Ilbunjee(#1 Restaurant) — Restaurant in Santa Clara

WORST Korean BBQ experience in the Bay Area, from a customer service standpoint. We called and reserved for a group of 5 for 10:30pm. Although they say they’re open till 12:30am, they called us and asked us to come ASAP as they close the kitchen at 10:30pm apparently.

We arrived well before our reservation and were seated. We were ready to order and wanted to order start with the minimum selections mentioned on the menu (at least 2 orders) as their main combination BBQ platter for groups was not available.

We asked for the octopus from seafood category, which the waiter said was not available - we asked for the shrimp instead (only other option), which the waiter gracefully didn’t recommend saying it’s not fresh (THANK YOU for Atleast being honest- the only reason for the one star!!)

We proceeded to request the minimum 2 selections for BBQ (one pork and one beef selection as written on the menu) to which the waiter replied that we needed to order atleast 4 selections, actually 5 selections but giving 1 discount as we were a group of 5 and said it’s their policy and also that we had to order it all at once as they’re closing the kitchen.

But this “Policy” is not mentioned on their menu or anywhere in the restaurant (MENU CLEARLY SAYS MINIMUM 2 SELECTION). The BBQ was already expensive - avg. $50 per selection, and we would have ordered 3-4 selections if seafood was available and he’d been more accommodating. We walked right out and went across the street to another Korean BBQ restaurant with great customer service, food and open till 2am too.

We experienced very poor customer service at Ilbunjee and I would not recommend this place to...

Good authentic Korean BBQ without the need to queue!

Ambience & Service A small, modest Korean restaurant. The furniture are rather dated and simple. Once you see the full Korean posters, the Korean music and Korean speaking in the restaurant - you know you are in for the real deal. Service is ok, courteous and prompt.

Food We ordered a Beef and Pork combi ($59). It came with a salad (2/5), a fish cake soup (4/5), side dishes (3/5), rice (3/5) and the MEAT! (4/5)

The beef was so yummy!!!!! So were the pork. There are Korean BBQ where they have the meat marinated, for this place, their meat are not marinated - or at least not as much. In a way, you can taste the meat so much better. Love both version of Korean BBQ and pretty glad this one was the "non-marinated" version.

Parking There's parking but we were super doubtful and concern about parking within the small premises. Take note of the markings on the ground as it some are labels specifically for the Spanish restaurant. We parked at the nearby residential area, take note of the signages. Generally, free after 6pm.

Overall, a good Korean BBQ joint to visit.

Btw, you will definitely walk out smelly like BBQ. So do not wear your latest, precious fresh...

Valentines Day. A day meant for couples in love. I was neither in a relationship nor in love, but regardless I went to this restaurant in a group of 8. We had called ahead and were able to secure a table very quickly. So, excited, we waited until they had set our table and entered when ready. We ended up doing 2 of the large combos they offer which was plenty of food for us(it did end up being 60 per person, because of a hefty service fee). Regardless, once the meat arrived I was excited to start. One of the servers started cooking for us, but I told her I’d be doing it, while the other people in the party needed more help. Luckily, because I already know how to cook Kbbq, everything was a breeze and the meat quality speaks for itself. Overall, it was a great experience and fun ambiance, but I marked atmosphere a little low because our tables...