THE NAMU Korean Japanese kitchen & izakaya — Restaurant in Coral Springs

I don’t review everywhere I go. But this was such a last minute decision that turned into positive memory that I had to share. A friend and I were looking for a place to dine before the band GDR would play at Sharkeys in the same plaza. On a Saturday evening around 6pm the place was packed. (Will do reservations in the future). We only had a wait time of 15 minutes and it was spot on. We didn’t mind the wait as there was a small boutique to the left of the hostesses stand. You can find cute little items from bracelets, to socks, snacks and more. I found an adorable owl made of felt and ribbon. Super cute and only $10. We got the text that our table was ready. Not only do an exceptional job greeting you when you arrive but are warm and welcoming as well. They kitchen staff must work miracles to not only feed everyone for the restaurant but the “to-go orders” line is just as busy. (I wish we lived closer as I’d be there more often). Once seated, and handed a very large menu (I was surprised how readable it was. (No small print). We were then instructed to “press the button” that is on the table, when we were ready to order. Well this took a little as the extensive menu that looked like we should have brought more people with us so we could get more food than the two of us could eat. Narrowing down our options was a bit of a challenge. Especially as we watched one deliciously tempting plate after another would come out of the kitchen to other tables. Finally deciding to do things to share we ordered Edamame, Shrimp Spring Rolls, Seafood Pancake, and Kimchi Beef Fried Rice. We ordered too much. When all the delectable mouthwatering feast was spread upon the table we forgot to take pictures and couldn’t wait a moment to taste the extraordinary smorgasbord we ordered. After oohing an aahing over the exquisite flavorful food, we ran out of stars to give. More than 5 or 10. This was galaxies worth to out shine Michelin stars that are given. If you’ve ever had a spring roll anywhere you know that your finger will feel a tad greasy. You need a napkin of some sort. Well not here. The delicate yet crispy crust left no trace on you fingers or palette but just the richness of made fresh by hand ingredients. The Kimichi Beef Fried Rice was so well balanced in savory richness and a tad of spicy kick. The beef was so tender it almost melts in your mouth. The Seafood Pancake comes out on a hot plate and the crispy crust on the bottom was golden brown. We tried to pull a single slice out but it is so stuffed with seafood that it comes apart and is delicate. The flavor was delicious and is most definitely large enough to share with many people. The edamame was cooked to perfection. Not overly or under, very lightly salted. All in all, you’d need a thesaurus in several languages to say, “I’ll always want to return to a place that feels so warm and welcoming where every bite of food earns endless compliments and leaves you with a comforting joy that creates memories worth sharing.” If you live close (lucky you) from those we talked to say the food is just as amazing by the time you get it home as it is served fresh to the table. But I highly recommend going. There are wonderful items to look at around the restaurant. Its decode is fun, eye catching and even has some tongue in cheek humor. Yes this is also great to bring families as we saw kids absolutely enjoying their meals. Dine-in or take-out but this is a must to add to your top places to go and...

This is the second time coming to this restaurant. Tonight I thought it was just okay.

Ambiance: It’s good for what it is. I’ve definitely been to small business with a more cohesive look on the inside but it was clean. Nothing to complain about but definitely not wowed by anything. It was a little warm and I commented on it to my husband several times. When I got up to leave and we walked back to the front of the restaurant I noticed a difference in temperature and it was much cooler. I’m not sure what that was about. The bathroom was clean although the paper towel dispenser did not work for me no matter how hard I tried to get it to work.

Service: Staff was friendly and our server came to our table in a reasonable time. Drinks and appetizers came out in a timely manner. But as the night progressed our server become more more scarce and we noticed other servers coming to our table more than him. We had to ask to order our entrees since he seemed to forget about us? We had to ask for our refills on drinks. Other staff helped clean our table and bring us togo boxes which was helpful but we did not know where our server went. We tried pressing the call button on our table but nothing happened. At the end of our meal, we had to ask someone else to bring us our bill. Overall, our server started off great but slacked in the end. However, his coworkers did help to pick up that slack which was fine for me.

Food: The boneless Korean wings were good. However, I wasn’t so fond of my entree. I got a pork Bibimbap and my mother in law got a chicken one. Hers was hot stone while mine was regular. I’ve had two Korean rice bowls from two different restaurants in the past couple of weeks and each time, the pork was well seasoned and had a smokey grill flavor. Tonight, the pork had absolutely NO seasoning. It’s like they chopped it up and cooked it and put it on the plate. I promise, Not even salt was used. Actually the whole dish tasted very fresh. If you’re okay with that, then maybe you’ll enjoy this dish. My mother in law also expressed that this time, she did not enjoy her entree either. It definitely looked better than it tasted. On the other hand, my husbands ramen dish was delicious and I loved how creamy it was. It wasn’t your typical soup style Ramen which was different but enjoyable. I began to take his sauce and put it on my rice for flavor, only then was my food enjoyable.

Overall, I wish I could give a 3.5 star rating. The experience was Okay. Not great(5 star) Not good(4 star) but simply okay or maybe a little better than okay which is why I gave the 3 star.

Would I recommend? Yes for certain dishes like the Korean wings and ramen. Certain things on the menu I do not care for so just be mindful on what you order.

I will upload photos but the pictures definitely look better...

My friend and I went there for the first time, the host was very nice and took us to a cozy booth, kind of away from other customers.. we were grateful because it was our first time for both of us 😆 the smell alone, upon entering, got us excited.. we couldn’t figure out what to order first.. I got a Makgeoli drink, strawberry flavored and she ordered a Korean beer.. the Makgeoli exceeded my expectations, soft and sweet and the right amount of alcohol, and it comes in a super cute jar that has a hole to keep ice in ! The beer was served with a super chilled glass. We never ate at a Korean place before, so we ordered an appetizer to share (6) KFC bone in wings, soy spicy (just a hint of spicy) they served with a delicious salad and tray of pickled vegetables on the side( the famous kimchi, pickled radishes, fish cakes etc) Then I ordered the beef bulgogi plate that the awesome waiter recommended, and my friend had a bowl of Udon. We didn’t know the portions would be so big. And should simply have shared lol we only tasted each other’s dishes.. next time we will eat differently lol the server lit up a little furnace and placed the beef on top.. it was beautiful and fragrant and full of flavor.. the broth is amazing, and all goes so well with the white rice served on the side. I also got a tray of lettuce and sauces to use with my beef and rice like a taco.. oh yummm… My friend’s Udon was amazing also, the noodles are soft but not soggy and vegetables are amazingly scrumptious. We were full before reaching half of our plates. We wanted to leave space for dessert and I wanted to drink my makgeoli lol.. For dessert we got those sorbet type of balls, I forgot the names 😩 but they are like soft thin dough balls with sorbet ice cream in the middle. You bite and it melts in your mouth but it’s also a bit chewy at the end, but sweet, but not too sweet. We tried mango, chocolate and strawberry.. wow wow and wow. No regrets here for anything ! We decided to come back soon and try other things fearlessly.. I want to say more but I am so full and happy right now, I just want to sit here and smile for a while lol.. over all, we had an amazing and pleasant experience. Ten thumbs up! ( if all my fingers were thumbs! ) thank you to the sweet staff, they seem to have been a bit short of staff but all the face we saw were pleasant and sweet. Thank you! ( I forgot to take a pic of the Udon.. ) I hope my friend posts...