Chae Bahn Restaurant

Nice little restaurant. Came here on a Saturday night around 5pm and it wasn’t crowded. Service was great and refilled our beverages often.
Kamjatang: Pork rib stew with potato and dried cabbage for 11.99 — mmm! Came out steaming hot! Spicy broth and very tender pork ribs. They also give you a generous amount of pork rib. I had to take the rest home.
Dol-​Pan Bibimbap: Delicious! I loved how the rice came out very crispy. However the portion was small but enough to make me full. For 11.99 I expected a bigger portion.
Their side dishes were okay. Nothing special.
They also give you a complementary dessert which is in a tiny cup filled with a sweet cold drink. In my opinion, it was too sweet but at least it was free!

Out of all the choices that this particular center offers, my friend and I decided to try this place. When we entered, there was only one other couple eating. Since it was Saturday night and every other place was packed this either meant that this wasn’t a good place to eat or people weren’t in the mood for Korean. However, as we ate the place did end up filling up a bit.
Complementary appetizers and water came quickly once we were seated. I ordered the number 9. It came out piping hot. It was delicious. The only thing I would say about this place I didn’t like was the kimchi. It wasn’t very spicy and the sauce was on the ketchupy side. Otherwise, it is a decent Korean joint.

I come here time to time whenever I’m craving Korean food. And I’ll say that this is a pretty decent Korean restaurant in the area. I’ve definitely have had better but not (yet) in Irvine.
To start off, what I really like about this place is the sides. They give you a decent variety, and they always give me my favorites (kimchi, radish, fish cake, glass noodles, bean sprouts). My usual order here is the Bibimbap or Ra-​pokki (ramen & spicy rice cakes). To be honest, they don’t really have anything else on the menu here; the menu is mainly comprised of bibimbap and ramen. Bibimbap is fresh and has a fair selection of veggies. Ra-​pokki is a great snack/​meal. It’ll undoubtedly fill you up, but be sure to finish the rice cake if you’re going to box your meal; otherwise, it’ll harden and be hard to eat. As for the flavor, the ra-​pokki here is probably on the sweeter side. It still can get spicy, but not overwhelmingly so.
I’ve heard mixed reviews about the service. I’ve have decent quality service here. They usually refill my sides and water quickly.

Judging by the reviews, it looks like i should’ve ordered the bibimbap instead of my Squid Dolpan $ 12. That was a generous stone bowl of rice and squid inn spicy red sauce with onion. But the sauce was waaay to spicy. The kind of spice that makes your scalp sweat. As I was eating I was thinking «at least my pores are getting a work out! «
Sam’s Seollong beef soup $ 9 was a grey liquid with success of beef. It had the promise of a carefully watched slow cooked soup. But without any seasoning she reached for the salt dish at least 4 times to get some flavor accents. I said the lack of salt, or the self-​serve salt was because of the slogan on the napkin «wellbeing.» Sam dismissed this as nothing else was healthy.
The main reason for a low rating is the service. It was surly, unattentive and made me want to be across the street in BCD. I only came here to try something else. And ironically, I’ve already tried this place, but forgot about it. Remember I said the Squid was spicy? I wanted a water refill. Not once did the waitress come by. As soon as we sat down our waitress disappeared and another came to take our order. She only refilled water for one table the whole time we ate.

This place is okay. Sometimes the service is nice and sometimes they are downright mean. I had the Bibimbap which wasn’t bad at all. The cold noodles weren’t bad either. Nothing spectacular and nothing terrible either. Just a solid place that isn’t memorable.

its been about 2 years since the last time ive been here. i normally get their bibimbap whenever i come here but decided to try their seolleongtang this time. i got their salgogi seolleongtang (beef bone soup) for $ 8.99. they gave quite a good amount of meat inside even though i only drank the soup and gave the meat to my brother. the soup was good and it taste just like it supposed to be. my brother wanted to get their bulgogi but i told him i also wanted to try yukgaejang (spicy beef and leak soup) for $ 8.99. being a nice brother that he is, he decided to order this so i can try it. the yukgaejang was so salty, especially after eating my tasteless seolleongtang. i felt so thirsty all the time after eating the seolleongtang soup. my brother also didnt like it but im glad he didnt blame me for ordering something weird.
banchan was good, especially the kimchi and japchae (
). the kimchi was so flavorful and it really hit the spot. the japchae was good and not many korean places give you a good japchae as side dish.
at the end of our meal, the waitress gave us korean sweet rice drink which was good but too sweet for me.
will come back but not anytime soon.

