Ye-Dang Korean Restaurant

Wow! They have improved their customer service!!! I was impressed. The food was good as usual. I will come back next time.

I honestly come here so much and get orders to-​go so often that I personally feel like I contributed to their restaurant expansion. YOU’RE WELCOME, Ye-​Dang! But really, if you’re craving Korean food that tastes clean, flavorful, and filling, come here. All of their soups are flavorful and don’t have that MSG flavor that a lot of Korean restaurants have to spike up their taste. Definitely get the Galbitang. It’s different than other galbi-​tang places, where it’s not bland and you don’t have to add so much salt/​green onions. Also, the GalbiJjim! SO GOOD! All in all, there’s something here for every mood if you’re feeling healthy or fatty. There’s also an ice cream station, and a coffee machine for post meal. Tips: Don’t come here on weekend dinner times without expecting a wait. ESPECIALLY on Sundays. This place is poppin for all them Koreans to congregate after church

Great food! Very health conscious Korean restaurant with very fresh dishes. Sides are great as well. Portions are very generous and menu is very extensive. Service could be a little better but hey, that’s Korean restaurants right? Will definitely come back.

I don’t understand why this place has 3.5 stars. All the food I ordered today were bomb dot com. The only downside though is that the wait + the time it took to get my food was more than an 1hr. I mean I guess this is expected at popular restaurants on a Friday night.
So, here’s the important stuff:
1. Bossam: Not really a fan of bossam, but it was really good! The meat is really tender. It’s definitely enough to feed 2 – 3.
2. Bibimyun + galbi: The sauce for the noodles is a little too strong in my opinion but still really good! The galbi is really tender & yummy as well.
3. Galbi tang: This one was my fav! The soup is super rich & flavorful.
4. Siraegi hot stone pot: This isn’t my type of food, but my parents liked it.
5. Banchan: Really good, but a little salty
Definitely coming back when there’s a shorter wait!

My fiancé and I have been here for numerous occasions and have ordered different dishes every time. The food is a little salty to my liking but overall taste and flavor is pretty decent. I would have liked to give this place 3 ½ stars but had to give it a lower rating due to the inconsistent service we get every time we go. For the first timers if you like pork I would recommend the spicy pork stew good for 2 – 3 people per serving or the bosam for people who aren’t fond of spicy food which also serves up to for 2 – 3 people. Don’t forget to enjoy the free ice cream. If you are like my fiancé you can enjoy a free «affogato» but with sweet coffee instead of an espresso shot.

Love the food here and the lunch special. The customer service got way better than before.
Been coming here for years and the food is still good. After the expansion the wait to be seated is much shorter and the food quality just as good.

Recently remodeled and upgraded inside. The restaurant is clean and service is great. The lunch combo special is great selection for family or couples.

Hands down one of the best traditional Korean restaurants around here. Been coming here with my family for a long time now. The restaurant is pretty Korean — meaning… if you have a Korean friend I suggest you bring them. If not, the waitress can somewhat help you, but there might be a language barrier. Or just look on Unilocal… here!
I always get the… BOSSAM. It’s one of the best around OC (cause there isn’t much bossam places around here). Feeds generally 3 – 4 people. Boiled Pork belly to be eaten and wrapped with lettuce, kimchi radish with an raw oyster on top! or. if you think that doesn’t sound too good, you can skip out on the raw oyster. The pork belly is delicious!
Other Korean dishes such as galbi jim (braised short rib), galbi tang (beef soup), etc are all really good. The menu’s pretty big so have at it!
This place gets pretty packed around dinner time on weekends, but it moves fairly quickly. If it’s been awhile since you’ve came, this restaurant expanded, so there’s a lot more space than before. Free coffee and ice cream towards the front door!
If you’re a local, you know this place is the shizzz.

