Review Koba Korean Bbq Restaurant - Adelaide

The building is an old church, upon entry the dining setting is very relaxing and aesthetically pleasing with booth style seating. Perfect for a romantic BBQ or Authentic Korean style dinner and good for groups too. We loved this place until recently -very disappointed now that it is NO longer a buffet restaurant! No split bills available and it really wouldn’t hurt for table staff to smile.

THERE WAS BUFFET, BUT NO MORE! 垃圾中的战斗机 I don't know about you, but i will definitely NOT go back! 1. Clearly they are short staffed, when we asked to order, one of the waitresses replied 'Can you give me time?' 2. The lettuce they served us was unwashed with fresh dirt 3. In the middle of the meal, I asked for more dipping sauce, but they said they have no more, so i literally ended up eating PLAIN meat. 4. The serve size are very small, we(2ppl) spent $80 for 2 rice dishes and 1 BBQ set, ended up we were still 'half hungry'. 5. False advertising, the BBQ set($50) i ordered clearly showed there are soups included in the picture, but actually not.

nice food but service leaves much to be desired

Easy to cook, tender meat and delicious marinades plus an extensive range of sushi. Staff was very kind and generous. We were allowed an infinite amount of meat! Had so much fun creating our meals. Loved the soup section but probably needed a nicer broth. Desserts were minimal but still tasted good. Would recommend that they provide a wider range of vegetables to grill and add to soups. Would recommend to groups :)

My experience was horrible, the buffet was horrible, majority of foods were cold and the others were empty. The only nice thing was the sushi. When we asked for the honey chicken to be refilled, it was replaced with half cooked chicken which we then had to re cook on our grill thing. We paid $179 for 4 people with only 1 plate of meat. Not only was it absolutely disgusting (lucky we checked the meat before we ate it) but there was no value for money what so ever. The desert was also gross and probably should have been refrigerated, also not much variety, it also looked like it was being served to a child's party. The only good thing about this restaurant was the friendly staff. Can safety say that I will never be returning.

Buffet was very underwhelming ... certainly far inferior to the pictures on their website. Don’t expect to find salmon nigiri on the buffet table - there isn’t any!! They serve the cheapest type of food one can serve on a buffet. BBQ was ordinary. Nothing special and overpriced for what they offer. Definitely won’t be coming back.

Great value for money and super friendly staff. I would argue, having lived in both Korea and Adelaide, that this is the best value Korean BBQ in Adelaide... and I'm pretty sure I've tried them all now.

Went there on Sat at 7pm but found out that there run out of food for the buffet. There is no dessert beside watermelon as they promise on the menu. However the beef ribs is excellent and highly recommended. It charge 43 dollat per head and i think is a rip off when you are not getting what you been promised on the website.

Went with big expectations and came out with empty stomach. The food is not the one that you can relish. Very inactive staff. Can more appropriately say less enthusiastic staff. When you try a new cuisine, you need someone to influence you or guide you through the food which was not the case here. Tried quite a few things and was not very happy about it.

YR Score: F3/E2/R2<br/>(yrscore.com)<br/><br/>Hair was found in the food. Noticed by the boss who explained that nobody in the kitchen has long hair when it was obvious that there is a guy with long hair visible from even the dining area. Nothing was done about it, not even an apology. and we were charged full price for the meal. <br/><br/>Also found that the menu on the website is not very accurate. No Korean pork bone soup available. <br/><br/>However, I have to say they have got good ventilation for a Korean BBQ place. And the kimchi is delicious.

Not worth it. They don’t refill their dishes and the only available food at the ‘’buffet’’ are rice,sushi, noodles that looks like it was sitting there the whole day and burnt takoyaki. We keep asking for meat refill for 5 people but they just gave us a portion for 2. Very disappointing

Don’t waste your time. Got here just after 8pm on a Friday and they refused service will never come here again. The manager was so rude to us

Excellent experience. Service couldn't be faulted our waitress was very attentive and was always asking if we wanted more food.<br/>Plenty of variety of food. I was uncertain if here due to some of the negative reviews, but we only had a positive experience.