Pretty delicious! 10 10! Came here on a Friday, so I didn’t get to eat meat since it was lent, but nonetheless, their selections without meat are SOOOO good. Very filling, too! If you’re looking for really good bibimbap, look no further!
Kimchi Fried Rice: A little too sour for my taste, but it was good. They have little hotdog chunks, kimchi, and top it with a fried egg. Yum!
Veggie and Mushroom Bibimbap: YUM. SUPER GOOD. Very flavorful, and comes out steaming hot.
Seaweed Soup: Tasted like feet. LOL. How do I know what feet taste like? I dunno.
Banchan: OMFG. THEIR FISH CAKE, DAIKON AND JAPCHAE OASJDKSFJD SO GOOD.
Overall Experience and Service: Very friendly ahjummas hehe. Great service! Clean establishment, too. I would definitely come back!

Yes, the menu is limited but I feel the food is more traditional than other places. Side dishes are so-​so. One day it was really good and fresh, another day, it tasted old and overfermented.
I love the Sul Lung Tang-​Beef bone, leek, and noodle soup. The broth is a white color due to the bones being cooked over a long period of time. This soup is very comforting and healthy (full of calcium).
I love their Ra-​pokki as well. Great snack type of food. It is kimchi ramen with spicy rice cakes. I like their version since it is a nice balance of spicy and sweet. Other places make it too spicy and it kills me! I can’t eat very spicy foods so I prefer a little sweetness to the dish.
I haven’t tried the other dishes so I can’t recommend anything other than those 2 items. Service is always so-​so. I was the korean one, yet they kept looking and talking to my friend the entire time!
I agree that their water is pretty terrible! They need to change it ASAP! It tasted heavily chlorinated like pool water. I would skip the water or bring your own bottled water/​drink!
I do like their complimentary shik-​hye afterwards. Not a lot of restaurants keep up with the traditional korean dessert drink! It was a nice little treat which was very refreshing.

I came here last week with Van D after yet another night of drinking at Balcony. We wanted some late night munchies and decided to give this place a try.
There wasn’t a lot of selection in their menu. Their menu is mainly made up of ramen and bibimbap. I ordered the Jeontang Bibimbap for $ 8.99 and I have to say that I just wasn’t really impressed. It wasn’t anything special and was pretty pricy if it’s not going to be amazing. Van D got a bibimbap in the hot stone platter and it was probably better than mine but she also wasn’t impressed. Her order was $ 11.99. For these prices, I want some bomb Korean food! Usually when you’re drinking and want something to munch on, almost anything will suffice. BUT this most definitely did not. Perhaps their ramen is better but I can make my own bowl of Shin Ramen for less than a dollar. So I wouldn’t order that unless it was cheaper. I couldn’t justify paying over six dollars for what looked like a bowl of instant Shin Ramen.
My favorite things were probably the side dishes that come with your meal. It came with glass noodles, seaweed salad, kimchi, and some spicy radished vegetable. However, I can get these side dishes at pretty much any Korean restaurant. I’d go somewhere else if I’m craving Korean food. This place was only convenient because it’s one of the late night spots in Diamond Jamboree but next time I’d rather go to BCD.

Very Korean restaurant… lol. Came here a couple times. First time I didn’t really know 85% of the things on the menu, needed some Korean food lessons. Good thing I came with some Koreans. But anyway, I had their rapokki and it was yummy. The ramen was bomb, and the rice cakes chewy and had a good texture. The sauce was a bit spicy… I like it. Overall, a pretty big plate for just myself.
Second time I shared something with a friend… I can’t recall the name or what it was exactly, but it was a soup, a cloudy color with some egg/​rice cakes or something in it??? It was different, something I never had before. I liked it. My friend didn’t lol
The BEST part though, is the little shot of… sweet somethin at the end that they give you. I’m not sure what it is, but I wish I had a gallon of it. It’s sweet, cold, refreshing, and just a perfect way to top off your meal.

