Korean restaurant TOKKI — Restaurant in Coimbra

A super-friendly, tasty little Korean snack bar right on the high street!

In all honesty, I was on my way to a nearby brunch spot when I saw the sidewalk sign showing off Korean dishes. As I am always craving Asian food, and especially after being up in the cold, wet mountains for days eating nothing but bread and ham, this was calling out. I made a quick detour from my plan and headed inside, already knowing what I want.

Greeted by perhaps one of the most friendly people I've come across who was so engaging and seems to love chatting to his customers, and seems genuinely interested in talking to them. He asked me about my spice tolerance level as I ordered something that is considered spicy. Now, I'm still unsure how to approach that in Europe as in Portugal (or UK) it really doesn't seem to mean much and everytime I am told a dish is spicy, it barely has any heat. However, in Spain, the Korean food blew me away with its heat! Never having been to Coimbra and knowing it's a university town with students from all over, I figured it may be spicy.

I can't say it was particularly hot to me. (Temperature-wise it was, and it was really quick service as well!) But it was not as mild as Asian dishes in the south of Portugal, so that was nice. And the owner(?), gave me a complimentary bottle of water just in case it was too spicy. I thought that was so kind and thoughtful. It really took the experience up a level. Rarely have I experienced such care in restaurants, anywhere.

Spice level aside, it was still flavourful and packed full of ingredients! Everything was cooked so well, and the variety of soup ingredients was so appreciated. Rice cakes and ramen were not soggy at all. Perfect. It really hit the spot. It's exactly what I had hoped to get when I walked in, and I'm sure glad that I didn't go to the brunch place down the road!

Decor is very "k-pop"-oriented and clean. It reminds me of some Korean karaoke bars and cafés in my home city, and that bit of authenticity goes a long way.

I am definitely looking forward to returning next time...

Highly recommend, I repeat, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. This is not a typical Portuguese cafe, nor even a typical cafe. Tokki is a cafe where you can grab a Korean-style snack and enjoy the contemporary Korean urban cafe atmosphere, aka purple(and here is Coimbra, a historical city in Portugal). I took a toast(Tokki toast, I guess it would be the signature one?)for my daughter and skewered chicken(Dak-Kochi) with spicy sauce. Both of them are hearty size and yes, it was really yummy. Both of them have an authentic Korean taste(the sauce for the chicken was not hot but the taste is authentic in a yummy way) and especially the toast is less greasy and well-balanced (I like Portuguese toast, but many of them are quite greasy or sauce for meat kills other taste, personal opinion). My daughter still talks about Tokki toast, since we can not find the same kind of toast here (Luxembourg), she has desired it more and more. ah, also, I did takeout, and you know, you can see how they try to be nice on detail from the package(no photo though, sorry, I was in trans to eat :D)

The atmosphere of this cafe is nice and quite unique, I guess you can not find any other place similar to here in Portugal(at least in Coimbra). It is not just a typical Asian style cafe, It shows a very contemporary vibe and is small but on every corner, you can find pieces of modern Korean. I wonder how many (especially)young dudes in Coimbra would see this review, but if so, I only can say. visit here. NOW. (Please?)

This cafe runs by one nice Korean couple, They are really friendly, and creative and explained to me about the menu and Coimbra. They make kimchi for the menu by themselves, I would like to try kimchi toast next time. And they are also so-called ambassadors of K-pop in Coimbra. So if you are a fan of it you can also get info or visit k-pop related events. Thanks a lot, and looking...

[edited 2 times] No es un coreano. Una hamburguesa de ternera no es "bulgogi" (véase foto del "bulgogi"). Por echarle salsa de soja coreana no haces un plato mediocre en coreano. La bebida estrella es aquarius de colores. Lugar cutre, comida mediocre y obligándote a ir tú a la barra a pedir. Response to owner's comment: what an unfortunate way to answer an opinion. You should not make any assumptions on your customers: 1.- I don't care where are you from, nor if you are a good person or not. I went there for Korean food, and I did not get any. Moreover, your nationality doesn't imply that you know how to cook your food, which stands obvious. 2.- Grilled beef (written in your menu) is not a hamburger. 3.- Your special drink is an isotonic powder drink, which doesn't imply that wasn't bad at all. 4.- Yes, it is possible to know that rice with soy sauce and a hamburger is not a Korean dish. Bulgogi sauce implies more than that.

Sad that you erased your unfortunated comments, my answer will still be here to...