Asian Kitchen Korean Cuisine

The food was very authentic, high quality, and very good. The dumplings are easily some of the best i have had anywhere. The decor and ambience is beautiful and very quiet. Not usually too busy. The dining room was very clean and the staff was very helpful and friendly. Some of the food was a little too spicy for my taste but that is pretty true to form for a lot of Korean dishes. Portion size for the price is very good.

We have been going here for years, on and off. The food is excellent and the staff are nice. We would go much more often if they didn't have the very loud Kpop music playing constantly. I know it doesn't bother some people but it's a real turnoff for me at high volume. Sometimes we just want the food and go anyway.

Great food, simple environment, super friendly service. Dukbokki was tender, chewy and the sauce was amazing with a great balance of taste and heat. Two different types of bibimbop with flavorful thinly sliced bulgogi were perfect for this cold day.

Overall we were impressed with this place. We would definitely recommend the Japchae to everyone as that was very very good. The traditional Korean side dishes that came with everything also were all very good. The Yukgaejang was also good and is worth a try if you are looking for a soup. We also tried the Mool Mandu and DukBokki. We weren't very impressed with either of these and would pass on them in the future.

First timer and not too familiar w Korean food. My korean friend recommended “beef bulgogi” and here is didnt dissapoint! It was an entire 16 oz of beef (1pound of beef!) It was sliced paper thin and cooked to perfection—sweet and savory, and laid out on a bed of onions and brought to the table on a sizzling cast iron skillet with 6 other small side dishes/plates. It’s actually enough for 2 people (though i managed to eat the entire thing. I’m not proud). I made several lettuce wraps with the other side dishes and condiments. Nothing was spicy hot—for which i was thankful. I highly recommend if you’d like to try Korean cuisine. I’ll be back!

I am not sure where to begin other than the fact that this hole in the wall is absolutely incredible. The staff are so kind and so welcoming and the food is absolutely delicious I’ve gone to this location several times and they never let me down even when I order I think that it’s an undiscovered treasure in St. Louis and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants authentic Korean cuisine. Order from them and I promise this won’t let you down. Super delicious also their meats pork and beef are always cooked to perfection.

AK is an absolute must try! My mom and I eat here at least 2-3 times a month. They have tasty , and beautifully presented bon chon , amazing Korean BBQ, bibimbop , and I am in love with the spicy pork belly w/ veggies. The fried fish is a new favorite also. This is a place to bring the entire family!

It has actually been a while since I gave a restaurant such a low rating! And I can tell you that for the most part, I did not have a terrible experience here. However, my three-star rating is pertaining to some of the displeasure I did experience while there. I'll start with the interior of the establishment. Overall, the interior of the restaurant was fairly clean. I think that that particular restaurant has been there for many years. Hence the appearance of a great deal of wear and tear and shoddy-looking furniture. The floors were not dirty in appearance, nor did I see food or crumbs or any kind of debris. Yet, what you'll see in my photos is that the men's restroom was kind of bad! It wasn't bad because I saw body fluids and other matter anywhere. That was not really the issue. The issue was that the men's restroom was so cluttered with "junk" and random stuff, making it look messy and unsightly. I realize that such a restaurant is not a five-star experience, nor is it meant to be that. But, nonetheless, I would still expect and hope that the owners of this place might take their presentation more seriously. Additionally, the young lady who was our server was not very friendly or welcoming. She seemed to come to our table, for a split-second, to see what we needed or wanted. Then she promptly "ran away," almost as fast as she got there! Why would this be the case? I can't really tell you. I can tell you that she was wearing a mask, and that perhaps she was a bit unnerved to be working at all, given these days in the endemic. But, if this is the case, that she was nervous or uncomfortable in the restaurant, why would she be working??? She certainly didn't have anything to worry about where I'm concerned, because I'm fully vaxxed and boosted. Finally, the food was not bad! The bulgogi-type dish I shared with a friend of mine was tasty! My only gripe about the dish was that I believe we had a beef rendition of the bulgogi, and some of the slices were a bit tough and rubbery. That's simply because those would have been the cheaper parts of the beef! I was disheartened by those moments. I literally was chewing those bits and spitting them out in a napkin and rolling it up. I realize some people like chewing on fat; I am not one of them. The only time fat is edible, in my book, is when it's fried and crispy. In closing, I understand that this review might seem a bit mixed. If it does, that's because my experience was mixed. This is one of the few times I will say that I'm confident I probably won't eat at this restaurant again. I generally don't say such things. You can comb through my series of restaurant reviews and/or hotel stays, and you'll see that I rarely cite that I won't return to an establishment. In this case, I'm pretty confident I won't go back. Do you think they care? Neh...They've been there for however many years they have been there, and I don't see them changing anytime soon. So, go there and form your own opinion!

