Ae’s Taste of Korea

My wife and I order delicious Korean food from here twice a week. The owners are wonderful and friendly people who accommodate my strange food allergy requirements. This is the best Korean restaurant in Houston.

This place has gotten better than last time we’re here. Servings were bigger and everything tasted a lot better. We had spicy pork and bulgogi, both were very good! They have a new owner and he is very energetic and accomodating. We’ll come again for sure!

New owners, better food! Loved the old owners but their food took a downturn so we stopped going. We went again last weekend and were pleasantly surprised. We had the seafood pancake, spicy rice cakes, and dolsot bibimbap. it was the best Korean pancake i’ve ever had. My husband loves the spicy rice cakes and I love the dumplings that were in with them! The bibimbap was very good but I wish the bowl had been a bit hotter since I love the crunchy rice at the bottom best, however the flavor was great. If you’ve tried this place before, try it again. You won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t tried it it all up, what are you waiting for?

I saw this restaurant when i was stopped for a light on 1960. I looked on Unilocal when I got home and saw the 4* rating, read the reviews and sent the link to a friend.
So we decided to go tonight and were pleasantly surprised. We shared the Kimchi Pancake – SO GOOD! She had the Pork Belly entrée, and I had the Bulgogi entrée. Both came with white rice and condiments of kimchi, strips of fried tofu, marinated bean sprouts and cucumber kimchi. Red leaf lettuce was also served in case we wanted to roll everything together.
I also had the brown rice and green tea which was hot and so good on this cold, windy night. I hadn’t had this tea in years, and it was so good and brought back many memories.
The owner (?)/​waiter, June was so darned funny – worth the trip just to see him. He went over the menu with us and answered our questions.
Great experience all the way around!

The service was amazing. So friendly and so energetic. I ordered the seafood pancake and spicy squid stir fry. The pancake was delicious and flavorful, I didn’t even need the sauce. The squid was also delicious, and cooked just right. It was a good mix of sweet and spicy. The homemade ban chan was very good and very light in flavor profile, as banc Han is supposed to be.
It was a wonderful experience and I love how it’s on the northeast side of houston. It’s accessible from where I live on the east side.
I will definitely return with friends and family.

In summary: This place could use professional help to advice them how to streamline their cooking process and taste their menu. The food is bland and one dimensional and they are missing key things that people who have experienced Korean restaurants have come to expect. The people who own and work this restaurant are fantastic people, but the actual service (efficiency, pricing, environment) and food does not warrant itself the five stars people are giving it. Honestly, I’d give them five stars too merely for the fact that I really want them to survive. But, I can’t do that because I also want them to know what can be changed.
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I frequently drive to Chinatown from Kingwood for good food-​especially Korean food. You can stalk my Unilocal check ins to verify that, LOL. With that said, I came in here to check out the new owners and how the business has changed since I did first visit them about 7 months ago. I really was rooting for the restaurant to make it because it would be less of a drive for me and would be a great introduction of Korean food in the area.
The new menu offers Japanese inspired cuisine among the Korean dishes they had, which was weird to me considering it is Taste of Korea. I’m sure they did it for convenience, however, because frying tempura is faster to cook on the spot. So I can tell they are trying to streamline their cooking process to make it more efficient. Because I knew they usually take a little while to prepare the food, I called in my order 15 minutes before I got there. I had the lunch box bulgogi, which was cold so I thought that means they are preparing food faster. So I decided to test it out and went ahead to order a tofu soup. One of my favorite foods. Needless to say, I finished my meal slowly and still had to wait quite a while for the soup. So I’m guessing their cooking efficiency is still at the same level. They need to consider more meal preparation or hire more hands to cook.
As for the food, the lunch boxes are a good idea but I don’t necessarily think they make it any more affordable. My bill still came out to be about $ 30+ with tip for a lunchbox order and the tofu soup. And that was just a meal for myself. I normally spend that much for two people at tofu village and that includes appetizer and banchan for two.
Speaking of banchan, most Korean food places I’ve been to, serve it as a standard staple to all of their meals – side dishes in plates which are usually like sautééd bean sprouts, kimchi, spinach, kimchi cucumber, and fried fish even with their lunch specials. The experience of mixing these side dishes with my rice and some gochujang is what makes eating Korean food so pleasurable to me. As a small business, I feel like taking advantage of this unique concept is what really instills the «taste of korea» and will become the draw of why people come. It’s exactly why eating phở can be so satisfying – because you have to take the time to put in the bean sprouts, chili, squeeze in the lime…
They don’t serve the lunch box or the bibimbap (hot stone pot) with actual banchan, but they did serve the tofu soup with it. It was what salvaged that order for me, because the tofu soup was one dimensional even if it was cooked with red pepper flakes and the serving was pretty small for its price. The stock itself was watery and had no body whatsoever. Unlike Peter K.‘s review, none of the food I had that day had that «Korean taste». Although, their bibimbap does look good (it is the easier dish to make, it’s just rice and some veggies and gochujang.)
As for the bulgogi and the dumplings, they were also unremarkable. Bulgogi tasted like Japanese teriyaki on a different type of meat. It was marinated in soy sauce and sugar and none of the Korean spices and flavors I’ve come to love. Dumplings were cold and chewy and in the style of Chinese cuisine. I really think it came frozen. I wish they served pan fried leek dumplings instead.
Despite all this, the place does looks better with the more professionally done picture cards of the food on the wall even if the décor is still bare. The people serving in the restaurant are still as enthusiastic as it was once was and it seems they really are trying to revamp the place. If so, I suggest they visit a Korean restaurant in Chinatown to see how other people make it work. There is great potential in this restaurant, especially with the rise in popularity of Kpop and Kdramas and Korean culture in general. One day I hope it becomes a place I can proudly take my friends to to enjoy samgyupsal, some makkoli, and bibimbap because it is affordable enough for us AND actually imparts the sense of togetherness good Korean food usually brings.

