Kimchihana Korean Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in South Plainfield

I remember laughing to myself about how this place could never be worth a visit, based on the outside of it. When I read that it was good, I assumed it was somewhere new that I had never seen before and wondered how it hid from me. When I realized the place with the good reviews was the same as the crappy looking place, I was disappointed, but went inside anyway. I was totally wrong to judge this place by what it looked like outside. The staff seated us right away. We were helped right away. Our waitress was a genuinely nice Korean woman who was in cinstant motion between tables and kitchen, but she managed to cast a glance at us to check if we needed help, repeatedly. We ordered something complex in half Korean and half english and she worked with us to understand what we want and made sure there were no mistakes. My Daeji Bulgogi was hot and delicious, and my wifes mild Bulgogi was sauceless as we requested, but tasted excellent. The banchan dishes all tasted good (the kimchi was a personal favorite) to the point that my wife got excited over one of them and made me ask our waitress if we could have more. They had special booths that require your shoes to come off before entering, for parties that request them. I thought that was pretty neat. My wife was astonished by how their "built-in-table-grills" were powered by buckets of hot wood coals that were replenished by waiters, and the wood smoke was sucked into range hoods over each table. If you hate a smokey atmosphere, that might be the only drawback here. Lastly, I'll comment on the fact that they had Japanese food here. We didn't try any, but it needs to be noted that some of the best non-sushi Japanese food in New Jersey often comes from places run by Koreans, and this place had a decent menu that included soups and teriyakis. I'll post another review if I try their Japanese stuff at a later date and it changes my mind.

It was a special night out with the Mrs., and neither of us was 100% sure we wanted to eat Korean food, but the great time we had eating here made me want to start eating it several times a month. I've only been there once so take this review with a grain of salt, but this is as good as anything I've had in Phoenix, AZ,...

I have come to this restaurant before and enjoyed the food, did not pay much attention to the service, but I could feel something odd throughout my time. This evening this was more apparent. The service was not on par with how a restaurant charging such high prices should act as. First, we were not greeted and waited a while to place our order, catching the servers throwing stares at us. A friend asked for a straw, one of the servers, an older lady, didn’t even want to hear her out and said they don’t have it. She asked another server and they gave her one. Simple questions they would try to evade. Throughout our meal, we were not asked if everything was okay nor visited, given water refills, etc. for the BBQ portion, of course someone would come to have the coals on fire, but would leave, we took care of it, only when our other meat portion came. This is fine, maybe it was busy hour. Our checks came and we paid, someone else took our cards to make the payment. I go leave to the bathroom and I come back to an older man saying we can’t pay the tip we left because it’s not enough for all they did. You’re supposed to pay for the service you’re given, if it’s not enough, you choose to pay how much or nothing at all. It is not forced law. The man said would not let us leave until we did so. This was extremely uncomfortable because we all paid individual and it was according to what we felt the service was. This treatment definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. The food was good, but I’m sure you can find equal if not better elsewhere - with a much better customer service. I don’t think I will be coming here. I’m spending a lot of money dining and trying to enjoy my time and it’s not worth it if I will feel they way I did. I’m giving this three stars solely because I enjoyed the food, but ultimately you’re also coming to have a good restaurant experience and sadly, after reading the other reviews, the bad service looks like a...

Service is absolutely the worst. I came here at a Sunday night and the two waiters were super rude and racist.

I remained polite and still said “thank you” when they brought me food but they didn’t respond. Sure that’s fine. However, they were obviously friendly to those who speak Korean and the white couple sitting next to me. They greet them very enthusiastically. (As an Asian who’s not Korean, I’ve had multiple experiences where being treated poorly at a Korean restaurant).

The male waiter also used a very rude word (in Korean) when talking to me. I asked for more sweet potatoes and offered to pay for it, at first he seems really bothered and said they don’t have any. A while later he came with a small box and said “ya!”. Anyone with any Korean knowledge would know this is a very rude way to say hey to a customer(or anyone) . I was shocked!!!

I ordered tofu soup and it didn’t come with rice or egg (it should). Asked the waitress to correct it and she seems annoyed.

When I was taking a break from eating, the waitress came and asked me “you done” and almost started taking away the plates if I hadn’t stopped her. What the actual F??

When the bill came back, this waitress started wandering around my table and had her eyes fixated on me. I know she was trying to rush me to sign the bill. After like one minute she came to me and threw the bill right in front of me (was on the other side of the table), telling me to not forget my credit card??? It was 7:30 ish and there were plenty of empty tables. I don’t understand the rush or the hate.

Left a 10% tip but should’ve done $0. I was just afraid they would chase me out of the restaurant or fight me - they look like they would.

Avoid at all...