Corner Place Korean Restaurant / Gilmok

Since the closing of Gilmok, my husband has been boycotting Korean food.
My husband and I don’t eat much spicy food, but the owner (Joseph) taught him that a little hot sauce would add a little flavor without being too spicy. Now my husband must have hot sauce with his dol sot bab.
Thank you, Joseph.

The hub and I were craving Korean food and our go-​to place for a Korean comfort food, Myung Dong Tofu Cabin, which we (with our weekly visits) have been faithful customers of since the first time we were dating, is currently closed for a 6-​week long renovation. Our weekly visits have even earned us special treatments, outstanding service, expedited food delivery (without any need to order since we always end up eating the same food) and occasional pleasant tableside chit chats with the waitresses.
While I generally have faith in Unilocal’s rating system, we have been burned once or twice (very rarely) and we have had underwhelming experience in a few highly-​rated places. But we were desperate so… we randomly found this place with a peculiar name, a four-​star average and some 100+ reviews.
I became even more dubious after seeing a Violation of Liquor Act notice posted (very) prominently on the front window (and another inside the restaurant).
But then, an hour later, both the hub and I walked out, blown out of our collective mind, after having sampled what could possibly be the absolute best selection of Banchan (kimchee, spinach, potato and egg salad, fish cake, cucumber kimchee, and bean sprouts), Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap, and Gal Bi.
There was no comparison when it comes to the price either — our lunch costs no more than $ 24 plus a generous tip– even though I felt service was non-​existent (lady was on the phone the entire time when I needed a refill of my delicious iced brown tea), we were simply too happy to let that one little glitch spoil the awesome experience.
We find the price tag definitely far friendlier to the wallet than any other Korean joints nearby (Myung Dong included), and the portion sizes smaller (read: less American) and much more appropriate in the spirit of watching our respective waistlines.
And oh… we both were slightly disturbed to realize that our loyalty to Myung Dong Tofu Cabin is being tested. We still are.

Big menu, reasonable prices, and best of all, great tasting food. Can’t go wrong!
I ordered the gom tang. At $ 8.95 it was definitely big enough. A yummy mix of brisket, tripe, cartilage, & intestines (though the intestines ended up being a bit too much for me.) It looked like there was one other part too… it was more meaty than innardy, it might have been tongue, not sure.
It came in a clear broth which was light on top, a bit heavier on the bottom since the S&P floated down.
The side dishes were pretty amazing too. There were 7 & the only one that I was kinda meh on was the potato/​egg salad because it was too mayonnaise-​y, but the japchae was excellent and the spinach, cucumber, and potatoes (in ketchup?) tasted oh-​so-​fresh.
The barley tea was good, so was their brown rice which included barley, peas, and beans. The hard-​working servers (owners?) were very courteous & zen.
No MSG. =) I’ll be back.

Normally if I were in this strip mall I’d be at 99 Chicken but we thought we’d try a new place instead so we go into Corner place. Pretty good Pan Chan to start with and we order the following:
–Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop
–Bulgogi
–Spicy bbq pork
— Seafood Pancakes
–Tripe stew
The tripe stew was ok and the pancakes were pretty good. I didn’t try the other items but the co-​workers that they were decent. The owner went through a great length on touting his food and actually gave his personal attention on how to mix bi bim bap for one of my co-​workers. Hell I thought he was going to feed him for a minute there. It’s nice to see pride in ones work but maybe this guy was taking a bit too far? 3.5 stars

the corner place has one bare white wall and the left wall has a handpainted mountainous landscape on it.
sampling:
–kalbee tang (11.95): tasty broth with radish, onions, glassy noodles with 2 large kalbe bone with the accompanying large clump of tender meat. a scissoror was provided to cut the meat.
–7 banchan: above average flavoring
panchan:
–almost no service, had to ask for additonal water, then i got a bottleful of iced barley tea.
–everyone seem interested in docudrama about a separated korean family in the north on the telly.
–missing WOW for 4 stars, something was missing…
–price increase since ¹¹⁄₀₈
–sui tofu (a few doors over) has some items cheaper by a buck, taste a little more flavorful.
–parking nearby

