Kimmy L.
Yelp
BORI Korean Restaurant took over the old Chi Mac location in Factoria Loehman's Plaza. It has only been open for a few months but has gained quite the following on social media.
The restaurant itself is relatively small and has around a dozen tables or so. Note that most of their tables are tight two-person tables.
In the back, they have a cold case of different pre-packaged ban chan (Korean appetizers) that you can grab and go. They are $5 each, but if you buy a certain number of ban chan, they give you a discount.
My family came on a cold weeknight evening at 5pm and the restaurant was already full- lesson learned, we need to make a reservation next time regardless of the time or day of the week . We put our name on the waitlist, but their waiting space/entry way is extremely small and consists of a lone two-person bench. With it being so cold and rainy outside, my family squished into the entry way but had to move every time someone walked in the door.
About 30 minutes after arriving, we were seated at a table. However, the table was extremely close to the other tables and so we had to be careful getting in and out of our seats. Definitely not a place for the claustrophobic!
Since we had lots of time to peruse the menu while we were waiting, we ordered right away. We ordered:
S1. BORI SIGNATURE HAEMUL PAJEON (Seafood Pancake) (+$18) - this dish was disappointingly small and didn't have a variety of seafood. It was packed with seafood but was mostly (if not all) just calamari and onion. It lacked crispiness and fluffiness.
B2. BIBIM NAENGMYEON (Vegetarian Spicy Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Boiled Egg) (+$19)- this dish was something different that not all Korean restaurants serve. It reminded me of somen (Japanese buckwheat noodles) but with a slightly spicy and sweet sauce (I will note that the sauce is sweeter than it is spicy). It was a refreshing palette cleanser between eating the hot dishes.
B6. LA GALBI (Marinated Grilled Beef Short Ribs) (+$25)- the beef was well-marinated, but the portion was small. The onions were also not well-grilled and basically raw/inedible.
O2. OH-SAAM (Spicy Calamari) (+$25)- this was the spiciest dish of the dishes we ordered (even though we got mild). They serve this dish sizzling hot on top of a gas burner. For extra cost, you can add noodles to the dish and so we ordered it with potato noodles (+$4). However, the first time they brought it out to us they had forgotten the potato noodles and so we had to return it to the kitchen for them to add it in. The calamari was very fresh and had just the right amount of chew.
As far as complimentary sides and ban chan, they only give you three dishes- regular kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and fish cake. They are refillable, but I guess they expect you to buy ban chan out of the cold case if you want more variety. They also have complimentary hot tea which is something that Mama's Kitchen down the street lacks.
Service was good, minus the potato noodle mix-up and given how crowded the restaurant was. They probably could use an extra waiter or waitress as our poor waiter was running all over the place.
With high prices, small portions, limited complimentary ban chan options, and tight seating, I don't think I will be coming often. I'd rate BORI similar to Mama's Kitchen, but would definitely choose Danji in Issaquah over both.
Overall: 3/5 for food, 3/5 for service, 2.5/5 for atmosphere