As a Filipino who loves Korean food, places like this make it very difficult for me to love.
It is not uncommon for me to experience being discriminated against for not being Korean at Korean establishments — and this place was no exception.
IF YOU ARE NOT KOREAN…
They will give you obviously shittier service.
They will be rude to you.
They will give you smaller portions.
And even give you to-​go bags that are of less quality then the others.
HONESTLY, I usually overlook discrimination if the food is amazing. I’m used to being looked at for being brown in Korean establishments– whether it be the Korean supermarket or restaurants like this.
However, THE FOOD WAS JUST OK. Not great enough for me to overlook the service.
Banchan (included with meal) — these are the little side dishes you receive at most Korean restaurants. I thoroughly enjoyed their selection– and it was the most unique I’ve ever encountered.
Bibimbap ($ 11.99) — Probably the worst version I’ve ever had of the dish. This is not to say that the meal was absolutely disgusting, but the entire dish was just lettuce as filler. It honestly probably had 1 spoonful of meat– and the vegetables were creatively later on top to mask that the entire dish was just lettuce. Lame.
Seafood Sundubu ($ 13.99) — MEEEH. Order this elsewhere. I ordered seafood but there was like 2 clams and that’s it? BCD tofu house is right down Beach Blvd. and MUCH BETTER.
Kalbi or Korean Beef short rib ($ 15.99) — this was the only dish worth the money. Generous portion of meat and absolutely delicious.
OVERALL, DEF NOT GONNA RETURN! The mediocre food was not with the terrible service.

Hands down my favorite Korean restaurant in the Irvine/​Tustin area. Their mookeunji (aged kimchi stew with pork ribs) is to die for and it is so so freaking good. It’s perfect for 3 – 5 people to split. It’s basically the only thing I get when I come here. I’ve also had their kimchi stew and it was pretty solid but nothing too crazy. Their food tastes clean and doesn’t leave a bad after feeling.
They are generous with their side dishes and although I only eat out of only 3 of their sides, they are really good. Their bean sprout side dish tastes crispy and bright. And love how they have the acorn jelly as a side.

Descent but the rice was burnt tasted like cigarette and the waitresses were rude I’m Latino and noticed when Koreans walked in they were seated unlike myself I had to seat myself and the waitress served three others that came after me. I recommend another Korean BBQ

First time here.
Never liked the restaurants that came into this location. And it goes for this one as well.
Decent parking. Clean and spacious inside.
Food is okay.
I came here for a late lunch (1:30PM). It wasn’t busy, but I noticed the serving ladies are out of it. They delivered our ban-chan’s to a table that already got theirs. They went around the whole left section of the restaurant and realized it was our table that needed it. Annoying.
We ordered 3 dishes: galbi tang, kimchi dol-​sot, and bo-​ssam. They didn’t put the order in for bo-​ssam. They didn’t have the decency to tell us that they forgot, they just said it amongst themselves and didn’t bother saying sorry. And the thing is, I heard everything.
It took 10 – 15 minutes for us to get the bo-​ssom. We were all finished with the other orders. By then my mom was already full off of ban-​chan and what we shared with her from our orders. We could have cancelled the order if they told us about their mistake, but they didn’t. It annoys me sooo much when the Korean servers do this. You are in America, don’t bring that crap customer service here. Things happen. I get it. You’re busy and tired. But what is so wrong in admitting your mistake? Everyone makes them!!! You didn’t put in the order so you can cancel it. Easy as that. We could have finished and left. But no, you wanted to make the extra $$$.
And the server had the decency to add «it came out late so the bo-​ssam can be more delicious»!?! W T F.
The bo-​ssam had no smell (they put a lot of bean paste because the color straight up shows it), but the muh-​mal-​leng-​yi and oyster was bland. It was on the sweeter side, and I don’t like tasting too much sweetness in my food.
Also, they have self-​serve ice cream and coffee. Ermmmm the ice-​cream station isn’t sanitary. I have seen a handful of people going into the ice box to get their share of the ice-​cream. Why don’t ya’ll just dive into it?! (–_​_​_​-​) This one guy was sweating his face off while scooping his share and that was gross.
…would I come back? NO! NO! NO! The food was decent. But there isn’t anything special to it. If you are Korean, your mothers and grandmothers probably make better food.
Service is priority to me. It is up there with the food taste and quality.
It just sucks to see the service industry failing at service quality. I see this everywhere!
When the restaurant and staff get all high and mighty, it’s only a matter of time when those doors close. And the thing is, they aren’t even good at what they say they serve.

