Korea Garden – K G Sushi Train

As other have put it, this place is ok only if you’re into the «train» idea where the sushi are on this conveyor-​like belt that runs around the area and you grab what you like and pay by the plate/​color of the plates.
Service is spotty depending on who is working that day. Sushi is nothing great and I’m pretty sure the sushi at the HEB on Round Rock could knock most of the sushi at this place out of the park. Flavor/​taste wise the sushi are usually around salty. Strangely enough. I’m assuming it’s to disguise the dead flavor of the fish.
Ambient atmosphere. Be mindful of the color plates as well. You could well rack up a bill if you’re not too careful.

During my education at UT, I’ve visited Korea Garden countless times, but not even once, did I leave with a big smile on my face. The food is mediocre and the sushi is just downright terrible. Very Americanized, boring and bland sushi here. Their side dishes are delicious and the bulgogi is good but how can you mess up bulgogi?
Now, the service is absolutely horrendous. Don’t expect to get served until 15min after you sit down. Don’t expect to eat until 30min later. One time, I actually got up and left because I wasn’t even offered water after 15min.
High prices, bad food, Terrible service. Fail to the max.

Ok. They only get 4 stars because they used to have the train where u eat sushi thats being prepared in front of you by one or two chefs. They did away with that this year. This reminded me of California sushi joints like «sushi lovers» or «ariake» in San Francisco.
Either way, the sushi is tremendous and needs more recognition from sushi afficionados. Does anyone know if they reopened the train? my brother said they did, but only for dinner. If you call and ask them, you’ll never get an asnwer. LOL! They cant understand what you’re saying!

Wow. wow. wow.
I cannot say enough good things about this place! After having Korea Garden recommended by Korean customers at my job, I was very excited to try this place. That, and also because I’ve been watching so many Korean dramas lately. The food they eat makes my stomach growl, my mouth water, and my jaw drop. I really needed to try Korean food! Probably my most favorite thing about this place is that they have a section where you can sit on the floor and eat! For me, I have to sit on the floor while eating Korean food because it just completes the whole experience. And to my surprise, underneath the table is room to drop your legs which is really cool seeing as though many of us Westerners are not used to sitting Indian style on the floor while eating. It can get a tad uncomfortable. Very, very cool!
Another thing I loved was that our server was super nice! She really took good care of us and always had a smiling face and willingness to help us or get us anything we needed. The food was soooooooooooo soooooooo good! The Oi kimchi (cucumber kimchi) is my favorite part of the banchan and it was awesome. The chicken bulgogi was marinated just right and our appetizers set the bar. I recommend the kimchi pancake! Our caterpillar roll was sushi at it’s best.
All in all, my dining experience here at Korea Garden was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. The food is well worth the price and you’ll definitely leave feeling very satisfied! I can already tell this place is going to be one of my favorites in Austin.

The side dishes are the best here. :) Always different. It seems business is slow though; the times I do go I’m usually only one of three parties at most here. The sushi train is such a fun idea, but the sushi was always warm. =(They finally shut it down, I think for that reason.
It’s one of the Korean restaurants I’ll rotate in now and again. The service is great, imo. It always looks clean, but I’ve seen roaches. I love their bulgogi, jjam bbong, and soon dubu jjigae. My boyfriend always gets mae un tang. I’m not sure their prices always matched up with what the menu said? But I think they recently updated their menu, so hopefully that’s solved.

This restaurant was only my third Korean restaurant experience in Austin. I ordered the tofu soup. It felt healthy and was not too oily. It tasted fine but was nothing mind-​blowing. It came with a raw egg inside and I am not used to eating raw eggs so you may want to ask the waitress if there are raw eggs that come in your dish. I didn’t get sick from it, though. A raw egg also comes in the bi bim bap dish. Vegetarians and vegans should definitely avoid this place.
The waitresses are pretty nice. The prices seem average for Austin with dishes around $ 9 – 10 each. They have an extensive menu of Korean dishes and sushi. I still prefer New Oriental Market, though.
There is a wooden picnic table and a wooden bench outside. I liked the rustic look of the exterior facing North Lamar. Korea Garden is located right across from the Yellow Rose. It has a decent-​sized parking lot on the left side of the building. The parking spots are a little smaller than normal.

