TTOBONGEE / KOREA HOUSE — Restaurant in Hayward

I was in the area studying and noticed that my tummy was rumbling so I resorted to looking at my maps for a lunch spot that would fill me up for my busy day. I was glad to have found Ttobongee because I really enjoyed my dining experience here.

I entered the restaurant around lunchtime and I was instantly greeted by the Unnie hostess. The place was not busy at all, and I was quickly seated. I had a good conversation with Unnie and told her it was my first time visiting the restaurant. When I revealed this, she did her best to make sure I had all my questions answered and was patient in explaining what options there were. She also took the time to explain that the restaurant has been in business for more than 20 years! (Later, I was told that usually there would be a 20-1hr wait during lunchtime. Unfortunately, these unprecedented times took a toll. I was also told that they do keep busy with takeout orders!)

I originally wanted a specific Korean soup dish but unfortunately, it was not on their menu. Instead, I ordered the House Combo 4 and I was in for a treat. She told me that her manager was surprised that I ordered this as apparently, it was a lot of food. No kidding! It was but, it was my first meal of the day and I was able to leave no trace of food left (I even had room for a second serving of the bonchon sized kimchi). House Combo 4 included Beef & Spicy Pork, Pan-fried Mackrel, and Tofu Soup. EVERYTHING, tasted well seasoned and I felt like I was eating at someone's house in Korea. The food was that comforting!

With that amount of food and the quality, the high price point seemed reasonable to me. I will definitely have to come back here to try the other authentic Korean dishes and bring along a...

I was so very excited for this place, because I absolutely LOVE Korean food, but unfortunately it was a big disappointment. We were referred by some nice folks and looked forward to it. The parking lot was very sketchy, but the interior looked better. It was our first time here, so we were unsure of what to order and asked for more time. We at first had a young girl as our server, but they switched her for an older lady (maybe 40s)... not sure why. Anyways this lady kept trying to rush us to order and I kept asking her about the portion, and she just kept saying it serves 1 person. What is that even supposed to mean? 1 serving in EVERY restaurant is different. I don't know what people had in mind when they said "portions are enormous", because it wasn't. Our meals were mediocre, and we were still very hungry at the end of it. The price of the meal was very expensive considering the size and quality of it. When it came time to pay, our server was nowhere to be found. We kept pushing the button to pay (they have a device on the table with different buttons to call for services) and it took forever. Not only did we had to call a different server to fetch our bill, but our lady kept going elsewhere other than our table. We had difficulty in understanding half the things she said, and I can usually 98% understand asian accents, because I was raised with asian parents and friends who have accents. The other servers were actually quite polite and friendly, and we saw they gave good service too. Our lady was just not nice I guess. Oh if you wanted to know, they separate the place into two spaces. One area you go if you want to do our own bbq and the other, you just order...

After this experience, I never want to try Korean BBQ again, that is how BAD this experience was. This was honestly the worst service I have ever received anywhere. I always want to support Hayward businesses, but this was disappointing. Extremely rude waitress. It got to the point where the waitress had gotten into my face after telling her we want to leave (we were extremely uncomfortable and upset) and we also offered to pay as the food had already came out. She made us feel unwelcome, and got extremely irritated with us when asking questions, this was our first time for Korean BBQ. “I’m Vegetarian!!!” Is what she told us so aggressive, slamming her hands on the table, after asking her what she recommends. After explaining to her, nicely (my partner has been in the service industry and we both are understanding) that our order was wrong, when she brings out our food, she gets furious at us, walks away as we are talking, comes back with the menu and slams it on the table. A rude waitress with a mask. Please go somewhere else, with the rising costs of living and raising of prices in restaurants, it is NOT...