My friend and I tried this restaurant last weekend and it was pretty good! I want to come back and try more menu items soon. First of all, there was plenty of seating inside and the server was so sweet and welcoming. The ambiance was great too and parking was easy in a small lot to the side of the restaurant. My friend got the veggie bibimbap (not on the menu but you can just ask) and I got the Chef's Special Bulgogi Kimchi Cheese Dolsot (#21). We enjoyed eating our meals and even had some leftovers. There was a good balance of greens, meats, and toppings and it came with a good red sauce.

Wonderful tasting meats and great variety. Great and fast service! Would definitely return again!

Their food is delicious, I love it~! service is great~! Side dishes came free with the meal, rice cake and spicy cucumber were so good~ Feeling like have a lunch in my ante's house

Always delicious and authentic Korean food made by a mom and pop. The seafood pancake, all of the meat dishes, and stews are top notch. Wish they had black bean noodle though!

It's not the same Asian Kitchen of years past. I think it must have switched owners a couple of times since I moved to St. Louis. Unfortunately, they no longer bring out the wide assortment of banchan that this restaurant used to be known for, but you do still get a standard 4-6. The menu is a lot shorter than it used to be, but what they do offer, they do well, which is why I am only downgrading my review from 5 to 4 stars. You'll still find standards like dolsot bibimbap, sundubu jjigae, bulgogi. Notably missing are most of the noodle dishes. I think japchae is still an option but possibly the only one. No jjampong, no jjajangmyun, no spicy ramen. I'm a big fan of noodle dishes, so this is a huge and disappointing change to me. I didn't see any mention of kimbap, KBBQ, or Korean hot pot on the menu the last time I was here for lunch.

Very good food. Service is a bit slow. I was not expecting too much judging by the store front, but I was pleasantly surprised. Side dishes came free with the meals. Rice cake was delicious.

Korean Asian restaurant is located at Olivette area on Olive. It looks a bit run down, but the food is so authentic. It has a wide menu of many Korean noodles, rice and soup dishes. I ordered the tofu soup dish. The flavor is perfect and the heat is at the right level. I love all the sides that come with the tofu soup as well. The price is reasonable as well ($15) I truly love this place and would love to come back!

Literally the best Korean food I've had. The lady makes all new customers get the beef bulgogi. It was the most tender beef I've had. Once. I'm coming back with my friend Scott and his Korean step mom Sue. Highly recommend.

Delicious food and my visits there always left me feeling like a home cook meals. Service is friendly, like we're talking in an old friend's house or auntie's home. Definitely authentic food and one of the few (of not only place) that still include side dishes with your entree, which is a signature of Korean cuisines. Love all the dishes here so far, particularly beef bulgogi as our go to.