Dined here on a whim today and it’s now my favorite restaurant in the HKA area. This place is very unassuming and stuck in an obscure shopping center… but the food!
Korean pancake (vegetable): best pancake I’ve ever had. I’m ruined, I’ll never enjoy another pancake anywhere else. Brought out to the table in a cast iron skillet. Crispy bottom with a fluffy center.
Hot stone rice bowl (beef): Mixture of crispy rice with veggies, beef and a sweet/​spicy sauce.
We were also served homemade kimchi for the table. This entire meal was orgasmic, no lie. The gentleman that was greeting and waiting the tables was a riot. Very sweet, helpful and accommodating. Just a wonderful personality to complement the best meal I’ve had in a while.

It was my first time here and I was blown away! Phenomenal food, phenomenal service. The quality really comes out in the food. It was perfect. The ingredients were fresh and cooked properly. The resturant doesn’t use MSG. They do use sea salt and all natursl spices. The seasonings were simply excellent. The owner was a riot! Very outgoing. Expect to interact with him. :)

Went there for the first time this evening with my best friend. A Korean restaurant is definitely a nice change from the same repetitive chain restaurants that are in The HKA area. The owner was very personable and had a nice sense of humor. It wasn’t very busy, so we got our food pretty quickly. We ordered the Steamed Dumplings as our appetizer and the Bulgogi and Spicy Pork for our entrees. This is only the second time that I’ve had Korean food, so I’m not sure if it’s really good or not. I thought it was pretty tasty. I would definitely come back to try other things on the menu, like the Korean BBQ.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Korean food on the north side of town. The owner (Gabriel) and his wife took over this establishment. I hope that locals will cotton to their homey sincerity.
I tried the Stone Pot Rice (Dolsot Bibimbap) with pork. I was pleasantly surprised by the nice blend of sweet and spicy as well as the delicious sides of home made (FYI I can tell) kimchee.
Homestyle Korean food reminds me of my childhood.
I recommend Ae’s to anybody who has never had Korean food because their menu sticks to things that are fairly common across the land of my ancestors.

Great, attentive service. Love that this is a local/​family owned Korean restaurant.
They were willing to modify their menu to cater to tastes of our kids (I’m Korean, so the kiddos were familiar with the menu items anyways). They also had chopstick training devices for our 5 year old, so she could practice and not immediately default to a fork.
Generous proportions.
They make their kim-​chi in house, and will soon be offering it for sale locally.

If youre looking for a korean quick fix, this is definitely the place to go. The service was excellent and the food was good. The portion sizes were quite large so i ended up taking over half my food home. Cant wait to go back for more.

The Taste of Wow! Friendly service, but even friendlier to the palate. Everything I have eaten here is amazing. Try the seafood pancake, but don’t get it confused with your mommy’s pancake. This is totally different. From there on, I usually move to devour the sizzling plate (spicy pork is my favorite). The soups are very good. The place is kid friendly. Now, go tackle it.

