Shindokdo Seafood Restaurant

This place umm… I can’t say it’s good. Food is small portion. Banchan so weak it shouldn’t be consider Korean. We ordered the combo for 3 n it was so sad. You get one platter of sashimi fish but it looks big only cuz it’s sitting on a heaping pile of lettuce and shredded daikon. You get soup which wasn’t good, green onion pancake not good, n one fried mackerel. Freaking expensive… I don’t even want to talk about the price but let’s just say I rather spend it at Gary Danko! Leave hungry with a fat bill ain’t my thang. Also, you better keep track of the food, cuz they don’t bring out a lot of items in your combo set. Scandalous !!! My friend ordered the $ 28 combo and they bought out only a small size halibut sashimi. n nothing else! When asked she say oh, she’ll comp us with free potsticker. Wtf, the combo suppose to come with at least 4 more items. So heads up guys!

My friends and I came here to try live octopus and their other dishes. The place was easy to find. Inside the restaurant were not too many tables. It is an okay size, but there weren’t a lot of people there, which I find it strange. My friend Christine recommended to try the live octopus. Aside from it being fresh, there really was not much of taste to it. Other items that we ordered tasted plain.

I think this place is going down the drain, fast. First time I came here it was mildly full of patrons. Second time I came here, empty. Third time I came here empty, this was over a 2 year span. I feel that for the price, food quality has also gone down considerably. I always order the live halibut sashimi combo which comes with ban chan (side dishes), a Korean spicy stew from the left over fish bones of the halibut, fried tempura and few other items, you have to ask for rice, not sure if it’s an additional charge because the bill just shows a total. The halibut was fine, always has been fine for me. The soup was overly boney for me. Live Octopus was not available, I guess the new thing is, you have to call it in and order it in advance? Overall, my last meal was A-​OK at best, not sure if I will return anytime soon.
Note: Check in with Unilocal and $ 10 all you can drink hot sake, price is per person, but be warned, it’s not anything of quality and hangovers will be at your own risk.

Extensive menu. Don’t get turned off by the way the restaurant looks inside. Kinda plain looking, not fancy but the food is amazing. I give this place 5 stars. I’ve eaten at a lot of Korean restaurants but this one was worth the Unilocal review. I just had the BEST Maeuntang for lunch. There were a lot of fish bones than fish but the flavor was very good. I also ordered an Alaska roll (salmon skin, radish sprouts). The salmon skin was crispy and very tasty. Service was good. I would definitely drive out of my way to eat here again.

They literally ignored/​refused to serve me. No one acknowledged my presence. The chef at the sushi bar wouldn’t turn away from the TV to face me, despite my numerous attempts at getting his attention.

Check in for the bottomless sake! We went with a group of 6, service was a bit slow for the restaurant just having one table full besides us (hence the four stars) .
We got the live octopus and it was crazy!!! It’s been on my bucket list for a few years but I was just too chicken lol. Finally found a few friends with guts, the octopus was super fresh but a tiny bit slimy for my liking (not like I would know). Benito boxes looked great. Spicy bulgogi was delish!

Honestly, im a little shocked with the ratings here. If you want to have fresh korean sashimi, I would recommend coming here. It is a little whole in the wall, but I love that they use live and the freshest fish for their Korean «Hwe» and other dishes like agoo jiim. I like that they not only have sashimi here but korean food as well. I’ve been coming here for ages, and on any special occasions, I come here for seafood and korean food. I highly recommend getting their combinations or their korean sashimi specials. They always come with a bunch of side dishes and multiple dishes that you can share with multiple people. It’s not the cheapest restaurant, but the quality of the food is always fresh here.

So disappointed. Came here strictly to be reunited with live octopus that I love in Korea so much, and of course, they didn’t have it on the Saturday I went in. Came with my parents so the madre could have her share of Korean sashimi as well. We ordered a combo that included the sashimi, spicy fish stew, tempura, and some other things. The sashimi was good, but pretty small portions. The fish stew barely had any fish, if anything, just the gutted parts no one wants. The tempura was okay, and they gave a pancake that was doused in mayo and eel sauce, that wasn’t needed. The banchans were just okay. We also talked about getting the hand cut noodles with seafood soup, but we had thought against it. However, the waitress had heard us talking about it and brought it out anyways. The noodles were overcooked, and there was something funky going on in the broth. It almost tasted soapy.
So…on a Saturday evening, we were the only diners, which was sad. You would think service would be exceptional. Sadly, the waitress was bored out of her mind and using that time to watch Korean dramas so loudly from an empty booth.
The live octopus comes in on Thursdays, and you’re supposed to call ahead of time to make sure they have it. However, at $ 28 a pop (they’re really small) it’s not going to make me come back ever. Parents were extremely disappointed in everything here, and will not be coming back ever.

I’m pregnant and wanted to find a delicious seafood restaurant. I think I found it! I really like unagi rice in Shindokdo. I had maeuntang (hot seafood soup) as well, but it was a little bit salty.

I didn’t try the live octopus. I had the salmon teriyaki that was served with a side of rice and a slice of watermelon. I wasn’t too sure if the watermelon was meant to be treated as garnish or if it was supposed to be part of the meal. There wasn’t any sort of wait to be seated — as soon as I had arrived, I was directed to a table of my choice; I was satisfied. I was disappointed with the tiny glasses the waitress had used to serve drinks. I had to request refill a couple of times; it was a bit inconvenient.

The check is Korean, probably never got train for sushi anywhere, nice people, but taste weird … I ll never come back!

I dindt realize this was a Korean and Sushi place. Was in the mood for Korean so we kept to that side of the menu. Bulgogi, seafood pancake, and chicken kara-​age. All pretty solid and we got some ban chan and soup to boot. The seemingly husband/​wife team were pretty friendly and their food is somewhat like home cooking. Pretty interesting for the middle of this old school strip mall.

