Masan Restaurant

Their halibut is live before they cut into it. I am a fisherman but this halibut was awesome. Their fish soup was awesome too.

It even not worth a half star at all.
Totally garbage, I arrived there 11:00am cause Unilocal indicates they are open at 11:00am, when I drive long and got there the door was actually open and the people inside just told me wait outside they are still not open. That was ridiculous, please don’t fucking open your door if you are not open. 30min later, when I got in with my friend, there are no water or drinks was offered. The dish is fucking expensive than it should be. Not worth it at all. The live seafood was taste like carrion.
I believe Their live seafood was not alive before cooking and have died and freezed for a long time, even the side dishes was put in the refrigerator for a long time. The color was changed to abnormal. The bad smell came out from the very spicy and salty oyster. Only two Lunch special are offered, no live octopus. They Have nothing, almost not having everything in their storage. Only my friend and me sit in the restaurant during the lunch time. Dark places seems no light. Bad service and bad food with ridiculous high price.
Bad smell also came from the kitchen. I doubt the five star rating was given by someone was paid to give a five star, fuck that place, never ever go to this place again! Bad service, bad food and abnormal expensive.
We then switch to the redondo beach quality seafood, and the food there was what the fresh seafood should be tasted like !

Brought my grandma and my bf here on new year’s eve. I have called them and asked if they were busy. The lady said, «yes, we are too busy that there is a wait.» From the moment we go there, there was no one. The service was horrible. All the sashimi from the combo was not fresh. Soup and (anglerfish) dish was nasty as f$*#. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

It was fun trying a wiggling octopus but this is the most overpriced meal I’ve ever had. It was bland and defiantly not worth the price, we ordered one octopus and one shrimp fried rice. The rice dish was made with frozen mixed veggies and although they did provide small little sides, they weren’t very scrumptious. Honestly, you pay for the experience. We will be going out to lunch somewhere else afterward. Also, The whole wait staff sat down to eat while we were the only ones in the restaurant, never got drink refills or offered a box or brought a bill. Overall a blah restaurant and cheap (overpriced) thrill.
Tio: No one spoke English so we used Google translate.

Bad service, like mentioned earlier, we had to request for water (which we did not recieved) and we had to literally chase down the waiter to get our order. I also felt like i was unwanted in the place and disrespected for not being korean.

I don’t want to give them 1 star at all. Bad place/​service, don’t come here if your not Korean. They don’t serve water for non Korean people. We asked for water but never received any.
We order octopus and they were good but they didn’t give us any side dishes, 3 side dishes. When we look at other tables they have more side dish than us.
Never going back.

If you like your seafood fresh, this place has got fresh seafood.
Pricing is kinda high but seafood pricing is like that.
I like eating the live shrimp, octopus from here.
I used to like the ‘Agojjim’ but they changed the way make it now, so that’s kind of a downer.

I hate to come out like this but I was so embarrassed to host a dinner and inviting my friends to drive long distance for poor service and semi-​mediocre food.
The first issue I had was the moment we walked in. I forgot to call in for reservation, but luckily they were able to sit us right away. our table was by the large aquarium and due to the water level and netting the lobsters out, the floor was wet. So I requested them to mop the floor because we had a guest with a baby and I did not want to foresee any liabilities. During our entire stay at the restaurant which would be like a good two hours, no one came to mop the floor.
The second issue I had was we had to request everything, from water, to our next course, requesting second and third times for another beer, forgetting our requests, and just not coming to our table to see how our experience was like really bothered me. I had to ring the bell several times to get their attention. Of all my times at this restaurant with my pop, I have never experienced such poor experience, especially when you order one of the most expensive dish on the menu, they just seemed like they did not GAF.
Food was pricey. We ordered the «Royal» dish, which is like the most expensive combination on the menu, because I wanted the halibut presented in a certain way and for the presentation it was worthy. The HALIBUT was definitely FRESH and it melted in my mouth. Side note, these are farmed halibut from Korea thus retaining a smaller size than it being caught in the wild. The Royal includes Sushiman’s Special and all got was sliced mackerel, oysters, sea cucumber, and one fresh abalone. Something tells me the sushiman forgot other amenities to our selection. I’ve seen better «services» when I was here with my dad.
On the side, we ordered LIVE OCTOPUS. It was presented to us before it was cut into pieces. Note: This is marked at MP and ours came out to $ 30. This is more for the hype than anything else. If you ask me did the tentacles stick to mouth? No and it was a huge disappointment. And this was not my first time trying it.
Overall, I was not too impressed by my experience. I really wished I went to another place where the service is better is much pleasant. Young Asian group walking in does not mean we should be treated any different than someone older. We probably tip better than them, so we expect a quality treatment.

Super fun, super cheap. You have to go here to try the live octopus of course but the uni is also spectacular. Also the authentic vibe can’t be beat. The only way you can tell you are not in Korea is that you have to go outside to smoke, other than that the beer is flowing the octopus is squiggling and you are probably taking tons of videos. Be sure to chew that octopus well, I’ve heard the suckers might grab the inside of your throat and choke you if you are not careful. Karmic!

