Hai Woon Dai

Very very very good. In a small strip mall with easy parking and a Korean grocery store next door. Dining atmosphere is pretty neutral and the furniture is outdated, but service is good and restrooms are clean. We had the appetizer seafood pancake that was packed with seafood, came out piping hot, and had a delicious crunch. The several side dishes that evening were standard– kimchi, cucumbers, potato salad. I thoroughly enjoyed my soon tofu soup– a spicy seafood soft tofu soup that comes out boiling, with a cracked egg dropped in right before they bring it to you; it cooks in the bowl as you’re waiting for the soup to cool down enough so you can take a bite! My partner had the dol sat bibimbap («dol sat» means that the bibimbop is served in a hot stone bowl, which is fun because as the rice sits in it, you get a crunchy rice crust at the bottom of the bowl), a super-​tasty traditional meal of beef, vegetables, rice, and topped with a fried egg. The servers may come around to make sure you are using the chili sauce appropriately and mixing it all together properly.
Good quality medium grain white rice is served here. Knowing how to use chopsticks is helpful, otherwise you’ll have to ask for a fork and potentially feel shame for it. Also knowing how to say «thank you» in Korean goes a long way at a Korean restaurant, even though all the servers, who were all Korean ladies on this particular visit, spoke fine English. If you like Korean food, check out this spot in Nashville.

My first try at Korean food. It was a Sunday afternoon, so the place was packed. We were eventually seated at what looked to be the party room, complete with a tv and a karaōke station at the end. Between my family and I, we ordered gyoza, seafood pancakes, dolsot bibimbap (my entrée, this is bibimbap with the hot stone bowl), and the party-​sized goat meat soup and codfish stew. (There was only four of us, but two could eat a lot, so they were confident they could eat it all. They couldn’t.)
Service was a little lacking due to the busy atmosphere. Food was awesome, though. Seafood pancake was a huge portion built for a party. Gyoza came out steaming hot. Bibimbap came with a clear soup and the traditional raw egg, which I didn’t mind since the stone bowl was so hot it was frying the rice inside it. Just mix it up and voila! Instant fried eggs. We didn’t know about the side dishes and were pleasantly surprised by them. They were tasty! The soups came in huge hotpots still on the portable stoves. There were a lot of spices and sauces. A lot of the dishes were spicier than expected, so if you can catch the waitress to get a refill, better catch her fast before you run out of water.
As an intro to Korean food, I can’t ask for a better one. They are a little pricy, but considering the sheer amount of food, side dishes, and type of ingredients, it may be a little justified. I probably will go back someday for the bibimbap again. It was definitely my favorite.

I ordered the bibimbap (cold bowl) to compare it to Tofu House and Soy Bistro. Tofu House’s was the best, followed by Soy Bistro. I also had the dumplings, which are $ 6 for 6, kinda pricey. Anyway, I’d say, with my limited knowledge of Korean food, that this place is OK but not great.

Good food but over priced in my opinion. The portions are pretty large but still I would rather not pay $ 18 for my meal I can’t finish at a cute hole in the wall restaurant. The service is good, just not great. 3 stars because of they are over priced, and provide just ok service. Also they are closed on Mondays even though it says open on Unilocal

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I rolled up to Hai Woon Dai. «People get mugged and murdered in parking lots like this,» I thought to myself as I pulled into the parking lot with no visibility to the main road.
Well you can call me a weeny, but I got over myself, took a chill pill and walked to the front door. My fight/​flight emotions subsided as soon as I smelled the delicious odors of the various meats and sauces floating through the air.
I started with the fried dumplings, which were pretty incredible. Crispy, meaty and flavorful! My main dish was the Dolsot Bibimbap. This was a fantastic dish with perfectly cooked meat, plenty of fresh veggies and a good amount of rice. DON’T TOUCH THE STONE POT!
The accompanying sides were fresh, delicious and plentiful. I would definitely recommend this place, and I will be back. This is the best Korean food I’ve had in Nashville so far.

Easily one of the best Korean experiences in greater Nashville.
We have a half decent number Korean places around this city, with the main big hitters other than here being seoul garden, korea house, and so gong dong.
This place stands out however for its amazing home style feel.
The menu contains a variety of korean comfort food, but most spectacular is their extra large hot pot style jjigae.
Particularly, this place is the only place that serves an absolutely perfect Budar Jjigae.
If you’ve never heard of it, it is koream «army stew», which is an awesome stew with ingredients like rice cakes, instant ramen, hot dogs, and spam.
Seriously this is as home cooking as it gets, and THEY DO IT SO WELL.
The serving is meant for 2 people, but realistically it could feed 4 easily, and the price is very justifiable.
They also have the best ban chan in the city in my opinion. Their potato apple egg salad is very on point and fish cakes are great. The only complaint I’d have about their ban chan is that they don’t serve egg omelets, which some of the other places do, but their kimchi is by far the best tasting. Its spicier than most but more importantly feels homemade and not overly carbonated from industrial preserving techniques.
Overall this is has become my favorite korean place of choice, and I have tried all of them around Nashville.
What to get here: Budae Jjigae and pork bulgogi (jeyuk bokkrum).