First, I have to say that we stumbled upon this restaurant after googling «Korean restaurants near me» and picking the first one. That being said, we got very lucky.
The décor is nothing extravagant, reminiscent of an old pizza parlor. There were four other small parties aside from ours, seated rather tightly in a small dining area. It became obvious very quickly that the staff was, although absolutely lovely and hospitable, very sparse. We were willing to be patient, however, as much as we craved some authentic Korean fare.
He ordered the spicy pork (extra spicy) and I the bulgogi bibimbap (called the «stone bowl» on the menu), with the stuffed jalapeños to start. The wait was around 30 minutes, which did not really bother us, especially once we tasted how caringly each dish was prepared.
The stuffed jalapeños were unlike any other we have ever had. Stuffed with crab and cream cheese, they were similar to a classic stuffed jalapeño but we’re instead Tempura battered, which was delightful. His spicy pork was absolutely delicious and savory, although not nearly as spicy as it could have been. My bibimbap was incredible. On top of the wonderful food, what little staff was available were warm, passionate, and caring.
Overall, I would really recommend trying this place. My only complaints were a shortage in service, which could be rectified by an increase in customers, and the lack of free side dishes. In my experience, Korean restaurants usually offer a very wide variety of sides to supplement the meal. That being said, more business might warrant that, and that’s why I’m here.
Seriously though, if you like Korean food or you’re ready for something unique, try this place out. In this area, it’s the best I’ve tried so far.

The new owners are a couple. They are so nice! Friendly atmosphere, good service and fresh good food! Yummy :)

There are now new Korean owners at AE’s and they didn’t miss a beat. Like before, great husband-​wife team making wonderful Korean food made fresh to order. I ordered the Pork Bulgogi and my wife ordered pork fried rice. The Bulgogi was a wonderful sweet and spicy mix with how she caramelized the meet and added spicy kimchi. Their fried rice is simply the best I’ve ever had and so different than what you’d find at a Chinese restaurant in that soy sauce isn’t even used to make it.
Authentic family owned restaurants like these are a treasure and love that AE’s is in our neighborhood.

Awesome Food! Awesome Experience! Found this place because I was looking for some good ramen. We walked in and the couple behind the counter offered to give us a tour of the menu in case we were unfamiliar with Korean food and catered to our spice preferences… I ordered dumplings and got home made soy sauce with them that was amazing! And the ramen was perfect… Just exactly how Korean ramen should be… Prices good and place is clean and welcoming. We will definitely be back!

Expensive prices for the level of service. It’s not a buffet but you have to order before you sit at the table. Nothing really wrong with this except that for the prices they charge you should get full service at your table.
They also use Styrofoam cups! Again for the price you pay you should at least get plastic cups. Leave the Styrofoam cups for picnics! And don’t pollute the environment.
And what really disappointed us the most is that we ordered a dish that had a whole fish and it seemed as though the fish wasn’t fresh and perhaps borderline spoiled. When we told the waiter/​owner he simply said «Oh», turned around and walked away. As if saying «tough luck».
In all fairness he did apologize for the nasty tasting fish when we paid our bill but we were still charged for it. It seems to me that the owner preferred to make a few bucks on that day over having a small loss by not charging for it and perhaps retaining us as clients. His loss because he got this review and we’re certainly not ever going back nor recommend this establishment to any of our friends and family.

Delectable and Authentic are the adjectives that describe my first Korean meal. When I first walked into the place, it was very laid back with a picture menu scrawled across the wall. The friendly owner immediately came from behind the counter to assist with my selections. I ordered Beef Bulgogi, Bibimbap in a hot– stone bowl, kimchi and a Korean egg roll.
The egg roll was served promptly with home made soy sauce and was pleasing to my palate. Next served was the bibimbap, this meal was executed wonderfully as it was served in a hot stone bowl with bursting flavors. I rather enjoyed stirring in the raw egg and watching it morph into a cooked egg; just wonderful! The Bulgogi was tasty and sweet and the kimchi I enjoyed very much.
It’s a quaint place, the owners are nice and the food was a refreshing, culinary adventure

Summary: Sweet family run place with a small menu of things done well
Soooo very happy to have Korean food in the area. Before Ae’s, you had to drive to Spring Branch to get good Korean food. Now, you just have to drive down the road. YAY!
Ae’s does not have a big menu, but it is a good one with standards like bulgogi, bibimbap and ramen. Ae actually works the front and does most of the cooking, as far as I can tell. She makes her own condiments, which is awesome. This is not a huge place with a giant staff. It’s a lady and her family doing Korean home cooking, or so it seems. Happily, it’s done well. Hub and I sampled and liked all the things we got. Fried dumplings, yum, beef bulgogi, yum, kimchi stew, yum, cucumber kimchi, yum.
Walk in, look at the specials board and the wall mounted menu, ask Ae what she recommends and order. No waiter service here, but that’s fine as they’re keeping it simple.
Hub and I will definitely return for more tasty Korean victuals.