Asian Kitchen has been my favorite Korean restaurant in St. Louis since I first tried it in college! It was the go to spot for my friends when we were craving Korean food. The sides are so tasty and pair well with the hot and spicy main dishes. The Tteokbokki was perfectly tender and had a sweet and spicy flavor. I got the Spicy Pork Dolsot Bibimbap and my mom had the normal Bibimbap. I'm not a Korean food expert, but this seems much more authentic and homemade compared to trendy Asian fusion restaurants like Seoul Taco. I also appreciate that they serve some rice dishes in stone bowls so the rice at the bottom gets extra crunchy. The prices seem average for going out to eat nowadays and the serving sizes are pretty big, so I can't complain. My mom and I both had leftovers to take home! Not pictured here, but I also recommend trying the Soondubu Jigae as it's one of my favorite soups. Overall, I highly recommend Asian Kitchen for anyone craving Korean food!

One of the best spicy pork bulgogi in St Louis! It was served in a sizzling hot plate with pork slices marinated in juicy and optimally spicy sauce. Their japchae was very tasty. The portion of seafood pancake was hugh and precut to 7-8 slices. It was deliciously crispy and served with seasoning sauce. Their banchan was average with only 6-7 different options. There was a bit of wait for foods but it was all worth it!

I would say it's between 3 to 4 stars. There are several pros and cons to the restaurant. I used to love coming here because they gave you a ton of banchan and the owner was very friendly towards all the guests. She would greet everyone and recognize loyal customers. Unfortunately it has now switched hands and you get less banchan. We also tried to order drinks but they do not serve alcohol anymore even though they have bottles posted as decorations. The service was fine and the food was very good. I was happy with the quality of the food and the taste of it as well. The serving size was fine as well however the cost seems to be higher but it is a general trend that you see in all restaurants now so nothing against them. Overall it was a good dinner and everything ran smoothly. I would come back again but it would not be my most frequent spot to visit anymore

It's your favorite Ajjumma cooking for you = good home cooked meal! The price is cheap and the portion is really good. I got the kimchi jiggae and they come with so many banchan. They will keep refilling your banchans if you need more. It's not a fancy restaurant but the ambiance is like you came to your ajjumma's home.

A little bit aways from the main STL city area but worth the drive! My gal friend and I went for a lil bday celebration and we had a delicious dinner. Parking is easy, there is a big lot next to this unassuming restaurant. Service was quick but the food was a bit slow to come. There were maybe 20 people there? Pretty good turnout for a Tuesday if I do say so myself. We got the Japchae (my favorite of the night!) to start and then shared a Bibimbap and bbq beef. Both of the last two were good but the Japchae was what I would come back for. At the end of our feast we splurged $25 each, not a crazy amount but more than my average tuesday night.

In an unassuming building, this hidden gem is a must stop on Olive! The banchan (small plates filled with various veggies/kimchi) are all awesome and pack so much flavor! The Bibimbap is my go to. I love the Dolsat Bibimbap which is served in a hot stone making the rice around the bottom crunchy. I also love their dumplings - both the steamed and the fried are awesome!

The food is pretty good, the bbq is not DIY (they cook it for you in kitchen) and there is no KBBQ/cook for yourself option. The service is fast is pretty fast in-house, but we also went when there weren't many people. A bit on the pricier end for what you get in my opinion, but the food is yummy!

I was craving myself some good Korean food and I was not let down by Asian Kitchen Korean Cuisine. They definitely have some good authentic Korean food for sure! I love the variety of dishes they carry on their menu. You got the popular Korean food but also the more novelty dishes as well. Their pancake was huge!! It's almost like a pizza. I was so full after one slice. The bulgogi rice was packed with protein and veggies with a beautifully balanced ratio. I ordered monk fish spicy soup and it was delightful. These 3 dishes can serve up to 6 people, I'm not exaggerating at all. One thing I was not pleased was that the side dish kimchi that they served were not fermented yet so I was a little disappointed. Other than that, I like their spacious seatings and the ambience. They were short staffed when we were there. The owner was the server but things came out pretty quickly and you could just get his attention or come up to him if you want anything. I really don't mind but I wonder how the service would be of the place were fully packed. Overall, I would rate this place 4/5. It was delicious but I am not blown away.

best korean food i've had in stl. authentic. and it's nice to not do the whole kbbq style and to just order and eat. support a small business, this is a great one to keep in stl.

