Hyung Jae Restaurant

First impressions: Waited 30 minutes to be seated (Maybe something about Sunday night dining?). Waited another 30 minutes to get water and utensils, only 2 ladies serving. The ventilation in the restaurant is terrible so be prepared to be suffocated. The tables were greasy as well as the chairs. The food was okay, but I won’t be going again because of the service and environment.

Was there two nights ago & had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated. I have been going to this place for a really long time and it is one of my faves. I usually order the same thing every time, the #2. This cut of meat is tender & flavorful, I think it’s beef outskirts but I’m not definite on that but the servers usually recognize me and know what I want. I love the seasoned oil dipping sauce that makes the meat taste sooo good. They normally bring out 6 to 7 different small side dishes that include Kim chee & other veggies to go with your meal. It is quite pricey, our meal was around $ 100 for three of us, without any drinks.!This place tends to get very busy and parking is scarce so it’s better to go early in the afternoon on most days. As for the service, I haven’t had any problems and I don’t look Asian or talk Korean but I also keep in mind that good things come to those who can wait :) at least for a little while… when I’m hungry!

Ladies r not mean. Services is good. Meat is not bad. Side dishes can be improved with little more selection. BYOB. Parking is limited in the back. Tables r little small.

I think this place is «I can say BEST KOREAN RESTAURANT» in Hawaii!
Every time we go… always 120% happy!
Good food with great service!
Can’t wait to go next time!!!

They have the best yakiniku on the island. The quality of meat is the best and even though it may bot be as cheap as other places, you definitely get the most out of your money. Also, the side dishes they give are always all very good and it’s so authentic

Pound for pound, one of the best yakiniku on the island of Oahu when it comes to price/​taste/​quality! The beef tongue is a must try for all you meat lovers!

Poor service. Sat ourselves, grabbed our own menus. Waited almost 10 minutes to get acknowledged. Finally ordered after 25 minutes. Food came. Did not bother checking up on us but they sure as hell made sure the only other group in there, who were Korean, were doing alright. Food was «ok». And when my dad asked for a Heineken she told him he can go next door (to the liquor store) (ps. Their menu says «IMPORT BEER $ 4.00»).
Overall-​I will not come back here due to crappy customer service.

To me, probably one of the best Yakiniku places I’ve ever ate at. The taste of the food is bomb! Haven’t tried any of their «cooked» food though. But I love coming here to yakiniku with my fam! Cow tongue, seasoned beef, & short ribs baby!

My Korean family’s go to spot for beef yakiniku. We always get the ahn chang, cha dol and hyuh (beef tongue cause we’re savages like that). Their sweeted potato side dish is beautiful and make sure to ask for their secret red sauce. Red sauce is the real MVP.

Terrible service! I walked in waiting to be seated and while standing there several other people walked in after me and got seated right away. The server totally ignored me as if I was invisible.

This is my favorite Korean restaurant for a very good reason.
THE MEAT! Man, it’s freaking delicious. I crave Hyung Jae’s grilled meat for days. Especially with some garlic, kimchi, and spicy miso soup.
I’ve been going to this restaurant consistently for the past 10 years, and the ajummas (older Korean ladies who work there) always recognize me and are so friendly. I absolutely love this restaurant and will gladly recommend this establishment for everyone.
NOTE: This isn’t a fancy place at all. It’s a tasty, hole-​in-​the-​wall, casual restaurant that will have you craving its food for days.

Meat was very American meaty! I went with a group of Japanese foodies… Yakiniku in Japan is sliced thinner and there is thin lines of fat but «Brother» was a really solid red meat plates jumbo pieces.
Staffed by a crew of 50 something older Korean ladies with one at the counter chopping away at blocks of beef. Older waitress spoke Korean, English and Japanese. Minimum orders were 2 service per meat item and we went with the Harami and Kalbi. If you enjoy solid chunks o beef then this is a great spot… nice balance between tender and chewy. I found it to satisfy my meat craving but overall just an average experience.
On a Monday night at 7pm it was a full house. Took a solid 25 minutes to get the check and for the lady to actually return our credit card.

This place is good. Love there outside skirt beef. Hold on don’t get excited I didn’t say I liked these ladies skirts. All kidding aside, these ladies are sweeties. They take good care of us, like when we were little and our moms and grandmas always made sure everything was okay on the dinner table, that’s how these ladies are. The food is really good, the ban chan okay. The red sauce is a winners. Their kalbi is different, not your usual soaked in shoyu base but rather oil and salt, beware, read the menu, know what you are ordering. The tongue is soft, brisket nicely cut. Their soups are tasty coming out boiling hot in that black pot they use. Writing this is making me hungry. I’m headed down there now, find me and lunch is on me!

