Dooby’s

I will definitely come back! The ambiance is comforting and warm. Most of all, the staff is welcoming and is at your service as you would like. The menu is creative and the process in assembling your plate is unique. The only down side is that it quickly gets crowded during rush hours and it is hard to hear when having a conversation… I guess that’s a compliment to the restaurant though that it is so busy!

I’ve been to Doobys a ton of times. It’s my go to spot when I can’t decide where I want to eat. Luckily, I’ve never had bad service or an unfriendly cashier/​server. Knock on wood. Many of my friends can’t say the same. Anyway, I had my regular, a Korean cheesesteak and a cocktail today. Forgot the name, but it’s the yellow one with basil, or something like that, as garnish. It was around 5 and not really crowded. The lights were very dim.

I’ve been eyeing Dooby’s for a while because their menu looked pretty interesting, but my visit was rather disappointing. I opted to build a bowl and chose: Rice&Greens as my base (which also comes with roasted sweet potato, stir-​fry broccoli, pickled vegetables, sweet corn), marinated tofu as my protein, and Sweet Soy-​Ginger as my dressing ($ 10).
Unfortunately, there was minimal coherency to my food and it tasted like everything was haphazardly thrown together. Flavors were mediocre and reminded me almost of dining hall stir-​fry from my undergrad days (except for the fact that the dining hall stir fry was actually tastier in this case). I did try a bite of my friend’s Spicy Sesame Korean Street-​style Noodles, which was quite good. Perhaps I ordered the «wrong thing» off the menu and should’ve opted for one of their more «official» entrees.
The space itself was clean and pleasant, and the service was satisfactory. You order up front once you decide what you want and then they bring the food to you. I have also tried their sea salt caramel cookie as well as their Fruity Pebble cookie, both of which were pretty good.
Won’t be back on my own, but willing to give it another chance if the opportunity arises.

Between 4 and 5 stars. The food at Dooby’s is extremely good, in a creative and innovative way that differs from most other casual-​type cafes around. They make little changes to the menu every so often, and whoever is in charge of the new dishes obviously is amazing at pairing flavors and interesting various food fusion ideas. It seems like a lot of thought goes into the creation of the dishes, which I really appreciate.
I’ve been going there for awhile and have tried a lot of things on the menu. The lunch menu is my go-​to, although I’ve been there for dinner and the food was great too. The current incarnation of the lunch menu has build your own options with different bases such as brown rice, noodles, lettuce wraps, etc. The brown rice bowl seems to be everyone’s favorite, and I agree. Then you choose from proteins and sauces. They are great for gluten free folks, too– lots of options. The BBQ chicken bowl never disappoints, but my favorite was the miso salmon. They recently took that off the menu and I was really upset until I tried its replacement, the wasabi pea-​crusted tuna ($ 14). It was awesome, new favorite. So good. The bowls have a number of toppings sort of Korean style, including pickled carrots and cabbage, sweet potato, and a spicy corn. They all enhance the meal. I am also a huge fan of the avocado toast, although at $ 7 it’s a bit steep. It’s a large piece, which used to be my justification, but last time I got it it was small, so might just make my own from now on.
Additionally, their pastries are great. The fruity pebbles cookie didn’t appeal to me at first glance, but it’s actually very good, more like a rice crispy treat made with cereal, and the fruity taste is minimal. My absolute fave was the jalapeño corn muffin, which they haven’t had for a long time (bring it back!). Also the damn good pie is incredible. Their coffee is good, I think some of the best in the area, actually. Iced coffee and iced tea (black or green/​jasmine, I think) is good too.
A few things I didn’t enjoy as much– the build your own bowl with the japchae noodles– just didn’t think it was that good. People love the Korean cheese steak, but when I had it the meat was tough/​gristly. I was also underwhelmed by the burger. While the toppings were enjoyable, I thought the meat was bland.
I have found the staff (mostly student-​aged) to occasionally be aloof/​off-​putting, and I notice sometimes they can’t hear you very well when you order– maybe it’s really loud behind the counter? On my most recent visits the staff have been great though, so let’s hope that’s a complaint of the past. To summarize– great place!