I have definitely noticed this place every time we visit Jamboree Plaza, and when the bf suggested this restaurant on a Thursday night around 10pm, we were glad that it’s one of the only late night places still open in Irvine!
We have been here only once before, but that was for take out and it was just dumplings so I feel like that doesn’t count for much. During our official first visit recently, I ordered the beef rib stew (galbitang) and my bf ordered the dol-​pan bibimbap. I was hoping for something with more veggies, but when I asked the waitress, she said most of their soups didn’t come with vegetables.
We were first served the normal Korean small dishes and my stew came out pretty quick. My bf’s dish came out a tad bit later, but it did not take long either. My soup was very flavorful (kind of skeptical about the possible amount of MSG) and came with a good amount of beef! I wish that the beef was more tender though. I was surprised at how filling my dish was — I probably finished half of my soup and barely touched my rice. I didn’t try the bibimbap, but my bf rated his dish 3 stars.
I like that they’re open late, but I wish they had more selection on the menu. It was nothing special to me (it was literally just soup and beef), so I felt like it was kind of pricey for what I got. I would probably only be back per the bf’s request.

On the drive from L.A. to S.D., I like to stop by Irvine once in a while and get something to eat, with Diamond Jamboree usually being my go-​to place. One of my friends recently started at UCI, so I decided what better area to introduce him to than here? My visit happened to be late in the night, so Chae Bahn was one of the few places still open. After an entire weekend of K-​Town, I could still go for more Korean food.
Chae Bahn reminds me of the small mom & pop shops you would see all over Korea serving a variety of mostly the same dishes, except in a more Americanized setting. Our waiter was really kind and the food came out quickly.
Banchan are pretty typical here. Kimchi, radish, and my favorite fish cake. All were refilled without even asking, which is rare to see these days.
I decided to stick with the basics and get something light, while introducing my friend to Korean food. We ordered topokki and don katsu. Both plates came out in HUGE portions, to the point where I ended up having to take half of it all home. The quality was mediocre though. Not the worst, but I’ve definitely had better. The topokki was too sweet and not spicy enough, although the rice cake itself was very delicate. The don katsu was way too thin and dried out, so I ended up dipping it with the topoki sauce to give it some moisture. I have a feeling it’s not Koreans cooking it in the kitchen.
Chae Bahn is pretty convenient if you want some late night Korean food and want to avoid BCD. Order a couple plates, mix with some Chum Churum and Hite like we did, and you’ll be good to go. Not the best place if you want high quality, though.

Came here instead because Capital Seafood was remodeling. I wanted to order the Ramyon as I was craving noodles &soup. My sister, who has been there couple of times, advised against it as she said it was very similar to Shin Ramen. So we ordered the Kimchi Pokkumbap and Ra-​Pokki.
Several side dishes were served along with our entrees and they were delicious. Portions of tthe meals were pretty big as both dishes were shared between 3 ppl and we had leftovers for additional meal for one.
Ra-​Pokki is spicy, sweet & flavorful– not recommended for those who cannot take spiciness. Rice cakes were a bit too overcooked but the taste was good. Kimchi fried rice– yummy portion of rice, small triangular pieces of hot dogs, some kimchi.
Service was mediocre– no refills for water or tea but we enjoyed a complimentary cold sweet drink at the end of our meal. Quite pricey but big portions. Decent experience but not my first choice of Korean food.

