Gaja Korean Bar — Restaurant in Atlanta

I have no clue how this place has the rating does. I have to assume it's by people who don't want to venture out of East Atlanta to get Korean from Buford Hwy.

Firstly the portion vs the cost of a dish is a joke. I'm just happy I didn't spend $9 or so on an appetizer that was the portion of (and would have been the same cost of) $5 somewhere else--like some people at my table did. Also I've never been to a Korean place that charges for the basic banchan when it not even endless. They charge for each banchan and Kimchi and it's not really authentic banchan--one was lightly steamed broccoli with what seemed like Sriracha.

Secondly, our service was awful. We were a group of 7, and pretty non-demanding. They were accommodating to make us a larger area when we were all trying to squeeze into two small tables, and that's about where the good service ended. We had to ask for utensils and napkins and water for every one. Despite having no problem taking our order, when things came out there was mass confusion. My couple friends ordered 3 dishes and got two. I told the server three times that they ordered a whole other dish and three of their overpriced sides, and yet we all ate our entire meal without them ever seeing their third dish or the sides they ordered.

Third, I would not have been mad if the checks resolved this. The server screwed up all but one person's checks. I'm even sure I got overcharged but I was so annoyed by that point, I couldn't care.

The only good thing going for them was bibimbap. Even though it wasn't an authentic stone bowl it was pretty okay. Not sizzling hot with crunchy rice at the bottom. I would have paid $8 for my soup sized bibimbap and not ~$16 (adding $1 for banchan and $1 for kimchi).

But the service was so bad it...

This is a nice looking place and service was pretty good. We waited about 30 min before being seated and another 5 minutes before the server came to greet us. The vibe is very chill and relaxing.

HOWEVER

The food was highly disappointing. Honestly, tasted American rather than Korean.

Short review: NEEDS FLAVOR/ SEASONING ON EVERYTHING !

Detailed review: see below

Kimchi Fried Rice: used too much water when cooked so it was mushy. Our serving didn’t have kimchi. And worst of all, it tasted like propane. When y’all cooking it in the wok, chill out with that flame. Looks cool, I know, but it doesn’t taste good at all!

Beef Bulgogi: the shaved ribeye lacked flavor. The soy marinade also was bland. Served with white rice, probably the tastiest thing on the plate even though it didn’t have salt either.

Soy Garlic Fried Chicken: this was ok but it needs work. First, maybe it’s my bad for thinking I’m getting bone in chicken, thanks for cutting the meat off for me I guess. Bite size nuggets were indeed prettier to eat. I don’t think the flavor should just come from the glaze though. The amount of glaze was a bit over powering in the sense it made me gag after eating a few nuggets. I had to remove the glazed batter to try the chicken and the chicken was bland. The flavor wasn’t balanced. Maybe flavor the chicken and batter and go lighter on the glaze and add a hint of sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the soy.

Scallion Pancake: is it supposed to be raw like that? We only ate the edges because the center was raw. I almost choked on the scallion, maybe cut them? Too much butter, it tasted like cardboard box. From experience, Korean pancakes have a lot more vegetables in it and seasoning.

Soju Seltzer...

literally the worst food i’ve ever had and the worst service. we walked in and got seated but other than that the server n hostess were not helpful. we ordered the bipimbap with tofu, korean fried chicken, scallion pancake, and kimchi fried rice. we also wanted the kimchi hot dog, but the waitress said they don’t have it anymore, even though we came during the time that it was sold. first of all when the bipimbap came out the egg on top was completely raw. the egg whites weren’t even cooked. when i asked an employee to replace the egg for us, he stared at us, laughed and said “um this is only my first shift i can’t help u”. the scallion pancake was literally so disgusting it tasted like boxed pancake mix with long uncut pieces of green onion in the middle. not to mention the pancake was raw in the middle. a traditional scallion pancake does not taste like wtv that was.it was pretty obvious that the restaurant wasn’t korean owned because they did not know how to prepare korean dishes at all. the kimchi fried rice was pretty bad too and not authentic. there were huge pieces of kimchi in the rice that made it difficult to eat. you can get better fried rice at any takeout place. the bipimbap was horrendous and had zero flavor at all. the korean fried chicken was just okay, nothing special. I was extremely disappointed by coming here and do not recommend to anyone who does not eat meat. the food was almost inedible. $55...