Gaon Authentic Korean BBQ Restaurant

I decided to make a visit to this place since most of the Korean bbq places I go to are a distant. The food was good, but the kimchi soup wasn’t the best. The prices are good for an all you can eat; however, I think I will stick with the ones I usually go to instead.

We live around the area and we all love Korean food. Used to always have to drive down to KTown in LA for that authentic Korean taste… but once this place showed up, been here almost every weekend… come early though!!!

My friends and I went to this place because there was an hour and 45 minutes wait at Gen and we were like «peace.» We called ahead of time to see if we can reserve a table and they were eager to accommodate. Once we arrived, there was a table ready for us and everything set up so we did not have to wait. The main waiter we had, Lyon, was super friendly and was there whenever we needed something. The restaurant itself has a very clean feel and upscale atmosphere, different from a lot of usual Korean BBQ places. We got the first combo, which was $ 24.99 a person, which a decent price. The meat was very high quality and tasted amazing. Every time we order something, Lyon would legitimately be back in like 30 seconds with the thing we ordered. A+ plus service and excellent food. I would definitely come back here if I was in the area.

Like this place better then other Korean BBQ in Southern California. Love their great variety of side dishes. Also seem to have new dishes on a weekly basis. Friendly service tasty food great price! Their lunch all you can eat price is $ 18!

Gaon is good. The cuts of meat are good cuts, the location is a good place, they have a good sized parking lot in the back, and service is good.
Good being the operative word here.
Gaon used to be one of my favorite (albeit more pricey) AYCE KBBQ places near my house, but it’s quality in meat, food, and staff have declined a bit over the last couple of years. Now I kind of only go there if I’m too lazy to drive down to Oo-​Kook.
The last time I went it was fairly crowded, and our server was completely overwhelmed through (it seemed) no fault of his own. English was clearly his second language, and in addition to our party of 5, he had what looked to be a party of 10 with a screaming baby in the back section. I truly blame this party for our subpar service. They completely monopolized his time, even going so far as to sticking their heads in the back service area to ask him for more meat.
There were other issues as well, on the night we went they were out of white rice and rice paper, and it wasn’t even that late at night! We had to ask multiple people multiple times for various items (like kimchi and garlic) and only towards the end of our meal did they bring out the complimentary appetizers, which we weren’t able to finish because we were full of meat.
Maybe if you came in on a night when they’re not so busy, you might find better service. All in all for it’s price and quality, you’d be better off driving a bit further for better quality.

I’ve eaten here several time and have been happy with the quality of the food, service and spread. Last night, we decided to try other menu items besides the typical barbecue. we had a hot pot with beef and seafood that was excellent. We also had the Kimchi fried rice which was okay, albeit bland. We had an dumpling as an appetizer, and a cold buckwheat noodle. Both were tasty. I look forward to trying some of their other menu items.

Not much option for $ 24.99
We were just passing by and was too hungry to go anywhere. All the meats are fresh and delicious. A quiet little place and plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.
Subtracting one star for service. Everyone was nice just not attentive and there were only three tables. Or maybe I’m just not use to the calling button.
The place was very clean and meat was fresh just wish they have more options.

The boyfriend and I came down for a Saturday night dinner. First time here. Luckily there wasn’t that many people so we didn’t struggle with parking or the wait. We ordered the meal for 2 and we were very satisfied. The presentation was great, very cleanplace.
The sides were amazing. The chicken was delicious compared to other kbbq BUT we wished they had some dipping sauces or seasoning on some of the beef. It was a bit bland. Overall our experience was good and we would come back.

Oh man… Textbook example of a place that started off so promising and then went steadily downhill over the years.
If you read my prior review, you’ll notice that I said Gaon basically had Koreatown defeated when it first opened. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Not by a long shot.
The quality of meat has gone WAY south. I mean it is absolutely terrible now.
The once-​friendly service now seems hesitant, in like a let’s-ignore-this-guy-maybe-he-won’t-ask-for-more-meat kind of way.
The price? Seems to change nonstop, though that could be in my head. It certainly has drifted upwards.
Oh well, at least there are a ton of other local options now.

Terrible slow service combined with the lowest possible quality of meats makes for a terrible all you can eat experience. I spent ²⁄₃ of my meal sifting through fat and gristle trying to find some beef. As far as flavor goes, there was little. Overall a bad experience. I suggest going to Young Dong Garden in Arcadia instead. I’ve never had a bad experience there.

We did AYCE for a party of six. The food was decent, with the beef tongue being my favorite. The galbi wasn’t so-​so and they ran out of the spencer ribs. The problem was that service was so slow. We waited a long time for our orders and had to repeat them several times. My friend said service was better before they changed management.

