Top Korean Restaurant in Oceanside
Haetae Korean Hawaiian
127 S Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
One of the best experiences of my life! My partner and I were visiting from Canada. I am a Bar Manager for a top ranking Canadian restaurant, and my partner is a chef also at a top ranking Canadian restaurant. I only mention this because I want it to be clear that this place is AMAZING on the most professional level. The atmosphere is amazing, the food is next level. The chefs and bartender Hayley were so accommodating for my gluten allergy (celiac). Sublime themed room!? Come ON! Hayley also went above and beyond to answer our touristy questions with total grace. This is the place to be.
The Switchboard
131 S Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
A fantastic new restaurant in Oceanside. The fare is a Korean/Hawaiian fusion. Im not a foodie and had my hesitations on the exotic menu. Brooke, the restaurant manager was superb in her recommendations. I cant recall the name of the dish, but it was her guidance & composed of a burger patty smothered with cheese and sunny side up eggs, topping a mountain of fried rice, with sides. Sounds like a crazy combo, but its sooooo good. 5 stars for the beer too. I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin, the owner; Hes good people & you should support his restaurant.
Gaja Korean BBQ
2693 Vista Way, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
Wow! My wife and I had a great dining experience for our anniversary at the new Gaja Korean BBQ restaurant in Oceanside. We were new to Korean BBQ dining and our server Vianey was great, helping us newbies with the iPad order system, suggestions, and use of grill. You order from iPad attached at each table and the food is brought to you on a server robot. Sounds impersonal but the servers are right there to help. The meat and many dishes were very high quality. I plan to return many times with my family.
SONU BBQ
3744 Mission Ave, Oceanside, CA 92058, United States
The owner is non-korean (based on a waitress’s statement), who doesn’t know how to prepare korean foods. They put too much sugar in every item. Even kimchi (most basic korean dish) is sugar bomb. No wonder there is no korean customer in the restaurant. I (100% korean verified by 23-and-me DNA test) am pretty sure koreans would never come back to this place. Futher, the meat of marinated boneless short ribs doesn’t taste like that of short ribs. It appears that they use meat for “Jang Jo Rim” or something (in other words, cheap meat). So, if you just wanna be full with so so AYCE, try this place. If you are looking for a good Korean restaurant, don’t go.
KM BBQ
2216 S El Camino Real #108 #109, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
This place Gaja Korean BBQ is HIGHLY NOT recommended!!!! We originally went to Gaja on July 23, 2022 to eat with our whole family of 6. I saw commercials about the robot bringing food to the table on Instagram and thought it was cool. The service was so so slow and the robot was followed around by a person that placed the food on the table. They even missed a few of our orders. Today, September 4, 2022, we decided to give it Gaja a 2nd chance. We went to eat and evan ran into some friends but our 11 yr old already ate and we were bringing the girls to the mall afterwards. We asked the wairess if our young daughter can sit with us and she said we need to talk to the manager. The manager came out and said our daughter can sit with us but would have to charge us full price. NO EXCEPTIONS. It was a very hot day and we were not going to make her wait so we left. The restaurant wasnt even full and they lost business. With the economy so bad and so many restaurant going out of business, they should learn to be more accommodating and better customer service skills.Anyways, we went across the street to one of our go to favorite AYCE Korean BQ places called KM Bbq (2216 S El Camino Real #108 #109, Oceanside, CA 92054) and they had no problem with our little one sitting at the table with us. In fact they gave her a beverage and cotton candy.
Zzang Hot Dog & Chicken
409 Mission Ave, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
This nice little joint is fun to visit. If you havent tried a Korean corn dog you should definitely give it a try. They have multiple options so every style of corn dog is unique in its own way. Ive never tried one so this was super cool to try. They were cooked to perfection and so good I almost wanted to try another one ! The service was a little slow, but worth the wait. The chicken wings were humongous and delicious. The sauces on the wings and the corn dogs are on point! U have to try it spicy with the touch of sugar to get the full experience. The water bottles I bought were the single small size bottles, and I believe they cost around 3 dollars which was absurd. I bought 3 bottles of water and my wallet shrank. The inside is a bit small but can hold a selected amount of people. The outside does have a few tables which is nice for outdoor dining experience.