Great place to come for their lunch specials! The Kalbi here is the bomb! They give you good amount of side Veges (Banchan) too! The portions for their lunch specials are very generous too!

It gets 3 stars (actually 4 because the food is great) for the slow service. Once they begin to recognize you, you’ll get better service. On the other hand the food is great. I love the pickled veggies you get as sides! Slightly outdated but the grills they have to cook on are very clean. It’s not a steal, price wise, but good portions. My boyfriend and I have become almost regular here. This is my fav place for yakiniku.

In my opinion this is the best yakiniku restaurant in Honolulu. Compared to 678, this place is way more tasty. The way they prepare their meats is more flavorful. Until I find better, Hyung Jae is my place for Korean Bbq. I only gave them 4 stars because I felt like they were rushing us out. Other than that, the food was fantastic! You won’t regret it.

Hyung Jae is our go to Yakiniku Restaurant for lunch. We’ve never had to wait for a table and always leave so full and happy we don’t care we’ll smell like garlic and grilled meat for the rest of the day.
Standard order is Beef Brisket and Beef Outside Skirt to self-​grill and Oyster Jun. The meat is beefy and satisfying. The Oyster Jun has a small oyster and chopped onion and bell pepper in every patty, served with a tasty dipping sauce. Ban Chan (side dishes) rotate, but some common ones include Won Bok Kimchee, Cucumber Kimchee, Bean Sprouts, Chilled Daikon, and Shoyu Potato. Also included with the Yakiniku is a Salad with an addicting homemade dressing, Lettuce (to make wraps), Rice, Soup, and Dipping Sauces (Sesame Oil with Salt, Soybean Paste, Chogochoo Jang). Put a little sesame oil on the onion to help it cook and make wraps with the garlic raw or after it’s cooked.
If it’s your first time making a wrap, break off a piece of lettuce then add a bite of rice, some meat dipped in one or more sauces, and whatever else you feel like – maybe some kimchee or onion or garlic – fold up the lettuce like an envelope and push the whole bite into your mouth.
The next time you’re craving grilled meat, sesame oil, salt, pickles, and spices try Hyung Jae. We’ll see you there.

Hyung Jae is located right next to millions behind Walmart. There is pretty limited street parking and the restaurant is modestly sized; there are about 10 tables. They offer a variety of dishes, including your regular korean fare and yakiniku.
My friends and I were recommended by a Korean family, so it has to be legit, right? Sure enough, the majority of the patrons were korean. The rest were locals or tourists.
We ordered jumulleok and beef tongue. At about $ 27/​order, it’s a little pricey. However, the quality is good and the ban chan variety is awesome. I love daikon and this place serves the chilled daikon in vinegar. It’s so yummy! They also give you bean sprouts, cucumber, potato, some sort of green vegetable, kimchee and daikon kimchee. There is also salad, lettuce leaves and rice. We also ordered a soy bean paste soup and korean pancake. Both were delicious. Of course, the yakiniku is so yummy too. Jumulleok is probably my favorite cut of meat at korean bbq places. If it wasn’t so darn expensive, I’d come back once a week.
Service can be a little slow if they are full and the décor/​signage can be updated. Happy eating!

