Kenny N.
Yelp
Visited the newest addition to the Rochester dining scene with a friend for Saturday lunch.
Upon entering, we were immediately seated and greeted with friendly service. Decor was cute and the local artists did a great job.
Menu was a more focused, subset of the dinner menu so if you're expecting to try all the dishes, you may consider visiting during dinner.
One thing to keep in mind that this is "Korean inspired food," so that was one thing I had to level set with my friend as he was comparing it to what you'd find in the Cities or in Korea. Obviously this is not going to matter if you never had Korean food as it is dependent on any sort of benchmark that you may have. Also, Korean food is some of the cheapest to make, but due to the global influence and cultural export, a lot of these places (outside of OG Korean grandma establishments) are able to command a premium so expect to be paying $15-30 for an individual entree / appetizer that may or may not fill you up
Ordered
- Japchae (3/5). Friend ordered and it was a bit sweet. There wasn't as much color in terms of veggies (maybe 2-3 strips of carrots?) and the sweet potato noodles were a bit too soggy. A pretty simple dish to make at home (YouTube has some good tutorials) so hopefully a few more iterations and this dish can be improved.
- Bibimbap (3.5/5). This was directionally in the right direction in terms of taste, texture, and overall presentation. The red sauce should theoretically be put to the side in case you'd like to control the heat. I did add an extra $5 for the bulgogi (making this dish $25...). If you look at dinner menu, this same dish is $22 + $5 for bulgogi.
- Banchan (?). We were confused as we saw the note on top of menu of "one complimentary banchan service per table," but never saw any that arrived. Frankly, we forgot about this aspect of Korean cuisine until we saw other tables with their side dishes... This is a given and should always be refilled at no extra cost especially if you're getting the big margins from the premium pricing
- Soju. Ordered some soju. Not giving a rating since it's sourced from a B2B but always goes well with greasy, hearty eats.
Overall, this may be a nice option to take your business colleagues, celebrate a milestone, or escape for a date night. Food wise - there's opportunities to elevate its flavors. Cheers.