Kimbap

Pretty tasty! Our server was good about checking on our table. We were given a complimentary appetizer with seasoned red cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers. My mom loved the carrots and cucumbers! She also ordered the pork dumpling appetizer and said it was really nice. I ordered tofu Japchae and it was great, definitely hit the spot. The noodles were tasty and I liked the sauce. The tofu was really good, except some pieces were a little cold, I didn’t think they had been fully cooked. But overall, what we ate here was good and I would return!

This place never fails! I went there for some take out lunch. All I can say is WOW! Just delicious, I think I am becoming a regular here, this was my third time.

Kimbap is the bomb diggity. The atmosphere and staff are super, the food is local, healthy and delicious.
My favorite menu items:
Ssam build your own lettuce wraps with pork fat or bulgogi!
Bibimbap mixed rice bowl

My friend had never tried Korean food so I thought this would be a nice place to try some authentic Korean. Needless to say, I was disappointed. This is more a fusion Korean eatery. Portions matches the cost of the item. I had bibimbap as it is hard to go wrong with what was deemed peasant food in ancient Korea. It was ok and they did reduce the sesame oil due to the clientele at the place. This was the same with japchae (glass noodles) which had way too much soy sauce. If you have not had authentic Korean, this is a good starting point or place.
My waiter wasn’t very attentive. Had to get his attention and he forgot to give me my side dishes! That’s faux pas esp. for this cuisine. Another thing that really shocked me was the cost of the bibimbap ($ 14) where it is normally priced between $ 7-​$ 9. For comparison sake, in Sydney, where wait persons are paid $ 15 p.h., bibimbap is $ 10-​$ 12. Portioning was small too!
I’m definitely not going back (with my Korean friends or in-​laws).

Clean different and delicious. Farm to table, korean style. Friendly staff, great food. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would return and recommend. Thanks Kim

I like this place because it is a Korean Place I can actually eat at as a vegetarian. They also have an amazing Thursday night dinner special called «Dinner for 2»: You get a bottle of any wine and ANY three menu items for $ 50!!! Their wednesday special is also great – any local brew for $ 2.50. I would definitely take advantage of this. I love being able to watch the chefs cook, (even though it can be pretty distracting ;)). The atmosphere is great and its tucked away in a nice part of downtown with ample parking and a great view of the skyline.
I knocked off a star because they market themselves as a vegetarian/​vegan friendly Korean place, yet the main courses are not really vegetarian/​vegan friendly. For example, getting their famous bibimbap without the egg just makes it a (very delicious) bowl of veggies and rice for a steep price (if you aren’t getting the Dinner for 2 deal), and none of their seasonal specials are veggie/​vegan friendly. Most of their appetizers are veggie friendly for sure though. I would definitely return because the food is great, but only for the Thursday night Dinner for 2.

This is a Korean inspired menu. Touches of Korean but Americanized. Nice little place with a few tables outside, a bar looking into the cook area and then 10 or so tables. I was greeted promptly and asked to be seating at the bar. The server was very knowledgeable and was quick to point the daily special, the features on the menu and then also the regular menu. Small wine list but adequate for a small place. The only thing I found odd was its a Korean place, they didn’t have soju but had sake. I ordered the veggie dumplings. They were good but because they were pan fried, they were a bit greasy for my liking. For dinner I had the bibimbap with beef. I has asked for the egg to be well done as I am not big on a runny egg on rice. She forgot to put my order in and the egg came out medium. It was fine but would have preferred it done. The beef was tender and very flavorful. I like it a lot. For dessert, I ordered the lemongrass crème brûlée. I was good but I felt it could have had a bit more flavor. Overall, my experience was fine and I would go back if I am ever in the area again and I would also recommend it to my friends. The place was full by the time I left and I could definitely there are a lot of regulars. He two cooks seemed to have a good system down and were organized in their execution of orders. I could tell they took a lot of pride in the food that was sent out of the kitchen. All of the staff seemed on point, engaging yet not overbearing.

Super friendly staff. cozy dinning area. the pops of flavors you get from the food here is fabulous. So glad we found this lil gem.

