Mom & Bop — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Stumbled upon this Korean place during a business trip to LA. As a frequent visitor to Korea and Korean food enthusiast, I was very impressed with the taste and quality of their food. Looking around me I saw what appeared to be authentic Korean staples (BiBimBap, Japchae) being enjoyed by other patrons, mostly local college students. I ordered KimChi stew (KimchiJigae) which was excellent! 5-stars for the food. The prices were fair.

My one Star reduction was for the restaurant operations. Despite signs saying Order Here at the counter, you must order online or at a kiosk that I found rather clunky and required constant multiple key-presses to work. The kiosk was out of paper and unable to print a receipt. I found the tables and seating to be rather dirty and stained. Yes, there are signs around asking you to clean up after yourself, which I was happy to do, but eating a slurpy soup is bound to splatter all over, no matter how careful you are. I wiped up after myself with the few paper napkins given, but the table was stained nonetheless, by myself and previous dinners.

My final regret was the wide use of single-use plastics. The trash was overflowing with plastic cutlery and bowels....all going to the trash dump. I found this unusual, as most other Korean "fast food" places I've experienced, either use reusable metal cutlery and plastic bowls, or modern compostable bowls and sustainable wooden cutlery (for which I'd be willing to pay a little more for).

Finally, I was shocked they didn't offer any tea. It wasn't on the Online Menu and I asked at the counter.

In summary. Excellent food. Despite the low-market location and fast-casual clientele, I was surprised at the general lack of cleanliness and use of...

I live just down the block and was pretty happy to see this Korean place move in to the little strip mall across from SMCC, but I wasn't expecting much. The prices are about what you'd expect in Santa Monica, ~$13 per entree, and the food blew me away. We had the bulgogi bowl and kimchi fried rice. I love kimchi fried rice and have eaten it all over LA, and all over Korea. This was the best I've ever had. Really great flavors with that slow burn that I always look for in this dish. The bulgogi bowl was delicious too with a nice smoky hint from the fried onions. They have this neat kimchi chimichurri sauce that I've never seen before, but it's a perfect fusion. Really cool idea to combine those, and works really well.

The place is cute and it really feels like whoever is running it is doing it as a labor of love. I'll definitely...

Not bad in terms of taste. It was so boiling hot that we had to eat slowly. And I regret ordering rice cake that is so small and little. Should have ordered tofu stew seafood. Next time then.

All self serve and they use plastic bowls. I hope it is safe for hot food. Service itself is nice, they can understand English well. The water is right there for you to take yourself.

The price has gone up due to inflation, which is understandable. Everyone needs to make money to survive. And money is getting thinner as well.

The only drawback is sometimes the tables are dirty because previous customers did not clean it for the next person. But we did.

I like hardworking immigrants and they worn hard. I will support them...