Rice Goban

I love Korean food, this place is was mediocre. Skimpy on the meat portions.

The cashier with short hair and glasses was extremely impatient and unfriendly to me. Before I could finish asking her "How big is the portion for the fries?", she quickly grabbed a rice bowl and waved it in my face, not realizing I was not asking about the rice bowl. Her entire demeanor changed when not one, but TWO white couples after me placed their orders; she even laughed and smiled at them while I was waiting for my food. I feel so sad that some older Asians treat other younger Asian people this way. I am not Korean, and clearly do not look like one, so it was obvious why her attitude was like that. Food was average and tasted like regular fast food, but the service left a bitter taste in my mouth. At least the other woman who handed me my food was friendlier.

The honey chicken bowl was great paired with the Korean hot dogs while watching ice hockey training.

It doesn’t look like a fried rice to me. And a fried egg? It is only a pan cooked egg to me. And the meat is too salty for us.

I ordered a Hansang Box with honey fried chicken, bulgogi fried rice, kimchi, and an egg on top. What little chicken I received was dry and had barely any taste of honey. The fried rice had only trace amounts of bulgogi and flavor. I received a small scoop each of kimchi and salad, which were the only adequate parts of the meal. For almost $15, the food was disappointing.

The food here is so delicious, healthy, and filling. My favorite are the Garlic Honey Fried chicken and Bulgogi bowls! The perfect meal that will fill you up if you’re shopping around at the Westfield UTC Mall. The best Korean food in La Jolla too hands down, and I am a Korean!

Delicious mall food! Was walking around UTC and got hungry LOL. Decided to walk into the food court and try something new. Rice Goban caught our eye. We ordered 3 Bibimbap bowls - Bulgogi Beef, K.F.C (Sweet & Spicy Fried Chicken), and Galbi Chicken. All bowls came with large scoops of white rice, vegetables (pickled red cabbage, carrots, broccoli and bean sprouts), with sauce on the side. It was so filling and tasty! The bulgogi meats were full of flavor and tender. The KFC was crunchy and the sauce was the perfect spice. We wanted to also try the Bulgogi Poutine Fries which comes with Beef Bulgogi, Potato Fries, Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese, Bulgogi Sauce and YUM! The service at the counter, as well as the speed of the food was excellent. We were able to enjoy our food in the food court seating area with social distancing of course. Overall, we enjoyed our food and definitely will be back!

This place is delicious! I had the beef bulgogi bowl with a fried egg. Everything was super fresh and flavorful. Will be my new go-to for Korean cuisine! Highly recommended.

Good selection of meals to choose from. Standard rice bowl options from soy garlic chicken to bibimbap with kimchi rice. Good service and received food relatively fast. Nice location in the food court with seating near the ice rink. I ordered a chicken katsu bowl with white rice and while it tasted good, expected a bit more chicken in my bowl for the price. My sister ordered the bibimbap which was fuller but was pretty simple in flavor. Good spot for an easy lunch but not one I'd seek out.

Nice to see so many Asian cuisines in the food court! Tried the small chicken bites-forgot the name. It was $6 for a small portion. Its was good but nothing I'd come back for. Tried the bulgogi poutine fries $6. I was not a fan. The fries were overcooked so a bit hard in texture. There was barely any bulgogi on there as pictured. And the sauce was sweet and mainly poured over the center. Not sure why it's called poutine as typically it should be a gravy sauce. Overall, the price was fitting.

Pretty tasty for mall food court Korean. The banchan veggies in the vegetarian crispy tofu bibimbap were pretty good. I wish there was a choice for steamed tofu instead of deep-fried. And it would have been nice to get more sauce and Chopsticks. I took mine to eat outside so it would've been a pain to go back in (they didn't give me a tray so I was already trying to juggle the bowl, the two sauces on the side, the napkin and the fork). But I can know for next time to ask them to put the sauce directly on. Definitely tastier than I expected and I got my bibimbap fix on while shopping. And the patio here is very pleasant, especially on the weekend when they have live music!