Great Authentic Korean food. If you want great tasting Korean Food I highly recommend this place.

Food was amazing! Went on a Wednesday afternoon and was super busy. Only one lady working out front so service was a bit slow and when you are with small children that always makes it more difficult. But everything came out hot and tasting delicious. Saw a lot of Koreans here so that was a good stamp of approval.

I like this Korean place. The Kimichi Jjigae is delicious and is my favorite dish. However, I like a lot of the other dishes. I go every Sunday, and the waitress always remembers me. It's a great spot for authentic Korean!

Great food but slow service only because there was only one person in the kitchen. Even with that said I'll definitely be eating there again. Based on the other diners in the restaurant I would say that the food is very authentic.

Asian Kitchen has so many options! We choose the Japchae, which is amazing. It is a dish with so much flavor I cannot even describe it. That was probably the tastiest and best part of our meal! I loved it more than one we experienced in Korea. The Mool Mandu (steamed dumplings) are not the best, but okay. I was really surprised at the Yukgaejang which is a soup option. While the beef was not the best, the broth was spicy and really good! The beef reminded me of roast beef and not what I was expecting. I would order it again, but with no beef. We also tried the ddukbokki (Tteokbokki ). It is okay but nothing compared to the Tteokbokki we tried in Korea! It has flavor but lacking some sort of taste. Finally, the side dishes were decent! Much better than other places we have tried in St. Louis! Overall it was okay and, if someone goes, definitely get the Japchae. I need to try more in order to rate it higher!

Maybe it's the food that I ordered or the day I stopped by, but unfortunately my experience with the food was beyond acceptable. I stopped by on Friday around 6pm, the place wasn't busy, only few tables were occupied... I was greeted in English and menu was provided... I wasn't sure what I wanted to eat, but eventually I went with their Kalbi (Galbi) and Miso Soup combo. Few minutes later, the banchans came out... maybe it was because I was by myself, but they literally put 4 pcs of items per each dish of banchans, impressive that they gave 12 items, but not all of them were good.... that salad they served needs to go!! I had to laugh internally when I saw that... but at the same time, I understood they didn't want to waste any food... I mean, if I didn't eat any of the banchans, it would ended up in the trash anyways, so yeah I get it. I got the Kalbi first... it smelled good, the dish was pipping hot thanks to the hot plate... that's all the compliment I can provide on this dish. What was wrong with it? 1) 1/2 of the meat on the hot plate were burnt, not from the hot plate itself, but from it being cooked in the kitchen and 2) the meat were very chewy. Some suggestion on dealing with the chewiness of the meat - marinate the meat longer (either use more of Korean Pears or Kiwi, which will tenderize the meat), then re-educate the cook so they don't burn the meat when it's cooked. In addition, when marinating the meat, please add more seasoning to give it the right flavor!!! Now on to the watered down Miso soup.... yup, this miso soup was a joke. It was like they took 6 cups of water, then added 1 tablespoon of miso, just enough to give it that flavor and call it miso soup! It's like taking one small package of kool-aid packet and trying to make 1 gallon drink out of it when it's meant for like 12 ounce serving! The problem is that, Korean Miso soup requires a lot of miso if you aren't going to add other seasoning to the soup... to make this soup better, they need to add like 5 more tablespoon of miso!!! As for the broth, I just hope they didn't use water as base... I hope they either made a kelp broth or used the starch water from the rice. Speaking of rice, is it me or are they using low grade rice down south? Please, please work on the flavoring of the meat and the soup and don't serve burnt kalbi!!!!

