Han River Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in North Island

Took my teenage daughter here for her birthday as she wanted to eat at a Korean restaurant and I didn't want to go all the way into Wellington (we are based in UH) googled Korean restaurant and search results came up with Han River. Read the online reviews, and they were all positive, so I was looking forward to it. Parking was a little challenging. We ended up parking closer to Countdown and had a little stroll to the restaurant. I recommend ringing the restaurant at about 330pm or the day before to make a reservation. It was rather busy. We went to the reception and got seated straight away. Nice quaint little restaurant. Not overly huge or small. Our host was extremely attentive to us. Very humble, softly spoken, respectful, and warm gentleman. We were given cold refreshing water as soon as we were seated along with the menu. Because it was my first time here and not very familiar with korean dishes, I was stuck on what to choose. They did have the well-known chicken katsu on the menu, but I was more after a hot pot. They had photos next to the dishes, which really helped, too, plus my teen daughters, who seemed to know everything. We went with fried squid with honey mustard as our appetiser, and then got a chicken katsu, a hot pot with extra rice cake which was a shared meal (feeds 2-4), and a spicy squid and pork belly dish that was also a shared meal. That was sweet and spicy and definitely had a kick. We devoured that. We got small bowls of rice, seaweed, kimchi, and fish cake along with it. They were like side dishes to the mains. Once we finished eating, we stacked all our plates, bowls, and cutlery up on the table (is this just a maori thing? I notice not a lot of people do this. We always do it!) We paid, and again, the gentleman was very thankful and humble. I absolutely loved it here at Han River and will definitely come back to try more...

The Han River restaurant is in Lower Hutt and is run by a Korean family(?) I'm not sure where he (the owner) was from. I didnt have a chance to chat as he looked terribly busy. My wife ordered appetizers from the menu. Panchen and deep fried squid turned up and was very well presented. Korean dishes with a New Zealand touch you could say. Next came the main dishes to which we had bimbimbap with beef. "Stirred rice" can also vegetarian as it has a lot vegetable components and of course the go-chu jang hot sauce. I had a chicken katsu, which is basically a chicken fillet crumbled and deep fried. My daughter had chicken pieces enrobed in sweet honey-soy sauce. Both of these dishes came with rice and a side salad. Universally, Korean dishes are served with "side dishes" such as Kim-chi, chillied tofu and other vegetable dishes. Overall, the service was good, the waiter/ owner was pleasant and able to speak very good English and I'm glad to say that he also understood my Korean. The prices for what we ordered ranged from $23-29. A tad expensive but a reflection...

The food is good and ambience is not bad though do not have the authentic Korean setting. Very modern. The side dishes given are few compared to those in Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. The side dishes also don’t taste as good. Their only nice side dish is the one with peas and beans in watery salad sauce. Their kimchi only taste of vinegar, so paled in comparison to those you find at other places. Their grill is good. It’s a pity that they don’t provide the dip, garlic and lettuce to wrap the meat. It will definitely taste better if they did that. Service wasn’t as warm as those who received from Korean operators living in Singapore and Malaysia. Their seafood pancake is good and I recommend this dish. Doenjang is not as good as those I tasted. I suppose I am more critical because I have tasted better Korean food in other countries. Will still recommend this place to satisfy craving for...