Brought my grandmother for lunch and she had regular bibimbap which was very good. I’ve tried their dolseot bibimbap, kong guksu, and their buckwheat cold noodles. I must say their food and prices are decent. A few things I had issues with is that is their side dishes (ban chan). It was way too salty that I felt like I ate a spoonful of salt.
I wound give a thumbs up on accommodation because my grandmother is wheelchair bound with no questions asked they accommodated us. The service here is very attentive which is a plus.

Probably one of the best Korean restaurants in North Orange county. Lots of side dishes and free refills. Main dishes are pretty good, too. Very Korean style, which can be a comfortable place for Koreans but a bit noisy for others. Recent renovation made the place a lot roomier, but still too many seats and crowded at dinner time. We make visits couple times a month, for just a casual meal.

Ate here last week with our church leaders. Food is decent. Nothing spectacular or amazing. Good but not great. Service was on point because we had two older Korean guys in suits with us. If I was alone probably would have gotten terrible service since I look like a full blown white guy and was the only somewhat Caucasian guy in the entire place.
It’s definitely a place for Korean speaking people or people who know the Korean culture and how service works in a Korean restaurant. Not your typical restaurant. If they don’t give you good service and you refuse to tip them and write a bad Unilocal review they really wouldn’t care haha. Older Koreans that are servers in Korean restaurants are like that.
But I’ll definitely be coming back. Decent prices and decent food.

As of today, I cannot recommend Ye-​Dang anymore to anyone who isn’t Korean, and I strongly urge all of my fellow Koreans to never eat here again. Today, an affable looking elderly white couple sat at the table next to us at around the same time we did. By the time my mother and I received our food, they had yet to be provided with even water, and no one had been by to check their order. After seeing that we had received our food, they got up and left. I intentionally did not help them but planned on addressing it via Unilocal review. There is a reason for this, which I will explain afterward.
As a Korean, I am largely understanding of the inconsistencies between Korean and American culture, but I absolutely refuse to be beholden to prejudicial double standards, even when I stand to benefit from said standards. Look, if you can’t speak English that well, that’s fine. But when you flat out ignore customers and refuse to make an effort, you’re sending me a message that no matter how good your food is (and all things considered, it’s more of an oasis in a desert of really half-​assed Korean food than it is actually objectively a great Korean restaurant), it’s just not worth me advocating your business in any way, shape or form.
Food is supposed to bring people together. Your restaurant is supposed to facilitate that. Why, in a culture that values the communal experience of eating to such an extent that dishes are placed at the center of a table, does this happen? What did this couple do wrong that they were refused service? In either case, I gave the couple a glance of semi-​apology and regret as they exited the restaurant. What a horrible, just absolutely repugnant display of discrimination. This is fucking America.
I refused to help the couple because there is a larger, systematic concern here that cannot be resolved with ad hoc hand-​holding from English-​speaking customers. Either staff the restaurant with at least one English speaking server (I noticed how the restaurant expanded but the staff remains the same size it was prior to the restaurant being twice its current size) or walk over with your broken English and try your best. But this kind of bullshit racism needs to stop, and Ye Dang, you deserve all the loss in business and negative publicity that being a racist piece of shit is going to bring you.