Still a solid 4!
Pros:
— Food comes out really quick.
— Very attentive staff. We had to move from a 2 seater to a 4 seater because a friend was joining us for dinner at the last minute. The server insisted we only move our bodies to the nearby table and she would transfer all the food/​drinks for us.
— Side dishes never went empty.
— Their seafood pancake had a crispier batter than most others.
Cons:
— Too many green onions in the pancake… would have preferred if they were chopped instead of whole.
— Water tasted funny.
— Comic Sans font for the business name bugs me… reminds me of AOL 4.0

A solid 3 Star spot!
«Dont drink & draw» —
We’ve been to the Diamond Jamboree Plaza a few times in the past month to satisfy that late night Korean BBQ & Soju craving… ‘Usually after 1am, but this Sunday evening we were here @ 9:30pm. Pulled out the ever-​so-​faithful, well… At least 90% of the time, Unilocal*app! ‘Didn’t think we would have too many options since it looked like a number of the restaurants closed at 10pm. ‘Looks like it just might be the BCD Tofu House again… I have no gripes about BCD, food — has been good, service — a bit hit & miss.
BCD Tofu House (Irvine) —
Then we read up on Chae Bahn, open til midnight… ‘Shake your «Bahn-​Bahn!»
The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, a definite change of scenery versus the regular, hustle & bustle crowd you generally find @ BCD, just across the lot.
We were greeted & shown to a table as soon as we walked in.
Ordered:
Bulgogi Bibimbap (3+ Stars) — Good; tasty; good portion; nice ratio of meat to rice; hot — comes out sizzling!
Photo —
Kim Chee Fried Rice (3+ Stars) — Good; tasty; good portion; diced hot dog…; ‘Wonder if I can order it spicier… «Burn, baby… BURN» 8)
Soju (5 Stars) — Great… ‘As always! *hiccup
The banchans (side dishes), were good & had no problem getting more when we ran out. There was no problem here in getting help from our waitress, «Mahalo Oun!»
We shared the meal between the both of us, as mentioned before — Good portions!
By the time we were done, we were both happy campers! Soju, always helps!
Total bill w/​tax + tip: $ 38
Receipt —
(‘About average for a fair sit-​down meal in the area.)
Overall, okay! ‘Not the greatest Korean cuisine I’ve had but definitely doable for an encore presentation! ‘Next on the to-​try list — «Spicy Beef Soup!»
«Kamsamnida!» (Thank you!)
— Aaaa’and aloha!
Food: 3+
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Value: 3

I’ve never had water that tasted as stale as the water they brought us, and that includes the time we ran out of running water in our house in rural Indonesia and I had to drink boiled rainwater out of a can.
It tasted like it had been marinating for a few days in a tin bucket out on someone’s dusty porch.
That sucked because you need something cool to drink to counteract your kimchi and your peppery radishes. Without water, you can’t strategically set your mouth on fire.
Well, «luckily», neither the kimchi nor the radishes were really even spicy. Just pickly.
I ordered tteok mandu, dumpling, beef strip and rice cake soup. It had a milky sheen and tasted like MSG and pepper. No beef flavor whatsoever. The only positive thing I can say is I liked the rice cakes’ texture. The mandu were… I can’t describe them other than to say the only thing differentiating them from the broth was the texture and slight increase in the pepper flavor.
I tasted my companion’s veggie bibimbap, which is the only reason I am not giving one star. It was actually delicious, although I’m not sure how much of that was just in comparison to my meal.
Afterwards, I went straight to the Korean sweets cart that hangs out in front of H-​mart and assuaged my taste buds by assaulting them with sweet rice pancakes and pumpkin custard buns. I’m not sure they’re forgiven me yet.

I came here with 4 of my friends. It was okay. Nothing special to be honest. I got the pork katsu with rice and cabbage salad. My friend got the Korean style noodles, the other guy got the Kbbq, with rice. The other two girls got the kimbap. The girls shared the kimbap.
The pork katsu was huge. I think that’s why I gave them an extra star. Honestly though, this place is okay, if you don’t want to wait at Guppy’s for a half an hour.
They have sides here. They had noodles, fish patties, radish (which by the way were cut huge!) and kimchi.
The service was okay, basically we have to flag down a server if we wanted anything, which is kind of annoying, because for the last 20 minutes we were sitting there, waiting for the server to bring us our check. It wasn’t until one of the girls flagged down a server that they brought us the check.
The funny thing is that there are drawers under the tables, so you can refill your need of napkins, and utensils. How random. Haha.