Hey, I didn’t die. I did empty my wallet on lackluster sushi. Slight fishy aftertaste and it didn’t have the typical taste or look of yellowtail tuna. The rolls weren’t well wrapped and the Nori wrap not soaked properly. The server brought edemame while I waited (.a long time for being the only one in there place) which was a nice touch except. I didn’t order it and then they charged me for it. When I mentioned it upon paying the cashier and waitress smiled and didn’t respond, they heard me alright. But refused to take it off the bill.
If you wanna to go try your luck with this dishonest place, I recommend going between 11am –2pm for a significantly cheaper lunch menu. There were several plates running around the sushi train, but I have to wonder how long they have and will go around the bar before they are served. Like I said no one in the place at 6 –7pm.
The interior looks nice (unusual and pleasant-​looking) but the atmosphere was thrashed by loud 80’s hits and the cashier decided to get into a long loud unpleasant argument on her cell phone at the table behind me. She could have sat anywhere else in the restaurant to have that conversation. Oh well, I’d say you get what you pay for. But sometimes you don’t.

I’ve always been leery to try this place. One: It’s across the street from The Yellow Rose (yes, that’s actually enough for me) and two: I’d heard far too many accounts of bad service and average food. I’m happy to report that they seem to have at least gotten the latter under control.
Ye Olde Dining Partner called and started running down a list of restaurants. «Been there. Been there. Nope. Not a chance. No thank you. Charles-​what-​now? Korea Garden? Sigh. I guess.» We walked into what looked like a war bunker to a very pleasant staff. I actually had not heard anything about this sushi train before but that looks like a really interesting gimmick.
I checked over the menu and ordered the ginger octopus salad appetizer and an Alaska roll (crab, avocado, and cucumber). The octopus wasn’t at all tough and there was just a hint of spice. I wish they offered that as an entrée itself! When I heard her call my roll, it sounded like she said something different but I ignored it thinking «maybe she just says ‘Alaska’» funny? maybe I heard her wrong?” The roll came out as a mother-​effing-​lobster roll. Definitely one of the more awesome mistakes of my dining life. The lobster roll is very delicious and the quality is very decent.
Korea Garden is very reasonably priced and the service was nothing less than excellent last night. One thing I’ll note is that the food didn’t feel quite as ‘heavy’ as Korea House. I have no explanation for this. Both offer great, reasonably-​priced food, but I’m kind of maybe, maybe, maybe (maybe?) thinking that I prefer Korea Garden? Only time will tell. The good news for me is that I’ll have to keep going back to both until I’m sure.

No sushi train at all anymore. Why even bother?
Weird-​ass music which included an instrumental piano version of «Somewhere Over the Rainbow» and a child speaking over soft pop.
Hovering staff who attempted tactlessly to pressure me into selecting the «Hawaii Sushi,» i.e., the expensive shit. However, when asked what types of roe were on my Dynamite Roll (that I actually ordered), the answer was, «wasabi, black, red, and orange.» Um…
Not cheap. For a meal for two which included four beers, two rolls, and a smattering of nigiri, the tab came to almost $ 70.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure those were strippers from The Yellow Rose eyeing my friend and I as we were ushered to our table. Klassy.
The sushi was decent, but that’s the best thing I have to say about this lackluster and awkward experience.

I love gimmicky crap like conveyor belts that bring me food. It’s true. I almost want one in my house. The modern day lazy Susan. Like, really really lazy. Today I decided to re-​explore the KG Sushi Train, refusing to believe the Unilocal reviews because the sushi was really decent last time.
Well shame on me. No sushi train, the engine’s broken and the sushi was only so so. Actually I let my BF eat the tuna because there was something funny about it. What? He can handle it. Or I’m trying to kill him. Whatever.
The good news is that its still cheaaaaap. I had the KG box. Get this: cali roll, three pieces of tuna nigiri, three pieces of sashimi, two tempura-​ed shrimp, a salad, miso soup and an orange slice (random!) for $ 9.95. Not joking. Everything was like I said, decent. So instead of picking up a roll at HEB, grab one here with all the extra sides for about the same price.

