Bowl’d BBQ Alameda

Since my last review, I wanted to write an update as I've been here at dozens of times since Jan 2020 as it is the closest Korean restaurant for my family. Honestly, it's not the best or worst Korean food but it's the best in Alameda as there really isn't much to compete with, when you don't want to drive across the tube to Oakland. Bowl'd is the best bet for local soondooboo stew (a slighly spicy tofu, vegetable, stew with added beef and/or seafood, which I always choose), galbi, and tukboekee (rice cakes with fish cake in a spicy sauce, which I add fried dumplings to). Those items are solid. The soy-glazed chicken, which I previously praised, is a hit or miss as the way the chicken is cooked is inconsistent: sometimes the order is overdone and dry; other times it's somewhat pink and undercooked (had to heat more in the oven when I got home); and on the rare occasion it comes out perfect. So...we stopped ordering this. We always order crispy Vons chicken at Ohgane next door now. We've done this dozens of time at Ohgane and the Vons chicken has consistently come out juicy, piping hot and crispy.Sorry, I digress. In any case, I would say this place is a solid 3.5 star but rounding up as some items are quite good, the staff is pleasant, and Alameda needs to keep one of the only Korean restaurants on the island in business. Hmm....I wish more Korean restaurant would open in Alameda.

I can only give Bowl'd BBQ in Alameda three Yelp stars ("OK"). For Korean cuisine in the Bay Area, I thought the food was average at best. That said, this is the only Korean restaurant I've been to in Alameda and it may be perfectly fine and good for Alameda. My mom likes this place.Bowl'd is a local chain. Along with this location, there was a location in Oakland (in Temescal, temporarily closed at the time of writing this review) and Albany (Bowl'd Korean Rice Bar). This location is at South Shore Center, the big shopping center next to Alameda Beach. Bowl'd is hidden from street view, in the center of the development. The shopping center has plenty of free parking.Bowl'd opened in Alameda on April 5, 2016. The restaurant is fairly spacious with both indoor and outdoor seating. The patio outside is partially covered. The atmosphere is casual and the interior design trends modern and industrial (e.g., exposed ceilings, concrete walls and floor). So, this isn't a traditional Korean restaurant, but instead a Korean restaurant with a contemporary spin.We walked-in for lunch with a party of seven on a Saturday around 11:45am. At that time, there were plenty of open tables and we were seated immediately. By the time we left, around 1:20pm, there was a short line out the door waiting for tables inside (I think outdoor seating was available, but the folks standing in line were waiting for a table in the dining room). Call to ask about reservations.Bowl'd had a good selection of Korean cuisine, from snacks and street foods (e.g., gimbap and tteok-bokki) to traditional soups and stews and even fusion (e.g., Spicy BBQ Linguini, BiBim Quinoa). I wanted to order a K-Noodle Combo, which comes with one kal-guksu (knife-cut noodles) and side for $19, but the 11am-3pm hours were valid for weekdays only. We were able to get a K-Brunch item, though (see below). K-Brunch has the same hours, 11am-3pm, but on what days specifically, I don't know. Finally, Happy Hour is 2pm-5pm. You can get $5 beer, soju, and food during Happy Hour. I'm pretty sure Happy Hour is on weekdays only.Here's a list of most of what we ordered, with prices to give you an idea of the price range:* Banchan (Korean side dishes, complimentary) - broccoli, spicy fishcake, mushrooms, kimchi, mayo-based fruit and vegetable salad, spicy daikon (radish)Noodle Soup (Kal-Guksoo)* Beef Rib (two pieces, $27) - Korean knife-cut noodles with vegetables, served with fresh-made kimchiBibimbop* Dolsot Bibimbop Beef (Bulgogi, $23) - mixed steamed rice and other ingredients served in sizzling hot stone bowl* Dolsot Bibimbop Spicy Pork ($23) - mixed grain rice and other ingredients served in sizzling hot stone bowlSeasonal* Galbi Naeng Myun ($24) - twist on Korean classic with chilled spaghetti noodles, in naeng myun broth, topped with galbi beef, tomato, cucumber, and pickled radishK-Brunch* KFC & Waffle ($20) - four-piece Korean Fried Chicken wings with maple syrup (menu said "please allow 15 mins")The best dish was the Dolsot Bibimbop Spicy Pork. Both the Dolsot Bibimbop Spicy Pork and the Dolsot Bibimbop Beef were served in traditional hot stone bowls with sunny-side-up eggs and a variety of veggies: arugula, beansprouts, carrots, cucumber, fernbrake or bracken fern fiddleheads (gosari namul), mushrooms, pickled daikon, and red cabbage. In both bimbimbaps, all of the ingredients were fresh and good quality except for the beef. The beef was overcooked, burnt in some places, and too dry and chewy. Other than that, I think the bimbimbap here is a safe bet.The Beef Rib Kal-Guksoo was meh. It wasn't as appetizing as a lot of other kal-guksu I've had and that's just about in every aspect: noodles/texture, broth, and meat. Like the beef in the bimbimbap, the beef ribs in the kal-guksu tasted overcooked and were a bit tough. Unfortunately, I don't recommend this dish.The Galbi Naeng Myun also wasn't as good as a lot of other naengmyeon I've had. For my wife and me, naengmyeon is one of our favorite dishes. I think we would've enjoyed it more if Bowl'd served it the traditional way instead of doing their twist on it by using spaghetti noodles instead of buckwheat or arrowroot noodles and adding unconventional ingredients like tomato (though not unheard of). Also, it didn't help that our server forgot to pour the broth in for this dish, tableside. Yikes. An older Korean lady employee (manager?) came with the broth and poured it in for us later. She apologized and said the server was new. No problem. Regardless, this version of naengmyeon lacked the punch and satisfaction we usually get from this dish. I admire Bowl'd's effort on trying to be creative and different, though.The KFC & Waffle wasn't bad. The fried chicken could've been more flavorful (seasoned better) and juicier, but overall, this may have been the second-best dish that we ordered.Service wasn't great. We had trouble flagging down our server for simple things like water refills.