I was going to minus 2 stars for the slow service. 30 minutes before we got our food or panchan. I eventually put back one star however, there was one cook, one waithelp. And the food that we ordered needed to be slow cooked (paejeon.) I haven’t been there in years. YEARS. But it was not so much the slow service, we also ordered a steamed dish. Partly our fault. However, being the first in the place, the first to order, our panchan should have been brought out at least 15 minutes into waiting. WE were ravenous. Mebe az y.
By the by, the won bok and cucumber were the best I have ever tasted. The best. No exaggeration. The cabbage was salty and just stink enough. The cucumber, local style and the gakdugee (turnip) were sweet and crunchy fresh. Man, the sides were out of bounds. The bean sprouts and broccoli, ugh, nope.
I did recall that they made a killer cold noodle soup and I wasn’t disappointed at all when it came with chunks of icy soup (not ice, soup) floating on the top. About 50% soup, 50% ice soup chunks. Perfect. Same salty broth, same sweet toppings, apples, pears and cucumbers. Chewy noodles and all that is good about naeng myun. I was in heaven. I even burped some essence a few hours later and relived the experience… pleasantly. Ima slob. Just a slob. But a determined, picky, snobby slob.
Partner Pig ordered something new. Neither of us has ever had it, surprising since we are both Korean and thought we knew most of the dishes. I eschew the hard core, rotten gut slime, raw oyster galas, crab guts and garlic, side of Korean food etc. but this was a seafood, green onion savory pancake. Tasty, seafoody, luscious, cooked soft yet the squid inside was just the right chewy. Apparently we did not detect oysters in it but whatever seafood was in there, (Pig partner said clams) it was steamy, fried, redolent of oniony fragrance, with just enough bite and chew. It is a must order again. YOU MUST TRY IT. CAVEAT, IT DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH SALT. BUT THERE IS A REASON.
The paejon wasn’t salted enough for my palate but then, it is served with the typical dipping sauce which I found was almost just too salty without enough vinegar and sweet to make it interesting beyond a few green onions, pepper slices and sesame seeds. I actually plan to take my own sea salt (there is no other salt proper for food) and yes, in a taste test, I CAN ACTUALLY tell the difference between sweet sea salt and irony tasting, iodine added mountain mined salt. But only because the dish is purposefully served to dip but if you don’t like the dip, you’re screwed. And I didn’t like the dip.
We also ordered the steamed mundoo which was home made. Chewy, perfectly cooked and seasoned, always with a bit too much chives for me. I might have guessed that they were purchased from the Korean ajimas in Liliha except they were folded into different shapes than that of the wonderful grandmas. They were bite sized if you have a whopping pie hole, which doublay Yobos today, gratefully have. The pi was fresh, chewy and hot, slightly undercooked, the way it should be. Served on a giant lettuce leaf to avoid watery remnants or stick to the dish, ripped undersides. Attention to detail. I like it. And, the mundoo did not require the bad dipping sauce. One dumpling had a slightly old, off taste but it was a mere glitch in the run of extra fine grinding we did today.
My counterpart ordered the naeng myun (buckwheat noodles) in hot pepper paste. It’s called bi bin (not bibim). BI BIN KOOK SOO. NOT BIBIM BOP. IT’S BI BIN PAHB. Oh well… can’t change the world.
He loved it. Said it wasn’t hot even though his face was sweaty and the restaurant was as cold as my soup. It was muggy and humid outside and I knew I wouldn’t need a jacket this day. But the restaurant was so cold, I regretted that. Take a jacket but warning, others ordered the yakiniku and you will smell, greasy, roasty, toasty, garlicky, smokey, stinky, I need a shower after you leave. Your clothes will smell, there’s just no way around it. Wear yuck. Not like the gent in a copper silk suit who was there entertaining clients. Everyone in the place was native or local Korean but I used to see the place jammed pack at night with Japanese tourists. It’s a great place to get down and stinky, get drunk on Kirin or makule. But that’s the night which I now avoid.
Look, this place is out of the way and rests in the shadow of the nearby popular Sorabol. But they were here first. Even before the nearby Million Restaurant that I love as well and will Unilocal soon. There used to be lines out the door.
So while the food comes out slowly, there is no real ambiance (at least the seats aren’t greasy like before) and the prices are moderately high, it’s a must do simply for the food. THE FOOD, MY FRIENDS. GO FOR THE FOOD!

Glad that we finally got to try out Hyung Jae Restaurant.
This place tends to get overlooked quite a bit since it’s located right next door to Million Korean BBQ. Million’s usually the go-​to spot Korean bbq place for a lot of us locals, but I’ve started to notice the decline in taste and quality of a lot of their dishes over the past few years (perhaps a change in their kitchen staff?).
There’s usually one lady running the front (taking orders and serving), while another cooks in the back. The food arrives pretty quick and definitely hits the spot when I’m craving Korean food.
A good variety of banchan/​side dishes, always a good indicator of whether or not the main dishes will be good.
LOVED the refreshing cold Moo/​Dongchimi Kimchi (pickled daikon in a sweet vinegar soup)!
As usual, I went overboard and ordered a lot of food. Which I finished, mind you.
MEAT JUN (side order for $ 9.99):
The egg batter was just right, not too thick and doughy, not too thin. I love that the beef was slightly marinated, no dipping sauce needed!
Notice how thick the beef is?
SPICY PORK ($ 18.50):
It wasn’t extra spicy as requested (tasted more gochujang/​Korean ketchup than chilies). But the flavors were there and the portion was generous.
Thick slices of pork belly. While pork fat rules, some of the thicker cuts were a bit tough to chew on.
SPICY STIR-​FRIED SQUID ($ 16.50):
I LOVE Ojingeo Bokkeum, but this dish was a bit too sweet for me. Again, too much gochujang. Should’ve added more gochugaru (red pepper powder) instead.
There was a lot more veggies than squid in the actual dish.
SPICY SOON DUBU JJIGAE WITH SEAFOOD ($ 10.50):
Silky tofu w/​squid, clams and snails. I would’ve wished for more firmer tofu because by the time it got to us, it was in a lot of tiny pieces. Perhaps the cook went a bit too stir-​crazy while cooking it.
The soon dubu tasted okay. I like to make mines with more gochugaru, chilies and fish sauce. Overall it was just okay for us, not worth the $ charged.