Ginseng BBQ & Tofu House

Spoons are dirty and materials are not fresh at all. Worst korean food I’ve ever had.

Amazing service! Our group got the large combo plate with the beef tongue, brisket, and short ribs (plus some bonus pork belly! Awesome surprise!). The dipping sauce was very good too. Steamed egg is a must and definitely buy the Good Day soju. It complements the meat well! Will be coming back!

Nice service and very fresh meats. I’ve heard that they got a new ownership do I came with my parents. Their curry marinated sam gyup sal (pork belly) was my favorite! I really like their new interior compared to the old.

Best bulgogi and best owners ever.
It was my first time at an authentic Korean restaurant, and they made sure my first experience was awesome. Owners were really friendly and easy to talk to, joked around with us and even taught us some Korean! Great atmosphere, clean and simple, perfect for sitting down and hanging out with friends or family. All the food was mind-​blowingly good, and my hands down favorite was the spicy pork; one of my friends hate spicy foods, but he was hooked after eating this. Missing the food already, definitely planning on coming again!

Where do I begin with this restaurant? Well it’s amazing first off, the atmosphere in this restaurant is very open, vibrant and welcoming. Very nice décor, simple yet sweet. The food is delicious! This is the place to go if you are looking for A good Korean BBQ restaurant, it even works for all the Vegans, as this place also sells Tofu! The owners are so sweet even the staff! They showed us how to correctly eat it and taught us some common Korean terms. This is such a sweet place to be and its location is spot on! Would 100% recommend this to a friend, family member:)

I had a birthday party today at this restaurant. Im an avid customer and I really like the new owner here. The owners are very kind!
I had the all you can eat for all of my guests and they were kind enough to cook some of the meat and talked to us.
The food was more the amazing, it was really worth it.

I’ve been going to this place on and off since I moved to Mountain View. It was OK. Under new management, the food is very tasteful and the people there are super nice. The place is a lot cleaner now. The ban chan was delicious and fresh.
I ordered combination tofu and kalbi. Both were good but I wished the kalbi was cooked just a little longer to get more caramelized. I’ll be coming back for more.

Great service, great food! The new owner is doing a great job! Must try the beef tongue and beef brisket! :) they have a great collection of wine as well. The combo is usually a great choice to try different food at once.

So tasty! I went with my best friend for a special weekday lunch, and it was really lovely. The people who run the restaurant are so nice too!

This place used to have decent tofu stew and purple rice, but has since gone downhill (or maybe changed owner). I just had the worst bowl of tofu stew I’ve ever had, it was like a bowl of seasoned water with several chuncks of tofu floating in it and exactly 4 slices of mostly fat sinewy meat… and below average white rice. It cost $ 12 for that, which is way above average for tofu stew. Also when I asked for hot tea, they served the boiling hot tea in a plastic water cup… Will never come back.

Terrible service. There is literally zero service and the meat came out with chunks of ice on it still. Worst korean bbq I have ever had.

Cool décor, well prepared food, generous sides and a nice selection of beverages. The service is always friendly, but can sometimes be a bit slow.
The only downside for me is that I’m an early eater on weekdays and they close from 2:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday. I’d go more often if it weren’t for this.

The food was decent, but the service was lacking. I came here for dinner with my fiancé and noticed that there were only 2 other customers in the restaurant (already a bad sign for a Saturday night). We were greeted by a nonchalant host/​waiter/​server (there was only 1 person working the floor). This guy didn’t really have a warm and engaging personality, so he already set a weird mood for the evening. Anyway, he took our order and delivered our food, but we never saw him again after that. He didn’t come around once to ask how we were getting along or to refill our drinks (I even slurped the bottom of my glass to give him the «I’m in desperate need of a refill» sign, but to no avail). Instead, the waiter was on his phone the whole time. It also took us forever to get the bill because, you guessed it, he was on his phone! Probably won’t come here again. Meh

Reasonable spot for sundubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) and dolsot bibimbap (stone pot mixed rice). The sundubu jjigae silken tofu soup is pretty good. The soup arrives boiling hot, literally. Sundubu jjigae comes with a side of yummy purple rice. My friends order the dolsot bibimbap pretty often and it’s slightly cheaper than Sunny Bowl. Complimentary banchan side dishes include items like blanched broccoli, fish cake slices, glass noodles, bean sprouts (tasted weird on the most recent visit), kimchi (crunchy, vinegary, mild spicy) and cubed potatoes.
It’s on the quieter end of Castro Street, thus parking should be a bit easier. There’s a parking lot behind the restaurant as well. Pretty good lunch at $ 11 – 12 out of pocket. Open for business on Thanksgiving, too!

