Pine Tree Restaurant

$ 25 per person for boiled potato water soup, fermenting cabbage and meat I’ve got to cook myself!
Huh?
For that money I’m going out for a T-​bone steak, baked potato with butter and chives and a salad prepared for me by a skilled cook …

I’ve been here twice now and both times were fantastic. But, the second time around it seemed they must have been short handed, because it took longer than usual to get refills on meat, banchan, ect. Even then, our server was working very hard to provide good service. The first time around, at least five or six different servers were tending to anything I could’ve imagined needing. Will definitely be back.

My friend just came back for the holidays and I wanted to take her out somewhere close to home. We walked in and it wasn’t busy, several waitresses saw us and didn’t do anything. Finally one did and sat us down. Rushed us to get our order in. But when my friend wanted more salt we had to wait 15 mins. On top of that, I wanted one more bowl of rice and also waited another 15 mins. There were other customers around us that had the quickest service and these ladies were so different to them. Helped cook the meat and even held conversations, yet the moment my friend and I asked; we were given dirty looks, scoffed at, and waited a while for any type of service. Seriously disappointed with the staff here. Food was great, customer service not so much.

Oh man… this place sucks… I really want to support a local place but they need to improve! There were times when there were only a few Korean restaurants in Southbay. Then they were doing ok. Now, they have so many competitors but still hasn’t improved on their service and food quality. I ordered bo-​ssam (Steamed sliced pork) a while ago and couldn’t finish them. It was so dry and bland that I couldn’t even finish the first bite. It’s a shame… Non-​Korean customers will try here and think it’s how Korean food should taste like. No! It’s not! There are so many better Korean restaurants out there.

Came here with the Korean in laws. Love that they are able to order in Korean and we get better service imo! ha! The English of the servers seems limited otherwise, but it didn’t matter to us!
We ordered a bunch of stuff: Korean short ribs, japchae, grilled salmon, grilled mackerel, halibut stew, mandu, white rice, and multi grain rice. We ordered almost two of each for a group of 9 of us! SO much food!
Mandu was good. Standard pan friend dumplings. Thicker skin with some meat and greens inside. It came out pippin’ hot, which made it more delicious! The Korean short ribs were standard. Japchae was really good, not as much meat as others places I have tried but not as oily either. Good subtle flavor! Grilled salmon and halibut stew were a tad bit salty but perfect when paired with rice! The halibut was especially soft! I really liked the multigrain rice. They also offer brown rice, but this was as delicious and nutritious!
Service was okay. Was sitting around with un-​re-​filled water and tea cups for a while but they made it up by giving up a whole pitcher of water and pot of barley tea! Barley tea is very refreshing, love that it has no caffeine! If I came again, I would order the halibut stew, multigrain rice, and japchae, again. But I am rarely in this area so probably note! haha

So sad!!! The service here is IN MY TOP 3 WORST. Seemed like they wanted me to never come back and purposely gave me crap service. For that price I mind as well eat at GEN but the only problem there is the wait/​line. There’s no line here even on a Saturday night and I live across the street from here. The bulgogi is a bit too sweet but I love it here. Sad! They didn’t attend to us often enough, they only asked if we needed more meat 3mins after all the food was eaten. We asked for more kimchi and they bring us broccoli. No refills on drinks/​they took forever and have to ask for it. And they never brought out my rice. I had to ask TWICE!!! To start we ordered 2 orders of beef tongue, they brought out which looked like 4 orders of beef tongue and seemed like they wanted me to fill up on just that and have us leave. Just because we’re not your preferred customer, don’t treat us like that?! I ate here over 5x’s because it’s so convenient and I walk here but after last night? I was fed up. DAMN IT! my K-​BBQ across the street from me has the worst service. Sad sad sad. I won’t come back anymore. Only emergencies! SHARPEN UP YOUR TEAM MANAGEMENT!!!

This place doesn’t make me thirsty which means no MSG! A gem in the south bay that delivers home style cooking that doesn’t use MSG which we never use at home. A rare find even in ktown. Make sure you make a reservation on the weekend because it gets packed! So far I have tried half their menu and for the most part it’s all delicious. It is not very salty or strong in taste which is expected from not using MSG. Great authentic Korean food!

Great, well seasoned meats at a definitely reasonable price! The atmosphere is very calming, lots of parking, and very hospitable service. Will be coming back for sure!

Good place for lunch. Came here with wife, son, and mom as well as a guest. We’ve been coming here consistently for many years.

Pine is fine
Overall:
I would recommend this place for AYCE. It isn’t as glamorous as Gen but it is still pretty decent and cheap.
Parking:
Does get a bit cramped during night time. *3 stars*
Service:
Service tends to be a bit slow sometimes. *3 stars*
Food:
They have two options for the AYCE a $ 15 option which is really all you need and a pricier $ 24 option and at that pricing I would probably go somewhere else. The meat quality here is decent and the banchan is pretty good. *4 stars*

Old and rundown food very average price is in just ok I will definitely not go back to this place

I wish there was 3.5 stars when trying to rate… Not gonna lie but Pine tree is definitely one of those hidden gems in South Bay. Overall it is good food and quality is up there. But they are so understaffed and service gets a little slow. Only time when their service was on point was when I came here with my pastor and other deacons from my church. But overall, I would try to check that place out again if it’s not crowded. AYCE is pretty decent but slightly expensive if you want more choices.

It’s a nice slightly hidden gem of a Korean BBQ restaurant. The dining area is set up to accommodate for family or group dining. They offer two different all you can eat menus, one with just a few items and other with several, maybe 10 items. Just like any KBBQ, they offer a variety of side dishes. They do appreciate if you ask for half portions so not to waste food.
Honestly, I never had a bad experience eating there. The staff is always polite and always available to offer refills on drinks, side dishes, or main dishes.
They also have the greatest rice candy they give you with your check at the end of your meal.

Pretty good AYCE Korean BBQ. No complaints. $ 25 for the deluxe selection of meats. Lots of good traditional Korean appetizers and a good salad. DolSot Bibimbap was a bit disappointing, I have had better elsewhere. But it was not bad, just that the rice was not crispy like I like it and it did not have much meat. But since we were getting AYCE meat anyway, it was fine. If I ordered the DolSot by itself without any BBQ meat, I would have been disappointed.
Anyway, nice staff, cold beer and a meat feast. Who could complain about any of that?

Family lunch
food was good as always

3.5 stars. Your average cheaper AYCE kbbq spot. $ 15.95 for brisket, spicy marinated pork, pork belly and marinated chicken. Clean and decent service. Comes with korean miso soup (kind of flavorless), hot pot steamed egg, rice, and all the sides, i.e., kim chi, radish, potato salad, few others. It was 2^nd choice because Gen had a 1.5 hr wait. I would def come back here when craving local lbbq because its really close to my boyfriends house. Only thing is: no rice paper. I dont eat that much so didnt bother me. Try it out if your nearby, wouldnt drive too far for it