Bunsmith

Lemme just say I’m writing this meal while still sitting in a booth, digesting my food coma.
The calamari is bomb af, fried spicy peppers make it.
The bulgogi and KFC– Koreans you can fry my chicken any time ;)
But, oh HOT DAMN spam and cookie butter!!! Surprisingly amazing, I will admit we split one amongst four of us, because we are not a brave bunch. Truly outstanding.

In terms of Korean food. I have had better.
It was tasty enough but the bowls were heavy on the oil. The place was raved about, but honestly not that great compared to some other places I have tried.
Calamari, definitely a hit however. If nothing else, for sure get it!
The buns were also flat and lacked luster.
If I had not been spoiled by amazing authentic Korean food, I would definitely be raving a bit more.
:)
Good eatin’!

I have really enjoyed Bunsmith both times I have eaten there — it is such a cute establishment with really nice people working there.
Both times I had the bulgolgi bowl and the meat is delicious! More please! FYI — the bowl has a lot more veggies than is listed on the menu; I am not a huge fan of mushrooms and had to pick them out the first time… Still very tasty though and a large portion (leftovers for the win)!
The chicken bowl was a little underwhelming in terms of portion — I would say try the bun if you are craving chicken. My boyfriend only got three small pieces, which doesn’t go very far. The fries are heavenly; I wish I could eat them all the time — it surprised me how great they were!
Cocktails were pretty good — I’d say stick with beer unless it’s happy hour.
Definitely worth stopping by for a very solid meal.

Great place wth awesome vibe. Food is delicious and the bowls are a great value. Definitely get them with egg on top. Buns are a little small for the price, so if you’re hungry go for the bowl. Will be back soon!

Food was okay,
I liked Docklands way better than this place.
Didn’t drink, cocktails seemed soju heavy.
Had better korean fried chicken at sakura or bonchon.
edamame was super greasy but had good flavor.

A date took me here after raving about it, and after our experience, I get the hype! We sat at the bar on a Saturday night, after the wait at a nearby spot was too long. We ordered a few cocktails and a bunch of buns. I was really excited to see sojo cocktails, as I hadn’t had or seen any soju since my time in Seoul a few months prior.
My date and I tried the Lemon Fizz and soju Margherita. I liked the Margherita a lot more than the Lemon fizz. Now for the highlight, the buns! I tasted the bulgogi, pork jowl and Korean fried chicken buns. The pork jowl was simply amazing! The fried chicken was delicious. The bulgogi was surprising not that good. My date said that wasn’t typical, so perhaps it was an off-​night.
The atmosphere was super cute, perfect for a date, an outing with friends or even a solo venture at the bar. I will definitely be back!

I will start by addressing the service here – the people working here are among the friendliest I have encountered in a restaurant! I appreciate that when I asked for a new soda because the one I was given was flat, the server graciously swept the glass away and brought me a new (bigger) one within seconds like it was no big thing. I appreciate the easygoing way each server has described the flavors and their favorite picks on the menu. It seems like talking to friends. I LOVE that you don’t wait long for your order to be served.
On our first visit on New Year’s Day, I had the bulgolgi bun, the spam and cookie butter bun, and the crispy Asian salad. Everything came out within minutes – my buns had generous heapings of toppings inside. The only gripe I have is that each bun is served in a tiny little bowl, so if your toppings fall out, it might hit the table, but I digress. The bulgolgi was perfect! The spam and cookie butter bun was an interesting flavor adventure. They fried the spam so it’s crispy and hot, and the cookie butter was a nice play on flavor – but I think I could have done without the speculoos crumbled inside. The crispy Asian salad was just a bed of romaine and kale, with some wontons, almonds, and a tangy dressing drizzled on top – not really worth the $ 8, but a good enough side.
On our second visit, I had the Korean fried chicken and another bulgolgi bun – Korean fried chicken is plenty for two people to share, way better than KFC, and great with the hot sauce. We also ordered the eel bowl… don’t be fooled, it’s enough to feed a family of four (or just one really hungry boyfriend).
I like Bunsmith because it’s a bite of flavor that I crave time to time, and it’s cheap. My only lingering question is whether the menu rotates – if not, I’d wish to see more choices on the menu. Regardless, I’ll be a repeat customer here!