Out of all the many eateries at the Diamond Jamboree Plaza, Chae Bahn was chosen because my friend was craving for Kimchi Fried Rice.
Chae Bahn is small and cozy. Once you enter, you are instantly greeted, which I definitely like. There was no wait around, but it was at 10pm.
The menu is relatively simple; a few Ramen Dishes, a variety of Bibimbap dishes, noodle soups, beef dishes, plus they had the Kimchi Fried Rice!
The water is infused with some flavor, possible tea, but I’ve had it before at a KBBQ place and I’m a fan of it. The sides they offer doesn’t offer that much variety. You have kimchi, pickled radish, light brothy soup (to the clean the pallet), cold noodles, and a dish that tasted fishy but looked like strands of tofu. They were all decent, none were bad tasted nor were they great either.
I ordered the Bibimbap with beef and it was also decent. I do like that they give you the rice on the side so you are able to add the amount you desire. You also add the amount of chili paste and sauce. Most may not like that you have to mix your own dish but I like the fact that you are able to add to your liking. The egg was cooked to my liking with the yoke runny. Our server asked if we knew how to eat bibimbap and informed us on how to correctly mix it (although I’m no first-​timer to Bibimbap).
My friend didn’t say too much about her Kimchi friend rice, but there were no complaints and she also liked the way the egg was cooked.
Overall, we were satisfied with our choice. I would come back and try other things because the service was great (water was refilled quickly) and is priced A-​OK.

As a late night place in the Diamond Plaza literally across the lot from BCD, I guess they don’t have too much competition. However, though their food is edible it’s nothing special and comes off as weird at some point.
Food:
I ordered the kimbap and the dried ramen with hot sauce (forgot the Korean name). The kimbap came out first and looked good, but the taste was just decent. I think it didn’t have enough flavor… I mean the flavor was there, but it was just not enough. When the ramen came out, it was definitely something I did not expect. I ordered it expecting it to be actual ramen, but the dish that came out reminded me more of dried pasta noodles with Siracha topped on top. It didn’t look that appetizing, and I couldn’t even finish 1 cup of it because it was too different for me. I’m sure that other people would like it, it’s just not for me. The side dishes like the kim chi and the cucumbers were good, though.
Service:
The people who work here are very nice. They are an older bunch yet they were very attentive to us and were good with giving us suggestions for drinks and so. It was pretty late so we were staying past their closing, and they let us know in very nice way and still thanked us for coming. That’s how service should be, very humble and thankful.
Environment/​Location:
It’s located in the Diamond Plaza where there are plenty of parking spots. The choices of food past midnight only range from here, Tokyo Table, Guppi’s, BCD, and a couple other, so if you want to avoid BCD then this place would be the next best one of its kind. The inside is a small place, but it’s very clean and comfortable.
Overall: ³⁄₅
It’s an okay place. There are better places out there, but for what this place is (a late night offering), it’s an alright choice.

A decent find in such a crowded complex. Every restaurant in the area was packed and had at least a 20 minute wait. It was 7:30pm on a Saturday night and we needed something to eat… fast. I was hungry.
There was a five minute wait to get a table for four and we ordered almost as soon as we sat down. I had the bulgogi bibimpup combo, the kimchi fried rice, and dumplings to start.
The combo was served in a huge stone bowl (check out my pic) and it was seriously hot. It stayed hot our entire time there and would burn you if you let it. The bulgogi was was served over a small bed of clear noodles with rice on the side. The rice started to burn and food started sticking to the stone bowl after a while because it was so hot. The bowl was wide but shallow and the portions ended up being on the smaller side. I was actually hungry for more. The picture in the menu made this dish look a lot better.
The kimchi fried rice was so so. It lacked any sort of real flavor. It was cooked up with tiny cubes of mystery meat. I don’t think it was spam because spam would’ve been more flavorful. I have to say that it did look good though.
The dumplings were probably the best thing here. How can you go wrong with dumplings, especially if there’s a dip dip sauce.
Overall, the service was good, the place is clean, and it wasn’t expensive. Not bad, but I’d say this place was more like Korean fast food. Maybe I’ll try waiting next time.