This place was my introduction to Korean barbecue. The introduction begins from the outside as you can smell the food cooking from across the street. That’s always a nice way to say hello.
The food itself was fine although a little more expensive than I would’ve liked. I can’t say much to recommend coming back when you have in my opinion better places with more choices and competitive pricing not too far away. However I will say that the pumpkin juice they gave us at the end of the meal was extraordinary. I could drink that by the pitcher.

I like Gaon. Yes. It is little isolated area for Korean bbq restaurant however, not like similer situated korean restaurant Gaon is well maintained and its service, price and specially the taste is very much comparable with good Korean restaurant. I always visit Gaon during weekday lunch time to enjoy Korean food, their lunch specials are great. They serve Egg-​zzim with very decent price as side dish which I loved it everytime I visit.
I wish Gaon in good standing here long long time.
Best regards

Korean food in Pasadena normally does not intrigue me because it’s likely overpriced and under-​quality. Gaon caught my eye because it serves naeng myun, or cold noodles in a broth. To my dismay, my lunchtime visit resulted in no cold noodles for me because the restaurant was out of the noodles and the broth. Instead, I ordered a combination lunch of galbi and bibimbap with beef. The panchan were fairly abundant but loaded with msg and the flavors just seemed off. The kimchi was really strong, as if it was too old, the brocolli had a lot of MSG, the mac salad was meh, the cucumbers so salty, and the radishes and bean sprouts, meh. The bibimbap and galbi were pretty standard fare.

Been here for Korean BBQ a few times. Best way to describe is this is a if u have no other choice for Korean BBQ in the area then u come here. However, there are more options in the area now like oo-​kook and gen bbq not too far away. So mediocre at best.
Came here with the wife and got normal entrees. She got the bimbibap which was normal and I got the tonkotsu meal which was by far the worst I ever had. Even places like Ono Hawaiian bbq is better at half the price, but whatevers apples and oranges. The main thing that stuck out for me was they refused to give me soup saying it was not included with my meal. After the meal was done we checked the menu and it said all entrees include soup, salad and side dishes. Whack!
Would not come again.

I was so pleasantly surprised at how good the Korean BBQ was here! I am Korean and can say this place is legit!
Husband and I came for dinner and ordered one of the combos to share (not all you can eat). We were pleasantly surprised at how delicious everything tasted and the large portion size!
One of the big turn offs was the long wait. It seemed a bit disorganized and chaotic. Also the parking lot is teeny tiny — had to street park it.
But all in all, would definitely come again!

Ate here a while ago and I remember realizing that if you want kbbq, stick to a more Asian oriented area, even San Gabriel or city of industry would be better for kbbq-​ktown would be #1 though. However Pasadena is not the place for kbbq.
This place proved it. Two separate areas where watiers are running back and fourth. Food was mediocre and service was slow. Good thing my boyfriend and I was celebrating our 6 months back then, we sure did have a lot of time to talk.
Will not be back.

Surprisingly not bad for AYCE Korean BBQ in this s area. There are 2 types of Ayce you can pick. Bi tried the $ 25 and I enjoyed it very much. My favorite meat here was the pork belly and the thinly sliced beef belly. I was not too crazy about the marinated meats but everything else was great.
The banchan was delicious too. They have a side dish which is green beans with a garlic sauce, super delish. Staff is very nice and polite and service is greet. I can’t wait to come back this week end try the $ 30 menu.

I’m reminded how much I like a place based on their service and this place keeps reminding me of it. I threw my friend her birthday dinner here and they had a holiday special: buy three ayce and get one free. Boom! The birthday girl eats free!!!
AYCE Choice A: $ 24.99
I don’t eat beef, so I only got to eat the Pork Belly, marinated pork, and the chicken… My advice: PORK BELLY ALL THE WAY… SO GOOD.
Also, their stove vent thing (above the stove) are movable to suck up the BBQ smoke. I barely smelled like BBQ !!!
They also give you a Korean drink to help break up all the meat at the end of the meal.
The Banchan was also sooo good. They give you the eggs AND scrambled egg pancake!!!
Service:
Very attentive and so nice. They kept changing our grill. Very good.
Parking: THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LOT!!! Freeeee!
I love this place!

I was here celebrating for my friend’s recent promotion and we did the AYCE Korean BBQ. We did the $ 24.95 AYCE option-​the meat was fresh!
They had plenty of side dishes, but the one thing they were missing was rice paper. How do you not have rice paper for Korean BBQ? That was a fail!
Also, if you’re Vegetarian, then you’re excluded from being charged the AYCE price. That was a plus!!! Most Korean BBQ will charge you the AYCE price, because they assume you’re lying about being Vegetarian and that you will sneak meat in your mouth.
When the servers found out we were celebrating my friend’s promotion, they hooked us up with dessert and soju bombs. That was awesome!
This place was pretty good for Pasadena, since there are no Korean BBQ around, but I will stick with K-​town.