My second trip to Corner Place — time to write a review!
Came here the first time for dinner with fellow Unilocalers Caroline S. and Cindi N. after another UYE at Roux in Santana Row. This time it was with Donna Y. for lunch so I can write a review that covers both experiences.
Corner Place is located in a small Strip Mall, right off El Camino Real and is easily accessible from both directions of El Camino Real. Parking is tight but there is ample parking available and I’ve never faced a challenge finding a spot.
~ 5 stars for location, accessibility and parking
Entering the restaurant, it’s a very utilitarian establishment, clean, bright, airy and laid out with the singular intent of seating people for the purpose of eating. Don’t come here expecting a cozy, semi-​private area — it’s all wide open but never felt crowded or overwhelming. Décor is obscure (I can’t even remember what they had on the walls and I was just there!!!) — a single box TV (they still make those???) sits on the counter and it appears to be there more for the owner’s use than for the patrons LOL
~ 3 stars for décor — should be 2 but hey, they never claimed to be a fancy or romantic restaurant so a star is added back for being unpretentious and true!
Service was great — Mr. Lee recognized Donna (I assume that was the owner) — always impressive when that happens :) Our water was always topped off, food came out promptly and several people stopped by to make sure we were doing alright. Have to admit I was a little surprised by this level of service in this type of restaurant!
~ 4 stars for service
Now, the food. The Kim Chee was great and all the appetizers alone were enough for a mini meal! but I was here for the food! I had the Darg Bool Go Gee (BBQ chicken) on steamed rice — comes with a side of a house salad and glass noodles (japchae) — it was delicious! Loved the chicken — of course I had to add the hot sauce *rolleyes* but the noodles were really good and had a great seasoning and flavor to them. Donna got the Bee Beem Bap (I’m pretty sure) with chicken instead of beef and appeared to enjoy her meal as well. It looked nice and is presented in a large stainless steel bowl — pretty cool! Very filling, I couldn’t finish my food since I’d been nomming on the appetizers before the meal — for about $ 8 each, an awesome value for a nice, quiet lunch with good friends.
~ 4 stars for food.
~ 4 stars overall — clean, friendly atmosphere, super friendly staff (and owner), great, inexpensive food — what’s not to like?
# 125

Hadn’t been here in 18 months, but it is still as I remember it:
— Latin help, Korean owned
— Small, family owned place.
— Good Korean food
— Reasonable prices
— unassuming décor
We had Dolsot BiBimBop, substituting Chicken for beef ($ 9.95)
and Mushroom and seafood Soon Dubu ($ 8.95)
With a small bottle of OB Korean brand beer. ($ 3)
Total damage after tax: less than $ 25, and that incudes 8 banchan!
NIce Ma and Pa Korean place!

The owners’ personalities of this restaurant made up for the slow service they had tonight… they actually try to remember faces and noticed my friend’s face was a new one!
. packed place… but not enough staff members…
the waitress. didn’t know how to speak english… so we had to order or repeat ourselves twice all the time since the guy came out to ask for our order again… :/​
seafood tofu soup and bul goo geee made up for it though in the end: D

No offense but Korean food in the Bay area doesn’t even compare to Korean food in Southern California. Call me a brat but whatever.
That being said, this place has been the best Korean restaurant I’ve been to so far (I havent’ even been to that many because there just aren’t that many choices). The service is really friendly, the food is good and the prices are great.
I particularly enjoy this place’s small dishes because they give you a lot of different variety (and with ones I actually like!) so this is a bonus.
I’m hoping there are more Korean places up here that I have yet to discover but according my Korean friends who live around the area, there really isn’t a lot of choices =\
Oh well, this place will have to do in the meantime.

