Daeho Bellevue — Restaurant in Bellevue

As a Korean living on the Eastside, when my family and I heard of a Korean restaurant opening in the area, we all need to go and try it out.

Now, I am far from really selective of restaurants and food. But after a LONG wait in a small cramped space. I was surprised how loud and close all of the tables were! I am not a large person, but I had to squeeze in sideways, smashing my jacket and purse close to my chest as the diners on the very next table won’t have my cloths and bag in their meal.

The menu was alright, but slim pickings from other restaurants. Once an actual waitress came by, I was proceeded to be told how many of the items were seasonal or not available. Then wouldn’t it help to update your menus?

Then we were in for another long wait for basic things like banchan, which was a small amount, but our tiny table had a bit of issue with the plates. Not because of the number of banchan, but it was a TINY table. Once again, the sound was SO loud, my fellow dining partner and I REALLY struggled to hear each other over the tiny table, and having a private conversation with the people at the next table, literally less than 8-9 inches from us…was impossible. Then to have a large party of over 8 people next to us…forget it.

The food was pretty “meh”, basic, nothing truely notable. I am not counting the other I credibly long wait time, or the difficulty to mix the “stone” mixed vegatable and rice (bibimbap) in a large flat “skillet like” “bowl”. They didn’t even provide enough of the basics for bibimbap which we had to yell and find someone to help us. We REALLY missed the table bell service button which other Korean restaurants (which are MUCH better) have.

We were largely forgotten about, and I felt embarrassed as a Korean. Obviously coming into the restaurant the first thing that popped out at me not only their attempts to just jam everyone and every table into a single location (fire hazard?), but nearly everyone was not Korean. So I guess this Korean restaurants caters towards the non-Korean crowd. So if you don’t really know, familiar, or grown up with Korean food, this place (rather overpriced) might be for you. I am not even one of those people who says this isn’t like the home cooked meals, etc. My food was so “meh”, I didn’t even bother to eat it all.

I will say this, only “plus” was we were in a tiny corner (“2 person”) table which was right behind the main cash register, so we had a SLIGHT advantage to hunt people down…if they ever did more than “I’ll get that…” only to never return. We did get the person who was cleaning the table next to us, but he said he couldn’t help us…let alone understand basic Korean food needs like gochujang. This isn’t a major deal breaker, but it would also be nice to have more than 1-2 Korean speakers in a Korean restaurant. It would also help to understand how other Korean restaurants provide much more for less. It’s not like the food quality at Daeho was better. The other “plus” was that they checked us out at our table, which I suffered through with the large heavy devices with a bad left arm, and try to get the stupid device to accept my perfectly fine card. I couldn’t get out easily again to exit the table. Forget about going to the bathroom if you sit alone the wall.

Parking, ha, forget about it! Park at the nearby Safeway! Unless you want to wait for someone to come out. Or maybe you’ll luck out like I did?

My family has all gone at different times and dates. However we all come to on conclusion, a big “NO” to returning. Koreans I know around the area are saying the same. We will eat at home, eat something else, or drive North or South for our...

It's rare to find a specialty Korean restaurant anywhere in WA and this one hits it out of the ballpark. The first day I tried Daeho in SF a couple of years ago, I left a review begging them to open one in the Seattle area. I'm glad to see that they listened to my sound advice. ;)

They transferred the quality, taste, and service seamlessly to this location. I've tried almost every dish in all of the visits I made to the SF locations AND twice in one week already here in Bellevue (you read that right) and all of them were on point per usual. Henry, our server, was friendly and sweet, and Jesse, the GM, made an effort to check on every table and was the nicest guy.

If you've never eaten here before, pay attention to this tried and true selection and order of indulgence:

1. Order the yukhwe. This is the raw beef "salad." I know it sounds gross, but TRY IT. It's sweet and refreshing and a perfect way to wake up your taste buds.

2. Order so-mek. That's soju and beer for you so-mek virgins. If you don't know how to mix them, ask your server for the perfect proportions. You can't eat #1 above without this. Well, unless it's at 11am and you have a meeting with your pastor in an hour.

WAIT TO ORDER ANYTHING ELSE. You'll be tempted, but WAIT.

3. When you're about half way into your yukhwe, order the large kalbijjim. Large is like $10 more than the smaller one. It's worth it. Trust. I recommend adding the noodles, rice cakes, and cheese. If some in the group don't eat cheese, ask them to just put it over half of the dish.