My friend ordered some soondobu and bulgugi. I’m allergic to tofu so didn’t have any soondobu but the bulgugi I had was really good :) and the sides that came with the meal were standard Korean sides. I totally didn’t expect the place to be that good, but it turned out way better than I expected and I would definitely give it another try. The bulgugi wasn’t overly sweet and it didn’t seem like it was over cooked. Give it a try if your in town! Korean food seems to be everywhere around Nashville!

Wanted to try something new and this was next on the list on Unilocal since King Market was very busy.
It’s a hole in the wall and I’m very glad we decided to lunch here. Sweet old ladies running the front of the house. The food is fresh and very well seasoned. The portions are big and I understand why it’s a little pricy which is fine because you definitely get what you pay for. The only concern I have is the plastic cups, you can definitely tell they are worn down. My clear plastic cup was yellowish in color and my moms was clean and looked new. I was kinda scared to drink out of it. Definitely will be back when I’m in the area. Glad Middle Tennessee is having more options other than burgers and barbecue.

Five stars for the food — had to knock one star off for the ambience, but highly recommend the place overall — just wouldn’t take a first date here :) We had gyoza (because we were hungry and wanted food fast!) as an appetizer, and the typical small Korean side dishes (banchan) came out a little later. They were good — kimchi was spicier than most Americanized places but not over-​the-​top. I got bibimbap, and my husband got the spicy octopus with noodles. They were both delicious and large servings — we had enough to take home for lunch the next day. Neither of us are Korean, so I can’t comment on the authenticity, but the place was full of people who spoke Korean to the waitresses, so it must be pretty authentic! Almost everything on the menu had meat or seafood (even the tofu dishes came with seafood), but I’m sure vegetarians could ask for substitutions. Menu was heavy on the spicy soups, but they had barbecue and noodles dishes as well, and a handful of Asian appetizers (e.g., seafood pancake, gyoza).
Service was friendly but they were super-​busy so we did wait a while to get our check. They were so busy that we ate at a table that I think the staff must normally use (they had some stuff in cardboard boxes below the table by our feet!). The food came out quickly, though, and you pay at the front, so once you have your check, you’re good to go. Note that if you order a diet Coke, you’ll pay $ 1.99 for a 12 oz can from their fridge, so you might consider paying $ 2.99 for a beer from the fridge instead ;)

My food was great until I at the mandu. I ordered a side of vegetable mandu to go and when I got home it had meat inside. When I told them about it they told me it only had a small amount of meat and they showed the bag where they came out of. I could have made it at home.

Note that this place is inside a little plaza with a korean supermarket next to it for convenience in case you wanted some asian snacks and such!
The restaurant feels like a house/​family authentic Korean restaurant. The ladies and waitresses are very nice and polite.
The menu is medium sized and has authentic korean dishes (I think). However, do not come here for Dukbokki… because they don’t have it… or any of that sort, sadly. That’s my favorite korean dish so instead I got a Rice cake soup — it was a huge bowl for $ 10.99 (not bad) but pretty simple just some pork strips and a lot of rice cakes. I had enough leftovers for another meal so I can’t complain and I tried to eat as much as possible.
Other than that, no complaints. People seemed to be enjoying themselves and feel comfortable sitting for a while.

Hai Woon Dai is a foodie’s secret found a bit of a drive away from the city, but completely worth it, especially if you have late night cravings as they’re open as late as 10pm some nights. Our server was also multi-​lingual, able to communicate in Korean, Chinese, and English. The establishment is quite modest in form, but people seem to come in all hours of the night looking for seating in the relatively small space.
I found the prices a bit high, but still affordable. My soondubu jjigae cost about $ 12 including tax. However, the main meal comes with a generous amount of side dishes, from sesame oil broccoli to kimchi, bean sprouts, pickled zucchini, apple-​potato salad (not my favorite), and seaweed. My friends got huge bowls of Tukkuk and cold noodles, but my jjigae was the average size. In terms of flavor, my jjigae was a bit salty but chock full of delicious seafood, especially clams. I was surprised at the robustness of the flavor in my stew. The tofu was cooked perfectly as well. I will say, you will not find street favorites like dukkbokki or kimchi fried rice. Those comfort foods will have to be found elsewhere.
As you only get one glass of ice water per meal unless you chase after the busy server, I recommend either ordering something soupy or mustering up you polite requesting skills. Overall, a great place with efficient service and delicious food.

My fiancé typically doesn’t gravitate towards Korean food but he loved this place so that really says something. We’ve been to so many Koran restaurants and he was always not as satisfied.
He had the spicy pork and it was delicious. It had a kick but it wasn’t spicy.
Seriously it’s a hidden gem in Antioch. I would drive all the way from Hendersonville to eat here again!

As Korean Native, I would have to say, This is the best place to eat korean food in town.
Authentic southern korean food, I would recommend you to try !