Sorry, I do not write review when food is ok. I write review when it is very bad or very good, In this case it was terrible. I ordered the combo of Beef Kobe and some sort of salmon. Both the beef and the salmon were extremely overcooked. The beef was chewy and not anywhere close to tender. The salmon smell like fish and tasted like old fish.
This place is to avoid! I did not pay much for my plate, $ 15, but it is not worth 5 $.

Much better service than crab house, we came here specifically for the live octopus. With crab house it’s so tiny inside and u have to call in advance to see if they even have any octopus available. This place has a tank full of them! Even fresh fish! Id rather come here at least they can seat 12 ppl together. Live octopus for $ 25, a definite must try with hite or Sapporo

Stopped in last week and tried the lunch special bento box with chicken teriyaki. The food was OK and ample, with miso served first and the plate including the chicken, white rice, an iceberg lettuce salad, four California rolls and what was called «seafood tempura» on the menu but turned out to be vegetable tempura.
The service was kind of spotty, and you could definitely see that the staff wears a lot of hats. The gentleman who took my order asked me if I would like hot tea (yes) but it did not show up until I was nearly done with my entire meal. After my check was given to me, I sat around trying to make eye contact and pay while instead a fresh table was laid. At lunch time, dining alone with places to go and people to see it is rather annoying to wait 10 minutes so someone will take your credit card.
Overall, very average.

I’m not familiar with El Camino real. I was on my way to a meditation center and wanted to stop by at a place to get a quick lunch. It just so happens that I walked into this random sushi restaurant. The man who took my order wasn’t polite at all.
As the food came out, I notice that there was a code sticker on my salad. I mean seriously? I let the waiter know and she kept assuring if I wanted another salad so I told her it’s okay. I literally just got up and paid cause their service is absolutely ridiculous. As I got up and paid, I gave her $ 20 bill and she didn’t have any change, she had to go through her purse and ask the other waiter. Note to self– please be prepared with the cash register
Half hr later, I started having a massive stomach pain from the food that I ate. I definitely won’t be back there again, yikes!

The one star is for the friendly service. The food was terrible. Sunomono salad had the vinegar but lacked the sugar. It’s a delicate dish if done right and has to have the right balance. Nope not this one. It also had ingredients in it that dont belong — like bell peppers really? Reminded me of that old Eddie Murphy joke where his mom makes him a fake McDonalds hamburger… it might look like a burger but it doesn’t taste like one… but I digress.
The salmon sashimi was a very thin slice of salmon cut into tiny strips and it had tiny bones in it. That’s not the type of slice you use for sashimi nor is it how you should be cutting it when serving sashimi. That dish was $ 15… and I think they cut it into tiny pieces to justify the exorbitant price. I’m not fooled here.
The total bill for a roll, salmon sashimi and a sunomono salad came out to $ 45. That’s absolutely insane considering every place in a 2 mile radius will serve you the same meal for about $ 30 and it would actually taste right.
Wish I could say something nice because the owners are very friendly but I suggest you avoid this place because the food isn’t right.

Bf chose this place because he wanted to try the live octopus. They didn’t have it. Tried to order the mussels. Didn’t have it. Picked another item — salmon jaw. Didn’t have it.
Excuse me, what kind of restaurant doesn’t have so many items on their menu?
Ordered nigiri special instead. Surprised they had it. Average, nothing special.
Don’t come here. They won’t have anything.

Squirming live octopus anyone? I can’t see anyone getting it twice because it really isn’t anything special once you can muster the courage to put the first squirming tentacle on your mouth. It feels like chewing on a rubber band.
Shindokdo is a Korean/​Japanese fusion that is small and the people that own it are very nice and friendly. For that, I think they deserve patronage. As far as the food is concerned, I think it’s just OK. We ordered the sashimi plate for two, live octopus, and seafood tofu stew. You treat the sashimi like Korean BBQ, by wrapping it in lettuce leaves with fresh garlic and jalapeños. The sashimi platter came with various side items in addition to the banchan. We got tempura, grilled mackerel, Korean pancakes, egg custard, and something else. At the end of the meal, the fish bones were made into a simple miso soup.
Although there was plenty of food for the price, I didn’t find any dishes, including the banchan to be very flavorful. I think there are better Japanese and better Korean food in the area. But, if you are in the mood for Koreany/​Japanesey fusion, I don’t know of another place like this.

Shindokdo Sushi, in my opinion, is quite an underrated good restaurant. Having the word ‘sushi’ in the name could be misleading because that is really not what they do best. I suspect those patrons ventured into the restaurant wanting a good sushi meal would be rather unsatisfied.
I went to Shindokdo only for their Korean style sashimi. This style is very different from the Japanese counterpart. Halibut is their staple sashimi dish. The fish is live (till you order it) and never ever frozen. For that matter, you always get a whole large plate. It is common to serve the remaining parts in a stew. The only other place I know that serves this kind of sashimi is Crab House. I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know how they compare.
Halibut is quite a mellow white fish. Your dinner would be really monotonic if you just dip every single pieces in soy sauce and wasabi. Wrap it with the lettuce, put some garlic or jalapeño on top and don’t be afraid to use the hot sauce and bean sauce liberally.
The live sashimi meal comes with a lot of other fixings and some of those are even more memorable than the halibut. The tempura and the fried shrimps were truly wonderful. Simple stuff like the steamed egg, vegetable pancake and rice porridge were all very nicely done. Do save some room for the spicy fish stew served at the end of your meal made with the fresh halibut.
The most adventurous eaters might be delighted to know they have live sea cucumber and sea squirts from time to time. I have tried the sea cucumber. It is certainly not for everyone but the uniqueness of the flavor was definitely interesting.