Haven't been to UTC in years and the options for food here have grown immensely.. there are so many places I want to come back to try. Decided to get some small bites at Rice Goban to hold my girls and I over until our DTF reservations over New Years weekend. We got the bulgogi poutine fries and the sweet and spicy korean fried chicken. The sauce for both was good. Chicken was meaty, not overly battered, and cooked well. I was disappointed in the bulgogi poutine fries though. The fries were overcooked and barely had any bulgogi. Also, everything was thrown in the middle and not evenly spread out over the fries. Pics from other yelpers of the same thing we got looked better so I don't know what happened that day. I'd still come back to try other items on the menu though if I am craving korean food while doing some shopping.

A fine place for fast Korean-inspired fare in UTC mall. I feel like this tastes more modernized than traditional Korean dishes. They have hansang boxes (grill item, base, side) and bibimbap bowls (protein with rice, broccoli, bean sprouts, pickled red cabbage, & carrots). I do think it is a bit over-priced for what you get. Boxes start at $13 and every protein except tofu has an up-charge. I got the honey fried chicken, which I really did like a lot & was my favorite part of the box. The bulgogi fried rice was good but only had very small chunks of bulgogi. The banchan platter seemed to be the same veggies you would get in the bibimbap bowl which I don't think is worth it for a side; the veggies were nice and refreshing, but different from traditional banchan so I wish I got something else. I also added a fried egg for $1.50, which they did forget to originally put in my box but I returned and they were very accommodating and gave it to me. In total, I paid $19 after tax and tip so pretty expensive.

Overall 3/5: food court food so it was okay food with dedent portions. Had a craving for korean fried chicken and was surprised it was in cutlet form. Food: korean fried chicken with banchan side 13$ 3/5 freshly fried. Wish it was in boneless wings or tender form not cutlet. Seasoned ok. The sauce they give was really good and made up for it. The sides were okay also. Tastes more like just fresh cut veggies, not seasoned really. Honey fried chicken 12$ was tasty i'd say a 3.5/5. Service: quick n friendly! Healthy for food court food that was worth the price haha. Tried once and don't think I'll get again. Not that it's bad but i would rather drive to a korean restaurant and satisfy my cravings that way instead.

The food was good and the portion were good as well. The service was quick and the ambiance was good as well as cleans

Decent food, good portion. This Korean comfort food mall joint just fits the bill when you are craving it but don't want to drive somewhere else. I had the honey fried chicken Hansang box with bulgogi fried rice, and kimchi as my side. The honey fried chicken looked like it was twice fried, made it crispy, which I enjoy, with sesame seeds on top. Thank you for the fresh tasting coleslaw to cool down the spice.

Korean fast food at its finest. Hansang boxes and bibimbap rice bowls are solid complete meals. I've also had the bulgogi poutine fries and those are an award winning snack. Staff are always friendly. Don't forget to check in to claim your free soda with purchase. Oh, did I mention it's mall fast food...? Please don't expect anything gourmet here or in any mall food court.

Went here for a quick lunch. The food is very tasty and savory. This place is in the food-court of La Jolla UTC so the view was great. Seeing the Ice Rink was nostalgic. I had the Build Your Own which comes with House Salad. I had the Honey Fried Chicken with Bulgogi Rice. I chose Fried Dumplings as my side. The service was great. Staff was friendly and I was able to watch my order being made. Great lunch meal. Definitely recommend this location!

Given the amazing number of dining options all over UTC mall ventured into the food court after what seemed liked forever and found that Bibigo has now been replaced by Rice Goban. Since I was in a mood for Korean fast food, I chose to try the Hansang box with Bulgogi beef, Korean fried rice and fried dumplings. The beef was under marinated, the fried rice too lacked flavor. The fried dumplings were good and the box came with a decent side salad. I also tried the Yuzu lemonade drink which was refreshingly good! I hope I caught them on a bad day since the sides were more impressive than my main meal.

