste. This place is probably the closest to LA KTown type of environment and the staff here are super nice.
Rather than waiting next door for a table, I’d much rather always take my friends and family to Gaboja.
I’ll definitely be back now that they have a large room for big parties.
This place is very authentic to restaurants in Korea. Come check it out, it will NOT disappoint!

I can see why their business sucks. Was waiting for the rest of our group to arrive for dinner; stepped over to the next store, the woman came out to tell us to get out of the parking lot if we aren’t eating here. Wth?! Seriously? Just for that, we ate at another place. Plenty of food nearby.
Yes, they actually have a Mexican lady standing in front to watch the parking lot. Good luck with getting customers with that kind of attitude.

I got the $ 99 combo 3 with 2 other friends. The ahjuma spent the time to cook everything for us and was very accommodating. She had a large party that left just before we came in so it was a little slow at first coming out with our banchan or heck even taking our order. But at the end of it all, she did us 1up and gave us a free soju bottle that we basically ended up paying it back via a large tip. I think it’s some what odd that there are 3 small kbbq joints within two very small plazas. It’s like adult video store, kbbq, adult video store, kbbq, liquor store, kbbq. All in all, if this place is packed, just try going next door to see if there is less of a wait. They are all virtually on the same level.

11÷15÷14: This place is really hit and miss. The KBBQ is definitely sub-​par, but their other non-​kbbq dishes can be quite good.
1. Combo I (picked 2 items: Brisket, Cow Tongue) $ 49.95: Size-​wise this will probably make 2 people of average appetites decently full. Might be good enough for 3 or 4 if also ordering other dishes.
Brisket: is not the typical 3in diameter pieces usually served – these are strips about as long but twice as wide as large pieces of sliced bacon. That part is cool. But unfortunately the meat is REALLY tough and there is a lot of connective tissue. Very hard to chew. My date took like literally 1min to chew each bite and couldn’t talk most of the time. I cooked these pieces myself experimenting with doneness from rare to well-​done, and no matter how I cooked them, they just sucked. Pretty bad quality meat. ²⁄₁₀.
Cow Tongue: my favorite KBBQ meat. This one tastes fine. Not especially tasty, but not awful like the brisket. Average taste. ⁵⁄₁₀.
2. Seafood Pancake $ 18.95: It’s huge!!! (yup, that’s what she said.) More than 1ft in diameter… maybe about 1.5ft? The outside is super crisp, but not hard. The inside is about medium-​rare, with some gooeyness. Full of small oysters and other goodies. I loved how the outside is fried oh so well. Delicious. I never had a Korean pancake/​omelette fried so nicely! ⁸⁄₁₀.
3. Fried Chicken (S) $?: Mmmmmmmm… I LOVE the batter on this! Lots of batter, but not a mouthful of thick flour. Just layers and layers of crunchy, super fried but not burnt, savory goodness! The actual chicken is a tad dry/​overcooked. So, this isn’t the #1 Korean fried chicken (that honor goes to Hot n Sweet Chicken in Arcadia, CA), but it’s damn good. ⁸⁄₁₀.
Service was super bad. I wouldn’t say it was the waitress’ fault – she seemed nice enough. But I think she might have been the only waitress for the whole restaurant!, which was about ¾ full. That’s just really bad management. Took us like 20min to get our check after asking. I think it might have been 30min before she gave us water and the tea we ordered. It was pretty bad.
So… I think some of the dishes are worth the crappy service and maybe even the semi-​high prices. But definitely DO NOT GET KBBQ here.
³⁄₅.
#Korean #kbbq #friedchicken #chicken #koreanpancake #wings

Came here like others because the wait for Gooyi Gooyi next door was going to be an hour long. Part of me wishes I would have just waited, but we were hungry.
Meat and banchan were okay hence 2 instead of 1 star.
Gripes: Bad service overall. .
1.) Why list bibimbap on the combo menu when its not really included? During dinner they asked if we wanted rice, and I said yes I wanted my rice. Then after the meats were done grilling they brought out the soup. We kept waiting for the bibimbap, while we finished our meats. It was taking so long so we finally asked for the dish. The waitress looked confused and took our half eating rice bowls away to show and talk to the the owner? She then comes back to tell us that they use the rice, left over banchan, and left over meat to make a sort of bibimbap? WTF. Why did they list it on the combo menu as a dish? Why didn’t they say anything to us before they gave us our rice bowls? This irritated me the most about our dinner.
2.) Under grilling meat. Or grilling meat and combing back too late so one side was overcooked.
3.) Having to ask for things like our lettuce when its automatically brought to other tables. Or not being given bowls for our soup, or even a serving spoon.
Would i come back here again? NO!

Monday night — 99 chicken is closed (forgot to check!)…Korean BBQ is the next best thing while on El Camino. We decided to check out Gooyi Gooyi becos it was close, we haven’t tried it yet and there were good reviews.
It was busy there and with a long wait.really.on a Monday night? So we decided to go next door. It seemed busy here, but we didn’t have to wait long for a table… or so we thought!
We didn’t get to order until 20 mins later. The lady kept letting us know she’ll be with us, but we were hungry and getting cranky lol.
Ordered the 1^st combo with the soybean soup, choice of 3 meats, soju or makgulli, rice or bibimbap. We decided to try the makgulli since we had no idea what it was lol and other meats… on a foodie adventure :)
The lady brought us our makgulli and two bowls. Ummm, are the bowls for rice or soup. Neither! She said they were for our makgulli. Tasted pretty good, like yogurt soju except there’s a rice taste to it.
We were loving the fish cakes and seaweed ban chans. The lady cooked us the meats at our table. She’s really friendly when she’s at the table. We loved the pork belly and the meat. Not so much the intestines (tripas?).
The food was good, not the greatest but worthy of another trip back if in the area.
Towards the end of the meal, she gave us some korean popcorn :) she was eating it with us which made us laugh but also felt like we were guests at her house. We teased her about that.
Food was surprisingly good. Don’t let the service keep you away.