Kyung Bok Kung Korean BBQ — Restaurant in Buena Park

KyungBokKung provides fine excellence in modern and traditional Korean cuisine. I was treated like royalty and ate like a king.

With 48 locations in Korea, and having its first US location in Buena Park, the anticipation for this restaurant was growing. The Korean community was excited. This was the next big restaurant. It housed private rooms for special occasions and events. Menu is equipped with course menus or combinations. The traditional Korean course menus are perfect for formal gatherings because the course/set food is already prepared and you don't have to do any cooking to not interrupt the conversation.

The foundation is situated on a very busy street, Beach Blvd., near Knott's Berry Farm, and replaced a former Korean restaurant that was once a premier spot. After being empty for a few years, the former space transformed into a Korean fine dining restaurant with a good price point. It has a new identity.

Korean BBQ these days are focused on all you can eat and pumps out loud K-pop music. It makes it like a night club. When I want to eat, I don't want loud music to overwhelm my eating experience. I want a conversation and enjoy my company. For a special day like Mother's Day or an anniversary, would you want loud music to be in the background? You want elegance and fine dining for your special person!

As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by the general manager, Jenny with a warm smile. Andrew who was my server, explained everything in detail and recommended the beef premium special grill course for $49 a person. It comes with various set courses for each round. I realized this was the same price I would have paid for at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, but with far less food (a small beef combo won't feed two hungry people there, trust me!).

The beef course menu came with an array of side dishes, salads, and entrees (refer to my pictures of the food courses that came out) with one set of boneless short rib and short rib bone in. The meat quality on both cuts made me and my wife speechless. Andrew kept cooking for us, bringing out the food and focused his attention as if we were his only table. Ask for his special side dish of kimchi with sesame oil! You won't be disappointed!

The entrees and sides dishes were clean and tasty. I told Andrew that I usually drink a lot of water with my food. But here, I drank two cups total. Maybe because the food was so clean I didn't need to wash down the saltiness.

Buena Park is truly a special city. I got to witness a huge boom the last decade. It's where residents or tourists can experience elegance, culture and to be honest, just a good time eating Korean food with phenomenal service.

KyungBokKung provided all of that in one...

Oh my! What an amazing place of taste! And, not just food taste, which is very delectable. The ambiance, the decor, the spaciousness of seating, furniture quality and soft jazzy music, all added to the total experience! And, it was clean (restrooms, too!)

What was amazing to discover was how HEALTHY the entire meal was. It starts out with a cool, not too spicey, pink, clear broth, kim chee soup: the perfect probiotic digestif for the meal to follow. The ban che plates gave so much variety in flavors and was brought with three different cold leafy salads: perfect for required prebiotic fibers for the probiotics to feed upon for healthy digestion. And don't forget the fermentation, which is also more probiotics, in the kimchee, bean paste, and some help with vinegars in the salad dressings. We ordered a bulgogi lunch special. The meat was presented as a stew, but not all mixed up; the meat and vegetables were beautifully partitioned in the broth, which was sweet and hearty, then cooked at our table. Order the "brown" rice, which is a more purple-ish color and it had a more chewy texture with azuki beans. The meal ended with a "pomegranate lemonade", cool, slightly vinegary, slightly sweet drink. Ta da! An amazing gustatorial experience with very pleasant and attentive service with smiles! Compared to other Korean restaurants, lunch IS a bit more expensive BUT, cannot compare in what you get here, all the way around. BTW, this is the same chain restaurant that's in Seoul, Korea. That's...

For a place like this, I really need to break it down why I gave a 3 star. I'll start with best features 1st. Food quality is 5 stars. Everything overall seems fresh with good quality ingredients. Food presentation and/or plating is really fancy and nice. They bring out dishes as a course meal from appetizers to entree. Atmosphere and cleanliness are 5 stars. The place looks nice with nice lighting, tables, chairs ok, and spacious. Clean overall even the bathroom. Service is about 4 stars. Anything within the course of the meal is good but when we asked for something out of course like beer, 3 glasses, and a fork, we had to ask for those a 2nd time and took a while to bring something you don't have to prepare. It is a big place and kind of busy and may be a little shorthanded but still should've been right away. I used to be a server so usually the server that forgets. But everyone was nice, professional, and courteous. Food taste is like 3.5 stars. I would honestly say it's just above average. It's good if the price was good but due to the high cost, it's not worth the money. Value is 2 stars, maybe 2.5 stars if you're going there for the luxurious feeling. It just feels overpriced for the taste of the food. It's good taste overall but I can find a place that's not too far for that tastes better for about half to two thirds of the price. Especially since the proportions you get isn't that much. If I can give like a 3.5 stars overall then I would but I feel like 4 stars...