Loved this place! I ordered the crispy tofu lunch box, and was not disappointed. For $15 I got a generous portion of fried rice, yummy/crispy tofu, and a nice variety of bahnchan. The counter service was friendly and very fast, and the food itself was delicious. My only regret was that I was so into eating my lunch I forgot to snap any pics. Oh well, next time. I will be getting my lunch from Rice Goban from now on while at Westfield UTC.

My new favorite place at UTC. The honey fried chicken was delicious, crispy and the leftovers were even better the next day. The honey garlic chicken was so flavorful. 100% would come back here.

This is a maybe for me. Ordered the Bibimbap bowl - Bulgogi Rice with the sauce on the side. Flavors were good, but the meat portion was pretty stingy, especially at $13 per bowl. Seating is shared with the other businesses in the food court. Parking is a paid lot, though the first 2 hours are free.

Honestly, I was very disappointed. Obviously, this place is in a food court, so my expectations weren't even that high, but I couldn't even get through half of the meal. I ordered the Hansang box with Honey Fried Chicken, Bulgogi Fried Rice, Banchan Platter and the Bulgogi Poutine Fries. My big note is that everything was just so dry! The vegetables were the most edible part of the meal. Presentation/atmosphere: 3/5. This is in a food court. The bathrooms are really nice here, but not sure if I can attribute that to this restaurant. I appreciate how they present everything in clear packages! Even if it doesn't taste great, I think the presentation is quite neat. If this wasn't in a food court, maybe it would be a nicer atmosphere but I don't think this would deserve its own restaurant in its current state anyways. Service: 5/5. I honestly really can't complain! The person at the counter was super nice and gave me a cup of water when I asked. They took my order well, and actually the food came out quite fast, so shoutout there. Taste: 0/5. I think this is the first time in a very long time that I have not finished a meal due to how terrible it tastes. The chicken is really dry, the fries amazingly can be dry yet SOGGY so there is no crispiness, and the sauces really just provide no flavor. It was just really tough for me to power through and finish the meal. Overall, I don't think I will be coming back ever again. If anyone asks me for Korean food recommendation, I will be pointing elsewhere as this is just a disappointing experience wrapped beneath a nice presentation. 1/5

Cold food. Weird chicken. Takes forever to come out cold. Don't go here! Got the order wrong and so on and so on

Rice Goban is a quick, grab-and-go Korean food place. Customers can choose premade bowls or pick out items for a bento box. Although the selection and items all are Korean styled foods, the taste isn't exactly Korean and it's more "Americanized". I got the bulgogi in my bento box, and the marinade wasn't exactly there. The Korean bbq flavors soaked into the meat, and the sweetness overpowered the Korean flavors. This place isn't bad if you're craving quick food, and it's probably one of the better food choices in terms of healthiness in the UTC food court. However, I would not go out of my way to come here. I'd rather go to Convoy or elsewhere for legit Korean food.

First time here, would get again. The chicken didn't have a crunch as I was expecting but not bad. The rice and all the added veggies was good. Dumplings were pretty good as well.

Rice Goban is located inside UTC Food Hall, they specialize in express quick service bowls and boxes. Service is walk up cafeteria-style place order and pay and then wait couple of minutes till your order is ready. I got 2 bibimap bowls each is $9.99: the honey fried chicken rice and crispy tofu rice. And they were enough to feed 3 hungry people! It's truly beyond food court quality that I didn't expect! For bibimap bowl is ready mix. While you'll need to build your own box and you'll need to pick the grill/ the base and the side and they will take care of the rest, it costs $10,99. I highly recommend it, quick, easy, great price, yet so delicious. Make sure to say hi to Joe, the owner, he is so friendly and works there. Make sure to check on yelp, so you get free soda. :)

I came back on Wednesday because I was starving and this was close to where I work! I ordered the hansang box this time with bulgolgi poutine fries on the side. The reason for the decrease in rating is because it didn't live up to my expectations that I had the first time... The food just didn't taste fresh... like it was reheated/recooked, especially the fries. Customer service great as always! Still will be coming back!