I love the idea of this buffet. Unlike the majority of the buffets where you have to stand and get the food that you have to grill. This one is different, you can order to one of their waiters endlessly (except busy hours as everyone has a time limit)<br/><br/>You can have unlimited chicken, port belly, beef , Lamb, seafood, sushis, clams, Korean fried rice, soups, fried chicken and more . This place is amazing and it was recommended by one of my friends.<br/><br/>This Korean BBQ is unlike the others that are so dirty and have disrespectful staff. Koba's staff were easy to approached too and quite professional. She welcomed us and told us some information about the buffet itself and she was really nice.<br/><br/>Though , I went here once with my family and we all had different opinions about the experience and that's how I'm<br/>Gonna grade this.<br/><br/>Me, sister and girlfriend liked koba and thought we had a unique experience whilst my parents were opposed to this. They mentioned that $35.00 for a few slices of poultry and seafood was not really worth it. Though we all agreed that it tastes good!<br/><br/>I must say this place is a bit pricey though was a great experience!

I have been to a lot, and I mean, A LOT of Korean BBQ restaurants and Koba is hands down my favourite one. It's one that I always return to because it is just that delicious. <br/><br/>It's an all you can eat buffet where you go up to choose incidentals like sushi, fried squid, spring rolls, octopus balls along with traditional Korean sides. <br/><br/>They bring out one plate of meat at a time to reduce wastage and when you're done with your plate they bring another. My group of 5 has never been able to get more than 2 plates before we're too full to continue. I highly recommend this place.

Words cannot express my disappointment... but I'm going to give it a red hot crack. If there was an option for 0 out of 5, I would put that.<br/><br/>This was by far my worst Korean BBQ experience I have ever had. The host kept turning our cooker temperature down, and with an allotted 90 minute time per booking, we certainly weren't able to get anywhere near our $40 dollars worth. To make matters worse, the supposed 'buffet' was near empty for most of the night; we were told food was 'cooking' 4 or 5 times. When we asked when more spring rolls would be made available in the buffet we were told that they were cooking; 30 minutes later and we asked again only to be told that they have 'run out for the night'. I'm not sure about anyone else but I find it astounding, if not downright unacceptable, that an 'all you can eat' buffet runs out of food before 8pm on a Saturday night. We gave up in the end. On top of this there was barely any cutlery; 40 minutes into our allotted time and we were finally able to get access to chopsticks. It took the best part of the 90 minute booking to get knives to cut what meat we were able to cook. Also, being a Korean restaurant you would expect that their buffet offerings would be labelled with English descriptions for those not familiar with native Korean dishes... I'm hardly surprised, but they weren't.<br/><br/>I would honestly rather have gotten sunburn. <br/><br/>Save your money. Save your time. Get KFC instead.

This is one of the exceptional restaurant I've tried in Adelaide. The ambiance is really nice and modern. Buffet was average where all the good stuff are always took a long time to be refilled.<br/><br/>The shocking part is when the waiter spill a glass of red wine on my jeans. I can tell that the waiter is new and quite inexperience. I also didn't mind about the spill as I wore a burgundy color jeans on that night. Afterward, the waiter called the owner to attend the matter. Shockingly, he seems not to care at all about the incident. To be fair, all I ask was to have my glass of wine which drained due to his staff mistake to be replaced with another one. Unfortunately, my request was simply ignored until we pay the bill and walk out from the restaurant.<br/><br/>I will not recommend anyone who care about good service to visit this restaurant despite its value for money (exceptionally cheap price for buffet). Thank you Koba for the great memory!

Koba used to be better before they became a Korean BBQ buffet. As for the barbecue - the facilities are good, I never come out of the restaurant smelling like a barbecued meat myself. But for the quality if the meat - debatable. The galbi (rib) was well-marinated but why oh why is the meat so tough with chunks of fat and fascia/tendon that becomes hard and chewy when cooked?? Never had galbi that tough in my life.<br/>Every now and then I become hopeful that this place might be better and try it out, then gets disappointed again. Won't be returning. Giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 because the food at the buffet was okay

OMG！NOTHING taste good ！NO OPTION for meat！ the cold noodle is the worst i have ever tried taste even worse than instant cold noodle that we can find in supermarket

I find it increasingly exciting that I can still go to a restaurant in our fabulous city and see something completely new and inventive. Shuang Shuang, Pharmacy 2, Hoppers; all completely different yet wonderful. Koba, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Fitzrovia is a new one for the list. I’m sure Korean BBQ is no new thing, but at chef/restaurateur Linda Lee’s recently refurbed Koba, with a grill in the centre of each table and a pullable extractor fan, it’s something I’ve not seen before – and it’s super fun.