Came here on a Saturday night for dinner after an afternoon of hiking. There wasn’t a wait for a seat but we were constantly waiting for service. It seemed like there was only one person serving all the tables which explained why we were constantly waiting. The way the barbecue grills were set up was honestly just a pit and a cookie sheet/​baking pan to grill the meat on. The banchan was okay but nothing special. We ordered the all you can eat and a soondubu jigae. I would definitely say the galbi was the best out of the different types of meat. We also enjoyed the spicy pork and bulgogi. The soondubu jigae was just okay but it managed to satisfy my craving. Probably won’t be my favorite place for kbbq in the bay area but it’ll do for proximity of location.

Solid 2.5 stars.
Service was lacking. Not a very clean dining environment. Food was just OK. Ban Chan was just OK. I prob will not be coming back.
We opted for a la carte and ordered:
Beef bi bim bap: 2.5÷5 okay
Chicken tofu soup: 2.5÷5 oK again

First off, I am not exaggerating this review. You can read others below and find similar comments.
A group of 6 of us came here on a Saturday night. We ordered the «all you can eat» option. Here is what to expect if you order this option:
1) A grill that does not get vary hot so it takes a long time to cook your food. We started to notice that anyone who ordered «all you can eat» received an aluminum grill, while others who ordered the standard meat entrees received an iron grill. I am assuming that this was some tactic to reduce the amount of meat you consume.
2) Meat which is mainly fat.
3) You are limited to 2 pieces of korean short ribs… WHO THE HELL DOES THIS HAHA.
4) The server will not change your grill
5) Side dishes are very limited… We had 6 people in our group and they brought 4 small dishes of banchan. One of these dishes was broccoli…3 pieces… for 6 people.
6) One server, so do not expect to get a water refill, banchan refill, or service in general. We even saw a huge party of about 12 that had a «reserved» table walk out because they were not being served.
I am sure the owners of this place are not Korean, and I am assuming they are Chinese. Korean’s usually take a lot of pride in their food, and I saw none of that here.
This has to be one of the worst Korean restaurants in the Bay Area. Take the extra 15 minutes and drive to Santa Clara, and I am sure you can pick a random restaurant off of El Camino and Lawrence and it will surely be better.

Expensive for quality of meat. No fat is trimmed and 1 out of 3 ribs for each galbi strip is only fat. Chicken fat at every angle and served in whole chunks versus being trimmed and cut. Samgyupsal pork belly is frozen. Horrible banchan. The soybean sprouts tasted off. Scissors don’t work. Brings out 1 serving of meat at a time at a table of 4 (all you can eat). Painfully slow service.
Save your money. Better to go to korean market and get premarinated galbi and cook at home.

Came here on a Monday night and it was fairly empty. My friend and I opted for the AYCE option– $ 25/​person. We got serving after serving of bulgogi and galbi. The quality of the galbi was great, but the marinades were pretty sweet. Brisket is frozen so we only got one serving of that. Spicy pork was decent. Banchan selection was plentiful. The rice is this purple grain mixture that reminds me of what my mom used to make as a «healthier» option. I would have preferred white rice. Salad was flavorless. But I did come for the meat, and I definitely ate my worth.
There was only one server but he was attentive and prompt. I felt a little bad for him because he seemed bored due to the lack of customers. More people started showing later on, but I don’t think the restaurant ever made it to half full. Maybe it’s more crowded on weekends?
Not my favorite place for KBBQ but Ginseng definitely fulfilled my craving and more.

I really liked Ginseng when it opened.
Then I went to Jang Su Jang and Seoul Gom Tang and learned how to cook jap chae myself.
But it’s not all my fault – Ginseng has changed their menu over the years so now the value is generally not as good, plus the banchan has become mediocre and minimalist (though I must give them credit for presentation).
Conclusion: Santa Clara, Oakland, and SF definitely have better Korean food, but Ginseng is an alright local place if you have serious cravings.

FIRST VISIT, WEEKDAY:
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You had me at «crispy rice».
$ 9 for dohl soht bi bim bap with your choice of meat (or $ 8 for vegetarian) is a reasonable price for lunch. And it comes with fish cake soup and two side dishes (banchan). Yes please!
The soup was flavorful and hearty, and since I came with a group, we got six standard banchan dishes.
The highlight of the meal of course was the hot stone pot bi bim bap with crispy rice. The hot stone pot allows the rice to continue cooking to a perfect crisp. This bowl came with a reasonable amount of ingredients including a fried egg. A very enjoyable bi bim bap indeed.
SECOND VISIT, WEEKEND:
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I returned on a Sunday and found that they charge dinner prices for lunchtime on weekends. So my $ 9 chicken bi bim bap was now $ 13. Ouch.
We tried the seafood pajun (seafood pancake) which was also $ 13. I liked the crispiness of the pancake and the shrimp and squid inside.
Dinner prices during lunch are somewhat pushing it, and since they’re charging more money they should be able to hire another waiter. There was just one waiter so service was a bit slow. Also, he didn’t clear off any dirty dishes from the tables where people had left. Whose idea of «ambiance» includes stacks of dirty dishes everywhere?

Better than Palace Buffet on El Camino IMO