Kaya Garden 가야가든 — Restaurant in Leonia

My friend and I had been dying to try some raw marinated crab. It was hard to find one that was open on New Year’s Day but I found Kaya Garden so we decided to drag our husbands out for a little holiday lunch. We got there at 1 pm and there was a good amount of people dining there already, though the restaurant was not completed full. From the looks of it, it used to be a sushi/Japanese restaurant. We decided to order a bunch of things to share. This is everything we ordered:

Bulgogi - originally, we had wanted the Galbi but the waitress (who speaks very little to no English) told us the minimum order would be two. I’d never heard of this before and there was no way we could finish two of those because we wanted a variety. So we ditched that idea and settled for the bulgogi. This was a bit bland.

Stir-fried spicy pork loin with kimchi - I usually don’t order this because pork loin tends to be dry but thankfully, this was not the case. I especially loved it with the soft tofu it was served with.

Raw marinated crab - this was very flavorful but salty, so you definitely need some rice to go with it. I highly recommend scooping some rice into the crab shells. While I liked it, I don’t think it’s something I would order too often. You can only eat so many pieces of it. It’s also a lot of work to eat. We ordered the large but could have done with just a small because there was quite a bit of leftover, and you can’t really eat these the next day.

The banchan was standard. There was really any one side we ate that we wanted more of, which is typically the case at other Korean restaurants.

As we looked around the restaurant, we noticed that everyone was ordering something that came with a giant plate of veggies, which I found out was the bossam. Will have to try that one...

I hate giving small, local businesses negative reviews and generally write reviews only when I have positive things say. That said, this is one of those rare occasions (quite possibly my first negative review).

If the owner of the restaurant ever reads this review, please train your servers so they know how to properly handle a situation where a customer politely informs them that your food is not done right because of whatever the reason might be (in this case, our 된장찌개 was so spicy that even my spice-loving husband couldn't handle it). We're Koreans and have had countless pots of 된장찌개 in our life time, including spicy versions.

We were promptly and condescendingly lectured by the wait staff that everyone's palate is different and next time we should ask them to remove some jalapeño peppers if we can't handle spice. 된장찌개, even the spicier versions, are NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SO SPICY IT BORDERS ON BEING INEDIBLE.

Our subsequent statements on how it was too spicy even for the spicy-food loving people like us unsurprisingly fell on deaf ears.

We did not want replacement or refund. A simple acknowledgement would've been sufficient, but no, they kept repeating everyone's palate is different and left it at that.

I must say I like their 간장게장 & 쌈밥 but sadly our family won't...

I've been visiting this restaurant for over 10 years, and I continue to be very satisfied with the food. The dishes are consistently flavorful, and ssambap remains one of my favorites. However, every time I come, I can't help but have the same thought.

As a regular customer who dines here more than twice a month, I would expect at least a warm greeting. Yet, none of the staff acknowledge me with a smile when I walk in. The only person who consistently shows kindness is a Spanish staff member who handles the dishes—his warm smile is the one bright spot in the service.

When I order ssambap, there are times when the lettuce provided isn’t enough. But I hesitate to ask for more because the waitress often respond with angry face. It’s uncomfortable to make even a simple request.

I keep coming back because the food is excellent, but the lack of hospitality makes me question whether I should. I wonder if the staff are even aware of how their behavior affects the...