This place was just amazing! We were welcomed at the front door by the owner/manager who sat us to our table. He was so lovely. It's not often the owner/manager will greet you with a smile and happily seat you and take drink orders. Very very rare. Okay so il start with the food. We got a platter with a mixed meat and seafood, all the meat and seafood was such great quality! Staff were so attentive to change our out hot plate when it was needed. They also had a Buffett with a variety of foods you can make your own bimibab and soba noodles. They had octopus balls, sushi, chicken, noodles and a lovely dessert bar plus lots more. Price was $36 per person. It is a little bit pricey but I thought it was worth it. Especially with the wonderful service we received. Can't wait to come back ! :)

Great food!!. Always knew this building as the globalize sale building but decided to give it a go and I have to say I was very impressed! The service is great, there's a wide variety of dishes and the food is so cheap for such good quality! Not really sure why there are so many negative reviews out there... The buffet is a must have at dinner time with waaaaay better options available at the same price as other buffets in china town

Good food. Just amazing ! Nice variety , cheap, good service , clean and good location .

Koba had changed to buffet style and it is so worth it for the money ! Weekend $34 and weekday $28 per person. They have plenty of beef, pork, chicken and seafood varieties for you to bbq ! It also has lots of sushi, and main course and most importantly, dessert !!! So worth it for the money as all the food are in high grade quality ! I will definitely recommend to everyone !! Super delicious yum yum yum~

Absolutely terrible. BBQ set for 2 seems good on the menu but it is actually really misleading. Not everyone eats beef tongue. Place is so expensive and not even sure what the side dishes consist of.

I went and ordered beef ribs, liked the side dishes and the meats as well. Service was good especially owner was nice and serve us well.

I wish there was a 'love' option. The best Korean BBQ in Adelaide in my books! I'm yet to try their main dishes but it's the BBQ that keeps me coming back - good variety of meats, fresh and very tasty. Staff are helpful and the atmosphere is great for couples or a group. Plenty of space and you can usually just walk in even on a busy night. Definitely not to be missed, I can't fault this place at all.

Yumbo!. I ordered Bibimbap, it was delicious. The staff were very helpful explaining the menu and generally very friendly and polite, and great prices too. Meal and drink $20-00 and the start you get little bonus samples bowls! Great comfy décor, highly recommend.

Pleasently surpised and enjoyable. Had a mixture of pork and beef bulgogi bbq and bibimbap. I like the private booths, service was functional if not overly friendly. Not as hot as I would have expected for a Korean restaurant unfortunatley but a nice selection of side dishes and good quality kimchi. Have had better Korean bbq in the past but it was decent and would go back again in a group

So much good without the expense of quality.

Have order the main dishes and BBQ and it's super yummy! The staff is so friendly! Definitely recommend to give it a try if your craving Korean food :)

Definitely DO NOT let previous negative reviews stop you from going to this restaurant. The food is fresh, authentic and just delicious! I love Korean food, have been to Korea and would like to think I'm a somewhat discerning diner when it comes to Korean cuisine... KOBA makes some of the best Korean dishes in Adelaide (the ones I've tried anyway, their menu is extensive). I highly recommend their soondubu (spicy tofu soup), jjambong (spicy seafood noodle soup), bossam (sliced pork belly with radish kimchi), jjigae (soup hotpots in a variety of meat/seafood combinations- my friends and i had one with sausage and cheese in it just recently and it was Divine!) And pajeon (korean pancake). Their bibimbap, bbq, ginseng chicken and spicy pork is pretty good too but the dishes I listed before is what keeps me coming back time and time again ^_^

Good food quality. Love it so much. Will come back again.

Great food and friendly staff. Love the fact that you don't leave with ure clothes smelling like a BBQ!!! BBQ plates suck the smoke away from you. Will be back :-)

I had quite low expectations of KOBA, having read the poor reviews on Urbanspoon, but was pleasantly surprised. The decor was great and the menu selection wide and varied. All the Korean classics are here. I didn't find the prices particularly expensive but then again, I've had better food as well. Mapo and Maru's bibimbap come to mind... I can't comment on the DIY BBQ dishes as we didn't order any but others seemed to be having a reasonable time of things. Service was pleasant enough but a bit slow and there was a bit of a language problem. All in all, I'd definitely go to KOBA again if I was in the city but if it was Korean I was hankering for I wouldn't travel in especially, I'd go to the Korean BBQ on Glen Osmond Rd - not as nice decor but somewhat better food and prices. 6.5 out of 10.