As someone who spent nearly a decade in the restaurant industry, I have immense respect and appreciation for great customer care. After reading my review, Kimbap’s chef wrote to me to apologize for what happened and to express his concern and desire to make it right. The time he took to reach out and show genuine concern that we were let down by his kitchen was definitely an instance of going the extra mile to turn a mistake into an opportunity to improve his restaurant and turn an upset customer into an appreciative one who will gladly give Kimbap another chance. Hoping to be able to update this review with some higher stars soon, but mostly just glad that my review resulted in actions that may result in a better experience for all of Kimbap’s customers.

Been hear 4 – 5 times. It is NOT standard Korean food (there are other places to get that), it is Korean inspired or Korean fusion. So the reviewers that complain that it’s not authentic, should judge Kimbap on what it is. Very original dishes, full of flavor and creativity. Always find something new and leave feeling like I just ate a tasty, healthy home-​cooked asian meal.
Service is always friendly and attentive.

Kimbap is Korean-​inspired rather than traditional, so if you came looking for something more on the authentic side, it’s likely you’ll be disappointed. It is however a very interesting restaurant.
More than just American-​Korean fusion, Kimbap has an additional Southern flavor to it. The Korean pancake appetizer/​small plate is served with an aioli dip rather than the more traditional soy sauce mix. The greens in my beef stew were collard greens. One of the appetizers on the special menu contains butternut squash! The banchan also involved seasonal local produce.
I like the creative concept behind the dishes; however, I did crave a bit more bold flavors. The beef stew was good with hearty broth, but I could use some more heat or even just some kimchee. The Korean pancake was also a little bit bland. With the addition of aioli, it was too much grease for me. The pickled apple (one of the banchan) was also pretty bizarre. The flavor tasted foul…

Ummmmm… wtf just happened? That food was way to good!!!
We got stuck waiting for a table (small place) and the chef noticed and gave us some veggie dumplings to hold us over! My girls like the dumplings so much they ordered it as their meal! I got the stew and my wife and oldest daughter got glass noodles… it was so damn good! I also crushed some sake for the first time! We will definitely come back!!!

I love Kimbap. Relatively small menu, but a good number of vegan/​vegetarian/​gluten free options. For dinner I usually order the veggie dumplings and glass noodles. My fiancé is partial to the bimbibap with tofu or seitan (hold the egg). Taco Tuesday’s are also pretty great: two tofu tacos and kimchi fried rice for $ 11. They have all sorts of specials and deals most days of the week. The service is friendly and attentive. They have an open kitchen so you can see the chefs work, which is pretty neat.
But most importantly, their house made hot sauce is ridiculously delicious. I’m not usually one to put hot sauce on everything, but I do here. They really need to bottle and sell it because I would be their best customer.

So I FINALLY made it over to Kimbap Café for my pre-​Thanksgiving lunch and I was impressed. In its small space over at Seaboard Station you’ll find a lot of style and taste in a good way.
Kimbap’s menu is described as Korean-​inspired but it stays true to its roots. I tried the japchae with seared pork belly along with the dumplings (comped) which were both quite good. You can tell they use quality ingredients here, the dumplings had great skins and were filled with a nice gingery meat. And the japchae was nicely prepared with slivers of carrot, mushroom ears and a bit of wilted spinach (I think).
Kimbap’s space is nicely decorated and bright with full visibility into the open kitchen. So it’s great to see the crew here working hard on your food including Kimbap’s owner, Kim. I had met her at an earlier event and she’s definitely committed to her craft. Is Kimbap traditional Korean? Probably not but it’s still durn tasty and spins a bit off of traditional for the ITB crowd. So stop on by and give their modern Korean eats a whirl, you’ll leave happy and full which is usually the goal when eating out!

I adore this place! First time I went I got a taco special they had with fried rice. Their fried rice is amazing! This time I did their Bipbimbap bowl with tofu for lunch take out.
Their staff is always so nice and food comes out quickly. I like their location too. Prices are right as well. A lot of their dinner menus are the same as lunch just a couple bucks less for lunch time.

