Vibe is a fairly new Korean fusion restaurant and sister restaurant to the popular Manna BBQ. Unlike Manna, Vibe is not nearly as popular and hidden away in a small plaza around the corner from Manna.
We decided to try it out a few weeks ago, not going in with very high expectations. The restaurant was nearly deserted during lunchtime.
After perusing the menu, we actually found quite a few items were wanted to try. After much discussion, we finally narrowed our choices down to a few options.
Deep fried crab stuffed jalapeno poppers
First, we were served some complimentary crab stuffed jalapeno poppers. These were tasty though the poppers packed quite a bit of heat. A little too much heat to start off my lunch.
Beef Tataki
DH and I are both lovers of beef tataki. We were impressed with the generous portion size given the mere $9 price. This was definitely enough for us to get our fill without fighting over the last bite. My one complaint was that the ponzu sauce was a little too light and some of the pieces of meat were a little bit flavorless. I had to add quite a few pieces of onion to give them a little flavor.
King Scallops on mashed potatoes
We really enjoyed this appetizer as well but found the $12 price a little high considering there were only two scallops.
Beef Kalbi Tacos
I enjoyed the presentation. I wish they had trimmed off some of the fat chunks of the meat though. This was probably my least favorite just because there were such fatty strips of meat.
Beef Bulgogi Burrito
We both really enjoyed this. Despite its sweet marinade, beef bulgogi seems to go wonderfully with the traditional burrito toppings. My one issue was that there was too much raw veggies.
One aspect I really enjoyed about the restaurant was that after each dish, the server asked us what we thought and specifically asked for critiques on how to improve it. It went beyond the automatic inquiry, as they really seemed to care about what we really thought and how things could be improved, so I did end up going into more detail of what I liked and disliked about each dish.
The decor was also quite interesting, with the lampposts inside the restaurant.
We were pleasantly surprised with our visit. We found the prices for the most part to be reasonable, the portion sizes pretty generous, and the service very friendly. Weโll definitely be back to explore more of the menu. Out of all the Korean fusion restaurants that have recently popped up, this one has been my favorite out of the ones Iโve tried.
Vibe Asian Fusion
4428 Convoy St
Ste 330
San Diego, CA 92111
you should try fuze in mira mesa. presentation isnโt quite as fancy, but i like it a lot.. especially the bulgogi fries. omggg.
I have tried Fuze. I like them too, but I like Vibe a little better. I think Vibe has more menu offerings and the food is prepared a little better.
The tataki looks good, as well as the other dishes. They should put more of the ponzu in the middle of the plate for dipping!
Yeah that would have been a good idea. The onions had some ponzu on it, so I was using that to get some more flavor, but it was only some of the onions that were soaked in the sauce. DH was saying maybe they should have put a dollop of hot sauce or something in the middle of the tataki which would have stayed on
Looks like they did some nice twists on their food. The kalibi tacos look really nice with their presentation but too bad they didnโt trim the meat. It kind of looks like those roll up sandwiches!
Yeah I loved the kalbi presentation but wish they trimmed the meat more. In general though, I liked everything and I saw a lot of stuff on the menu that looked interesting that I didnโt get a chance to try.
Oo I need to try out this place! I love bulgogi burritos ๐
I was pretty happy with the food here. Definitely give it a try!