Rice Kitchen — Restaurant in New York

The food is fine. The service is awful.

This spot has made-to-order Korean-style rice bowls and kimbap. I ordered the black sesame tuna kimbap and the bulgogi rice bowl with kimchi aioli on top. As soon as I walked in, though, and saw the cashier, I just had a weird feeling. She gave me a strange, unwelcoming look as I approached the counter, and after I said I'd like the tuna kimbap, and as I was mid-sentence about to order a second item, she cut me off, spun the screen around so I could pay, and told me the total cost of what I'd have to pay. I wrinkled my brow, paused, and told her I wasn't done. She didn't apologize, turned the screen back to her, sighed, and said, "Okay, what else would you like?" She didn't bother asking me if I wanted a drink or anything else after the first kimbap order was made clear, or even after I ordered another main. She seemed like a ditzy worker who couldn't even be bothered actually being hospitable, and I was not pleased at all with the service. Even when I popped my head in to see if my order was ready, she simply shook her head and said, "No, not ready yet."

The food was good and fresh. But the flavors felt muted for Korean food. The kimchi aioli flavor was very subtle. Kimchi flavor isn’t supposed to be subtle by definition.

Decent spot for quick fresh food, but lots of better options nearby. And the service is awful, so I...

bulgogi kimbap has everything you want— marinated savory beef, sushi-grade rice, egg, and a bunch of veggies rolled up in seaweed and slice up into bite-sized rolls. sound delicious? it is. where to get it? Rice Kitchen. the fast casual Korean eatery is a small SUPERclean uncluttered space doling out a variety of comfort eats at reasonable prices. the interior is relaxed and modern. there is no interior dining but there is some outdoor dining out front.

i know there are other items in the menu but get the bulgogi kimbap. it has everything you want in a meal and is easily shareable between two people for a savory snack. the kimbap has savory elements, sweet and crunchy elements from the veggies, some fatty smoothness from the eggs, and it combines for a satisfying portable light meal. i was impressed by how well packaged my takeout order was. tightly packed so nothing jostled or fell outta place. bulgogi kimbap $10 + tax + tip

perfect spot for a quick lunch if you’re in SoHo or South Village. also if you’re too busy to cook, this was a perfect lazy day meal.

the staff is...

A small place to get quick Korean food. The folks working there are helpful and give thoughtful advice for those who are unsure about their options.

We got the bulgogi kimbap and spicy pork kimbap. It would have been nice if the kimbap came with some kimchi by default, but maybe not many people would be into that?

There was a bit of a wait to get our food since the place was quite popular and there were many Uber/Foodora orders coming in, but they were super efficient and overall the waiting time was reasonable.

There isn't any seating inside and a few tables outside so we got ours to go. They held up quite well until we were able to find somewhere to sit.

Don't let the relatively small size of the box fool you into being preemptively disappointed. Each piece is denser than a bowling ball and one kimbap is more than satisfactory for one person.

Overall, the kimbap were delicious, and well worth the price - I feel hungry just writing this review 🤤

Thoughts on being able to pick two kimbap options in a single order, or a combo with both kimbap...