Bibigo used to occupy this stall at the dining terrace (aka food court) of the UTC Mall. Rice Goban recently took over with a similar concept of boxes and bowls minus the hot stones. Kids' meals, sides, and drinks rounded out the rest of the menu offerings. The food is assembled in a Chipotle-style manner after you place an order at the register. The former were called Hansang Boxes ($10.99) in which you build your own. The first step was picking a protein (Korean beef bulgogi, honey fried chicken, galbi chicken, or crispy tofu), next was choosing a base (white rice, bulgogi fried rice, bulgogi noodle, or salad), and last was finishing with a side (bulgogi poutine fries, Korean fried chicken, fried dumplings, banchan platter, or kimchi). A small side salad came with the box. Adding a fried egg cost another $1.50 and choosing the bulgogi or fried chicken as a protein was an additional $1. The latter were called Bibimbap Bowls ($9.99) which were preset combinations served with broccoli, bean sprouts, pickled red cabbage, carrots, and white rice. Five different varieties (bulgogi, Korean fried chicken, honey fried chicken, galbi chicken, or crispy tofu) were available. The same respective extra charges of $1 and $1.50 applied if you chose the above add-ons. My selection was a Hansang Box with Korean beef bulgogi, bulgogi noodles, and honey garlic Korean fried chicken. When I saw bulgogi noodles, I assumed it would be of the jap chae variety (i.e. stir-fried glass noodles). To my disappointment, the noodles were made of wheat flour like those you would find in yakisoba. The portion size of the components was okay. I wasn't thrilled with the surcharges even though I did pick the Korean beef bulgogi as a protein. The meat could have used a stronger marinade. I awarded three stars for quality, quantity, and pricing, the last of which was rather high for fast-casual Korean fare.

Typical mall setting... loud. Not the businesses fault, an observation. Service was fine. Got chicken and rice. Everything was way too sweet. Got some hot sauce to even it out but the sauce is sugar based as well.

This place replaced Bibigo in the mall! Happy to see it's still a Korean place. Food is delicious; definitely recommend one of the hansang boxes. I got mine this time with galbi chicken (for no upcharge!) but would also recommend getting the honey fried chicken (basically chicken katsu). Service is quick and staff is wearing masks!

I was willing to try the food at Rice Goban. Unfortunately a male employee that has very long hair took his hat off and was running his hands through his hair several times. Then he put his hat back on. He started helping another customer. What he didn't do was wash his hands after putting his hat back on. So much for practicing good hygiene...

I ordered Bulgogi lovers box and the Bulgogi poutine fries. I really enjoyed the box kinda a little bit of everything. The only thing I was dissatisfied with were the fries both on the box and the purine fries on the side. Yes I'm a fatty lol. They put this sticky stuff on them which taste great but makes it hard to grab the fries with a fork, you kinda need to used your fingers to separate them. Now I don't know if me ordering Togo has anything to do with it, maybe you should try order in and let me know!

Pretty standard Mall food court food. I do like the concept of fast casual Korean food though. Got the bibimbap bowl with tofu. They also had protein options of bulgogi, fried chicken pieces, fried chicken filet and braised chicken. Each bibimbap bowl comes with white rice, broccoli, bean sprouts, carrots and cabbage. The bowls start at $10 with extra surcharges based on the type of protein you choose and whether you want to add an egg. All the ingredients tasted super fresh but were pretty one note. All the of the veggies expect the broccoli were in a sweeter pickling liquid. The tofu itself was cut in to nice big chunks and they didn't skimp on the quantity. However, it tasted like they didn't season it at all and they didn't put a sauce on it like the other dishes had. Overall, a little too pricey for what it was and nothing special. Good enough option to try if you're around the area and you're craving quick Korean food though.

Picked up a few sides to try this place living close. Holy SUGAR batman. I mean, I've had plenty of Korean fried chicken and Chinese that relies on sugar but their sweet and spicy chicken was borderline inedible. Bring your toothbrush.