Honestly, the portions for the price of the entrees is alright, but not for the quality of the food because the taste of everything was mediocre at best.
We had a party of four and our server would not move us to a bigger table because they had size requirements for the table, so everything felt cramp after our food came out. We were not even able to barbecue our own meat. Another person had to prepare our food on a cart next to our table because our server was too incompetent to do it herself! The person grilling our meat was so unprofessional! She was conversing with another group while preparing our food for us.
The Korean food is okay, but you can go to the Korean market down the street for better quality food at a much lower price; and the sushi is below par.
I am not going back.

Eh, the food here isn’t anything special. Yet, the fare isn’t horrible. I just find it mediocre. The location is a little far from where I live. Decently priced. Good service.
Since Korean is my favorite food, I wouldn’t turn down the offer to return.

«It’s just like Lubys! But with sushi! And it comes to you!!» I excitedly squealed at my husband as I was getting the hang of the sushi train and grabbing every other dish off the train.
We hadn’t been to this place since they added the train, and I am pleased to say that I agree with their decision to turn half their restaurant into the train area.
I can’t even tell you what all we had, but I was pleased with most every dish. All in all, we spent about $ 55.00 (tip included) and I think about 50% consisted of alcohol. So, the sushi itself was very affordable. I remember spending about that much just going there to eat and ordering off the menu.
Bottom Line: It’s a novel experience, and I encourage everyone to at least give it a try once.

When we were walking up to the restaurant, my husband was a little concerned this might be ghetto from the exterior. However, once we got inside, we saw it had a nice interior. The cheery waitress asked us if we’d like the sit-​down part or the sushi train. I was a little confused about what the sushi train was so she took me over and showed me how it worked. It looked cool, but I thought it would be better for another time, since I was looking forward to trying more traditional Korean food. (Okay, so maybe sushi is traditional; I know I’ve had it when I’ve been at a Korean reception before, but anyways…)
So we sat down, and were looking over the drink menu when I asked about the hot sake. She said the small was on special for $ 2! I said I’d try it! It was smooth… and I always prefer hot drinks to cold drinks anyways since I always run cold.
Then, we were trying to decide what to order. The menu was a little confusing. Our waitress had a little trouble with English, but she pleasantly tried to help us as much as she could. We usually share, so we decided to order the beef bulgogi. I wasn’t sure what it came with or how much food it was, so we added on a seaweed salad.
When the food came out, we were absolutely overwhelmed, because there was food everywhere!!! There was miso soup, kimchi, cucumber side, bean sprout side, broccoli side, rice, and fish cakes that apparently came with it with that I wasn’t expecting. Well, I was expecting the kimchi and rice because we had asked about those items. (My Korean friends started me off on kimchi and got me hooked, so I had to have some kimchi!!!). However, we hadn’t been ascertain all this stuff came with the food or we wouldn’t have ordered the seaweed salad.
Well, other than there being more food than we could eat, it was excellent… very flavorful! We had a lovely time!

I’m a little bit embarrassed I’ve been here 3 times in the past week. So what, I say. Just because I am in love with the Sushi Train doesn’t mean I can’t yell it from the rooftops right? I LOVE THE SUSHI TRAIN! There I said it. Now back to the review…
First off, this isn’t Musashino or Uchi. Don’t come in here expecting first class sushi. Keep your expectations in check and you may have a good time. I’d recommend a dinner visit as the conveyor belt is filled with many dishes of delight. I came once for lunch a little bit after 1 and the belt was half full.
I love the concept of seeing how much everything is before you snag it. Of course I want every black $ 4 plate I see go by, and I have to restrain myself. The ratio is pretty decent in regards to sashimi and rolls. I have seen a few dumplings and puffs go by, they are best when fresh. The mussels are my favorite and cheap too. I can’t help slurping those babies down.
The saki is served in adorable bottles and very tasty for the price. I can’t believe the tab every time we finish our meal. During lunch, the chef saw us preparing to leave and sent over a boat with an orange umbrella fruit thingy. That was a nice touch to end the meal.
So I’m in love with the concept, the food and the service. It’s a tad bit tight seating-​wise, but other than that I have been tickled pink to ride the train. More food should come conveyor belt style. Seriously.