I come to this plaza ALL the time (mostly for 99 chicken or Sushi o Sushi), so why haven’t I come to this place ’til now??? I don’t know… but you’ll be seeing me there more often from now on.
Like another Unilocaler, I TOO heart the owner guy w/​the suspenders. He was the 1^st person who greeted me when I first came here. He is so happy looking, nice and friendly.
I’m all for korean kalbi or bulgogi, but when I saw another customer eating clear noodle beef soup, I knew I had to try it out.
OMG, it was sooo good. The broth was so hot (temperature hot) and the beef was filled w/​a whole bunch of crazy meat (tongue, fat, flank, etc). I LOVE the clear noodle, but I was disappointed that they didn’t put enough in the broth. The owner guy said that the broth is what he enjoys most. (This soup can be found on the wall, picture on the very right)
Haha, he’s funny.
p. s. I really like their side dishes — especially the ketchup-​y potato dish.

(check out the pictures!)
She remembered us!
The lady is nice :)
The pop is still a bit narcissistic. Eh.
Ddukbokgi, AGAIN.
We were herra craving it!
You really can’t beat the price, $ 6.95 (The cheapest I’ve had in Santa Clara was $ 8.95)!
Yukgaejang, WOW!!! +_​+
Delicious. A little skimpy on the meat, and no gosari :(
Yet, delicious.
The soup was very spicy, the way it’s supposed to be!
The portion was huge! My bf and I shared this with the ddukbokgi, but I still took half of the yukgaejang home.
Note: the 5 stars are for 1) the FOOD 2) the BARLEY TEA (makes you appreciate it so much, compared to other places w/​tap water) 3) GREAET PRICES,
not the ambiance (it’s really not as bad as it looks at first glance!) or the service, because it gets pretty slow. (pop = server/​cashier, lady = server/​cashier/​chef helper, 1 chef, 1 busboy)
** The potato side dish, is SOOOOOOOOOO orgasmic. They didn’t have this last time, sooo glad I came again!

I tried the Hae Mul Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap and thought it was very good. It came topped with squid, small shrimp, and clams already doused in a sauce. I don’t think the sauce was straight gochujang, but probably gochujang based. It was really nice, like a more balanced refined version, well suited for the seafood in this dish. The veggies included daikon, carrots, and yellow zucchini. The rice was pretty browned after only a minute or so, so don’t be afraid to mix it up quickly. I didn’t get a fried egg with my dish, not sure if it only comes with the beef or kimchi versions.
I liked the panchan a lot here, especially the cabbage kimchi. Kimchi at its best is light, with a bright flavor, and here they do it right. Japchae was nicely seasoned too. The side of seaweed soup was a nice palate cleanser. I’ll come back to try more things but for now, 4 stars for good cooking.
Update: Tried the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap with beef and the egg yolk was cooked hard. They serve this dish really really hot, so hot that it’s practically hot the whole way through. Pretty decent version.

The best indicator for a good Korean restaurant is the Kimchi. I have to say the Kimchi was from 1 – 10 a 8 (a little bit too sweet).
We ordered chicken bbq and galbi although some fellow Unilocalers indicated that the bbq is not that good. And I have to agree it is just okay.
But the Galbi Tang… was sooooooooo refreshing! I felt energetic after eating it.
I add this place to my regular take out place…

Ever since I visited Korea in 2006, I’ve been looking for that mom and pop type place that welcomes you and serves good, hearty food. The Corner Place Café fits that bill.
A group of Unilocalers took over after a UYE; there were so many of us one might have thought there was a UYE here. Many of us ordered the Bibimbap and spicy tofu, and it didn’t disappoint.
The owner, Mr. Lee, taught us the correct way to eat Bibimbap. Don’t disturb the bottom layer, but just stir the top layer and let the stone pot toast the bottom layer of rice (filipinos call this «tutong», and my grandmother always fights after it). When the crust forms, scrape it up and be prepared to discover another dimension of the goodness of rice!
Great assortment of banchan (side dishes). For you old school peeps, if you remember Edsel Ford Fong of Sam Wo fame, well… that’s what Mr. Lee reminds me of.