I tried twice already and i know i will never go back .
and I will tell you why
This restaurant supposes to be known for Stir-​freidn monkfish, but that was the worst dish I’ve ever had in this restaurant. The sashimi was delicious and fresh but portions was too too small compared to price. The oyster was seasoned and not fresh. The seasoning was too sour.
I think everything on the menu is overpriced compared to the quality and quantity of the food I am getting. I paid $ 89.99 for the medium combination special combo on my last visit. It says it comes with variety sashimi combination, live abalone, sir-​fried monkfish, spicy fish stew, and side dishes. It sounds a lot but it was not at all. I’ve gone to few different restaurants and had variety sashimi platter. It was usually much more than this when I paid about this price. Not worth the price!!!
And most importantly, the service was horrible!
One waitress was drinking on a customer’s table when we first entered. She looked drunk, did not greet us, and kept drinking Soju with people on the table. There was only one waitress actually working. The servers did not asked us until we asked her to bring out the dishes we did not get (that supposes to come with the combo!). No one was helpful and kind. The drunken lady was sitting right next to my table but did not even try to help us out when we rang the bell three times and no one came to help us out.
I feel like i wasted about $ 150 (for two people) on my last visit.
I remember my first visit was very disappointing too but i went back to try this place once again in hoping that they improved at least a little and my friend wanted so bad to try stir-​fried monkfish, however, no more!!!

Sorely disappointed. The four of us shared two sashimi plates and one «live octopus». The problems started earlier than when we ordered. We arrived and knew we wanted to have the live octopus, but we wouldn’t just eat the octopus alone. We asked our waiter what they recommended and asked what was included with the Sashimi combo. She couldn’t tell us what all six fish were included.
Then, our octopus arrived. By no means was it close to alive. There was almost no movement and nothing compared to a few other reviews I’ve seen. After, the side dishes and sashimi arrived. All I could say is wow. The sashimi looked decent except the tuna. The tuna was FROZEN. How could a chef cut up frozen tuna and serve it?! We asked the waiter about it and she tried to convince us that «that’s how it’s served». Another side dish was salmon head that turned out over cooked. Never did our waiter come back to check in on things. We asked for some water and never got it until we ordered the check.
By far, it’s the first time in a very long time that I’ve left a restaurant this displeased.

I only ordered the live octopus and beer, so my review is limited in scope, but Masan was better than I expected! It’s spacious, clean, and I wasn’t disappointed in what I paid for.
It was 10pm when I asked a friend to go, so I called to make sure they had octopus, and they said they did — fortunately they did indeed have it when I got there.
The waitress spoke surprisingly good English. The octopus was brought out on a plate for approval before it’s demise. It was the first meal I’ve had in which I felt bad for my food, but it was fun and tasty! The steamed egg was good, and the rest of the sides were whatever. It’s a good place to come spend $ 30 to try something new, then go visit a taco truck afterwards.

TRY THE LIVE OCTOPUS AND HAVE A FUN EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
This is not for those people who are afraid to try new things, I on the other hand would try anything once probably 5 times.
I had a party of 8 and so when we ordered 2 of the medium packages which included all sorts of seafood like sashimi, fried fish, escargot, other things, and soup. Of course we also ordered two small octopuses at $ 40 a pop. (It’s from Korea!) The chef put em on the plate whole so our friends could play with them and take pictures before we eat it alive. (It’s the cycle of life, deal with it.) So after that he toiled it away and chopped them up and served with sesame oil. It was still moving and was the highlight of our meal. The sashimi was good, but I think they could’ve been more generous with the salmon and tunas. However there was an abolone too so it’s worth it. Everything else was pretty yummy too, but when I got to the soup it was confusing because there was so much going on in there. Lots of fish bones so be careful!
Soju and beer are only $ 1 each if you get a special package so drink up! My party and I were very loud and no one around us seem to mind. Perhaps they knew we were octopus noobs. Haha
It came out to be $ 40 a head tip included and that’s fair considering all the seafood and the experience.

I’ll try to keep it short. Here’s what I know about this place:
— Valet is $ 2 (When the lots packed you can just pull on the curve and the valet will know your here for Masan)
— 7 seating tables and a mini sushi bar
— Combo is the cheapest way to go, but their portions of sashimi isn’t enough. (3 girls need to get the 4 – 5 serving combo NOT 3)
— Might want to talk quietly! (Had one of the customer come up to us to let us know that we were loud? Seriously!!!)
— Side dishes are the same, nothing new
Nice enough to hook us up with lobster sashimi though.
If you want to come here to drink and have fun catching up and get chatty. this place aint the spot for you. Older crowds come here and they tend to stare at you when you get a little excited or enough start laughing –_​_​–
Rather go to a restaurant where you can enjoy your meal with no one breathing down your neck and feeling discomfort of always watching your back! I mean. we are paying for our food like everyone else that comes through that door!

