The Place Gu Jip Restaurant

This K-food hole-in-the-wall spot is a hidden gem in Gardena. It's located inside the plaza right next to Honda dealership. It's kind of hidden. In the plaza, it's one over the Smoking Tiger Cafe at the corner end past Love Letter restaurant. See my restaurant photo for your visual reference. There's plenty of free parking on the main level and the bottom parking structure as well. We usually park behind the restaurant. Beware... when it's busy, parking is limited.The Food: It's customary for me to try yook gae jjang (spicy beef soup) at different Korean restaurants if available. Yook gae jjang at "Yook Dae Jang" restaurant in Gardena used to be my favorite go-to until they'd changed management. Then the quality just went south. Haven't been back since. Anyways, I'd recently discovered Gu Jip. Something about the yook gae jjang here just blew me away. The spices and ingredients tasted and smelled similar to how my mom and wife cooks it at home. It was authentic. You taste the love that's put into this dish with dopamine-releasing flavors. The portion was very generous. I love how they bring it out in a traditional brass bowl.My wifey tried cold noodles and spicy cold noodles. For the cold broth noodles, the broth was amazing. The beef slices were tender. They use the traditional slushy ice, which takes me back to when I had cold noodles in Korea. Spicy cold noodle is a spicy mix noodles with spicy (gochujang I.e. chili) sauce. This is one without the broth. It's spicy but all the flavors just come together. Both are refreshingly great on a hot summer weather. If you're craving meats, order the bulgogi (Korean-style marinated sliced beef) and kalbi (Korean-style marinated short-ribs). The soy sauce marinate is sweet but savory. The meats are juicy and tender. Both are delicious.The Service: Based on observation, I think this place is run by group of Korean ladies that just knows how to cook good traditional Korean foods. The service is prompt and food came out promptly. No complaints here. The Ambiance: The inside looked like a typical Korean restaurant. Not modern, more old school look and feel. The table seatings were spacious.All in all, if you're craving good traditional Korean foods prepared by ladies who know how to cook them, check this place out. Pricing was reasonable based on quality and quantity. It's actually cheaper than most other Korean restaurants imho. The food is excellent and authentic. I would definitely come back to try other dishes or end up resorting back to my favorite, yook gae jjang. Great place for group of family and friends. You're welcome.

Always craving Korean (authentic) food after watching my Korean drama. This is a restaurant I have never tried before. OMG! The pig leg meat (jokbal) is so good. They are meaty and chewy, lots of collagen! The kimbap is a kids favorite for sure. Large portion to share. The (spicy) cold buckwheat noodles definitely hit the right spot. I like to cut the noodles with scissors first because the noodles texture is kind of chewy. The sotteok (rice cake & sausage) is a very popular street food.

This is not the same place anymore.... the food and service are both not up to par. Sad :(

I ordered spicy squid and Gam ja tang. Both were so yummy and good portions as well. People who work there also very kind and generous.

My wife and I have ordered from Gu Jip multiple times now and it's quickly become our go-to for local Korean fare. The kimbap, soondubu, and kalbi have all been consistently derricious. Whether it's the kimbap's freshness and construction, the soondubu's ample spice and plentiful meat/tofu, or the kalbi's fatty goodness, we've enjoyed them every time.Looking forward to delving further into the menu soon. 4.5 rounded up!

Used DoorDash platform for our order. They forgot a second Tupperware of the side dishes . It should be one for each order! For almost $80 worth of food and not have enough side dishes for two people is simply a big disappointment.

Came here on Monday at 11am for lunch with my mom!First off I'll start with the food: me and my mom had ordered bulgogi with veggie wraps as well as makerol. I really really enjoyed the bulgogi and wraps which included cabbage, lettuce, and seaweed to wrap the meat in. The makerol was cooked very well and you have to squeeze lemon in it as well to make it complete. All in all Everything was pretty good, very standard Korean meals. Ambiance: clean inside, standard restaurant Service: everything came out in a nice and timely fashion, no problems with servers however we were the only ones inside at the time. Could be different if it's a full house! All in all: good food! Definitely will be back and will update the review

Found this gem through Yelp. GREAT choice.The first sign I knew this place was legit, was the clientele. Random lunch on a Thursday. Filled with middle aged groups of Korean men and groups of Korean women. Four banchan served: sweet black beans (yummy), kimchi zucchini (yummy), miso gochujung wakame (yummy), & kimchi (REALLY good-nice aged umani, not hot,just flavorful)Shared: Tofu soup with pork & bulgogi comboThe tofu soup was GREAT. The bulgogi a bit sweet for my taste, but still good. The Bossam was REALLY good. People have their own renditions. I like theirs over another version I've in OC (also noted for their Bossam). Their version is simmered in a soy sauce & sugar base. Good flavor, tender, not falling apart. Served with fresh raw garlic slices & jalapeños pepper slices & chungachi-dried radish kimchi. Slightly salted wilted Napa cabbage to wrap your Bossam was nice vs raw cabbage. Wraps much easier plus adds a bit of salt flavor. Sammjian & fermented shrimp sauces for dipping.This place is GREAT! Middle aged people filling a restaurant? Who know what good Korean dishes should taste like? Yup...this one's one my "let's get Korean food" list.

Still my favorite Korean restaurant to go to.Ordered to go:- fish cake kimbap- so good and much more flavorful than in the times past-I think they seasoned everything better this time!- bulgogi kimbap- so good and much more flavorful than in the times past-I think they seasoned everything better this time!- yukgaejang (spicy beef soup)- so flavorful, with lots of meat, veggies and egg. Generous portion.- Galbitang (beef rib soup)- flavorful clear broth with 3 big rib bones! My hubby liked it, but I liked the Yukgaejang more! Generous portion!They included 2 soups, container of banchan (broccoli tofu, spicy cucumber, kimchi and sweetened black beans) and 2 containers of rice as well. They packaged everything so nicely and even put a big piece of clear packing tape at the top, to make sure nothing spilled and moved around, which I appreciated.We'll keep coming back for more!

Authentic korean cold noodles! Always comforting to dine there and portions are very sizable!