Had the spicy ramen and avocado toast. I thought the toast was amazing, but the ramen, not so much. The broth wasn’t well seasoned, a little on the bland side and the noodles were weird. The thick slices of pork were excellent and the soft-​boiled egg was good!
I tried a pork bun that my friend ordered, the sauce on the pork bun was delicious, but unfortunately the bun itself was soggy when it came to us.
I liked the ambience, pretty cool vibe, and loved how they ask for names and will actually call you said name when they serve you your food! What a nice touch.

Dooby’s has the all the makings of a hip establishment: Asian fusion menu, café & bar, modern furnishing, and really cool looking staff who don’t really smile or talk to you. The food is decidedly average. We ordered the Dooby Burger with a side of quinoa salad and a Spicy Gochujang Ramen for dinner on a Friday night. Everything looked great but tasted way too salty. There was no depth in any of the flavors and I just couldn’t be bothered to finish my food. Glad I didn’t pay too much money for this uneventful meal.

Terrific coffee place but also lunch and dinner. Great craft beers. They have Korean and Asian inspired buns, noodles, and much more… dumplings too. Great egg sandwiches in AM. Although not on menu, get the avocado toast in the AM… delish. Also get the pork buns… great bao!
Excellent place near the monument… very Millenial and a bit hipster too.

Great location. Just not my cuppa tea 100 percent. I prefer cozy to sleek but it’s clean and the coffee is HOT! Not overly friendly service…
Also they could use more outlets and softer seats. Very popular with the Peabody crowd.
Wifi is broken today so loss of a star for that!
There are probably other places nearby that are more my style, but I fully appreciate the convenience of this location and the hot hot coffee on this freezing day!

Korean/​American fusion? Yes, please! My husband and I are in town for a wedding and staying at Mt. Vernon, and this place was a few blocks from us. So glad we checked it out! I ordered their Miso Caramel Latte and it was delicious, and my husband ordered a regular latte and he loved his.
We went for breakfast and I got the Pork Belly Eggs Benedict. The title should speak for itself, but seriously, it was amazing. Not to mention their house ketchup on the side, I could put that on cardboard. My husband got the Hangover Bowl (noodles for breakfast… genius!) and it was outstanding! The broth was spicy in the best way and I don’t think we’ve had a more perfectly cooked noodle.
Seriously, check this place out, you will not regret it. We’ll be back the next time we’re in the area!

I’m a bit indifferent to Dooby’s. My friend and I ordered 2 different ramen dishes and frankly, we weren’t fans of the broth. It lacked a depth of flavor and the «gochujang» taste was more overwhelming than anything else.
On the other hand, the appetizers are great. Our group of 4 tried the pork buns, Chesapeake dumplings, and fried veggie dumplings which were all fried to perfection. I should have ordered the pork buns for my main course, the pork was crispy and fatty.
Loved the Pork Belly Eggs benedict as well… it came with pork buns instead of English muffins. Nice touch Dooby’s.
I won’t say it’s my last time here, I think the wings and rice bowls are calling me

A great little Korean fusion café my friend decided we should try when we were in Baltimore for the weekend. The interior was very hip, minimal, and cozy — just as a coffee shop should be.
I opted for the avocado toast and a miso caramel latte and I was surprised by how much I liked it. (WARNING: Very long and embarrassingly in-​depth discussion about avocado toast ahead.)
The avocado toast was served with plenty of avocado, drizzled with a tiny bit of light olive oil, and sprinkled with just the right amount of red pepper flakes, all on top of a perfectly toasted piece of sourdough. I generally don’t like lime or lemon with my avo toast, but in this case it was perfect. The acidity of the citrus paired perfectly with the sourdough and the ratio of avo to toast was spot on. My only criticism was that the avocado they used was just the slightest bit underripe. (I make avocado toast quite often so I’ve had my fair share of avos!)
I absolutely had to order the miso caramel latte since it was so unique. The miso paired well with the espresso for a subtle but distinctive taste, while the caramel mellowed it out to balance the flavor of the latte. If I’m ever back in the area I would definitely order it again.
While I was there, I also sampled my friends’ food — because true friends share food! The Korean BBQ cheese steak was really delicious. I generally don’t order sandwiches, but I would order this one again because it was so tasty. I also tried my friend’s sweet potato noodle (japchae) bowl. It was pretty good, but it’s not something that I wouldn’t be able to cook myself.
Service was attentive although they were busy. Overall a pretty solid café!

