Korea Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Columbia

I was really disappointed in this place as all the amazingly subtle yet powerful flavors that I've come to love in Korean cuisine were blatantly missing. This is one of the few times where I did not enjoy a single dish that we ordered.

We had the seafood pancake, spicy cold noodles, mackerel, cheese katsu, spicy squid, the pork belly and the kimchi jjigae. While I don't expect every dish at a restaurant to be a masterpiece and to be a life changing force, I do put a lot of emphasis on the taste of the kimchi jjigae and this was my biggest disappointment. As you take a spoonful of the broth, the excitement at the anticipation of deep and rich flavors is suddenly crushed under the one dimensional taste of "spiciness" that assaults your taste buds. This was not a good spicy nor was it a hot spicy. It felt as if someone added something to a watered down broth to give the impression that it is flavorful. To make it worse, the taste lingers obscuring all other flavors. There was no rhythm and rhyme, no harmony, no cohesion. The cheese katsu didn't fare any better. As both the katsu and cheese were tasteless. Even the texture felt off. The meat was too tough and eating the cheese felt like chewing on an elastic piece of thin plastic. As with the kimchi jjigae, it felt like the ingredients were fighting for the spotlight rather than blending together to form something unique and impressionable. The last item that really shocked me for not being good was the mackerel. It was not juicy and I found it too salty. There was no hint of those magical flavors that a good mackerel can invoke. The rest of the dishes were neither good nor bad.

Overall a subpar experience. Would have been one star but the service was good, fast,...

Korean Garden delivers solid, home-style Korean food that’s easy to enjoy, especially if you’re craving comforting staples like spicy pork and tteokbokki. The atmosphere is relaxed, with soft cafe music playing in the background, and service was fast and friendly—the woman serving us (possibly the owner) was especially kind and welcoming.

That said, the interior could use some work. It looks like the space used to be a Chinese restaurant, and the transition wasn’t fully carried through. The paint and walls are a bit rough, and you can clearly see the storage room from some of the tables, which felt unpolished and somewhat distracting. Maybe that’s just me being picky, or maybe it’s reflective of a traditional Korean setup—but either way, the layout didn’t really appeal to me. I am aware that older Koreans do tend to have this sort of layout though.

As for the food: the mandu were smaller than I’m used to (though I usually make mine large at home), but still tasty. The tteokbokki was soft, chewy, and had a great flavor—just like how I make it myself. Paired with the mandu, it was a perfect combo.

The standout was definitely the spicy pork—flavorful, tender, and well-balanced. It tasted like something from a higher-end Korean restaurant, and I’d definitely come back just for that dish.

Overall, Korean Garden is a great spot for casual Korean food with strong flavors and kind service. If you don’t mind a more basic interior, the food makes it...

If I could give this place a negative rating I would. Today was my first time visiting as I usually go to Obok, and our order was completely messed up. I ordered a mackerel dish that was supposed to be chargrilled and they gave me fried mackerel with soup. My mom ordered squid and got octopus. I mentioned this to the server and he ignored me. Mind you his English was horrible to the point that he has to point at stuff and i dont speak Korean. Time goes by and the guy never comes back. So we decided to go to the register to get a ticket. Then I see the buss lady come to my table and I mentioned to her I hadn't touched the food and wanted to put it in a to go plate. She still through my food away. So I explained I wasn't going to pay for something I didn't order and eat but I'll pay for the other things I did eat which were appetizers. She decided to take my fish out the trash and tried to give it ti me to go. Long story short they called the cops...i recorded everything. They basically got them to make what I wanted over and I paid. Then they decided once the cop left to not give me my food. Now it's being disputed at the bank whom my mother who witnessed the whole thing is the manager at. Video will be on YouTube...