BORI Korean Kitchen — Restaurant in Bellevue

food is mid, service is soso -

Food: 1 star Price: 3 stars Service: 2 stars Ambiance: 4 stars Overall: 2.5 stars

We decided to check out the new Korean place that replaced chi Mac in factoria, and I made a reservation at 11am. It was, however, quite empty with only one couple dining inside.

They asked if we want hot tea or water, and we asked for hot tea. The temperature of the tea is much warmer than most places, which is closer to room temperature (I prefer hotter tea).

The ambiance of the place is quite nice as they are blasting Korean music and I've heard most of the kpop songs they played. The indoor decor is interesting, but the chairs and the plates they use somehow fit nicely together. The restaurant fits 40 customers, but I think the chairs weren't very comfortable. They display assorted side dishes there to sell as well, and all of them were $4.99. They have kiosks for placing takeout orders as well.

We ordered seafood pancake and J1 gamja jeongol. Seafood pancake came after 10 minutes, and it was nice and crispy outside. However, it's a bit too thick for my liking. They also gave us two side dishes: marinated potato and kimchi. The potato tasted like something I could have made at home. The kimchi is soso and we didn't touch it after initial tasting. Both of them were underwhelming.

Shortly after, the gamja jeongol came, and they asked us if we need any rice. We thought it's odd because most places will just provide two bowls of rice as the pot is obviously big enough to feed two. We asked for one bowl of rice since we normally don't eat much rice. The soup was alright, but not as good as the ones I've had in other places like Bon in Redmond or Modoo in Lynnwood.

I asked for a container for the soup, and the waiter brought the bill. The default tipping is 20% and the lowest on the screen is 18%, which was ridiculous since they don't really do much other than refilling your tea once. (I had to get their attention to refill my marinated potato side dish because they just hide behind the counter). They also didn't give me a plastic bag to carry the container like most places did despite the soup being burning hot and it's nearly impossible to carry. It's almost like the waiters will only do the minimal, but the lowest tipping % on screen is 18%. No offense, it should be 10% for this place lol.

I actually came here due to yelp, so I had a high expectation. I am super disappointed in the service and the food. They didn't charge us for the rice in the end, but they should have given us two like everywhere else. They were super stingy about side dishes (most places give you 4 instead of 2, and they will at least keep refilling it) as well. The food was disappointing and aren't as good as other places. Honestly the soup tastes like pre-packaged soup, but maybe that's just what homemade soup tastes like. But most homemade places has excellent side dishes, but not here. I think this place will be gone like chi Mac if they don't step up on their...

Cute restaurant went during soft opening.

Waitresses were super sweet in giving us suggestions on what they recommended on the menu.

We got the yangnyeom chicken wings, it is on the sweeter side would like it to be a bit more crispy. Sauce has a good balance of sweet and savory, not spicy and a bit on the sweeter side.

The teas Ube Assam and green tea were so so so good.

We also got 1. Oh- saam medium spicy .... it wasn't spicy maybe on a 1-5 thai spicy it was a 1 Flavor could be more impactful but overall just good.

Kimchijigae - not sour enough. Assuming they didn't use fermented enough kimchi maybe this will improve the longer they are open.

Soondubu jigae (not pictured) was good!

Sides of Kimchi and fish cake Kimchi is more ggeotjori and fish cake is pretty standard compared to most korean places.

We had a little issue with hair being in our food, but it was addressed quickly and professionally and it was the soft opening and mistakes are understandable and can be corrected.

I definitely would be willing to come back and try the "coming soon" things...

Came here on a Sunday night during their soft opening. The restaurant is pretty small - maybe 10 4 tops and 4 2 tops. If you come with 6 people, it’ll be hard to get you in. If you’re the 2nd 6 top then you’ll have to wait for them to finish.

We ordered the chicken wings. It was okay. Not memorable. We got the bossam which was great. Also got the spicy squid which was surprisingly tender. You’ll get free cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi with your meal. If you order more than $50, you can go pick out 2 more from the cooler. No refills on those. Else it’s $5 for those additional sides. We got the anchovies and bean sprouts which were good as well. I thought the kimchi was overly seasoned/salty.

Service was a bit slow even though there were 3 waitresses for the restaurant. They did get full close to 6:30pm so don’t blame them. Luckily you can get their attention pretty easily.

All in all, I think we’d come back if we’re craving Korean food in the area. I think Mamas is still better but they don’t have bossam or the spicy...