TOFU KA Korean Restaurant

3 minutes shy of 3 and she says sorry the lunch special is over. Keep in mind that not another sole is in the establishment. ...... but I say ok. Even though we came in at 2:50 and she wasn't in my line of sight.
Food was ok but the lack of favor in the " tofu soup" was very disappointing. Plus the side dishes felt like they made it with what ever was left before it spoiled to far.

What was this place before? It changes more than I change my wardrobe.

Came for lunch a few days a go. Of course I check in and then a check in offer popped up. Unfortunately they wouldn't honor the offer because it was lunch time and they had a lot of lunch deals. That was disappointing. They brought out water but it was infused with fruit. I really don't like anything in my water. Had to ask for a different water. Decided to order one of their deals for lunch and I shared spam fried rice with my friend. The fried rice was great. I love spam. The beef tofu soup was good. I ordered mild for that little kick. The soup was good for me since I am trying to get over being sick. They have eggs at every table so you can crack it and put it in the soup when they bring it out but wait for it to cook.

It was an ok experience. Food and service was good. Good spot to go if you want to avoid claremont. I'd come back again for the lunch deals.

Free crispy fried tofu with check-in? Don't mind if I do, especially since I can never have enough tofu in my life... I finally made my way here and suffice it to say, it was definitely a nice addition to Mira Mesa, even though I don't live in the area.

The crispy friend soft tofu was nicely breaded without being oily, which was reminiscent of airy/fluffy tempura. Our server forgot to give us the dipping sauce until we were almost done, but it wasn't a big deal.

I ordered the mixed soft tofu stew with seafood and beef. I barely remember eating anything else other than a lot of soft tofu, but they did have a large piece of shrimp. The tofu house on convoy gives you a small frozen one, so this was nice. The portion size is great for the price, served with your choice of white or brown (purple) rice.

The banchan is limited, and they ran out before 8pm, which is unfortunate since that is when the dinner rush hits. We shared a peace flavored yogurt soju, which was great for me since it was very light in soju, but not so great for others who are looking to drink a bit more.

Overall the prices are on par with the places in Kearny Mesa, the staff are available, even though I am known to abuse the call button - ok only when I'm staving - and tofu soups are pretty hearty. My favorite restaurant for soondubu jjigae in San Diego is still Convoy Tofu House.

Love the fruit infused water.
Been here about 3x now.
First time for lunch: had the lunch special. I would give this place 5 stars alone for the Bossam. So delicious..
Second time for dinner: busy so food took longer but that's my only complaint
Came in for early dinner tonight: had soybean stew and it was good. Always get purple rice. Service was a bit slow today.

This place is great for lunch time. I love their lunch specials because it's really great portions enough for you to take home and great prices. Of course it will be hard to take home noodle soups but if you separate the soup from the noodles it is completely doable.

The first few times I have came here there's always new servers and alot of times they are new to the menu as well. They are a bit slow depending who you get to serve you but they're really just busy and trying their best as well.

Although some of them are rookies, I haven't gotten my order wrong yet. It's really great that this place is close to work. I love korean tofu soup or their noodle soup. It is so comfort food for me, keeps me nice and warm inside.

They always have Korean singers on the TVs. Sometimes it can be a bit disturbing as it was loud the second time I was here but other times I didn't even notice the TV. I do like that the tables there have the service push button. That's nice when they are super busy and you want something quick.

Their panchan (side dishes) are not bad, I like that they actually still serve lots of side dishes for free during lunch time. I drink a lot of water so it makes a difference for me that this place gives you the water pitcher. Oh and I like how they got these big booths. I love sitting in there as I feel I need the space sometimes. Allllll to myself.

My go to dish is probably the kimchi friend rice with their spicy noodle soup. Too much food for me so I usually can't order that unless someone is there with me. Great for lunch, have not tried their dinner menu yet.

On a scale of 1 to 8.5, my knowledge of Korean food is about a 3.7. And, I'm only talking Korean food served in the USA. But I liked this place.

I thought the banchan selection was one of the best- not so much the variety but there were a few dishes that were top notch. A+=the egg/potato salad, the pickled thinly shaved radishes, cold tofu. I could have done without the deep fried whole fish which tasted like it had been sitting out for too long before serving.

The waitress recommended the pan fried dumplings, which were, to my complete surprise, delicious! In the past, I have not enjoyed the dumpling forms served at Korean restaurants. TOFU KA's version are stuffed with a good portion of meat and some carrots among other ingredients- couldn't tell of which meat variety but it had a slight beefy taste.

The beef japchae was a winner, and I appreciated the water flavored with real fruit. I asked to box up the remaining fish cake banchan with my leftovers, and they were nice enough to give me a brand new portion of the fish cake. Good stuff all around.

Say you're not in the mood for driving down to Convoy after watching a movie at Edward's Mira Mesa, wel, Tofu KA might just might fill your Korean food need. Overall its better than D&C Tofu house, but not as good as Tofu House on Convoy.

The banchan offered good variety and mostly tasty options. I didn't get to dive too much into them, because our complementary fried tofu (with Yelp check in) came out at the same time. The fried tofu with soy dipping sauce was light and crispy.

For my meal, I had the galbi bibimbap. Generally speaking the portion was average, with the actual galbi amount being on the small side. I do think it's a complete rip off to charge $1 an egg (raw or cooked). Tofu House (Convoy) leaves a basket of eggs at the table and you can add as many as you want at no extra charge. Keep in mind when on sale, you can get an entire dozen eggs for under a $1.50!