Dissappointed. Extremely overpriced. Food was good, but at $46 and getting 5 slices of beef and 5 slices of pork belly, that does not impress me. Plenty of side dishes that come with it, but overall, we were paying money for cabbage that is dirt cheap, and a few slices of meat. <br/><br/>That's not to say that the food was not good. Quality was great and food was tasty. They have the traditional grilling with charcoal which really brings on the bbq flavours. Service was average, nothing different. Their only downside was the very upmarketed price that was highly unnecessary. Will not be back. Try it if you don't mind the price, but there are better places for Korean bbq.

Tried it late on a Friday night for something different and we liked it. Staff were extremely friendly and service was quick. Food was tasty without being amazing.

Terrible Service. Disappointing experience, Service was horrible, the owner keep walking around and start chasing you to leave the place. Worst thing is when you have ALREADY PAID the bill and you started to leave the place the owner shouted across that you DID NOT pay the bills and when he checked his staff and realised he was wrong. Did Not even came toward us apologise. Do not recommend, the worst restaurant that I have visited.

Great service. We had a fantastic lunch here on the weekend. The bbq meat was of a high quality and and the side dishes that accompany it were delicious. We also tried the fried and steamed dumplings which were yummy too. The bibimbob had loads of nice things in it and was demolished quickly. The service all through lunch was excellent with some interesting facts about Korean food thrown in too!

Wagyu beef BBQ you cut up and cook yourself in the centre of the table + a stack of free and yummy side dishes plus + a range of free and yummy sauces all combined turn a $26 main into extremely good value for money and yummy, yummy, yummy. Korean alcohol + smiling and prompt service capped it off for us. We'll definitely be going back again and again.

Disappointment is a dish served cold. Love to try new places - and really into Korean BBQ - was really excited after walking past the place often, catching glimpses of the conversion from church to restaurant. After much waiting, and talking about it, I finally went there for dinner last night.<br/><br/>However, the food was nothing special, over priced and the service poor. <br/><br/>e.g. We ordered a 3 person meat/seafood banquet ($89) where the seafood component consisted of one prawn, one scollop two mussels and two squid heads. Ridiculous! The meat part was okay, just the usual thin cuts of beef, although for that price would have expected much more - especially seeing as you cook it yourself. <br/><br/>There are so many good places out there that I would never go there again, and recommend that you try anywhere else instead.

Big Fan of Korean BQQ. My partner told me he wanted to eat Korean BBQ for his birthday but he didn't feel like eating at Great River. Heard about this new place and read the good reviews. Wasn't disappointed at all. We went in a big group and bought various dinner set banquets. The BBQ spare ribs were the highlight totally would recommended. Totally would go back again and have recommended it to my friends too :)

Best Korean BBQ in town. We went here a while ago and I am just about to book a table for tomorrow night. This is authentic Korean BBQ, not the Chinese make due substitute you get elsewhere. For sure order the kalbi, it's great value and you'll be satified. Great location as well.

Great food, great service. Don't let the earlier reviews put you off this restored church/restaurant. I feel a lot of the negative reviews were mostly teething problems, as is expected when just opening a new place.<br/><br/>Went on a Saturday at around 8.30, and they seemed pretty busy. Despite this, we got a table quickly and service was attentive. The owners were very helpful as well. We ordered two BBQ dishes and two main dishes, plus a cold noodle salad. The food came out very quickly, and we found that the mains were very generous serves. For the BBQ we ordered the beef ribs (recommended!) and the duck/chicken. BBQ comes included with some sides, like a kimchi plate and fruit salad. (yes, there is plenty of kimchi, I don't know what other reviews are talking about)<br/><br/>Sides were good, except for the ssam, which for two people consisted of two (2!!!!) medium leaves of lettuce, two sticks of cucumber, and two almost dessicated sticks of carrot. Not enough to properly enjoy BBQ! It's a little odd seeing as they put down information sheets on ssam and the picture shows a much greater range (and amount) of veggies! Note that you can get additional plates though (for a price). It's also notable that they use charcoal for their BBQ.<br/><br/>Please note that despite my complaints about the ssam, the rest of the dining experience was good. I suspect Saturdays are Britney Spears nights, as we had 'I Wanna Go' on NON-STOP repeat the entire hour we were there.<br/><br/>It's definitely on the pricier side of Korean BBQ options (we paid ~$25pp), but definitely worth it, in my book.