Great Korean-​fusion comfort food in a gastropub-​styled restaurant. I had the Bulgogi bowl (their interpretation of Bulgogi Dupbab and Bibimbap) with a fried egg on top. They are generous in their serving of meat so I had more than enough to save and take home for a second meal. BF had 3 different buns: Pork Jowl, Spicy Chicken, and Bulgogi. I’m used to having Pork Belly buns, so the Pork Jowl was a nice variation. Incredibly tender and fatty. He ate the other ones too quickly so I didn’t have a chance to try them, ha.
Recommend this place if you like Momofuku restaurants, Ippudo or Barn Joo.

What the hell is wrong with you people?
This place is a total ripoff and is not even that good. Just take the subway to Sunset Park and get the real thing. Everyone who’s anyone secretly hates it. Boo, Bunsmith! And what’s with your name, anyway? Seriously. No real blacksmith has time for an $ 8 morsel of underwhelming food. I wasn’t going to review this place but when I saw it was rated 4.5 stars I felt the need to speak some truth. Down with the phonies!

Con: They no longer have happy hour :(
Pro: the resturant is cozy, clean, and inviting. The food was great. I got a bowl instead of a bun which came with onions, rice, meat, and corn. Loved it. The waitress was great.

This is my go-​to when I’m hungry and want sit-​down service amidst old school hip hop and chalk portraits of Gandhi, Steve Jobs, and Biggie.
Honestly, the buns are a bit expensive at $ 4 each but that is to be expected. Anything Korean fried chicken (or «KFC» on the menu) — just get it. Try all the buns. Get the eel bowl. Drink some soju. Bob your head to Pete Rock and CL Smooth. Leave full. Leave happy.

Incredible interpretation of Korean inspired Gastopub fare.
We had the pleasure of experiencing the Pork Jowl, Fried Chicken & Grilled artichoke buns. Those were so good we went ahead and added the calamari. All exceptional dishes.
For those who appreciate some heat, don’t skip on the house made hot sauce, it’s a great balance of Spicy goodness.
Be sure to chase it all down with one of their refreshing Souju drinks.

Stopped by for dinner after an afternoon at the nearby Brooklyn Museum. Good service and relaxed atmosphere at Bunsmith. I didn’t love the soju margarita — I could not taste any alcohol.
As for food, my favorite dish of the whole night was the calamari appetizer; it was just lightly fried with sweet peppers and jalapeños and bean sprouts. Also tasty were the sticky fries. As for the buns — our favorites were the spicy Korean fried chicken and the pork jowl. I was not a fan of the artichoke, which was nothing special and tasted mostly of mayo. My mother had the bulgogi bowl and really enjoyed it.

Definitely a good place. I think they need to work some kinks out of their menu however. There is a huge disparity in the amount of food you get when ordering buns vs. bowls. The buns are TINY!!! I can eat them in about 2 bites. The bowls however are almost unfinishable because of how large they are, and they are quite expensive. All the food we ordered (2 buns and a bowl) was excellent, well spiced and fresh tasting. The roasted artichoke bun was the standout of our choices, it is delicious! The fried chicken bun was fine, not great fried chicken but not bad either. The bowl was tasty, but again it was enormous!!! Their hot sauce isn’t really that hot (maybe they’ve got something hotter in the back?), and they have a small but very good tap list (amazing Tank 7 Saison anyone?). I will definitely go back and next time will adjust my order. Good job Bunsmith!