Anyway, the meal was going swimmingly, until my spicy bibimbap sauce was taken away from me. I know most people squirt all their sauce on at one time, but I use the sauce in small amounts to prevent the rice from being oversaturated. The waitress didn't even ask if I was done, she just took it and gave it to a neighboring table. Sadly, I had to finish the rest of my bibimbap sauceless. It was a shame, because it was a great sauce.

I would say the food is about 4 stars, but I'm taking away 1 star for my spicy bibimbap sauce being taken away from me prematurely.

I think I'm pretty familiar with Mira Mesa and there's not many restaurants I don't know on Mira Mesa Row (that's my homage to the Greek system right there). So I was curious when I heard about this Korean restaurant as I hadn't heard a thing about it's opening.

Remember Mr. Wasabi in Mira Mesa? I know a Korean restaurant took it over some time ago (never visited) but I didn't know that restaurant shut down. So that's where you'll find the newly minted Tofu Ka. There's not really a sign that I saw for Tofu Ka so look for the Oak Tree Plaza when you're driving on Mira Mesa Blvd (almost across from H Mart).

The restaurant is decently modern and nicely clean. Me likes.

We ordered:

- Assorted Soon Tofu lunch special with Korean BBQ choice $14.95

Their assorted tofu comes with seafood and beef/pork. There wasn't much seafood or meat in this tofu dish (there was ONE shrimp). I ordered this with a Spicy 4 but honestly didn't think it was all that spicy (sis thought it was spicy enough). The tofu was very silky though so that I loved. But the overall taste was lacking in this tofu.

I thought the portion was shrug-alright.

- Galbi (comes with my combination)

You can choose whatever bbq dish to partner with your Assorted Soon Tofu.

You know what I first noticed about this dish: the cow shape platter.

The dish didn't come out sizzling and the onions (underneath) never cooked so we assumed the platter was never heated. The portion appeared quite small as well. The short ribs were decently tender and had an ok sweetness to it from the marinade.

- Banchan: fried fish, tofu, potato salad, cucumber/onion salad, kimchi, spam (?) sausage, eggplant, and peppers

Complimentary of course. Our favorite banchan was the eggplant, potato salad, and the tart cucumber/onion salad.

We've never seen whole baby fried fish like that. Kinda neat no?

- Assorted Soon Tofu (Spicy 3) $8.95

Bigger size than lunch combination option. V didn't think the tofu was all that spicy and felt there was way too much tofu versus seafood and meat. She thought her dish was alright but better than the other tofu house down the street (D&C Tofu which I have yet to visit). V also commented how there was only ONE shrimp (head on) in her tofu soup.

- Galbi tang $8.95

The rib bones were plentiful and you do get a decent amount of beef meat in this soup. Sis said it was an alright soup but definitely not the best one she's had in San Diego. There were also a nice amount of silver noodles and fresh green onions used for this dish. We both wished for a side of salt as this soup tasted under seasoned to us.

Total came out to be about $35 after tax.

A few tips :

- Coupon card (on back of their business card): earn a stamp with each visit (5th meal you get a free appetizer, etc)

- Free soda : Grand opening special. Each person gets a free soda with their meal!

- Pork or Beef Soon Tofu for $5.95. We are not sure if it's the smaller lunch portion size or the regular portion size for this price tag. Regardless, it's a nice deal if it comes with all the banchan.

I'd recommend trying this place out if you're in the area. It's nice to see a new Tofu House in Mira Mesa.

To start off, I've never really been to a Korean restaurant (other than all you can eat KBBQ) but that doesn't really count. So trying this place BLEW MY MIND. Where was this all my life?

When you check in don't forget to redeem your free fried tofu! It comes with 6 square pieces; crispy on the outside, soft and hot in the inside. Plus with the soy sauce dipping sauce, it makes it deliciously addicting!

My boyfriend and I also ordered Galbi (grilled marinated beef short-rib) to add to our tofu appetizer. It comes steaming on a pan on top of nicely grilled onions. The BBQ was hot and juicy. You can't go wrong with it honestly

For our main dish we ordered the bibimbap stone rice pot and bulgogi stone rice pot; both with a sunny side up egg. ITS AMAZING. Side note, I hate when my food gets cold. So this stone pot fixes that problem COMPLETELY. When your food arrives it'll be steaming in a pot, add the chilli paste for spice, and get to mixing!!! Your food will stay hot the ENTIRE time here. I loved it. While the pot is hot, its cooking the egg mixed into the veggies and making the rice crispy!! It all just makes the whole dish even better. I really enjoyed their chili paste with our dishes. If you enjoy your food spicy, I definitely recommend to pour it up!!!

As for costumer service, every table comes with a call button. But we didn't get to really use it, for the both times we came here it was pretty dead. But overall, the workers here are really friendly and are on point with staying on top of their costumers needs.

If you ever want to get your Korean food onnn, definitely try and stop by!

My friend and I were craving some Korean food so we found this place right across the street off from the Mira Mesa exit. Okay Black Mountain. The sign was poorly lit with blue and red peeking through this other place that faces Mira Mesa blvd. We almost missed it.

The parking lot was near-empty and a few customers inside so we were skeptical. We figured it was the rain slowly creeping later that night. We decided to go in anyway because we were starving!

The decor was modern and simple. Our guy was polite and gave us plenty of time, no rush. He helped me choose the bibimbap while my friend chose the dinner special with bulgogi. He gave us some fruit infused water and our side dishes.

Our food arrives! After mixing my bowl of everything and letting it cool down I take my first bite and I added the bulgogi. The meat was tender, although for me it'd be better if they cut into smaller pieces. All and all pretty tasty.

Service was on the slow side. They have those buzzers/ringers at the edge of the tables to signal for someone to come. We thought it'd be a loud ring but it was silent, cool.

We packed up the rest of our food. Final consensus, everything was A-OK. I'll come back again to try something else.ss