Came here for the live octopus but they ran out
So I settled for the sashimi for one person and the uni bap and I am grateful that I decided to stay and try other stuff because it was sooo good! The sashimi portion was huge! It came with spicy fish soup, eggs, sashimi salad, a bunch of banchan which included raw octopus, sea snails, escargot and veggies. It kept on coming !
The uni was sooo good but came towards the end and I was almost tempted to cancel this because I was so full from the rest but glad I didn’t and glad that there was someone else there to share with me.
It’s a hole in the wall kinda place so don’t get fancy. The price seem expensive but you get soooo much stuff for it and it’s totally worth it!

I was here like three days ago, but I am deeply disappointed. Their commercial with some weird song was catchy, so I went here with my friends. Seriously what is wrong with servers? I almost yelled at server for asking more foods and appetizers, but they didn’t even come to our table.
Don’t go here, go to some better Korean seafood restaurant in Koreatown.

Man, I had a friend who really wanted to try some raw seafood, so we got the raw octopus. While the experience was good, the rest of this place’s food is not very good. There’s no flavor to anything (cooked) other than extremely spicy. The banchan game is pretty weak, and the food is so expensive. The novelty wears off really quickly. You’ve been warned. If you want to try raw seafood, give this place a shot, but be willing to pay a pretty price. We got a medium order of stir-​fried monkfish and sea squirt (that sea squirt was uhm, an adventurous and explosion-​y choice) and the live octopus. That was it. Plus a 20% tip, the bill came out to $ 94 dollars. It’s not cheap here. And the service isn’t very good. The waitresses are either fluent in Mandarin or Korean, so you’re going to need to know one of those two languages in order to place an order.

My experience could have been better if they provided friendly and faster service. There are tons of good restaurants in K-​town and I regret ever coming here spending my good hard earned money in this place. The sashimi was good and it’s the only star they’ll get for the food. When you ask something to the old waitress there, she will tend to forget and will not listen to you completely. The place wasn’t crowded at all. We got our side dishes first and waited for 20 min to get our main sashimi dish which was ridiculous in this kind of venue. The grilled pike was cold and it felt like it was grilled while back. The waitress pretended like she was giving us a good service by offering two pikes instead of one but we didn’t even bother. You got to be kidding me, right? Foods are too over priced to receive this kind of service. So why come here when you have to pay $ 2 to get your car out yourself anyway? I have a freakin kid, you know? They should not over charge you to compensate for their expensive TV commercial you can see from Korean channel which is a complete joke. At least they tried so I’ll add one more star for their effort but it’s not working. Seriously.

4 girls ordered the $ 110 menu option+ fresh Uni in a the shell (not fresh, bitter)
It came with pretty good amount of food.
–Seafood salad
–Assorted Sashimi (it was fresh and good)
–Spicy Monk fish dish (nothing special, wasn’t spicy)
–Oysters (it was ok)
–Monk fish spicy stew (looked very messy, all the fishes were broken up, it looked like someone blended the soup)
–Grilled Salmon and another fish (this was good, but hard to eat)
–Makkuli (Carbonated Rice wine)
–As a service, they gave us Uni rice (Still, Uni wasn’t that fresh)
Service was good, our waiter was very generous with our side dishes. =)
I wouldn’t come back. Nothing was that exceptional.

Masan was the first Korean seafood restaurant I’d ever tried, and still remains a good (if less frequent) option for me because it’s so close and convenient and never crowded. It’s not tiny, but good enough for medium sized groups, there’s never a wait, and parking is easy and free — a rarity!
Like most authentic ktown joints, it helps immensely if you have some who speaks Korean (a ktown guide). You can probably still get by without one here, but it’s a very different experience. Whenever the waiters talk to me, I just nod my head and mumble «kamsahamnida» and wait for my Korean friends to answer — and it totally works.
Anyway, this is a somewhat unique dining experience, primarily for the sannakji (live octopus). It’s not technically live but having been cut up just moments before, it’s still wriggling around your chopsticks as you pick it up — fun! In terms of taste and texture, it’s not bad, not quite as chewy as I initially imagined. Be warned, their sannakji, along with some other fresh seafood, is not always available; it depends on the selection for that particular day.
Another dish I always get here is the uni (sea urchin) bowl — they cut off the top half of the uni and put some rice and seaweed in it, so it’s a fun way to eat it. Uni is one of my favorite foods, but when it’s super fresh, I prefer to eat it just plain. The uni (and seafood in general) here is fresh enough to be tasty and justify the prices, but not staggeringly so.
They have decent banchan, including peanuts and gyeranjjim, and the beer and soju is pretty standard. I’ve had wildly varying experiences with the service. The first few times they forgot some dishes and seemed kind of slow, but most of the other times they attentive, prompt, and really kind.
Overall, it’s a good place to try if you’ve never had sannakji, and the menu is primarily seafood based. It’s not cheap, and a lot of the other dishes aren’t really worth it, so my friends and I usually start the night off here with some uni rice bowls and sannakji, and maybe a few beers and sojus to get mildly drunk before heading off somewhere else to eat and drink our fill at cheaper prices.