Le Gourmet Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Iowa City

First time customer, as we walk in to dine the couple greeted us nicely with a smile, especially the wife. As we walk to the dining she told us to sit close to the glass wall, we asked her to switch tables so our kid won’t play with the nice curtain they have, she said it was okay. As we are trying to figure out our order since it was our first time seeing their menu we took our time , it wasn’t busy at that time since it was already past 2pm. Our 4 year old kid keep on switching chairs going to her dad’s chair then wants her mommy, well she’s a kid, our kid wanted attention but our kid never hurt or destroy any of the restaurant stuff. As my husband trying to order it online since the lady said we can order online , I was busy trying to get my kid to sit still and my kid was facing the counter where the lady owner was standing and waiting, I heard her yell at my kid “STOP” like she’s mad!!! , first of all my kid is a kid, my kid didn’t do anything wrong to you so don’t treat your customer like that!!! And it’s not your job to tell our kid to stop since she didn’t do anything wrong to you! If you can’t deal with things like that then you need to put that on your policy that no kids allowed!!! You need be respectful without us as your customer you guys don’t have business!!!!! You hurt my feelings how you treated my kid!!! After the lady yell at my kid to stop, she didn’t know I heard her, she waited like 3-5minutes then she went to our table right away and told us to order at the counter since sometimes card is not working, why she didn’t say that in the beginning. Then I took my kid out to go for a walk at the mall while we were waiting for the food to be serve. When the food came she was smiling like she didn’t treated my kid bad , I’m Asian too and my attitude is way far better than you. We will not be returning and I will never recommend this restaurant. First of all it’s over price and you don’t get much of the food portion especially the bulgogi on hot stone bowl it’s like a 1 tbsp serving of meat only…and If I was just rude with what you did to my kid , we would of left the restaurant but since we’re already sitting I decided to stay. Poor service , LACK OF RESPECT TO CUSTOMER!!!! By the way my kid still remember what...

As someone who was fortunate enough to grow up eating home-cooked meals by a Korean mother, Le Gourmet is the closest thing I can find in Iowa City that embodies my mom's cooking.

It's run entirely by an older Korean couple and as far as I can tell they do everything themselves, the cooking, cleaning, prepping and maintaining the service side of things. They have no workers or additional help they employ, and as such there is a hard limit for how much just two people can accomplish. Forgive the obvious language barrier, and discount the bare-bones service and decor, because everything else is more than made up for by the food.

This is literally a mom and pop shop that is worth wholeheartedly supporting, warts and all. I distinctly remember when they use to run the hole in the wall cafe near the Capitol Street entrances and to see them be able to upgrade to a brick and mortar is just great.

The Old Cap Mall is a terrible location, their hours are a little awkward, but the food is so so worth it because it's honest and from the heart. Come in, tell your friends about it, because these are the type of joints that are worth fighting...

2024 update: This place is still amazing. They moved to a bigger location in the capitol mall. They have a different menu too. I got their summer chicken soup which was outstanding, ate everything. Their tuna mayo and beef gimbap are also delicious. I don’t think you can go wrong ordering anything here. The owners are the sweetest people and always check to make sure you enjoy the food and are taken care of. I really miss their chicken wings (some of the best in Iowa city IMO) but those may come back to the menu!

I’m obsessed with this place now. I can’t remember how I found it but I’m glad I did. Their bento boxes are wonderful. I love that they always change the side dishes you get with it and so far all have been delicious. I’ve had spicy pork and Korean bbq beef so far, preferred the pork. The chicken wings are probably the best I’ve had in Coralville/NL/Iowa city..soooo good and cooked to perfection. I can’t wait to try...