The beef had no taste of meat, something sweet and very soft. Everything else is completely tasteless. I also bought a small portion of fried dumplings and they also turned out to be completely tasteless. Paid $20 and ate with a plastic fork. Complete disappointment. I do not recommend!

Joe was able to help me veganize a tofu box, and Brandon got to feast on Bulgogi Poutine Fries, Honey Fried Chicken Rice, Bulgogi Rice, and Korean Fried Chicken. My tofu box was so tasty! I LOVED the tofu; crispy on the outside and soft inside, with a great flavor. Brandon really enjoyed all the dishes but the Korean Fried Chicken really stood out to him as a favorite.

A 16oz bottle of water costs $3.23 here. Panda express next door charges half that. Price gouging at its finest.

If you're looking for a good tasting food that won't break at Westfield UTC, this is definitely the place. After walking around for an hour at Westfield UTC, I wanted to grab a quick asian food to satisfy my hunger. I wanted something more than just a normal Panda and I stumbled across this place at the corner of the food court at UTC next to the Ice Rink. Looking at the very interesting menu, I decided to get the make your own box with bulgogi fried rice, honey garlic chicken and the sweet and spicy KFC (korean fried chicken) Initial thought the food was alright, I really liked the honey garlic chicken, I definitely recommend it. However, my fried rice was cold when it was being served which created a weird mixture with the hot honey garlic chicken. The salad was alright and the spicy KFC was pretty good. Overall I would come back to this place again next time I come to Westfield UTC. The servers were really nice so props to her - I unfortunately did not catch her name. The UCSD student discount was also a great idea as it would attract a lot of UCSD students. Advice to management: perhaps try to keep all the sides options warm upon serving it to the customers.

Every time I think of returning here, there's an employee eating in the food prep area. Go eat at a table on your break! And last time, I was gonna let it slide 'til she started licking her fingers. Guess I'll have to get my Korean fix on Convoy cuz these dorks are uncouth. I had the Bibimbap bowl once before and it was decent - it is comfort food but the staff a little too comfortable in the kitchen potlucking...

I love rice goban it is so cool I can get fast casual Korean eats in Utc mall, I ordered the galbi chicken marinated with sweet mayo and bulgogi sauce and it comes with a side and house salad you also have to get bulgogi as well the marinated sliced beef rib eye is sooo tasty with onion and bulgogi sauce, the staff is soo nice nice and helpful and the food is just sooo delicious :) go go go

Korean fried chicken was like if Panda Express orange chicken was actually good. Would definitely recommend the spicy version.

Rice Goban is located in the food court next to the restrooms. We were going to go to our usual Greek place when this place caught my eye. We looked at the menu for a couple of minutes. The honey fried chicken kept catching my eye. It was breast and it was fried. I decided to try the box with the honey fried chicken. It came with your choice of salad, rice, bulgogi fried rice, or noodles. It also came with a side and I chose the banchan vegetables. The chicken was good and tasty. I also liked the fried rice even though I didn't want to eat a lot of rice. I did finish all the vegetables. Overall, a good meal for a reasonable price.

Disappointed they replaced Bibigo with Rice Goban. I think this is just typical mall food court food. If you're craving Korean food while at UTC, this is a good option, but nothing to write home about.

Amazing food oh my goodness! I ordered the Hansang Boxes with honey KFC fried chicken, white rice and honey fried chicken. It came with a side salad. The honey KFC fried chicken was crunchy to the right amount, the honey chicken was soft and sweet. 1000/10 coming back for sure.