Since we were in the area I decided to try this place out after reading some good reviews. It’s Korean food and we saw a bunch of older Koreans eating there — that was a good sign.
They have a huge menu — like 4 pages of stuff.
Iced tea tasted like corn. I’m not sure if I like it. Small cups given, so had to ask for refills.
I got a seafood soft tofu pot which comes w/​8 sides –panchans. They are:
1. bean sprouts (didn’t try since I don’t like sprouts)
2. potato salad — has egg, potato, & apples, & lots of mayo. Just ok.
3. mystery meat — could be beef w/​weird sweet sauce — brown mass. Didn’t like
4. pickled cucumbers-​fine
5. pickled zucchini –fine
6. kimchee — fine
7. potato in brown sweet sauce –didn’t like. sauce was like Ketchup & bbq sauce together. gross.
8. glass noodles — jap chae. I liked it.
No refills of panchan given — evil, I asked.
My seafood soft tofu stunk, I gave my seafood & enoki mushrooms to husband, but still I tried some oysters. Just ok. Also got a steamed bowl of rice w/​the meal.
Husband got: beef bimbimbop — he really liked it. He liked the crispy burnt rice and he said next time he’d stir it instead of letting it get so burnt. I tried a tiny slice of beef & thought it was ok. Comes w/​a small bowl of soup.
One unisex bathroom in the back. Credit cards taken. We each got a tiny piece of Charming gum — Korean brand I guess. Sweet and thin, just ok.
Cheap though, our total w/​tip & tax: $ 23!
On the Petco shopping center, on the Left side of Petco, next to 99 Chicken.
—
since I didn’t do enough research until later, found out I ordered wrong. I should have gotten:
naeug myeon — iced buckwheat noodles –I did see someone order it, but didn’t know it was their specialty, darn it!
& in the winter call ahead to get the chicken ginseng & herb soup (sam gye tang) that takes 3 hrs to make & made to order.
Article here:

I’m hooked on Korean food. I’ve had it twice this week.
Lily L and I came in for lunch and both had #32 Dol sat bi bam bap (stone pot rice w/​mixed veggies and beef topped with fried egg)
Very good. It hit the spot. I don’t know if its just me but I think that this dish needs a little more flavor. Guess I should add a dash of salt and bring in my own bottle of tapatio! hehe! Don’t get me wrong. it was really yummy. I just noticed that after eating it 2x in a week at different places.
Service was OK. The owner is a nice man. Lily warned me about him telling her not to use a spoon when she ate, so if you know me​.ms. rebel. I ate with a spoon. haha I’m wondering if he only scolds Asians.

I had been here so long ago I totally forgot about it. The Girl and I went after having to change dinner plans due to a late night at work. She wanted galbi tang and I just wanted some Korean food. We arrived there around 8:30pm so we knew it wouldn’t be too crowded.
The place feels a little diner-​ish, but it adds to the charm. It has a similar feel to many of the other Korean places like Sigoljip, Choi’s Kitchen, and Korea House, only a tad more middle school cafeteria-​ish.
The banchan here is superb. Seriously the best collection of banchan ever. The oi kimchee is perfect, the kimchee is nice and fermented and spicy. This doesn’t feel like it’s right out of the jar, it feels truly homemade and ripe.
The galbi tang (beef rib stew) was good. The Girl was famished and although usually a slow eater, she ate it up like there was no tomorrow. I ordered yuhgaejjang (spicy shredded beef stew) with ramen noodles. This is one of the better yuhgaejjang places. Choi’s might do it better, but this is a very close second. And MAD BONUS points for even having yuhgaejjang, only about ¼ of the Korean places have it on the menu, and only ½ of those do it well.
The mandoo (potstickers) were actually really good, stuffed with beef and mushrooms and veggies and appearing handmade in what resembled big tortellinis (I guess that’s a tortelli?)
I am so tempted to give this place a 5, but I might have to go back one more time. The selection is a little less than Choi’s, but I think I prefer this over most non-​specialty Korean places. Specialty Korean places are SGD Tofu, #1, Gooyi, etc.
The clientele were varied, from an older Japanese couple (obviously regulars) to some non-​Asians to some true Korean families. You don’t get that mix anywhere else without sacrificing some authenticity, but Corner Place seems to do it very well.

