9 Dish Tofu House

In Tustin, this small Korean restaurant's name references its soup and banchan dishes

In March 2026, 9 Dish Tofu House opened at Tustin Plaza, a large and long-standing shopping center that has long been home to Okidoki, Gen Korean BBQ, and Kéan Coffee, as well as newer businesses including Juice Time. With seating for around 20 people and a small, single-page menu that has nine different soft tofu soups ($20 to $21) and 10 different entrees ($28 to $35), this Korean restaurant also offers a set of 10 combination offerings – the same 10 entrees, paired with a small soft tofu soup of your choice, for a $2 to $3 upcharge. There are no surprises among these offerings, which cover mostly basics (bibimbap, bulgogi, galbi, or three types of fish) beyond spicy raw crab; a $1 “small intestine option” is available with combinations, and guests can choose from tap water (free), soft drinks ($3), or sparkling water ($5) – that’s it.

The “9 dish” part of this restaurant’s name refers to the pairing of banchan side dishes with every meal. At some Korean restaurants, you’ll get as few as three banchan, with four to six at others, making nine dishes somewhat generous. We say “somewhat” only because the portion of each banchan item is small, and unlike most Korean places (say, Yukdaejang), 9 Dish didn’t offer free refills of any of the dishes, or really check back on us after handing off the meal. On our visit, the dishes were:

  • Good kimchi
  • Tteokbolki rice tubes and thin fishcake in an okay sweet/spicy red sauce
  • Cooked and chilled bean sprouts
  • A generous portion of gyeranjjim steamed egg custard
  • A small, thin buchimgae pancake
  • Two mushroom slices with scant peas, corn, and green beans
  • Two soy-honey-glazed quail eggs
  • A small salad of cabbage, greens, and tomato
  • Several sips of creamy mushroom soup

Technically, the combination meal we ordered also included a tenth dish – a bowl of plain steamed rice – alongside the soft tofu soup. The rice can (and probably should) be added to the broth to make the most of its flavor; it could also be eaten bite-by-bite with meat, fish, or seafood entrees.

To get a sense of how 9 Dish handles soups, we picked the seafood version, which promises crab, shrimp, clam, and mussel ingredients, and opted for the highest heat level from a list of “plain,” “mild,” “medium,” “spicy,” and “extra spicy” broths, all made with seafood, beef, and pork stock. While the bowl was small, it arrived boiling hot, with two small clams, one mid-sized mussel, a couple of shell-on shrimp, and a crab cluster with connective structures intact. The heat alone broke the tofu into tiny bits that were nonetheless nice accents to the hearty, nicely spiced broth and whatever fragments of seafood we recovered with spoon or chopsticks. We found this less than entirely fun to eat, but enjoyed the flavors, particularly after soaking up the remainder of the broth with the included rice.

Our combination also included the spicy raw crab, offered in “small” ($30) and “regular” ($35) sizes, collectively including enough items to be filling without the need for appetizers. Like the crab in the soup, the regular portion we ordered consisted mostly of crab clusters – around four of them – here coated completely in a thick, legitimately spicy and garlicky sauce that was more strikingly tasty than the shoulder structure-heavy crab pieces. Disposable plastic gloves were included and necessary to eat the crab; no other tools or tricks were offered to navigate the shells or other bone-like pieces.

Based on our experience at 9 Dish Tofu House, we’d call it “good, not great” rather than amazing in any way: The small menu, fine service, and diverse but small collection of banchan offer a nice enough one-time experience that we wouldn’t rush to repeat. That said, it’s a standout for Tustin, which doesn’t have many traditional Korean options – putting aside Gen in the same parking lot – but also isn’t far away from one of OC’s two Koreatowns.

Stats

Price: $$
Service: Table
Open Since: March 2026

Address

13771 Newport Ave. Suite 4
Tustin, CA 92780

657.232.1132

Instagram: @9dishtofuhouse