We didn't have time but to grab a quick bite. I think this is a different Korean restaurant from my last visit; however it was in the same spot at the UTC Food Court.. I had their Bibimbap and you could have your rice scorched and they didn't give me this option. So I tried their Korean Fried Chicken Bowl. We ordered two bowls and both thought it was pretty good and plentiful for fast food. I am hoping they have curbside pickup as we are now back to Stay-at-Home orders. I think I am out-of-range for delivery

Delicious mall food! Was walking around UTC and got hungry LOL. Decided to walk into the food court and try something new. Rice Goban caught our eye. We ordered 3 Bibimbap bowls - Bulgogi Beef, K.F.C (Sweet & Spicy Fried Chicken), and Galbi Chicken. All bowls came with large scoops of white rice, vegetables (pickled red cabbage, carrots, broccoli and bean sprouts), with sauce on the side. It was so filling and tasty! The bulgogi meats were full of flavor and tender. The KFC was crunchy and the sauce was the perfect spice. We wanted to also try the Bulgogi Poutine Fries which comes with Beef Bulgogi, Potato Fries, Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese, Bulgogi Sauce and YUM! The service at the counter, as well as the speed of the food was excellent. We were able to enjoy our food in the food court seating area with social distancing of course. Overall, we enjoyed our food and definitely will be back!

Great Korean food option in La Jolla! Whenever I visit the mall, I always enjoy bulgogi rice bowl with fried dumplings. Not like other mall food, they fry dumplings when you order. Bulgogi is so tender and tasty. It comes with different vegetables. Don' forget to ask them for Korean hot sauce, gochujang and mix all them in a bowl. It tastes better with sauce. Will try another bowl next time!

Pretty affordable food located in the utc plaza. It was very allergy friendly for our family where it provided many good options. You can dine inside or outside. The time we were there, there was live music outside, which was lovely. The food was okay. I wouldn't say it was extremely yummy but tasty enough. The kid's meal provided a good portion. I liked the noodles w pork cutlet. Their dumplings were okay. The bulgogi meat was okay. I would say, it was better than I expected for food court food.

granted all i get is rice & kimchi but this is seriously the best kimchi i've ever had 100/10 stars every time

I placed a large order online for coworkers and I. None of us had ever tried this place and we were in the mood for Korean(-ish) food. For a food court (mall) place, the food was surprisingly delish. Everyone enjoyed their food and had no bad complaints. Bulgogi noods were so good! I may be biased tho, I could eat noodles alll day...

I got the bulgogi poutin fries and I was very surprised with what I received. The portion size wasn't a big issue but it was rather that they're called BULGOGI fries, yet I received two tiny pieces/crumbs of bulgogi on my fries T-T. Aside from that, the fries were also soft and soggy, so overall I definitely can't say that I enjoyed it.

Ran by actual Korean people and the food took a bit of time to come out because they actually cook the food before giving it to you, not just sitting there waiting. I got the bulgogi lover, and there was enough for me to take home and eat a second meal with the leftovers. The bulgogi fried rice was fresh and the fried egg was a nice touch.

We love their honey fried chicken. Wish that they had a location that is more accessible. Parking and walking to the place through UTC just for honey fried chicken is a hassle. On the other hand, that's how good these fried chickens are!

Rice Goban is pretty good! More specifically, I can vouch for the bulgogi bibimbap: it's a marinated sliced rib eye beef over a bed of rice and a plethora of veggies. Then you add the gochu-jang sauce (a Korean hot sauce with a slight sweetness to it), and mix it altogether. If you wanna take it to the next level, add a fried egg to the mix. It was a mad delicious lunch and kept me filled up so I didn't even desire dinner. Staff was cool too. Rice Goban in UTC mall, check it out - specifically the bulgogi bibimbap bowl, for a dynamic taste experience.

Surprisingly good for food court food! I got the bulgogi bowl and was very satisfied with the quantity and quality of the ingredients. The price is about average mall pricing ($~14 for a full bowl) I was tempted to try their KFC bowl, but figured I'd go the safe route. I was not disappointed! Although I'd definitely want to come back again to try the other bowls.

The chicken is pretty tender and food is served quickly. Ucsd students can also get 10% discount. The lemonade is mixed with sparkling water. Very refreshing.

Every time I visit San Diego, I go to Ricegoban for a meal. The ricegban food is great quality and quantity at an affordable price. I like the menu with tofu the most. It's really crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, so delicious. It is delicious when eaten with Ricegoban's homemade sauce.