Daldongnae Korean BBQ - Waterloo — Restaurant in Waterloo

I was really excited to try this place with my husband! I am vegetarian and my husband eats meat so we were glad we could both find something on the menu. The restaurant requires that each person orders at least 1 set of either their various cuts of meat or the vegan set. When I ordered the vegan set, the waitress told us they had sold out in the morning. She was not apologetic and when I asked if they had other alternatives for vegetarians, she said I could get an add-on of shrimp and mushrooms, which meant I had to order a meat set first. I felt that she diminished my needs as a vegetarian and it didn't make sense to order a meat set just so I could add-on mushrooms and shrimp. Shrimp is also not a vegetable. We decided that perhaps we would try their tofu stew because it was a vegetarian option on their non-BBQ menu. When we ordered the second time, another waiter took our orders and said that we cannot order the tofu stew as that menu is only available for ordering once you order the BBQ sets. I told him that I wanted to order the kimchi tofu stew because the other waitress had said there were no more vegan sets. He said he wasn't aware of that and clarified with the kitchen, it turned out they still had vegan sets. All in all, the BBQ experience was fun and tasty once the food arrived. However, the initial disappointment that there potentially were no options here for me and later finding out it was poor communication amongst the staff left a not so good impression of this restaurant, especially when the waitress suggested I...

We visited Daldongnae in Waterloo again today to celebrate Mother’s Day. We come here more than twice a month—this is by far my favourite location. I’ve tried other branches too, but nothing compares to the Waterloo Daldongnae❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

As a Korean, I’m very familiar with all the side dishes and menu items served here, and I can confidently say that the food and service are consistently top-notch and authentic itself. We truly appreciate how the taste never changes and the quality is always maintained.

Plus, one of the biggest reasons we love this place is the manager, Haneul(Sky). I’ve been coming here since 2023, and she’s always gone above and beyond to take care of us, especially knowing that we come from far away. Her genuine kindness, warm smile, and welcoming nature make every visit feel like coming home❣️💓💘💝💓💞💕❤️

I’m also grateful to the rest of the staff—everyone is so friendly and always greets customers with a smile. As for the food—it’s simply excellent. Every time I come, I get to enjoy the Korean dishes I’ve missed so much, and it never disappoints❣️❣️❣️

We've also recommended Daldongnae to our friends, and now they all want to come with us next time! I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Daldongnae Waterloo👍 I'm so grateful to have a place where I can enjoy delicious, unlimited Korean food that truly tastes like home🙏🙏🙏

To me, Daldongnae is more than just a restaurant—it’s a place I genuinely cherish🫶❤️💘❤️ Thank you for always being there, and for making every visit so warm, comforting, and...

We visited last night, having been here about a year ago when we had an amazing 5-star experience. We were really looking forward to coming back, but this visit was completely different and very disappointing. The service was poor from the start. Our server, Jin, rarely checked on us and we had to ask multiple times for dishes to be cleared. Items that we could freely order before, like the soup, were suddenly limited to just once, which left four adults sharing only two soups.

I also tried to order a few more side dishes with the last of my barbeque meat, but it took so long for the server to return that by the time I asked, I was told no additional sides could be given since there was no meat on the grill anymore. If they had bothered to check in on us, this would not have been an issue.

What made the experience worse was that while our table was being ignored, I could see staff down the hall chatting and focusing only on the front of the house. We still ordered six meat dishes and assorted mushrooms, which was plenty, but the service ruined the meal. At checkout, the server seemed to expect a large tip, which was frustrating given how we were treated. We still gave a tip because we understand things need to be cleaned up and we did dine in, but honestly, they deserved ZERO and should not have received any reward for this service.

This was not the same place we experienced before. The food itself is good, but the service felt careless and dismissive. Based on how we were treated, sadly we will not...