After 6 year leaving from St. Louis and coming back to one of my favorite restaurants just reminded me why i don't live here anymore. I brought my family here for dinner and expected to try different types of side dishes. but got 6. We got paper plates to eat from. If i wanted that I'll go to KFC. This place has went down hill. Never will come back.

I walked in at Sunday 1:50pm by myself and was refused service. The worker stated that they start break at 2:30pm. 40 min before break and I can't even order?? She complained that she's waiting for the 3 groups that were in the middle of their meal to finish, so she can close. Which should only mean that I can order something and leave before 2:30pm. It's not like I'd be the only person in the restaurant. Lazy and rude. Will never support.

Great place to get Korean food! We ordered chef special bibimbap, and a pork belly dish, and were very good! Service was okay. Overall for the amount and quality of food you get for the prices is awesome. Highly recommend!

Very good! It was early on a Sunday evening, so the place was still pretty empty when we arrived. Service was prompt and friendly by both the young man that took our order and brought our dishes, and the young lady that filled glasses, cleared dishes, etc. Food came quite quickly, probably because it wasn't busy. It all seemed quite fresh to me, and the portions were generous. The complimentary sides (banchans) numbered 14! And I thought there was plenty in each of them. Certainly as much in the dishes I have had in other cities, and way more than the 4-6 selections I would get. They arranged them so that the spicy and non-spicy were grouped together. Quite a variety. Mool mandu (steamed pork and vegetable dumplings) were savory and hot. They also had a good amount of filling. I went with one of the specials, bulbogi dolsot bibimbap - bibimbap in a hot stone bowl with a full portion of beef bulgogi. And it was hot! But also good. Rice was a good semi-sticky, and the beef bulgogi was flavorful and tender. It, along with the rest of the bibimbap ingredients had a lot of flavor. The presentation was beautiful, as was the presentation of my wife's dolsot bibimbap. She got beef too, but of course not as much as mine. Hers had the extra flavor of the soft yolk egg, though, which I basically ate for her. All was very good for us, and very filling.

I was very impressed with the bibimbap dolsot. They were accommodating to my preferences and easily substituted out the beef for tofu. The serving was generous and the dolsot kept the food hot throughout the entire meal. Lastly, the banchan included some of the best kimchi I've ever had. They also had kimchi style cucumber and radish that were both excellent. I will be returning.

Finally found a dine in Korean restaurant. They are located in Olive street which is considered the China town of Missouri. Friendly staffs and plenty of seats to be social distance, Got my togo for Soondubu Jigae Korean (spicy tofu seafood stew). As always, the Banchan came out first and I devour it all. It was so good. I saved my kimchi to add to my stew. You have an option of what kind of Soondubu Jigae protein and I got seafood. The only problem I didn't like is that I was not given a raw egg to open myself and drop it in. They had it in my stew but I'm used to have my egg still has running yolk. Overall great eat. The restaurant doesn't have on Yelp that they do dine in so you have to call and asked.

They told me my order takes 20mins which I waited almost an hour. Also, my seafood pancake has no seafood in there?! Ridiculous!

It had been a while since my last visit to this restaurant and things have changed but not for the good. The menu is revamped and some of my favorites are no more to be had. Gone are the alcoholic beverages like OB Beer, Shoju and plum wine. The food is still good but it's just not the same. It's not really worth the trip from the city now. I guess it's time to find another Korean eatery. Sad.

Usually it's possible to judge a Korean restaurant by the banchan. They always bring it out before they serve the main meals and the sampling is a good sign of what's to come. This place is no different. Not enough like... Homey love went into this food. The banchan tasted bland. The bean sprout side dish, usually my favorite was watery and just. Bland. Macaroni salad looks like it had sat out in that dish for days. Dried out and caked mayo. Candied potato side dish dried out and not sweet. A sign of what's to come. The cod soup I ordered was also bland, with rubbery, bland cod. Literally water. The soon dubu replacement was also bland, like they just boiled water, added pepper flakes and tofu, and overcooked an egg. There wasn't any pleasant background umami from a nice anchovy stock. There wasn't even salt. The spicy pork dolsot was ok, but the pork was dry? And the pork itself had no flavor. It tasted like plain, already cooked pork tossed in spicy sauce and thrown on the rice - no love from a marinade, no depth from pork juices and fat rendered into the dish. I'm actually extremely unpicky about hot soup and especially about comforting Korean food, but this food just made me sad. Food that is supposed to surround a person with warmth, cooked without love or care at all. Don't think I'll come back here.