I was very excited to try Dooby’s after hearing some buzz and thinking it was a cool concept to have coffee, pastries and casual Korean/​Asian eats. Full disclosure, I didn’t sample any of the pastries or coffee drinks.
On a somewhat warm February evening I started with the Iced Black Tea, which was interesting. The tea was good, but I swear it tasted a little like hemp (perhaps the name Dooby’s?). To confirm I wasn’t crazy, I gave other people in my party a taste and the verdict was unanimous. Anyways, I really wanted to try the pork buns, hoping it would be reminiscent of the delectable morsels I had at Momofuku CCDC — sadly it didn’t quite live up. The main issue here was the pork, it just wasn’t tender enough, so each bite really made a mess of the buns, making it hard to eat. I think this could easily by solved by just cooking the pork longer, yielding a more tender piece of meat. The bun itself and other accompaniments were very good, so correcting the pork could easily make this dish a star.
I also sampled the Korean-​miso pork ramyun, a Korean style ramen dish with the same pork as the pork buns, egg noodles, nori and soft egg. The noodles were very good, great elasticity and taste. The issue here was again, the pork, and also the broth. The flavors were very heavy handed and just muddled. The broth tasted nothing like a stock or any kind of tare mixture I’ve ever tasted. It almost tasted like a pork broth that had too much miso paste or kimchi mixed into it in an effort to try and elevate the flavors.
The good was the create your own bowl concept, which I really liked. Others in my group opted for this with the Korean BBQ beef, and it was much tastier than my ramen. The beef itself had wonderful flavorful and texture, so when mixed with items of your choice it was quite a successful dish.
I would definitely give this place another shot. I really want to still try the coffee and give other items on the menu a chance. But for now, I really think the items I tried need some work.

Definitely a good place to meet up with friends and chill or get some studying done. Has a very trendy vibe.
Food in itself was a slight disappointment. Got the pork buns and the spicy gochujang ramen. Pork belly was super fatty and tasty, but the broth was so salty. Didn’t have as much of a fluid feel to the broth as I wanted it too, probably because of the saltiness.
I’m definitely up for trying something else here, the bowls looked really good.

I’ve been to dooby’s plenty of times, and always loved it, but this time I felt a little duped (dooped? Haha).
Although it is listed as a restaurant week restaurant with a 3-​course dinner for $ 25, when we got there, the guy at the register (seeming a little annoyed that I even asked), told me «there is no restaurant week s*** here, but there is no way you could spend more than $ 25 for food here. This was weird because I had visited dooby’s for restaurant week this summer and it WAS a normal three courses for $ 25 deal.
Anyway, I ordered the Chesapeake dumplings ($ 8), the Korean street style noodles ($ 13), and the cheapest dessert was $ 5 — which would have been over $ 25. I didn’t feel like complaining, and a dollar difference is really nothing, but on principle this just wasn’t restaurant week and we could have gone to a different restaurant with a «deal» and come back to dooby’s any night — which we would because their food is awesome.
Also, it was café seating even in the evening (another change from a previous dinner I had a dooby’s where the restaurant turned into table service at night), which is totally fine, but for our group of 6 meant that each person got their appetizer and food at the same time, but one at a time. So when my delicious looking and smelling food came out first, it was easily another 15 minutes before two of my friends had food — even though they knew we were one big group. Again, not a huge deal, but maybe a better place for a smaller party?
The food though, as always, was delicious. The Chesapeake dumplings were cooked perfectly — pan fried but not too greasy — with a sweet sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. My boyfriend got the pork buns — which were also so flavorful and yummy, and came with two so they were perfect for sharing between the two of us… (Even if that wasn’t his first plan).
The street style noodles were okay — but I think it was more my taste preferences than the actual dish. I thought the pork meatballs were just a little bland, and the pasta itself needed a little more flavor with the table sirracha. My boyfriend’s build your own noodle with sweet potato was much better and flavorful.
Overall, the food was good, we will definitely be back, but just don’t trust their restaurant week advertisement