Top other services in Oceanside:
Kyotos Japanese Market
559 Greenbrier Dr A, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
Kyoto's Japanese Market is a family-owned small business located at the same corner location since the 1970s. My Japanese mom and her friends used to shop there for hard to find Japanese food. Recently, I've been dropping in bi-monthly for traditional sushi rolls that you don't ever find at a sushi restaurant. They only make them on Fridays and Saturdays I believe. ((Get there early!) It is a very small but immaculately clean market that carries the essentials for basic Japanese cooking and snacking. I appreciate how items like the vegetables are neatly wrapped and displayed. It's not in the abundance but in the care and display that goes into each individual item. Very Japanese and very ZEN.At one time Kyoto's was also a gift shop but now focuses exclusively on food items. I appreciate the availability of organic Nattō as well as sashimi-grade seafood. I am confident Kyoto's maintains the highest standards of quality in their products.. Kyoto's is under new ownership. Tomomi and her husband Mike are now managing the market.
Guahan Grill
4259 Oceanside Blvd #104, Oceanside, CA 92056, United States
The food of my (moms) people! I havent had Chamorro cuisine in a long time and this is one of the few times Ive had it out since Ive only really had it homemade.Ive somewhat had this place in mind and Im happy I finally got the chance to try them out.ITEMS ORDERED:Locals Deluxe (w/ mac salad & pork spare ribs)Chamorro Style Fried Chicken (w/ mac salad)EmpanadaTASTE:All the comforting feels for me as I ate my way through all the different items. I already had certain flavors in mind of how specific items would taste and the dishes all pretty much fit that.I had to go with the pork spareribs instead of the chicken option since I always enjoyed them as a kid at all the Chamorro parties. I was already expecting flavors of soy sauce and vinegar in an almost too strong way and these ribs were just that, in the best way. I say too strong because I think if you have never had these, you might at first find it a little too flavored, but once you get a bite with some red rice, its all good.Red rice is a staple with this cuisine and works well with any protein. The vibrant color is more dramatic than the flavor since its more subtle with just notes of salt & garlic I like to think. The mac salad was simple & good. I like the nicely sized portion of it compared to what you get at the Hawaiian chains these days. Compared to the mac salad at Hawaiian places, this is much less sweet. Also, I was surprised to not see potato salad as an option since Im more used to having that side dish more.I dont believe Ive ever had Chamorro Style Fried Chicken but Ill say its comparable to fried chicken, minus the breading part. So the crunch is not there, but also comes across less heavy.The Empanada I always view as a specialty item since since whenever Ive had it before it was in limited amounts and it always ran out. Its basically a nicely flavored shredded chicken mixture inside a crispy shell. Im use to a little more spice, which these werent, but they still were so good. Great freshly fried texture.SERVICE:The one girl who both took the order and brought the food out was very kind and friendly.LOCATION & PARKING:They are located in little shopping plaza which includes an IHOP with lots of parking so you shouldnt have a problem with that. Youll get all the warm, island feels inside with the woody interior and Chamorro styling.Im partial to this cuisine since I had it so much as a child. If you are looking for a comforting meal or something new and pretty approachable be sure to find your way to Guahan Grill.Cheers!
Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub
1815 S Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054, United States
Formerly the Whet Noodle. Today, the same owners and chef. Asian influenced. Our party of four arrived on a Saturday evening without reservations and we only had to wait 15 mins. Inside it was loud due to a large group celebrating a birthday party. There are tables out in the back patio, but we were seated in front on Coast Hwy as our view. The heaters were Great! The atmosphere was cozy.The food here is very unique. The chef has a creative streak which is nice.There are several sushi rolls to choose from the menu. My friend ordered a spicy tuna with albacore, avocado and more. I tried it and it was VERY tasty!The chicken yakisoba is a generous portion with chicken. My husband I split it. It was delicious.The roasted cauliflower dish is a colorful array and roasted perfectly with nice flavors.I ordered an item from the daily menu, October 9,2021. Seared Wahoo, charred rice, roasted veggies $16. Beautifully presented, but it was a bit bland. I wanted more flavors. Looking back at my photo, there wasnt charred rice or roasted veggies. There are micro greens and radishes with a puree of something green which had no flavor. Perhaps I didnt get the correct dish? I wont order it again due to the blandness.Dessert: we shared the PLOT CAKE ( also on the daily menu) with coconut creme. The cake was a bit dry but the berries were nice!Despite my dish, everyone loved theirs and I would try this place again next time we are in town. I just wish my dish was the one described from the menu.