I came here on a weekday and it was pretty empty in here which I didn't mind since the food would be faster! Our bimbap came out and I say that I enjoyed 80% of them! Unlike other reviews, I did not find that my food was soured or too sweet at all. I ordered the Kimchi Dolsot with Beef. There wasn't nearly enough beef and it was mostly all rice! So I was a little disappointed in this. My boyfriend said he enjoyed the chicken teriyaki. I overall liked the taste but wasn't wow'd. The service was great! I definitely want to try them again and get something else.

Horrible Service. We got there as soon as they ordered and waited 45 minutes. When we asked about our food, the waiter hadn't even put it in. They didn't have any other servers. When people started filling up for lunch, she sat them and half an hour told them it would be a long time for food! Everyone started to leave, including us.

Really the food and the service here is exceptional. The staff couldn't be nicer. They came by a lot to explain things and answer questions. And, we were not masters of our domains, so we had lots of questions. We ordered the Taiwanese Hot pot. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Both beef and pork were thinly sliced and very tender. The hot pot is a great conversation starter too. This is not a dish you rush through, experiment, put your noodles in the pot and its even mo' betta. This place knocks it out of the park.

Best bibimbap I've ever had. Usually when I go places that serve it, the bowl is hot, but this bowl was SO HOT. My rice at the bottom of the bowl was crispy when I got to it. The banchan were good too.

I really like the food here! Some of their practices take a little getting used to, such as the size of their appetizers, which are more like entrees. It's apparent that they're for sharing and the bigger your dining party, the better. The seafood pancake, japchae (noodles) and spicy rice cakes with fish cakes are some of my favorites. Their bulgogis (beef, pork and chicken) are all delicious, whether spicy or savory--and available in bibimbops, as well. Every fish dish I've had was delicious and you certainly can't go wrong with any of their preparations of pork belly. So delicious! My only complaint is that they close mid-afternoon, but I guess that's more of a personal time-management issue that I have to keep in mind when deciding whether to go for lunch or dinner. I feel fortunate to have such a good restaurant nearby.

The spicy pork bugogi is amazing. The meat is enough for 3-4 meals with rice. It comes with white rice and banchan for free with takeout.

It's hard to come by authentic and delicious Korean food in St. Louis. There's a couple Korean fusion places that are overly hyped and expensive, but Asian Kitchen is usually my go-to for Korean food. The best thing about Asian Kitchen is the plethora of banchan they give you!! That's like ~15 side dishes for you and your friends to eat along with your entrees. The whole table is just filled with refillable side dishes and it's the best thing ever!! I've come here a couple times and ordered mainly the dolsat beef bibimbap or the beef soondobu. I haven't ventured very far from those two items, but maybe I will soon because I actually visited South Korea in the winter and tried a couple new dishes. Or I might try the korean bbq here because I've been getting tired of the usual Seoul Garden trips. Overall, I like the location of Asian Kitchen (right on Olive street with all the other restaurants), the service is good, and I think its pretty reasonable because SO MUCH BANCHAN!!

Love this place! Their beef bulgogi is fantastic! The side dishes were awesome. The staff was attentive. Would definitely recommend.