Don't let the bad reviews put you off this place. Went there with my family on a very busy Saturday and service was fast and attentive. Food was pretty good too. Generous and flavourful. Beef ribs are awesome!

Reading the reviews here on Urbanspoon I was not completely sold on this place but am glad I tried it for myself.<br/>The food was amazing, the service was good and the whole experience of Korean BBQ is something not to be missed.<br/>The pricing was moderate but not expensive by any means.<br/>I will be coming back for sure.

Wow. Overpriced, underwhelming food all delivered with sloppy 'service'. Waited half an hour for raw food to be delivered to our table which of course we had to then cook. Paid $50 for a mountain of cabbage and bok choy with about 100g of wafer thin beef. The only thing that had taste was the soy sauce and salad dressing. Avoid avoid avoid!

Disappointing experience considering the owners are the same family own the local favorite Seoul Express store in the southern cross food court. Service was horrible, we had to chase them just to get our cutlery and plates, despite the fact that there were only 4 other tables on a Saturday night dining. Side dishes were tiny in proportions and no kimchi!! Do not recommend

No Side Dishes. A korean restaurant without the kimchi side dishes??? Disappointing!

I just left Korea a week ago. I ate a a mom and pop BBQ most of my stay there. This was a big let down.

Poor value and it was horrible experience. Expensive food but with thin meat. Never go back!

I really liked everything. Will go back for sure. Way cute staff.

Inexperienced staff, bibimbap not bad but their chicken and duck combination was awful....

Somewhere different for a change. Dined last week with 3 friends. Staff very accommodating. We ordered too much food but as all good. Dumplings, BBQ,salads, the table was covered in small dishes of tasty morsels.lighting too bright but would return.

Terrible service!. We went there with much anticipation when it first opened as the decor looked so good. The first weekend it opened, the place was packed so luckily we booked but as soon as we had finished our last mouthful, the waiter came over to us and said verbatim 'can you leave now'' I mean, what?! We were only there about an hour! Lost in translation you say? Translate that in any language and it would sound offensive to the diner. If they made it clear when we booked that they needed the table by a certain time (like some restaurants do) we would have understood but to be told to get out before we were ready, nevermind, looked at the dessert menu <br/>was beyond rude! It ruined our night and our mood. Have not been back since.

Good value and good food. The owners have done a good job renovating this former church into a Korean BBQ restaurant. Staff were busy,so the service was a bit slow but apart from that, they were friendly and helped explain the menu, especially regarding the BBQ options. <br/><br/>Anyway, we had al a carte and the food was well presented, delicious and good value for money. A worthy contender for a top notch Korean eatery in Adelaide.

Went on a weekday at lunchtime- ordered the beef tongue and garlic pork. Pork was quite nice and thin, beef was very chewy. Service was not the best and there was hardly anyone there!

Amazing mix of complimenting flavours. We ordered the beef BBQ for two for 52$. <br/>Staff talked us thru our dining optiOns and explained what was what as we had no clue. :p<br/>Very attentive, polite and friendly plus food was amazing. I think we had a good balance of meat, salad and dessert. :) yummy!!!!!

BAD. It was a horrible experience. The meat was very thin and not want a excepted for how expensive it was. The staff was very badly trained, they explained the menu incorrectly and was very confusing therefore we ended up ordering the wrong amount of food. They grilled the meat for us but did a horrible job at it, the heat was up too high and burnt the meat. Half of our meat was eventually burnt and it was a very unpleasant experience, I will never go there again and I recommend no one ever goes there unless they want their meat burnt and experience the horrible time I had there.

The inside of Koba is certainly a contrast to what you see on the outside. The owners have done a great job renovating the interior to what could be described as traditional with a contemporary feel about it.

The second dish was very well received by us! It consisted of battered and fried chicken pieces atop a bed of salad veggies, drizzled in a tangy lemon sauce. The chicken was crunchy and tasted so good with the lemon sauce. This has been probably our 4th or 5th time dining here at Koba, though probably not our favourite. I really don't know about the authenticity of these dishes - we usually have barbecued meats. I'd probably recommend this mainly for the barbecue option. Remember to order the garlic pork belly if you visit!<br/>