Tiny portions, high prices. It just doesn’t make sense.
We came excited to try some modern korean food, and the menu sounded amazing. I ordered the dumpling entrée expecting it to be a meal. What I got in return was measly 6 dumplings. And it was like $ 9 – 10. Am I missing something here? How do dumplings cost that much?! and how was that supposed to fill me up?!
Boyfriend got bibimbap with pork on top. Also expensive, also not as large as the portion you’d get at any other korean joint. A big reason I enjoy eating korean food is that even though it tends to be pricey, you get HUGE PORTIONS. and this place did not deliver.
I’m sorry, but I’ll stick to the more traditional korean restaurants to get my fix.

This place is really interesting, I must say. While they had limited gluten free, garlic-​free options for this gal, I really enjoyed my dish. It was full of unique flavours.
It’s a tiny little place and it does take a while for your meal to arrive. I can definitely see the appeal, but not sure I would be back just because they don’t offer a lot for my limited diet.
yummy though for sure!

Thanks to Chip R. for recommending Kimbap to me many moons ago, and I finally found my way here! A hidden gem in Seaboard station, located next to BREW, with an open kitchen, small dining space and nice outdoor patio seating. I will admit, I am much more familiar with Southeastern Asian good rather then Northeastern Asian food, but I am always looking for good Korean food [with much more flavor and piazza then Chinese elements]. Kimbap is definitely on the top of my Korean food list, even though it’s Korean inspired rather then 100% authentic. And it’s not just the delicious flavors of their food, but also their top notch service, cozy and intimate atmosphere AND the fact that you can watch your food being prepared if you sit at the bar [LOVE open kitchens!] that draws me to this restaurant.
You start with a complimentary pickled plate [ours included carrots, seaweed and beets; all pickled]. Unfortunately this part wasn’t explained, so we weren’t sure if we ate it immediately or waited to put it on our food. We split the pork belly lettuce wraps and the Bibimbap mixed rice bowl. Both I would order again and recommend. The pork belly was incredibly tender and all those flavors in the rice bowl mixed together perfectly: sweet, savory, salty, spicy, DELIGHTFUL! Prices are a little high, as I’ve found with most Korean restaurants in the area, but the portions are large and we were very satisfied after splitting only one appetizer and one entrée. I can’t wait to return and try ALL of their unique dishes.

The place is cozy with friendly staff. What more to not like at first sight. The place is quietly nestled beside a coffee bar. One look, you can say interior is just done enough. They have bar seating which can be quite interesting watching them cook.
Their complimentary appetizers (Pickled radishes, kimchi) were appetizing. Our waiter was patient enough to explain how certain dishes are made. we ordered for the pancakes and veggie dumplings. The dumplings were well fried. The pancakes was a recommendation which wasn’t wel received. The pancake reminded me of indian pancakes. I guess I was expecting a different taste.
For entrée we had the kimbhap mixed rice bowl
And shrimp with grits. I liked the shrimp and grits, felt more wholesome. The quantity might be deceiving but the Tummy would disagree otherwise. The rice bowl is definitely a portion for 2.
One the whole, a very pleasant experience but I left with more wants.

The first thing we noticed as we stepped into this restaurant was that the staff were very friendly. The place seemed cozy and we were soo handed over a print out. It immediately gave me the idea that they change their menu often and I couldn’t wait to try the dishes. Our waiter was very patient in answering all our questions and gave us some suggestions as well. So we started with Seasonal veggies dumplings. You would have had pan fried dumplings, but these seem to be in between pan and deep fried. It had a crisp exterior and the inside was moist and soft. That vanished in no time and then came kimchi pancake. We called dosa in simple terms. It might be new for other taste palettes but we have had many varieties of dosa and this didn’t quite wow us.
For entrée I had the shrimp and grits and it was the perfect fusion of Korean and southern comfort food. The miso broth was warm and oh the grits had a pinch of kimchi which tasted soooo good. My husband ordered the mixed rice bowl with seitan and we weren’t overwhelmed by it. It was a little too much for one person and we felt it should be shared among 2 people. When the veggies and rice were mixed, the whole dish was kinda lukewarm or cold so that didn’t please us too much. However we found many others to be enjoying it.
Now to finish all this came the ginger lemongrass crème bruleè which was so flavorful and yummy.
Overall we did have a good time and would want to come back to check out their other specialities.