A Korean friend introduced me and my husband to this place shortly after we all moved to STL from out of state. He came alone at first, as he had been missing homemade Korean food, and ended up with an entire table's worth of banchan (side dishes!) all to himself. Asian Kitchen dishes up some solid Korean comfort food. The portions are generous and the banchan, as seen in many pictures, are more than plentiful. Among my favorites here are the sundubu-jjigae (spicy tofu stew) and bulgogi bibimbap (rice mixed with meat and veggies). Make sure to add a generous drizzle of the red sauce to your bibimbap - it's spicy, delicious, and comes in an inconspicuous red plastic bottle like the kind that holds ketchup. The Korean BBQ here is also quite good. The meat quality is decent and you get a good amount of food for the price you pay. Service here is pretty bare bones. It slows down considerably when the restaurant gets busier and the servers are among the most reticent I've encountered. However, I appreciate the time they take to arrange 12+ plates of side dishes plus entrees across every square inch of tabletop like it's Tetris. Overall this place doesn't quite live up to CA or NY standards, but it's a reliable go-to spot to satisfy any Korean food cravings. Plus it's got the stamp of approval from my Korean friends, so that's gotta count for something!

Authentic Korean food at its best right here. The Spicy Pork Bulgogi is my all-time favorite dish with the Bimbinbop a close second, but the other dishes are every bit as good. This is as real as it gets outside of Korea. I highly recommend that you give them a try. They are planning a remodel soon and will be closed for approximately a month soon but they couldn't give me an exact date when this will start. Also, they are closed on Mondays.

This is a really good Asian restaurant, I love the little hot pot and side dishes. The owner is really nice !!!

To be upfront, the service and wait-time deserves 2-3 stars. This place does get really busy and the service isn't the friendliest. Remember people, Asian hole in the wall places won't kiss your butt. But, you come here for the food and this place has some of the best Korean BBQ in the area. I would have never came here if it wasn't for yelp. Pros: 1)The largest serving of Ban Chan (Small dishes that come with the BBQ) 2)The sample 3 person BBQ (short ribs, beef, chicken, pork, seafood) is good for 4-5 people. My fav. was the beef bulgogi and I wasn't a fan of the octopus. BTW, ask them to cook it for you at the table vs. in the back. 3)Chap Jae is delish 4)KImchi Pancake was ridiculously good and that dipping sauce!! YUM Cons: 1)Service and wait time (1 hour for a table of 4 on a weekend or more) 2)Bibimbop was underwhelming compared to the other food This place is also pretty diverse in the clientele too. I loved it and I know I will be back when I'm craving BBQ. This place is a must1

I heard the ownership at Asian Kitchen changed and that new Taiwanese dishes are being offered, so with excitement, I paid a visit recently. Asian Kitchen WAS my favorite spot for soondubu (Korean soft tofu stew) in St. Louis. They made a darn good one and I would crave it constantly because I couldn't make one nearly as good at home as theirs. What happened to my once beloved Asian Kitchen? I am sad to report that I'm not quite sure what I even had last Friday could even be called Korean cuisine. My pork soondubu tasted like stale sesame oil, I couldn't taste any of the richness of the anchovy broth base at all. It was so disappointing that I had to send it back. I don't think I have ever sent food back before. Our server was very understanding and offered a replacement right away when I told her that my broth tasted nothing but sesame oil. With skepticism on how they would re-do another soondubu, I asked for a kimchi jigae with pork (kimchi stew, another Korean staple) instead. While the kimchi stew was better than the very low bar that the soondubu set, I'm also sad to report that it was barely a kimchi stew. Sure it had kimchi in it, but again, the broth base was not Korean at all. No richness or even a hint of the anchovy broth - the BASE FOR ALMOST EVERY KOREAN STEW. Instead, it tasted like sugar was added into the soup, no savoriness at all. There was no richness in the soup at all, it just tasted like water in a bowl. Additionally, the pork is no longer pork belly as it should be typically, but now just chunks of tough pork cuts. Why? To make matters worse (or better....), the soup was only halfway filled up in my bowl. There is no love put into any of the menu items that I had, just cost cutting measures. Nothing about what I ate was Korean cuisine and I wholeheartedly mean that. My husband ordered a bibimbap with marinated pork and while it wasn't nearly as disappointing, the pork cuts were also tough. The bibimbap was also on the sweeter side prior to adding the gochujang. Lastly, all the thoughtful touches that Asian Kitchen was once known/famous for no longer live on. The plentiful banchan side dishes - nope. The yogurt drink for each patron that comes with the check - nope. Are there new thoughtful touches that have replaced the old? Of course not. As for the Taiwanese dishes that are now being offered. I was wrong about that. They offer an "off menu" Taiwanese hot pot. I suspect they use the same broth/water base as the one that was in my korean stews (my cynicism is at an all time high by the end of this review, sorry). I gave one additional star for the super efficient and understanding server.