WAIT TO ORDER ANYTHING ELSE. Seriously, WAIT. You're going to a super busy restaurant and you just can't expect them to pace all your dishes when you want them so you have to pace yourself.

You will want to enjoy every bite of the kalbijjim in all its glory without having to worry if your nengmyun will get soggy or your bibimbap dry. So just eat the kalbijjim alone. Refill that so-mek.

Quick PSA: Please get only half the rice you think you'll need. Like 2 bowls for 4 people. The kalbijjim has plenty of carbs and you will get other noodle dishes so don't waste all the rice. You can always ask for more if you need it later. Same thing with the side dishes (banchan). If you don't think you'll eat some of them, please ask them to not put it on your table and send them back. Once on your table, they cannot serve it elsewhere. Food waste is bad for your soul and for the planet. Didn't your mama tell you about all those starving children?

4. When you're 79.9% done with the kalbijjim, order the Daeho nengmyun. This is a great in-between choice when you can't decide if you want mulnengmyun (the soupy one) or bibimnengmyun (the spicy one). It's a Korean tradition to wind down with cold noodles to clean off the oils from all the meat. What? Why would you eat cold noodles, you say? Trust. It's chewy, it's flavorful, and it's a refreshing finish.

Once you've tried this, go back and try the other menu items. Everything is delicious. But, I stand by this as the best first-timer sequence....

OVERALL: Been back twice now and already planning to go back for our 3rd time.

FAMILY FRIENDLY: Yes but this is a to go place PET FRIENDLY: No PARKING: Tiny tiny parking lot.

FOOD/MENU: Appetizer: Kalbi Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake with kalbi sauce) $12.95: 4 Stars – I could eat this all day!!! Super gooey from the cheese, slight chew from the tteokbokki, and the flavor from the Kalbi. The only thing that could made this better is having more and more Kabli… or only cutting the Kalbi into bigger pieces…??

Naeng Myun (buckwheat noodles, brisket, Asian pear, pickled cucumber, and hard boiled egg): Choice - Daeho Naeng Myun (Spicy cold noodle with cold broth) $22.95: 5 Stars - Unexpectedly good. We went after a work out and this hit the spot when it came to cooling down. The flavor was amazing and the texture of the noodles was the right amount of chewy.

Kalbijjim (Premium Beef ribs, carrots, potatoes, radishes, rice cakes, onions, and big green onions): Choice - Kko Gal Jjim (Beef rib with oxtail – Serves 2-3) $94.95: 4 Stars – the was super yummy and super hot LOL so I’ll have to be more careful next time. I’m actually not a huge fan of rice cake because it takes so much room that meat could be filling :D but the sauce made it worth eating. The ribs were super tender and fall off the bone.

I want to make a special note for the 2nd trip is that they needed to braised this for another 30 minutes to an hour… the flavor was still on point but the oxtail was still really chewy… like you need floss afterwards.

Suyuk (Premium ox bone soup with king oyster mushrooms, big green onions, and chives on top, include two bowls of rice – Serves 2-3) – Choice Modeum (Combination) $69.95: 5 Stars normally I would rank this a 3 star because the meat was kind of dry for sitting on top of the broth but holy hell, the broth was so good. Like I could drink that shit every day for the rest of my life. I don’t even need the rest of the stuff that comes with the broth, just a huge cupful would be good.

DRINKS: Koryo Samiju Ginseng $24.95: 3 Stars as an alcoholic drink… 5 Stars if you’re looking for something herbaly. I will say that you will not taste the alcohol since the ginseng taste is overpowering…

Seoul Night $29.95: 1 Star – I do reserve the right to change this rating as I had this after the Ginseng drink so I don’t know if its because it’s a horrible combination and all I taste was Ginseng… but I did try this again after waiting 30 mins and eating more… there is something I cant pinpoint…maybe the cane sugar but it made me not like this LOL

RESTAURANT/SERVICE: Tiny restaurant next to a gas station with a super tiny parking lot. Totally worth the headache to circle around to look for a spot. There is no reservations system ahead of time and you have to put your name down when you get there. Luckily our wait was only 20 mins but so worth it. The staff was super nice and tried to accommodate folks.

The serving size is not accurate as each thing should be like 4-5 people...