Soon's Kal Bi Drive In — Restaurant in Honolulu

This place has no customer service what so ever! We just bought a small pan of meat jun 2 weeks ago and it was a heaping amount. My children LOVE meat jun and we had guest over so we figured we buy more this time. When we called into the restaurant to inquire how much a medium sized pan would feed it was advised that it could feed 13-15 people. So we decided to place the order. My husband went to pick the pan up and when I opened the pan to feed my 5 children and 5 adults, I was taken by surprise on the amount that was in the pan. It looked like they placed the small amount into a medium pan and called it that. We called the restuarant and spoke to the manager Kim and explained to her our findings. She then advised that we got what we paid for and that she did not owe us an apology or any type of compensation. We than asked to speak with someone higher up which is the owner. Yumi called us and explained that her workers misinformed us of the amount that is expected to feed especially if it's the only item being served. She did not want to compensate us for even a side order or anything! She told me straight up that if I want more I can come down and pay for more. When I asked her if she thought this was customer service, she ignored the question and told me that she did not need my service any longer. That my business was not needed and or appreciated. I would NEVER purchase food from this place ever again!!! The only reason there is 1 star is because I cannot give 0!!! I have never been more dissatisfied and disgusted by the way I have been treated. I have never been treated so poorly...

After several months of my coworker telling me to try this place out, I finally did. And it was not my cup of tea.

My coworker told me to try the bbq chicken so I ordered the bbq chicken and kalbi plate. My husband ordered the mix plate with everything on it and we got an order of mandoo to share. Luckily I had some cash on me (I almost never carry cash on me, and especially not enough to pay for a meal), so make sure to BRING CASH! The food came out pretty fast, maybe about 10 minutes.

When I got home, I was surprised to see meat jun and kalbi in my plate. I hoped for a minute that it was actually my husband's plate but his order was correct. Sigh... maybe the meat jun wasn't as bad as my fellow Yelpers had said it was. IT SUCKED. The meat jun was super thin and very dry. The batter was also dry, not like fried dry but sitting out too long dry. Gross. I threw it away. The kalbi was okay. There wasn't much flavor to the meat, but it was cooked well and was not dried out.

Luckily my husband was sweet enough to let me try his bbq chicken. It was good, but nothing about it was better than any other Korean-stlye bbq chicken. The mandoo... I think is an acquired taste. It has a very bitter garlic flavor to it. My husband described it as "medicinal flavored". I love garlic. Like, really love garlic but this was just not for me. I couldn't place the bitterness to it, but it was a turn off to me.

I would give a 3, but for getting my order wrong I have to take a star away. I know that others love this place, but it just wasn't for me. I will not...

5/5!

Had a local friend recommend this place to me as one of the must visit food spots to hit in Hawaii. I can say, I was not disappointed and really loved the food here. It's a very lowkey spot, kind of a, "If you know, you know" spot and when you try the food, you'll understand why there's always a line here.

The Food: I went with the Meat Jhun (Beef Cutlet) plate. It's kind of hard to describe, but its basically a thin beef cutlet that is housed in an almost egg/flour mix batter. Believe me, its incredible. They provide a small little soy dipping sauce to pair with it, and it's amazing. Pair it even more with some rice, that's a meal right there.

The Service: The service was okay. It was a little slow, but understandable. There was a long line, and it's small little restaurant that you walk up to and order. Also, this is a CASH ONLY place, so come prepared with some bills.

The Atmosphere: The restaurant is setup for you to just walk up and take your order at the window. They have big menus for you to browse while you're waiting. And there are some tables on the side, but not much.

Overall, a 5/5! Hands down a spot that you must visit while in Hawaii. Remember, the restaurant is CASH ONLY, so have a couple of...