What I took away from this place was their INSANE amount of side dishes! I think there was about 20+ and we didn't even eat most of them, but it was nice to have all the options. The service was bad. Some of the workers didn't speak English so they tried not to speak to you or they gave you one word answers. The waitress who did speak English didn't come by to check up on us very much and took a while getting our order. The bulgogi was dry and overcooked. The jap chae was super oily. The best part of the meal was my tofu soup. Other than that, I would say that this is not the best Korean food in St. Louis.

Save your time and money. This is only the 2nd adverse review I have ever shared, but I feel a warning is necessary. Food is poor Spicy Pork is more expensive than at other STL restaurants. Also, rather than starting with thinly sliced pork, the pork looked amateurish and was in irregularly-shaped chunks. The sauce tasted canned. It was funky, dark-colored, and tasted fairly of plum sauce. It lacked fresh garlic, onion and ginger. The small mound of pork chunks came on a larger mound of white, raw onions. In contrast, onions are supposed to be seared and slightly carmelized and susceptible for eating Service Why did I order three meals to go when the young woman taking orders did not know the menu and required me to order by NUMBER? Later, she admitted she did not understand what ban-chan is-even though she had confirmed she would pack an appropriate sampling based on the three entrees we ordered. Ban-Chan (small side dishes) are a fundamental part of the menu, and these are supposed to be served with every entree. Scolded When I phoned the woman from home and told her I was "disappointed" she did not pack the ban-chan, she scolded me *"why did you order from here a second time when the first time was bad?" Cost $57 for 3 small servings of meat (3 entrees) with poor quality ban-chan sufficient for one person. Tasted so bad we threw it out. Conclusion Korean BBQ, taco, and fusion places abound in our area. Every one of the alternative places has better Beef Bulgogi and Spicy Pork than this place.

This is probably my family's favorite Korean restaurant in St Louis, and we've been going here for years. When we arrived I was pretty surprised at how full it was. The past few times my family came the restaurant was basically empty besides us and maybe 1 or 2 other parties. I might be imagining it but I think they might have recently gone under some renovations, which might contribute to the reinvigorated clientele. With a party of five, we were able to successfully destroy 2 orders of appetizers along with each individual entree. For the appetizers we got the Haemul Pajeon and Goon Mandu. They're both really good, especially cause I think they make it better than my mom's. (Shhh... Don't tell her I said that.) This time around I got the Pork Bulgogi, which was also pretty good. Best thing about this place is that they give you tons of banchan (side dishes). I was smart and sat in the middle, so everything was within grasp. I'm really glad that the restaurant is doing better than before, but I will say that the service has gone downhill as a result. I'm pretty sure they forgot about one of our appetizers because we had to ask about it 10 minutes after the first one was served. They also forgot about my order because everyone else was served and I was left to picking at the banchan for at least 20 minutes. I didn't even take a picture of my food cause I immediately dug in once it got to me. With all this going on, it didn't help that the huge TV we were seated next to was showing a Korean food show. Needless to say I was drooling and hangry af. Still a great place to checkout if you're looking to fulfill your Korean food cravings.