The sushi train was awesome! What a great concept– sushi on a conveyor belt. You don’t have to wait for your food and you can try a bunch of stuff for a decent price.
The quality of the sushi was pretty good, except for the spider roll (probably b/​c it has fried soft shell crab, and it had been sitting out for while so it was not crispy and somewhat chewy). Everything else was great, though.
My boyfriend and I tried five different plates, had miso soup and a beer, and got out of there for under $ 30, which is rare for a sushi place! We’ll definitely be back, probably on a Tuesday or Wednesday for the specials!

My disclaimer is I don’t respect average sushi; I would rather pay more for better quality. The best offerings here were the sashimi pieces, which were flavorless lumps of cold fish but at least they were filling. The rolls were bland, the same salads went around the belt so many times that there was no way I’d have braved one, and cheesecake was the sole dessert offering (come on… cheesecake at a Japanese restaurant?). When I arrived I saw some lucky people having edamame but none was placed on the belt while I was there. I was told if you don’t see something on the belt you want to simply ask for it, but ask who? We weren’t close enough to the sushi chefs, and our server couldn’t be flagged down more than once our entire meal.
If you feel compelled to go I do have a couple recommendations that could save your experience somewhat:
1. Sit near the front close to the sushi chefs and on the inside of the conveyer belt track. The sushi is placed on either side of the conveyer belt which then moves on down the line from the front towards the inside seats and then curves around to the outside seats and then repeats. So if you sit towards the back you will likely only be able to choose from the items no one else wanted, and if you sit on the outside of the track you will either have the very last choices or you will be forced to stand up and reach across the belt (looking like a cad, smiling at the hopefully nice people in front of you) to grab a plate. When the choice sashimi came out the eager people up front snatched them up immediately, and it wasn’t until they were completed sated that we got the chance to try some ourselves. At least they had the decency to look somewhat guilty.
2. Wear a warm coat, gloves, scarves and hats, because it is freezing inside. Everyone kept their coats on. Don’t sit directly under the air conditioning vents, which continually blast out the freezing air. I guess they keep the room ice cold to help preserve the sushi, but in my opinion the sushi is served far too cold as it is.
Our service was terrible. When we arrived no one came to take any drink orders and eventually I waved my hand up in the air frantically after twenty minutes had gone by and still not even any water. We finally ordered two beers, but only one arrived (though we were billed for two). I asked our server for some edamame and although she seemed to indicate that she would bring us some (with a nod of her head), it never happened.
I will agree it’s a cool idea and can be fun if you have an open mind, dress warmly, and don’t care much about the actual food. You know, it’s similar to the Chuck E Cheese experience, you don’t go there for the pizza; you go for the novelty.
p. s. — Interestingly enough, the sushi from the Korean Garden side is decent. If I were you, I’d skip the train and head over to the other side of the restaurant… and isn’t Japanese styled seating just as much fun as a conveyer belt?

The Good:
: it’s a new sushi train and it’s a lot of fun with friends to sit around and eat and blab
: lots of seating around the sushi train. make a point to sit closest to the sushi chefs, whether on the outside or the inside. that way you will be able to talk to them and tell them what you like and don’t like
: if you don’t see it on the train doesn’t mean they can’t make it or don’t have it. we were able to tell the waitress what we were looking for, and they made it for us (smelt roe nigiri)
: service was really really nice
: lots of options to choose from. go with the salmon nigiri, the seaweed salad, the baked green mussels, anything with smelt roe on top
: if you want, you can sit on the regular restaurant side of the place, where they have japanese style dining and seating, with people taking off their shoes and kneeling
The Bad:
: overpriced for the quality of food you get, without a doubt
: we saw things go round and round that didn’t get taken off the belt. how long does that stuff normally sit on there before they say ok let’s retire this plate???
: no ice under the belt that i could see to keep sushi cool. how does the fish stay safe to eat if it’s been going round and round for 2+ hours?
: only 2 types of sake: one type of hot, and one type of cold.
: the way the nigiri was done wasn’t the most proper way. the fish just kind of sat in a slice on top of the rice. not how it’s supposed to be.
: the rice wasn’t the best rice i’ve had. not horrible, just not the best
The Ugly:
: none
Would I go back? Maybe. It was a fun experience to have with friends, but if you go, make sure to remember that’s what the big selling point of the place is: the experience. Not the food.
This place is IN (but not entirely enthusiastically).