I AM A FAN! I had the soft noodle soup w kimchi and we shared the seafood pancake. Unfortunately I was so mesmerized and blown away w the deliciousness I didn't take photos of the tons of little sides that come out! This is such a great temple to big flavors, big portions, and big love in each bite! Outdoor seating for pooches! Yay!!!

I think this place has new ownership because recently everything on the menu is different from the usual. The little banchan plates are better now, better quality food over all. This place has had its ups and downs but recently has changed for the better.

Found this place on Yelp and decided to try it out. The restaurant is located in South Shore plaza so it's easy to find and there is ample parking. The interior is quite nicely renovated, there are many tables and booths and a bar area. My friend and I met up here for a girls dinner and when we arrived on a Wednesday evening there were about 5 other small tables occupied. We placed our order with the staff and waited a while for our food to come. A large table of 10 received their food before we did, even though we ordered before they did. After waiting about 20 minutes we flagged a waiter down and they apologized and told us the kitchen was extremely busy. We received our entrees before the appetizers (kimbap) arrived. I ordered the clam kal-guksoo (clam noodle soup) and my friend ordered the soft tofu stew. We ordered the fish cake and veggie kimbap to share as well. The noodles were a bit clumpy in my noodle soup but the broth flavor was nice. There was a decent amount of clams as well. Unfortunately the kimbap fell short of my expectations. They were pricey but a good size, larger than I expected. However they didn't have any pickled radish which was odd and instead had purple cabbage. The kimbap wasn't very seasoned either, so it tasted quite bland. It did come with a spicy mayo dipping sauce which was interesting. The service was good, they did check on us multiple times and refilled our waters. The food was decent but not anything to write home about.

Hadn't been here in awhile since the redid the menu. Came for lunch with friends on a Sunday afternoon and the place was pretty empty.Service was good, we had the family menu with tofu soup, spicy bbq pork, galbi, 3 purple rice.Also had the Tteok-bokki, Kimchee stew, spicy beef soup, and glazed potatoes.The Tteok-bokki we had was mild spicy with a lightly sweet taste to it.Banchan had good variety-spicy fish cake was the best, the mushroom had an odd taste to it.The glazed potatoes were lightly crispy and made for a great appetizer. The Kim chee pancake was a little soggy.Otherwise solid lunch spot-just wish the lunch specials were available on the weekend.

Came here during lunch time on a weekend,plenty of parking in the shopping plaza. The restaurant wnot too busy and we were able to be seated right away. You have an option of indoor and outdoor.Our server was nice and was pretty quick on taking our order. Food came out pretty quickly and they also checked on our table a couple times. We ordered beef potstickers for appertizer and it was delicious. For entree I got the chicken katsu cutlet that came with 2 veggie potstickers,house soup,rice and a generous amount of crispy chicken with the dipping sauce. Everything came out good and the serving size is pretty big. Others from our party also ordered soft tofu soup, bimbimbop and their BBQ bowl that came with plenty of protien of your choice (pork belly was good) japchae,rice and veggies. Your table will also get banchan. Overall this place is amazing and would come again.

Solid korean food after a session of windsurfing! Good:- Kimchi pancake was very crispy and tasty - The carbonara pasta was unique and my favorite actually among the dishes we ordered, it was like a ramen Italian flavored- The potato pasta dish was okay, I liked the bone broth soup - Portion sizes were good! - Staff were nice- Good ambiance for a date, casual but still slightly nice Bad: - Took a while for our food to get there Overall I would come again, it was tasty!

updated review with new menu 5-13-2024Came here to take out of town guests for dinner. we had a delicious vegetable pancake, small Bowl'd of wings with tangy and soy dressing. All the dishes were generous in size. The dolsot Bibimbop with beef short rib and mixed grain was delicious fun to eat with beautiful arranged shreds of carrot, bean sprouts, sliced cucumber, yellow pickled vegetable and fried egg on top. The random was also very tasty and a very big serving. We enjoyed the fried vegetable pancake.

Food is alright. Nothing too rave about, we came with a large party as it was recommended by a family member but I'm so use to AYCE Korean I came.innwith high expectations. Food was highly priced for the portions given. Spend about $80 for beef bulogi and short ribs bibimpap, didn't think it was worth it. The short ribs plate only had 3 pieces of meat, mostly veggies and rice. We did have a chance to try some food starters, cheese corn- average, kimchi with beef fried rice- best dish, KFC- original and soy glazed- original was dry but the soy flavor was better, seafood pancake- didn't get to try but I heard it was alright as well.