Kimchi Time — Restaurant in Tucson

It’s pretty disappointing how terrible the experience was here considering how great the reviews were. We were seated right away and got water, drinks and kimbap as an appetizer. It took over 40 minutes to get our drinks and the kimbap, but at least the kimbap was tasty. I noticed the waitress was on her phone most of the time and never refilled our water, but she was at least friendly. We ordered the Korean fried chicken, kimchi jigae, beef bulgogi, and japchae. It all took a while for us to get as well, which I would understand around dinner time, but the restaurant was not very busy. The Korean chicken came out first and was delicious, especially the sauce and a crispy skin. However, the chicken itself did taste a bit off and a little dry. When we did finally get the rest of our meal, it did not meet expectations. I’ve been eating Korean food my whole life with my mom being Korean herself and my grandma cooking authentic meals for us for years. I have found good Korean restaurants in Tucson before, but this is not one of them. The beef bulgogi was rubbery and flavorless, the kimchi jigae did not even taste like kimchi and my friends even compared its taste to spaghettios- just tomatoey and watery. The japchae sadly missed the mark as well, it was bland and just had a weird aftertaste. Our waitress was nice when we told her, and got the manager for us. The manager told her she tastes everything herself before sending it out, which I can appreciate that at least everything was fresh, the taste of everything and texture of the meat was just not great. The atmosphere of the restaurant was cozy and I saw they had a karaoke room which could be fun. I could see the potential of this place being good if you just come here to drink, sing karaoke, and maybe eat some Korean...

So we went to Kimchi Time for a late lunch/early diner. Place was not busy when we got there and we were seated immediately. Waitress asked if we wanted water and brought us two glasses a couple of minutes later. We ordered Korean Street Tacos as an app but we were told they were out of those. So we ordered the Korean Chicken Wings.

About five minutes later we went to order our entrees. My wife Kimchi Jigae and she was told they were out so she ordered the spicy beef and vegetable soup and some jeon; I ordered the sweet and spicy ribs.

Our chicken wings came out and we're delicious. About 15 minutes after our entree order was taken another member of the staff came over and explained that they were actually out of ribs. So I asked for the menu and ended up ordering Dookbaegi. The food was great.

Now here is the problem: we have been going to Kimchi Time since they were much smaller with white walls. The place was always hopping every time we went in, the staff was very friendly and attentive and the food was always fantastic and never out.

Now it has expanded and it looks like the college hangout vibe is being pushed. The staff are courteous but I would not call them friendly and they certainly are not attentive.

To be out of parts of the menu so early when you are not busy means there is a problem. At a minimum you should put a list up of what is unavailable instead of happy hour specials.

It will be awhile before we go back, instead we will go to our other favorite place on Speedway for our...

I went here on a weekday evening in a group of three. We seated ourselves and waited for menus. After receiving the menus and placing our drink orders it seemed to take longer than I expected to place orders for our entrees. The bon chan (the little snacks) also arrived later than it has been served at other Korean style restaurants at which I've eaten. Despite the extra wait, the flavors were vibrant and full. The only quirk for me was a dish that seemed to be mashed potatoes with corn kernels - I hadn't seen that at any other similar restaurant. The meal was served, again taking longer than I would expect given the staff and customers I could see. Once again, the food was pleasing. I had kimchi jigae (kimchi soup) which was served boiling hot, as it should. I wasn't asked how spicy I wanted the soup, but it met my desired level - a little sweat on my brow and some sniffling - but not painfully spicy. My friends enjoyed their dishes of chicken bugogi and spicy rice with chicken. It was their first experience with Korean food. Our drinks were refilled promptly but it took awhile to receive the check even though the staff had cleared one person's place and we had eaten most everything set out. The price was reasonable to me, our group ate for about $60 with tip. I'm not from Tucson, so this may not seem as...