Honestly I was pretty disappointed in this place. Seen some great reviews. Passed by a few times. Was with a friend and decided to step in.
Atmosphere is cool. Love the chalk mural of Biggie, Steve jobs and an Asian man on the wall (can’t think of his name). Music was good. Cozy place was almost full. Service great. Sounds like a winning situation. Wrong.
$ 9 for 4 wings with a minuscule amount of sauce. Even in the city I can get more wings than that for the price. Flavor was good and they had a really nice crispness that I loved. However they were a little on the cool side. Which was so weird to me. Maybe they were sitting waiting to be served.
The Buns. With a name like Bunsmith. I was severely underwhelmed and unimpressed. Honestly everything was under seasoned. Lacked basic salt and pepper. The kfc was the worst of all. Unidentifiable cut of chicken. It was stringy, fatty and chewy. Yuck! Not to mention it lacked sauce, the only flavor component. Must be a shortage on sauce tonight. The bulgogi was okay. For what’s it worth the ribeye was tender. But extremely light/​non existent flavor. The pork belly was just okay as well. The pork had a nice crispness to it but again no flavor which is sad. I honestly couldn’t believe it. It reminded me of the pork you get in the Chinese food takeout places. Yikes!
The pork fat edamame was really bad. Love Edamame love pork. Match made in heaven? Not. The only essence of pork fat being involved with the edamame was the greasiness. Honestly the edamame was so greasy. After eating a few the normal way, I broke them open with my hands out of fear of excess fat intake overload. The «pork fat» added no flavor whatsoever. Again no salt, a little would’ve gone a long way. Maybe they were out for the night.
Honestly the best thing on the menu was the Crisp Asian salad. We added tofu so it was a whopping $ 13. $ 5 up charge for tofu is a bit much. But clearly this place charges whatever they want. But honestly no complaints. Wontons and pines nuts added a nice touch. Lettuce was fresh and tofu had a nice crispness to it.
Drinks were meh. I had the grapefruit soju cocktail. It tasted like juice. Since soju is basically pennies. I couldn’t understand the $ 9 price tag. Waitress said there was vodka in it as well must’ve been very little. My friend had the lemon fizz soju cocktail. First off there was no fizz, no sparkling component to think of. She also said it tasted medicinal and artificial. I mean how hard is it to juice a real lemon for a cocktail.
Overall great service. Very poor execution. I don’t know if the chef was having an off night or if the individuals writing these 5 star reviews didn’t eat at the same restaurant I did. I don’t know. But honestly it left so much more to be desired.

If this rating was on taste alone, 6 stars! So freaking good. We ordered the artichoke and pork jowl buns and thinking about them right now makes me sad that I’m not eating them at the moment. We also ordered the bulgogi and fried chicken bowls. Equally AMAZING.
Why 4 stars? It seemed like a fairly light night and it took a lot longer than we would expect to get our food. It wasn’t absurd, but enough to notice. Also, its a little bit on the pricier side.
However, staff was super pleasant and friendly. The atmosphere is pretty chill and the décor is dope.
This is my new neighborhood favorite food spot. CANNOT WAIT to go back and try everything else. Or just stuff my face with the same delicious dishes I had before.

First time here while visiting Brooklyn. Great place for Korean style buns and bowls. The décor is ethnic yet Crown Heights hip with a painting of Biggie Smalls, Steve Jobs and the Dalai Lama as you walk in. Service was prompt and pleasant. We had the fries which were both spicy and sweet along with variety of buns including the fried chicken, pork, bulgogi. All scrumptious! One person had the fried chicken bowl which is served an a metal bowl bibimbop style with vegetables, radish, sesame oil, kochuchang, and fried chicken pieces. Will definitely go again!

Great addition to the neighborhood!
This is another fusion bao place, in the same vein as Baohaus, but with better food IMHO. Love the space, and the really cool chalkboard art when you walk in of Biggie and Steve Jobs is super impressive. I’m not a fan of soju, so didn’t get any of their cocktails, but they do have beer on tap. My companion and I ordered the bulgogi bun, Korean fried chicken bun, and the artichoke bun. Unfortunately they were out of the pork when we were there. We also got the fries with rice syrup. Fries were pretty good — crispy and piping hot, but not sure if I was a big fan of the syrup. My favorite was the Korean fried chicken bao — fried nicely and crispy, and flavorful. The bulgogi bao was decent too. However, was not a fan of the artichoke bao (and this is coming from a fan of artichoke) — just doesn’t seem to fit in a bun scenario?
Service was prompt, friendly, and attentive. There was a slight wait at 9PM on a Friday, but waited no more than 15 minutes. Would definitely be back again to try their other baos!

Cute little restaurant with s very chill vibe. Wait staff is extremely friendly and helpful. I’d recommend the tofu mushroom, fried chicken bun, and those fries with the rice syrup! Yum

I live in the neighborhood and walk past this place every single day on the way to the train. It looked delicious and enticing, so when a friend suggested we eat there for dinner, I was totally game. I had seen signs over the summer saying «Epic Steamed Buns — $ 4,» and that is a price I can get behind!
When we got there, we were greeted by such a friendly hostess who gladly sat us down and gave us lots water and lots of time to choose. She checked in on us and when we were ready, I ordered 2 buns: one Fried Organic Tofu and Shiitake, and one other that I can’t remember the name of and I can’t seem to remember. It was DELICIOUS, but my only complaint is the pricing compared to the size.
The meal was truly delicious and the service was wonderful. I just have to withhold my 5^th star because though $ 4 ~seems like~ a great price, the size of the bun should be a little larger. I like some bang for my buck, even if it is quality.