Norfolk Garden — Restaurant in Norfolk

It's late in the evening and we chose to eat Asian for dinner. We've been meaning to try this place out. At this time of the hour this would be the only restaurant at our nearest convenience and it closes at 11pm.

From the looks of it on the side it seemed dark from street view. The sign isn't so noticeable at night accept for the sign that says Korean and Japanese food. The parking lot had 2 cars and was a bit empty. The building looked old and not up to date from the outside appearance.

As we went inside we are led to a little cute entrance bridge along with a big bar on the rise side and another bar directly a head of us. It was definitely a surprise because I was expecting everything to look like a cheap hole in the wall if I had not known. There was an array of booths and seating great for big parties and a lot of empty chairs to fill. There was a small group eating at a booth as we waited.

Upon arrival there was no one at the service area to help seat us. We waited patiently for practically almost 5-10 minutes. We didn't want to be rude but I had to pop my head in slightly at the kitchen to see if someone was there to seat us. The Hispanic server came out to seat us to the area where we could cook our food.

We ordered the Norfolk garden special for two. It comes with galbi (kalbi short ribs), pork, chicken & beef bulgogi with banchan side dishes and a hot pot soup of tofu. For a entree that's for two, they came with a lot of meat.

I was pleased with the authenticity and assortments of our banchan options. I'm not typically a kimchi fan but I could it was homemade and fresh. I like that it wasn't overly spicy and overly fermented in taste. I wasn't a fan of the glutinous rice cake but everything else was great side dishes that complimented well with my bbq.

I also liked that we cooked it ourselves which made out meals more interactive and fun to eat. The Korean lady who worked here was behind the scenes making sure we were satisfied by refilling our waters and giving us extra kimchi, broccoli etc. whenever we ran out. It was nice of her to changed out our burner as well. It was starting to get overly smokey with meat residue stuck on the metal grill so by doing that our meat cooked faster and better.

My husband was so pleased to have came here. You can never go wrong with bbq meats and rice.

Although our initial opinion of their service wasn't so great. Since I literally had to walk to the back to get some service; but overall our dinner was satisfying. They made up for their service In the end, ensuring us a great dinner.

Towards the end we were given a little tea cup with cold cinnamon flavored sweet tea as a palate cleanser. It was a great way to finish our night. I was stuffed.

I'd recommend coming here for the grill entrees to get their Korean bbq. Next time I will order strictly the Kalbi short ribs and beef. That was my favorite portion of the meats I had tonight.

I'm still a skeptic of the Japanese food here. Many times its best to stick to one cuisine choice that can be done well so quality isn't compensated for. I would love to have A+ sashimi grade sushi and I'm not sure I would experiment trying it here. But who knows till my next time around. I'd like to see if they can pull of a good...

One star is very generous. We went to this place, 11/01/25, because my wife knows I love bulgogi. So she found this place while were in the area and I said let's go. Walk in the place. Not greeted. Just the employee working the tables raising her hand with two fingers up and then ushering us to a table. We sit down and look over the menu and did not see the lady again for another 5 minutes or so. Finally she returned asked us what do we want to drink. We order our drinks and then order bimbap and our entrees. I of course ordered bulgogi and she ordered the seafood pancake.

The server returns with the sides that came with the food: bean sprouts, kimchi, broccoli, beans (this was a first) and other things. She did not ask us to move our drinks or other items out of the way. The server just threw them on the table like we were in old timey bar. The bimbap was decent. Next, we get the soup that came with our items. I take a spoonful of it, and I am not a soup person to begin with, but this soup was luke warm and tastes rancid. My wife did not like the soup and said the tofu tastes off. If sad had a taste, this soup was it.

Our food arrives and I am hoping for redemption on their part. My bulgogi tastes as if the meat is old. The marinade was not in the meat just there like that one friend you have to hype you up. I apologized out loud for the cow that gave its life to be made into a horrendous version of bulgogi. My wife said she hopes I don't get sick from the meat. I chirp back if I do, I know where to send the health department. My wife's seafood pancake was most definitely a pancake, but lacked any significant or recognizable portion of seafood. She said the seafood was very few lentil sized pieces of squid and the pancake tasted burnt.

We were not even done with our disgrace of what is termed Korean food before the server lady approached with the bill. She put it on the table and said, "can you pay, but take your time with the food" I said thank you and continued eating as I took this as no need to rush. There was only one other table being catered to at this time so they weren't busy by normal restaurant standards. She returned a few minutes later and said "can you pay? I also have to help the kitchen." So I pull out my wallet for the $69 bill for two entrees, one app, and one soda. The lady runs off and is back within a moment to give me the receipt to sign.

Save yourself from going here. Go to Sammie's in Hampton or Koreana in York County. You get way more for your money and treated with value and dignity that...

Went there because we were in the area and I know my husband loves bulgogi, and I was in the mood for asian food. When we came in, the waitress raised 2 fingers at us and pointed at a table for us to sit at. I was really excited about trying out a new place, and boy were the ratings wrong.

We were approached and asked what we wanted to drink and felt rushed. Both asked for water and the waitress literally was walking away when my husband also asked for a soda. The waitress returned with half a pitcher of water and a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

Next, we ordered our food. By the time we said we were all said, the menus were pretty much snatched of our hands and she walked away. The restaurant wasn't busy, so I'm not sure what the rush was, but there were no pleasantries involved either. Our appetizer came out and it wasn't bad, different but I was excited.

When the server came to our table again to bring the sides that come with our entrees she also brought miso(?) Pup that was disgusting and not even warm. My husband is not a soup lover, so I was excited to have both, until I sipped the broth that was absolutely bland. The tofu tasted off so I decided to slide both bowls aside, because I care about my tummy more than the bill. Besides, I still had high hopes for the entrees. The other sides were thrown and slid on the table, nothing said, no attempt to move our drinks or set up the little plates on the table nicely. Thought that was rude, but we were still hoping for some redemption.

Then the food came out and let me tell you... my seafood pancake looked burned, and sadly tasted burnt too. Ans don't get me started on the seafood part, which was basically non existent and only had a few lentil sized pieces of chewy calamari. No other seafood detected whatsoever. His bulgogi came out in a cow shaped dish which was pretty cool, however it wasn't marinated and tasted like old meat. I told him I wouldn't eat his food, because honestly I'm now concerned he might get sick.

While he was eating the server comes and throws the check on the table and said something along "pay, but take your time" and walked away. She didn't ask us if we wanted anything else, so that kinda felt rushed. But wait!!! There's more. Not even 2 minutes later she comes and asks us yet again to pay for the food, because "she's helping in the kitchen". Bill was pretty high for the qualify and quantity of food. Save your money and go somewhere else or cook at home. Definitely would no go back!

What a...