Kokiri Restaurant

Awesome low key mom and pop Korean restaurant with good home-​cooked style food, traditional flavors, and family style vibes! Great prices, no MSG, lots of vegetarian options, fresh ingredients, friendly servers (they are all family), late hours (tip: they close Wed), beer and Korean rice wine/​soju, and great with special requests.
Try the soups (duenjang jigae, daegu maeun tang), bosam, kong biji, and kalchi jorim. Note: foods are a bit spicy, so ask them to tone it down if you’re not great with hot!

It’s a late night kind of place. It’s not only that they open late but the environment it provides for group gatherings and the semi secluded nature of it that completes the ambience. Their food isn’t bad either although it’s based on one noodle dish. I got the jol myun ($ 9.99 I think). It was a solid portion with lots of veggies to fill it out. They also bring out a lot of side dishes to complement the meal. Their service is pretty friendly.
The place is large enough for big groups. They have a sectioned off corner for them. It’s not new inside but it’s not dirty either. I haven’t tried the other dishes so I can’t fully recommend this place plus their use of MSG leaves much to be desired but it’s worth a trip if you want some Korean, especially on Sundays when most of the other places in the area are closed.

This place has the best Gopchang Jeongul (spicy beef intestine and tripe stew). It’s kind of like the Korean menudo!
Other places don’t thoroughly clean their intestines and tripe, which can be quite unappetizing.
This place serves authentic, old school dishes and reminds me of the dishes from the market places in Korea. I read from another review that the owners are from Southern, South Korea, which I can tell by their cooking style — spicier, pungent, and more flavorful!
Their Boo Dae (spicy soup w an assortment of meats) chigae is good as well. They use the older kimchi, which makes the broth saltier (and yummier!). I like their Dwen Jang Chigae as well. They use the more fermented type of soybean, almost reminiscent of Japanese natto (so pungent that Anthony Bordain envisioned jumping off a mountain after trying) or Korean Chung Guk Jang, which is really healthy, but very much an acquired taste. All three of these soups could be considered more «ghetto» Korean dishes, but I grew up eating them and can recognize when they’re cooked right.
I like that they cater more towards the old fashioned Korean tastes and that their foods aren’t overly sweet like some of the other restaurants.
I gave this place four stars not for their service or ambience, but for their authenticity.
It’s hard to find a place here that serves good country style Korean cooking!

A great spot to have spicy seafood soup for a late night meal. I was originally headed to the one behind this place but they were closed. Driving around ol’ Ktown late at night trying to find a place to eat seafood soup, wasn’t that easy. 10 yrs ago there were more places opened til 2 now it’s just a few. Service here isn’t that great but the server doesn’t ignore you. After boiling the soup for awhile it started to be a bit salty so I added more water which didn’t ruin the soup This place isn’t my go to for late night meals so I won’t say how the other meals are.
Well long time ago they were known for boo dae soup (army soup) but I don’t know how it is now.

Harry Hines is pretty desolate on Sunday afternoons. We ended up here after finding out that our initial choice for Sunday lunch was closed and I remembered having a fond memory of ddukbokee at Kokiri some 10 years ago. This was back when the entire Dallas Korean community used to loiter in this shopping center. Good times.
FOOD
We ordered cold noodle (mool nengmyun) and kimchi jjigae. I considered going for the hot pot but it was only the two of us and I had plans of going to the pool after lunch (and no plans of showing off a food baby at the pool). Flavors were there but quality seemed to be lacking. The pork in the kimchi jjigae seemed a little old and the some of the sides tasted old. I liked the mool neng but my bf wasn’t a fan of it.
SERVICE
We saw our waitress three times. First when we placed our order, a second time when she brought out the food, and the third time when we went up to pay for our check. If this kind of service (or lack thereof) bothers you, this place is probably not for you. It didn’t take long for the food to come out but that may be because we were the only customers there.
I didn’t notice any smell when we walked in… thank God. Maybe we’ll come back to try their hot pot.