Dooby’s comes across as a great coffeeshop, but they also has a full blown menu with tons of Korean options. There’s a display case with bakery items, breakfast sandwiches, ramyun, burgers, sandwiches, and even cocktails. With such a wide array on their menu it’s the perfect place to stop by at all times of the day. There’s also a good amount of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-​free options.
Order up front and then seat yourself and someone will be by with your food as soon as it’s ready. There’s some booth style seating and then bar seating against walls which a lot of people sat in while using their laptops.
I’ve tried a few of the items on the menu so far and still can’t wait to go back for more. I’ve had the pork buns which were amazing. The sticky buns, which are only available on Sundays, are really tasty and not overly sweet. The Spicy Gochujang Pork Ramyun is one of the better ramyuns I’ve had in the city. Just beware — it is really spicy! I’ve also tried the Korean BBQ Cheesesteak, but I was a little unimpressed after reading so many great reviews about it, but maybe its just me.
Overall, Dooby’s is a great addition to the Mount Vernon neighborhood!

I suppose for an asian fusion type place in Baltimore it’s not bad.
I was really excited to try this café after hearing about all these fabulous things about it. I ended up getting the ramen and a marshmallow fruity pebble cookie. The cookie was warmed up for me and super sweet. Not bad not bad. Now for the ramen, it was pretty salty but. passable. Back to the hunt for good asian food in Baltimore.

I really like the Korean influence in this restaurant! Pork belly eggs benedict was definitely a unique take on one of my brunch favorites! Fried potatoes came with the steamed buns filled with pork belly deliciousness (which was a bit more fatty than I like) and served with a green foamy hollandaise-​like sauce that was fairly light. I really enjoyed dipping my potatoes in the sriracha ketchup — which I need in my life and need some packaged for at home use :)
I love ramen so I’m very excited to return here to try more on Dooby’s menu! And I’m within walking distance, which makes it even more appealing!

Never heard of this place until today my husband decided to stop by here for a late lunch. We both ordered the spicy pork ramen and my little brother got the burger. The concept is pretty different. You order at the front then they give you a number to take to whatever table you’re sitting at and they’ll bring your food to you. It is pretty pricey-​the restaurant had nice lighting and a very limited seating.
Food came out and the broth was definitely different from all the other ramen places I’ve eaten at. I wasn’t a fan of it and the noodles were different too. It comes with bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, corn, 3 pieces of pork belly, and seaweed. It wasn’t spicy at all to me. Looks like a lot of people came for their ramen and coffees.

I’ve stopped in here a couple times for coffee drinks when in the area and has yet to be disappointed. The staff is always super friendly and nice, being sure to use my name throughout the process. So far I’ve tried an assortment of coffee drinks and a dessert but I am sure I’ll be back to sample a few other things on the menu! The pie I had was amazing! It was just sweet enough to hit the spot but not be overkill.
The décor seems a little dark at first but plenty of seating if you want to set up shop and get a little work done. I would recommend sitting near a window if you want additional light. On my most recent visit I noticed how crowded the place could get, but the staff moved quickly so those of us that was getting to-​go didn’t have to stand around too long.

Dooby’s has a very interesting setting once you walk in, but it’s actually makes it very cozy. I love the natural lighting and the overall feel of the shop.
The must try dishes are the pork belly eggs Benedict (they’re so good that you’ll want to order more) and the coconut milk pancakes (if you want something on the lighter side). The pancakes also come with scrambled eggs!