Made in House
Korean restaurant · Fremont ·
Creative Korean bowls & bentos with table-side hospitality
Creative Korean bowls & bentos with table-side hospitality
"In a town where many of the best restaurants focus on dinner, this Korean cafe and restaurant stands out as a rare true lunch destination, staying crowded, cheerful, and full of life even on rainy days and despite nearby construction. The ever-fluctuating menu features rotating specials based on seasonal produce and occasional sellouts, so it can be a little hard to navigate, but first-timers are well served by ordering a “daily plate” or a bento box, which come with a ton of different small bits, including kimchi and other pickly banchan. The kale tempura is a standout that feels like a secret signature dish: incredibly light and delicate, with faint sweetness that you wouldn’t normally associate with greens. Drinks are a strong point, from a range of coffees and teas to fun rotating nonalcoholic options like the gingerade with chia and honey, which tastes sharp and clean with a relieving layer of sweetness; for those here for dinner or who don’t have to go back to work, there are also interesting alcoholic beverages, including rare-in-Seattle makgeolli, a Korean rice wine. While takeout is available, this is really the kind of place where it’s worth hanging out at the long wooden bar, especially because the stone pot bibimbap, with purple rice that’s best when stuck to the bottom of the pot, isn’t available to go. Parking can be nearly impossible and often requires circling the neighborhood, but its proximity to the Burke-Gilman Trail makes biking a good option." - Harry Cheadle
"Even on a Thursday at 3pm, this lunchtime café in Fremont is packed with people just enjoying life. And while our first thought is, “Don't these people have jobs?” our second thought is that with food this good, we'd blow off work at 3pm, too. The daily bento is a must-order, with bits of savory bulgogi, a soft-boiled egg, bouncy japchae noodles, and tempura kale so crispy it shatters like glass. They also make kimbop daily (we like the salmon kind), sweet treats like a Twix-adjacent shortbread bar, and hemp cashew milk for coffee drinks." - aimee rizzo, kayla sager riley, carlo mantuano, gabe guarente
"This active and friendly spot in Fremont offers healthy yet delicious bowls of Korean staples like bibimbap, complete with purple rice, a variety of vegetables, protein options, egg, and a choice of sauces. Scour the counter, cooler, and showcase for ever-changing treats like kimbap, korokke (croquettes), and kimchi; in-season you might even find a basket of persimmons served plain, perfect for snacking. Dinner service recently launched featuring the core lunch menu plus nightly specials such as spicy chicken wings." - Jay Friedman
"Lunch is sometimes the ignored stepchild of the meal family. Not as hyped as dinner, not as luxurious as brunch, sometimes a lunch is just a sandwich or a wrap eaten thoughtlessly on the go. Not at Made in House! This Fremont Korean deli and cafe — from the team behind Bopbox — serves a pared-down menu of bento and bibimbop; either way you get a joyous assembly of crunch and pickled treats and marinated meats or tofu. The seaweed tastes oceanic, the japchae noodles provide a umami note, and the bulgogi ribeye will have you looking forward to the middle part of your day. (Oh, and they do dinner on the weekends too.)" - Eater Staff
"Why is this Fremont cafe constantly packed? One reason has got to be the crispy, sticky rice on the bottom of the BopBowl, not just a base for the noodles, protein, and egg but a star ingredient that’ll have you scraping the stone bowl. Another reason is the bento box, which comes with a rotating selection of banchan but always includes a jammy egg — unless you want to keep it vegan. Did we mention Made in House is very vegan friendly?" - Harry Cheadle