These bad boys can EASILY feed 4 people instead of the suggested 2 they have on their menu! I am referring to the big ol’ hot pots of course.
We ordered the assorted meat hot pot ($ 28.99) and we sure did get an assortment of meats! I was a little surprised at the kind of meats that were in the hot pot. Mostly hot dog weenies, spam, sausage, and kalbi (?). I wish it had more beef steaks instead of the former but I believe that’s what they usually use back in the day so I’m not complaining! It was also stewed in lots of veggies, tofu, and RAMEN! My fave!
Their kimchi is definitely unique in a sense that it’s a little sweeter than the norm. Very tasty and recommended.
They are opened till 12pm on the weekdays, not sure about the weekends, and are closed on Wednesdays. It’s a little hard to find. It’s located inside an outdoor shopping strip (Where Mug & Mouse coffee shop is) facing 35. Their sign is in Korean but they have window décor that says Kokiri. Good luck!

Yes the smell bothers a bit when you first walk in but home style food makes up for it.

Reminds me of Korea. You have to stand up and yell for refills. The restaurant is still owned by the same owners who are from the southern region of Korea, hence the awesome kimchee.
Don’t come to a Korean home style restaurant and order grilled meat. They don’t have the burners and will bring it out on a skillet.
Don’t come to a Korean home style restaurant and order a Japanese tongatsu or any other food items you will categorize as street food (boon sik). That’s seriously the kids menu.
Instead, try boo deh gee geh (literally army soup or large soup with assorted meat), nahk ji jun gol (beef and octopus large soup), duhk mandoo gook (dumpling and rice cake soup), ah goo jeem (monkfish with bean sprouts) or any other home style soups.
I have been coming here for a decade now. Portions have gotten smaller and prices higher but the best Korean home style restaurant even with all the new ones that opened near H-​mart. My mom’s cooking tastes better, of course, but if my mom is not in the mood to cook; we come here.

****Note: Korean people come here to buy their homemade KIMCHI by the jar. If Korean people come to a place to buy their kimchi, that just about sums it up for you!**** The inside of this restaurant is not all that fancy and the service really stinks but the food is good. The flavors are not overwhelmingly spicy, salty, or oily. I like their soups here and the fact that the price is a bit high for the quality of interior but the food makes up for it. That means they have pride in their cooking and in this case, it is justified!

Ok, don’t get freaked out by the smell when you come in. It’s their soybean paste!
This place is a small, cozy restaurant in a run-​down plaza off of I-​35. Very homemade style cooking here! The dumpling & rice cake soup is my favorite. Their kimchi also has a different taste than most standard Korean restaurants; a little bit on the sweeter side. One of the better places for traditional Korean food.

I’m having a streak of bad luck with Korean restaurants recently. They try to rip you off with crappy food and portion and this place is no exception. I had one of their cold noodle dishes for lunch and it was horrible. Most of all, I had to pay over $ 10. Will never go back there.

I took a trip here last night and got the Bulgogi-​Nakji Jun Gol. which is a type of soup (see picture). The soup consisted of beef, octapus, udon noodles, kimchi, mushrooms, and other vegetablets. The soup is normally redder, but the friend I went with requested it «not spicy»… but it was still yummy. I went with one other person so we had a lot left over. That dish is probably good for a group of 3. They bring it out to you in a stone pot on top of a burner. You can keep it hot the whole time you’re eating! The side dishes were also pretty tasty. The lady who helped us was friendly and actually spoke english well. I’ve been here a few times, but it was years ago before the new owners. I gave it a 4 star because my mom who visited here recently told me their bossam was not very good, and since I’ve only been here once. I plan on going back to try some other things on the menu.

Looks like this business has changed hands. I didn’t recognize any of the staff and it looked like our waitress was confused on big group protocol. The big groups usually get the separate room next to the main area. Also they’ve had a minor interior make over.
Like Fran says the Kim Chi was pretty good and that’s because it was freshly made Kim Chi instead of the fermented variety. After eating any type of Kim Chi make sure you have some minty gum handy.
On this particular visit I had the Dong Ka Su, which is basically a fried pork cutlet with an A-​1-​ish sauce on the side; it was pretty thin and crispy and there was a enough on the plate to keep me satisfied for the rest of the night.
As for the lunch price increase that Diana was talking about, their lunch prices are now the same as their dinner prices, but I guess their portions are the same… I’ve only been there for dinners.

mmm i still love their kimchi BEST. stone pot bibimbap (mixed rice) was tasty, but skimped on the veggies and meat. panchan was good, could do without the seaweed soup.