Generic Korean Food
*******************
LA is hardcore when it comes to korean food. Whether its korean bbq, tofu stew, cold noodles, or even chicken wings, there are highly specialized korean niches.
Ye-​dan has no specialty. Its a «general» korean restaurant which seems oddly antiquated in 2015. Its good but doesn’t really stand out or stir much excitement.
My parents had the bo ssam and my father wasn’t too impressed. They ate about half of it. I had the donchimimakguksu which are cold noodles. It was pretty good but again nothing special. This type of restaurant would flourish in a rural podunk type of town but not in LA.
My impression is that this restaurant is probably decent at most things but probably not exceptional at anything.
My parents and I won’t be back

With just average Korean food, Ye Dang is definitely not worth the long wait that is often required when you are waiting for dinner.
I have come here several times over the years. This past time was the first time I have eaten here after the remodeling. Now, the restaurant has expanded with a lot more seats and even booths for more comfort. Unfortunately, with more space, there is still a pretty substantial wait to get a seat especially during dinner time.
Here is some of the food items I tried:
Samgyetang — One of the weakest version of one of my favorite Korean dishes! Usually the broth is rich and hearty with each spoonful. Instead it was watery with a slight taste of the chicken. The chicken itself was also super small and filled with very few of the goodies one is accustomed to when having samgyetang. I would not recommend getting this if you know what to expect from a good samgyetang.
Jeonbukjuk — A pretty decent porridge, but once again is overall lacking in flavor. Often considered healthy nutritional item in Korean culture, it did have the warmness and nice chunks of the abalone. However, it was a little bit on the watery side leading me to believe it was not cooked in a nice broth that I am more accustomed to.
One of the major pluses of dining here is the free ice cream and coffee! It is not something that I am super fond of but I know my parents enjoy getting their coffee to top off their meal. I also did enjoy the variety of their side dishes.
Service was pretty standard for Korean restaurants — overall quick but hurried. I would say that given the food I am still baffled as to why there is such a long line. Given the popularity, there is parking available in the lot but you may not find prime parking right in front.
Overall, Ye Dang is a decent restaurant but slightly overrated.

One of the very best traditional korean joints in North OC, located across the street from a busy, La Mirada /​La habra shopping centre.
You can always tell the quality of a korean kitchen by its banchan, and this place shines in that aspect, arguably more so than any I’ve been to in recent memory.
Classic, pungent flavors reminiscent of my childhood eminate from this cold looking, run of the mill strip mall unit.
It’s very existence a welcome contradiction; deep, fermentation-​heavy, countryside korean fare being served alongside mega warehouse grocers, home improvement goods, and fast food chains.
It’s well worth your time to go out of your way for this not-​so-​little gem of a kitchen… even for you, the weariest of kimchee konnoisseurs.
5 shiny, smelly stars.

We have been dining at El Ranchito next door for over 6 years now. We always used to notice the restaurant being packed and very happy elderly Korean groups standing outside chitchatting well into the night. We were curious about what was going on but we had never contemplated eating at Ye-​Dang. Our new found interest in Korean food led us here on a weekday lunch last week.
The restaurant was packed at 1 PM, and our waitress politely told us that it was going to be a 10 minute wait approximately and handed us a waiting token. There was a self employed businessman selling very sweet fruits outside the restaurant. By the time we tasted the fruits and bought ourselves a bag of fresh grapes it was 10 minutes and there was a table ready for us. If I did not know any better, I would have thought this was India with this nice little setup of restaurant-​hawker relationship *laughs*
We ordered the following
Beef Bibimbap
Octopus Bibimbap
Total will tax and tip came to $ 32
Pros:
1) Octopus was delish.
2) Complimentary ice cream, coffee etc. (+1)
3) Chapsticks were reusable stainless steel kind. I have never seen this before in any Asian restaurants. (+1 for uniqueness)
Cons:
1) We noticed patrons having to flag waitstaff multiple times for things they needed. (–1)
2) No knives?
3) Our waitress had a difficult time explaining in English about the different kind of sauces that were offered. She tried though.
4) Portions were A-​OK for the price.