Normally a restaurant like this would easily get 4 stars but the problem is I lived in Huntsville close to 3 years and had plenty of Korean food with the same quality at a cheaper price. I went during lunch hours and ordered Bibim Naengmyun. It was excellent! The side dishes were also good however, squid was not one of the options as a side dish which is practically standard at all the other Korean restaurants I have experienced. I have even had better Korean food in Nashville and even though it was a while ago, I will find that restaurant, give it 4 stars and recommend it over this one. The main reason I can’t be excited about this place is the pricing. At lunch hours I order a simple noodle dish and it costs me $ 14. I would understand if this had been dinner and/​or I had ordered a drink. $ 14 for Bibim Naengmyun at lunch time is ridiculous especially when I can walk next door and buy the supplies for it for $ 8 and can make 3 to 4 servings of it at home. Save your money. I will try to find that one Korean restaurant which was next to a martial arts dojo and off of I-​40 west of Nashville.

This place is legit! I think I liked it as much as Korea House, and the prices were comparable for my favorite dish, Galbi ribs.
First off, Hai Woon Dai is in a nondescript strip mall in Antioch. But don’t let that turn you off. Once inside, the décor is cute and the staff friendly. We were greeted warmly and our needs attended to frequently. We ordered dumplings to start, and Bulgogi and Galbi as main dishes. The Bulgogi was tasty, and the Galbi came out sizzling. I feel both had good marinades and healthy portion sizes. Portions were better than Seoul Garden’s BBQ portions. They have a very ample menu too, with lots of options.
Overall, I would definitely come back to Hai Woon Dai, and I wouldn’t hesitate to bring my (Korean) mother here either!

First impression of the building was like a hole in the wall place. Plenty of parking. They don’t have the BBQ grill. Menu order only. The food came out decently fast. They stayed busy. The food was flavorful. Had the octopus wasn’t much impress with that but the other foods was great. I thought the menu was a bit pricey but I would still come back to give it another try.

Just ate here for lunch. It’s super cold and my kimchi jjigae was brought out still boiling in a stoneware bowl! It’s a good substitute for my mom’s cooking until I visit back home. The service is fast and great. I even saw their health inspection review: 94!
I definitely recommend anyone looking for authentic Korean food to check this place out!

Prices have gone up a few dollars on each item.
Service was top notch, but not everything was on par.
Have to bring it down a notch.
Everyone was friendly, they kept our water glasses filled and were a little tight with the appetizer dishes they put on the table.
In fact, the appetizer dishes came out with the meal.
It would have been nice if they had come out first.
I felt rushed.

In my humble opinion, this is the best Korean food available in the Nashville area.
Baseline: my sister in law is Korean and makes some mean Korean food. This is the only place she’ll go to for Korean food. She introduced me. The only better Korean food I’ve had was at Kimchihana in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Not a white face in sight except for my man — all Korean patrons and large large parties of patrons. It was always full.
Ridiculously good Korean food.
The standouts:
Seafood pancake – ask for it thin and extra crispy. Otherwise they’ll make it chunky with too much flour – that covers up the very generous portions of seafood.
House made kimchi-​you can buy this in quarts and take it home.
Galbi – garlicky crosscut ribs. Arrives at your table super hot to the touch. Gnaw on the cartilage and slurp up the charred marrow.
Spicy pork – this is similar to Bulgogi but oh so different. It has been marinated in asian pear until the meat is fork tender. Swimming in Gojujaru — the ubiquitous Korean roasted red pepper — savory and perfect with a bite of steaming hot Korean rice.
Yukaejang – red spicy soup with beef and bracken — it will warm you thoroughly. Not sour like the kimchi jigae, but savory and deep with pieces of shredded beef, enoki mushrooms, and sprouts.
Boodaejang – spam stew. This recipe was developed around that infamous American potted meat. It also has «sausages» (actually hot dogs), quarter sized rice cakes, on a bed of curly ramen noodles, kimchi, all in a flat paella-​styled hot pot. This is spicy hot and warming. Salty goodness. This soup is just WRONG on paper but in real life, well, you’ve got to try it. I loved it even more 2 days later.
Kimchijigae – pretty well done here. This is the infamous kimchi soup – where all the super far gone kimchi go b/​c old kimchi never dies. When it’s too sour to eat, it’s right for kimchi soup. But don’t be fooled into thinking it might be just sour soup. There are layers of flavors: deep roasted Gojujaru, silky fatty pork belly, and toothsome sour kimchi. All that action could be a bit much if it weren’t for the relief you get from the soft chunks of semi-​firm tofu.
Good selection of standard Japanese beers. Why no Korean beers?
The soft spots:
Hai Woon Dae suffers from location. It always looks a little deserted in the parking lot but don’t be fooled. They have a lot of foot traffic here for dinner – I’ve been twice for lunch and they were decently busy.
Location.
Location.
Bulgogi is not my favorite here but if you have little guys, it is not spicy and kids usually love it.
Dumplings – a little thick but will do if you’re jonesin’ for some mandool.
Final Tip: The friendly ladies who will take care of you on your visit eat their own cooking. Ask them what they’re eating and what their favorite dishes are and try it. The worst that can happen, you don’t like it and you’re out a little money. You could also get your mind blown and find a new favorite Korean dish. That’s priceless.