Kimchi — Restaurant in Canton Township

If I could only rate the food, this restaurant would get a 5-star rating. Everything comes out quickly and hot, and it is always delicious no matter what I order. I’ve been coming here for a few years now and the food has always been consistently amazing and delicious!

The service, however, is the reason I get take-out most of the time. There is one particular server that seems to rub people the wrong way. I’m all about having a light mood and good humor, but the delivery and tone of this server is particularly odd and unsettling, and almost unwelcoming. It’s hard to put a finger on how serious he is or how sarcastic he is because it s frankly not the type of appropriate response. For example, as soon as I walked in, I asked for a table of 4, then he responded with “Are you sure?” with a smirk. Huh? Then pointed at a nearby table for us to sit. My family and I sat down like we missed the punch line.

Then, while I was sitting down, a couple walked in and he complained about how he’s busy and doesn’t like working, and the couple nervously laughed and said “We will be quick, I promise!” (They didn’t close for another hour). And as far as my experience, when asked how spicy a dish would be, he responded “Oh, we won’t kill you. But if you want us to we can.” Over text, the joke seems mild and unassuming, however the delivery of it was off and unsettling.

Then I asked for a few boxes, but then he said “Are you sure?” again. After he walked away, I realized and groaned bc he’s probably going to bring actual boxes for the soup dishes we ordered. He said “Well she asked for boxes”, knowing fully well that the boxes weren’t appropriate for the leftover noodle soups.

There have been more instances like these, even through carry-out (for example, my mother picked up a carry-out order late when I ordered on the phone, but apparently they tried contacting me, but my phone service blocks out unknown caller IDs. So he proceeded to tell my mother, “You should yell at her, she’s being lazy and ignoring phone calls”) but after dining with my parents and how uncomfortable they felt, I realized it wasn’t normal and I figured I should say something.

These are things that are fixable and it still doesn’t negate the fact that the food quality is amazing— but hopefully the owners can consider the service...

This is the real deal! Finally a good, new Korean restaurant in Canton! So far we've had the Beef Bibimbap, Tofu Bibimbap, Bul go gi (popular Korean beef dish), and Khan Ping Gi (sweet & spicy chicken). If you want real Korean, this is the place to be. Each meal comes with a variety of 6 vegetable based sides (my favorite was the sesame daikon and spicy cucumber). These sides can change slightly per season, a typical thing in Korean restaurants. Each entree also comes with miso soup, unless you order a noodle bowl. Everything tasted so fresh and I loved that dishes weren't swimming in sauce.

About Bibimbap: if you've never ordered bibimbap before, you could order it in a hot stone bowl (dolsot bibimbap), or in a regular bowl. I suggest ordering in the dolsot to get a neat Korean experience, just be careful bc it's really hot! You can add spicy sauce, but add it a little at a time if you've never had it before. Mix it well so the veggies and rice cook well. I like the rice a little fried, so sometimes I'll let the food cook while I enjoy the soup/sides at the table. Note, sometimes the food can be REALLY hot, so sometimes I'll continue stirring longer to let the food cool a bit. Also, it seems like there isn't as much pressure to use chop sticks, and plenty of Koreans eat the bibimbap with a spoon!

Service & Decor: The service was super helpful so don't be afraid to ask for suggestions. The decor is a bit mixed - better than the previous Thai Bistro - I'm okay with the Asian paper shades but the pink seats and 60s-80s music CD could use updating. I have found though, that sometimes the best Asian restaurants don't have the best aesthetics, so these aren't deal breakers for me.

Kids: My daughter loved the miso soup and sharing the bibimbap. The restaurant has drinking cups with lids and straws for kids, and plastic plates if you prefer. She kept calling her miso soup "octopus soup" (even though it wasn't obviously), and the server seemed really nice and attentive to her needs as well.

I'm excited to try new dishes and will update this review as I go. So glad we don't have to go to Ann Arbor all the time for decent Korean food! We'll miss ordering our pad thai and eggplant dishes from Thai Bistro, but we can go down Ford Rd. to Lai...

We both felt rushed while ordering - 3 attempts to take our order from 2 people within 5 minutes or so. The server pressured my significant other into ordering by just standing there and ultimately, she did not enjoy the seafood gumbo that she ordered and asked to return the full serving. The server said she ordered it with her own free will and it's therefore not entitled to a refund - he was clearly annoyed by the situation. I explained how this is atypical of restaurants, who usually aim to do right by their customers, and he agreed? Despite his immediate contradiction, he was very rude and succeeded in embarrassing my girlfriend with his condescending delivery of "well the seafood gumbo has seafood.. ". She was well aware; simply did not enjoy the meal. She excused herself, embarrassed and upset. I begrudged him my card to settle the check.

Moments later I waved our server down to ask for a manager, but he would not stop by. After flagging down the nearest employee and explaining the situation, she told me my girlfriend was in the wrong. I explained it simply, "she did not enjoy her food and the server was rude to her". That seemed to click as she then offered a gift certificate in case we would want to come back to be further shamed for disliking the food. I refused and she ultimately refunded the cost of the untouched Seafood Gumbo.

Although an employee ultimately made things right, our night was ruined. I'm giving Kimchi 1 star for showing a serious lack in customer appreciation and respect. Simple politeness is all that was needed to mitigate the issues we...