Come on ride the train. And ride it. Woo woo! Remember that cheesy song from the 90’s? Perfect theme music for this restaurant. Not only is it a sushi conveyor belt, but they played all kinds of 80’s music and hip hop while eating. It was definitely a party atmosphere where strangers sitting only a few feet apart, talk and joke around and share the same experience. All that was missing was the karaōke machine.
Went here last nite with hubby and my super intelligent yet goofy fun friend Jack. He was architecturally intrigued because this place is apparently made of Quonset huts (metal domed facilities used in WW II for barracks, etc. They were sold to the public after the war and could be bought for a song). I had to google that this a.m. and sure nough, he’s right! Brainiac. Anyway, I found this only slightly less than interesting. Sooo…
Onto the sushi train experience. I would give the novelty and fun of it 5 stars and the food about 3 and that averages to 4. Right now they are having an introductory week (tonight’s the last nite!) where all plates are only $ 1.50. You would think that would be a cheap meal, eh? Not with us three. We HAD to sample just about everything that floated by and ended up with (gulp) 28 plates! It was like everyone’s favorite I Love Lucy episode with us shoveling sushi in our mouths before it could pass us by. Each small plate has roughly 4 roll bites or 2 nigiris or a pile of bulgogi or an egg roll, etc. Starting tomorrow nite they will have a much greater variety of sushi and will charge anywhere from $ 1-​$ 4 a plate.
They are still working out the kinks in the system. The room is tiny and tightly packed and hubby and I had to move and shift a coupla times to make room for big groups. We were 4 plates in before we got water and that was only after asking the couple across from us to grab the waitress. Then we found out much later they have beer, wine and sake. They should probly have a big sign up front splaining the how’s and what’s and drink offerings, but on the other hand it is very chaotic and I probly woulda missed it anyway. A little insider tip tho is when you walk in, try to get seated on the right side as they get all the dishes first off the line.
Another tip which has been mentioned, is to pace yourself! It is true that you don’t wanna fill up on California rolls and then have to just watch the bulgogi pass you by. The best dish was the salmon nigiri. It was so fresh I coulda slapped it. The dish to avoid (actually spit out by my companions) was, we think, squid. It’s red and white and wrapped in a band of seaweed. Avoid at all costs! We were wishing we had a gas/​brake pedal for the belt. Speed up for the squid and (faux?) crabmeat, and brake for salmon! After all our experimentation, we ended up sharing the slice of cheesecake (your average grocery store bought kind). It had made the circuit all night and was tepid, but fun to eat with chopsticks.
Oh and one more fun (?) event. Someone placed a fake, very realistic plastic cockroach on the belt. We poked it with our chopsticks to check. Probly not too funny to the owners but it was definitely exciting. Wanna be prepared next time and bring one of my cat’s fake mice.
I can’t wait to take all my fun friends here for their virgin sushi train experience! Definitely fun!

Austin has its first sushi train.
Korea Garden kicked off their new concept tonight and we enjoyed a fun new experience in town.
I don’t know what the real prices will be, but until next Thursday ¹⁄₂₉ you’re looking at $ 1.50/plate for everything coming off the conveyor belt.
It looks like they took half the restaurant and installed a 100+ foot moving sidewalk of sushi. Most plates are 4 pieces of roll or two pieces of nigiri. We saw California, spider, spicy tuna, Philly, rainbow and others pass by us as the night went on. It’s not the best sushi in town, but at the special grand opening price it was a deal. In our hour there we found times where the train was 100% full of good stuff and other points where there was nothing. Towards the end they were supplementing with dishes from Korea Garden just to fill the line.
As you are sitting across and around others, it makes for a very social atmosphere.
We would like to establish some Sushi Train ground rules, based on our experiences in other cities.
1) It’s totally fair game to reach across the belt to get what you want
2) It is really bad form to stand up and walk around to get what you desire
3) If you see something coming you want, it’s your right to call dibs in a very vocal way. It’s up to everyone else if they choose to listen to you.
4) Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.
5) Have fun.