The old Korean man serving here, quite obviously also the owner, gives off that genuine warm hearted feeling when he serves you. Don’t ask me why I felt that way but I’m guessing it was that cheerful attitude of his. I don’t think my tea was ever half empty (or half full for optimists), he was always popping out of nowhere to fill it up. Quick, attentive service sums it up on a semi busy weeknight.
Customer base here was a bit puzzling for me since it was pretty mixed. It ranged from half of the café being old Koreans which mark the place as authentic and the usual Chinese people that frequent establishments like this, to the other half being comprised of caucasians. Everyone appeared like they felt at home, with no asians glaring at others when they walked in wondering, «What exactly are you doing here?» which happens all too often at other asian joints.
Small dishes/​banchan were good and quite varied, enough to tide you over as you wait for your main course. I ordered the dolsot bibimbap (hot stone pot combo) which tasted pretty average– nothing special, guess I should of tried one of their other combinations.
If I come back again, I’ll definitely have to try something else being the skeptic that I am… perhaps that one course didn’t do the place justice since this IS a four star Korean restaurant on Unilocal.Only problem is, its on El Camino and there’s a billion other Korean restaurants to try.
Hours aren’t listed on Unilocal but this place has hours that might throw people off: So here it is:
Mon-​Tues: 11am-​3pm, 5pm-​10pm
Wed-​Sat: 7am-​10pm
Sunday: 7am-​9pm

Food: It’s like the type of food your Korean grandmother would be cooking for you… if you had a Korean grandmother… The food here’s pretty darned good and the portions are nice and big.
Service: HORRENDOUS. We used to go regularly, in fact the owner actually even recognizes us. Yet, I seriously think there is only one grandma back there cooking. We rarely get all the food at the same time and at times we’ve waited over half an hour after someone first gets their dish. By the time we all get our food, the first person’s done eating already. Worst yet, we’ve come in starving wait forever and a day and they refuse to give us the panchan to help stave off my hunger while I waited for them to slaughter the cow in the back to cook my bulgogi. Seriously. Does it really hurt your profit margin to give me a plate of kimchi?! I don’t get it. Even asking 4 times for panchan, the owner smiles nods and goes back to folding and wrapping chopsticks in his little paper napkins. HMPH!
It’s definitely a toss up. They do serve a damn good bowl of jajangmyun and youkyejang! Food would make it 4 – 5 stars, but the service makes it drop down.

«Gil-​mok» is the Korean name for Corner Place restaurant. I would have reviewed it earlier, but I didn’t know the English name so I couldn’t find it.
Corner Place is my favorite Korean restaurant in the area. No it doesn’t have the best food, best environment, best staff. What is does have is a good combination of each of these elements that makes for a pleasant dining experience.
OK so about the food already! They have all your typical favorite Korean dishes (bulgogi, gakbi). My favorites here: «omurice» (omlette over rice), «galbi jjim» (beef stew in sweet soysauce sauce), and «dduk bok gee» (korean rice cakes with noodles in sweet and hot pepper paste sauce, see Brian M.‘s uploaded image). On a hot summer night, try the «nang myun» (cold buckwheat noodles served in a cold beef broth” and add some hot mustard and vinegar to taste. On a cold rainy day try the «suhk kkuh soon dooboo» (combination tofu stew). There you have it, some Korean food names 101.
The prices are fair, and remember that the meal comes with an assortment of delicious «ban-​chan» (side dishes).
Just some interesting info about the owner: Joseph Lee (see the pic I uploaded) is the owner of the restaurant whom you can often catch at the restaurant, and he is very friendly. He is even featured on the current cover (at the time of this review, February) of the weekly newspaper «Metro» that talks about Santa Clara’s failed proposal to officially name the area Koreatown and the Korean shops around the area where Corner Place is.
Expect a wait if you have a larger group on Sundays. Many church goers flock to this restaurant.