O'daku — Restaurant in Austin

For the regulars who frequented Odaku in the past, it may come as a shock or slight disappointment to the new changes that have taken place. For others, it’s a fresh new twist on Korean cuisine. — The menu has drastically downsized from before. Has its pros and cons. Now, they can focus their attention on quality dishes rather than mediocre variety. (Not that they were bad to begin with). And who is to say they won’t add a few items as time goes on? They’ve already added two new items to the menu. — I’ve visited a handful of times since the change and the new menu structure along with the interior redesign makes the entire restaurant feel more modern and less constricted. Has a nice open floor plan which accommodates more seating for busier times. — Let’s talk food. The katsu; 100/10. I usually have to avoid eating fried foods due to the oil being overused and food being too greasy. This is not to hype up the restaurant, but the quality of the crisp and batter was so…”fluffy”. That’s the only way I can describe it. It wasn’t over-fried nor was it under-fried. It was a very ‘light’ texture. And that’s just about the crisp. The flavor was amazing, egg was perfectly cooked over easy, portion was more than enough. I would appreciate some more katsu sauce though. — Next, I tried the black bean noodles. The hostess was pretty confident in saying they’ll be known as the best in Austin. The standards aren’t too high in that regard since there’s very little Korean restaurants that serve this dish. Dallas on the other hand, LOTS. While the portion size could be slightly larger, the flavor and texture of this dish easily tops any restaurant in Austin, it could even compete against popular places in Dallas. 9/10 — With their new menu structure, they now offer a noodle bar. I personally am not fond of food being kept out in the open, similar to Chipotle, but I’m sure they are set up in accordance to health and safety regulations. I haven’t tried this option myself but my coworker who did have it only had good things to say about it. It can be confusing at first and it may take a few tries before you get the hang of seeing how much everything you collected weighs and how much food that correlates to. 7/10 — I’ve ordered a few different sushi rolls here and while it’s not the best sushi quality, it’s not awful. It’s still fresh, the rolls are delicious, but having a number of higher end sushi joints in the neighboring areas, I personally will stick to the Korean food menu. 6/10 — As far as the new ordering system, you place your order at the counter and seat yourself. Water, side dishes, utensils, clean up are self service. Once the food is ready, your name is called and you tend to everything yourself. The hostess is very friendly and polite, always greeting guests with a warm welcome. 9/10 — Before I forget, the side dishes. There’s not many actual side dishes as typical Korean restaurants do, but do NOT forget to get yourself some kimchi. All I will say on that is, 100/10. — It’s understandable to be harsh towards the restaurant owners for the change, but definitely give them a try. Might not be what you’re “used to”, but it might turn out to be your new go to for lunch or...

Re-visited after renovations. They simplified the menu and limited the korean items to strictly noodle dishes which was a huge disappointment because I loved the hot stone bibimbap. The new concept is sushi, single order, and noodle bar where you can choose unlimited vegetables and a weight limited meat which they cook into an either a soup or stir fry with your choice of flavoring, noodle, and spice level. Tried the stir fry with lamb, mild mala sauce, and egg noodles. Good quality meat but skimpy on the noodles. Perfect spice and sauce level. Average - nothing amazing, good value for the price. I also tried the Kong Guk Su (cold soybean noodle) since I don’t see that offered at other Korean restaurants. Amazing creamy soybean broth rich with roasted sesame notes. Came with half a boiled egg, cucumbers, and a slice of tomato. Small portion of noodles. A bit pricey for a mainly noodle dishes which with no significant protein. They offer unlimited side dishes of kimichis which was a bit of the sweeter, not heavily pickled. Also had unlimited sauce bar which I was confused as to what it was for since the noodle bar options came with sauce. Basic ice cream with cake cones also comes free with the meal, nice sweet treat for dessert. The concept of the new restaurant is a bit confusing and I hope they bring back more of the old Korean menu. Overall average, they lost the touch of the original restaurant.

———— Original Review

Misleading how this restaurant has sushi in the name as it looks like they are more well known for their Korean dishes. Ordered the hot stone bibimbap, came with six banchan and a miso soup. Loved the side dishes, the fishcake and potatoes were super savory (not sweet like most places) and the vegetables were crisp and perfectly pickled. A good variety of thinly cut vegetables for an easy mix into the rice. The meat was a minuscule amount of minced beef bulgogi and an egg yolk, not a protein forward dish. Got the crispy scorched rice at the end of the meal, worth the extra dollar...

I came here for lunch after an appointment nearby on July 10. I don’t go out to eat very often, but I have been at this place a few times over the past 10 years. Just to be clear, I was in perfect health until roughly within about 10 minutes after leaving, I sat in my car for a while because my stomach was feeling very bad and then realized I was going to throw up and be very sick. I ran to a restroom at a nearby business with vomiting and diarrhea. I could not head for home for nearly half an hour. I was extremely sick and my head hurt. When I finally rushed home I couldn’t get to the bathroom soon enough. I was sick for a few days with diarrhea, stomach problems, and headache problems. The money I paid for that food and the tip I paid was for them to give me food poisoning. Needless to say, I will never go back there again, which is very sad because I used to like going there. When I called them the next day, the manager remembered my being there, but didn’t seem to care and basically accused me of lying because they NEVER have had that problem? I never had breakfast that morning, and I was not sick in the least until shortly after eating their food. It was either the salad, miso soup, chicken, Bulgogi, or California roll. I guess I’m the only one in the history of their being in business that has ever gotten food poisoning there and I guess I imagined all that I went through for days. It’s bad enough that I paid to make myself sick, but to have them blame me instead of holding themselves accountable and saying they’re sorry, makes me even more sick. Their attitude is psychopathic. I will never go back there again. If I could given them no stars, I would have done that as the experience was awful and lasted almost a week. And to think on top of paying for the food, I gave them a tip for their compliments of...