The Seoul Chicken — Restaurant in University Place

I’ve driven by this place wondering if it was going to open for years and it FINALLY opened! I knew it was going to be crazy busy before I pulled up and the “soft opening” sign confirmed it for me. I placed my order for L.A. Kalbi which wasn’t cheap at $30. There was no forewarning about wait time before I ordered which normally would’ve been concerning but I knew what I was getting into. So I asked for an ETA and was told about 30 minutes. They’re slammed and are getting things figured out so I assumed that 30 minute quote was a fairytale. At 45 minutes they called out “Order 21!”. Cool, I’m only one order away, not too bad all things considered.

I wait another 15 minutes, and the server walks out asking, “who’s Order 23?”. This had me a little perturbed. I am not happy, but I’m also not being a Richard, I patiently wait to get the young man’s attention that’s working the register. He’s doing his best and it IS the soft opening after all. I’ve been there and it’s not his fault that the manager/owner is allowing them to bite off more than they can chew. Again, it’s a learning curve at a brand new restaurant. It’s to be expected.

But then things became very unacceptable. They weren’t answering my question, they didn’t know what my order was, and just gave me some generic answer, I’ve now gone from still somewhat understanding to unamused. I explain to them that I’ve been waiting an hour after being told 30 minutes. Instead of apologizing and checking on the status, another young man comes up and explains to me like I’m a moron “uh, Sir.. chicken orders cook faster so that’s why we are cooking orders after yours” as they are now calling our “Order 27!”

I explain to this young gentleman that I understand how cooking proteins work and that some orders cook faster than others. I then reiterated that what he said doesn’t answer my question at all. Keep in mind I’m very annoyed at this point but am in no way causing a scene or being extra.

This guy literally tells me, “well we will just give you a refund”

“No, SIR you won’t. You’ll cook the food I paid for. I’m not allowing you to bail out. Now, tell me what’s going on with my order..”

They hadn’t even started it.

They were just going to keep pushing out everyone else’s orders and leave me hanging.. The guy that just spent $40 including a nice tip BEFORE getting my food (big mistake).

They tell me it’ll be 15 minutes…

It’s now 90 minutes in and there’s my food! The nice guy that was sunk by management handed me the bag and it’s INSANELY light. I instantly know there’s something wrong with my order.

I open it directly in front of them and confirm my suspicions.

Not only was it an unbelievably light amount of short ribs for $18, I spent THIRTY DOLLARS!!! And it was missing the RICE!!! There’s zero vegetables. Zero flash. Zero care. I just paid $30 plus a nice tip for them to waist an hour and a half of my life and then not only provide a lackluster dish, they FORGOT THE RICE!!!

I never write reviews. But this was so astonishingly bad that I’m still parked out front typing this and haven’t eaten a single bite of food yet.

I don’t know what they think this is, but you can’t get away with treating customers like this. ESPECIALLY not when you’re charging insane prices and then put zero care or effort into it.

To me, most would’ve been forgiven during a soft launch. But to the second young man who interacted with me (not the pleasant young man working the register), you may single handedly torpedo this entire business if you keep up what you did tonight.

Food for...

I have been waiting for this place to open for SOOO long and its finally here. A great Korean spot right here in UP! No need to go down to S Tacoma Way anymore for good Korean food. Came in about 40 minutes prior to closing. Staff was all very welcoming and genuinely seemed happy to see me. Like any respectable Korean restaurant, there was great Kpop music videos and dancing playing on the TVs. Being my first time, I had to get a bunch of stuff, even though it was just me. So I ordered the Kimchi Cheese Pancake, six piece Sweet & Spicy Chicken, and Rosé Tteok-Boki. Banchan (multiple little Korean side dishes and accoutrements) came included with the meal. Thankfully they had ice cold Diet Coke (and other beverages) to satisfy my thirst.

The Kimchi Pancake…if you’ve never had one before, do yourself a favor and order one, but make sure you have someone to share it with because this thing is massive. Its like a foot in diameter! Crispy fried edges and soft chewy interior with big bites of kimchi, covered in ooey gooey melted cheese, and a delicious sauce to dip it in. Just phenomenal! I haven’t had a really good Kimchi Cheese Pancake outside of K-Town in LA. This one has all the right stuff.

Now for the Chicken. I wont dare call them “wings” cause these aren’t puny wings. These things are full on drumsticks and it seems like these chickens must have been following Arnold Schwarzenegger’s leg day routine. Each piece takes multiple full bites to finish, pulling off decent sized chunks of meat with each bite. And an order of 6 for $11?!? Its crazy! They are absolutely delicious.

I took the Tteok-Boki to go, tried it later. The “rice cakes” in the sauce are like gummy, pillowy marshmallow-esqe bites of heaven, in a rich, spicy, creamy sauce with bits of fish cake for protein and crunchy veggies….mmmm. This is what you want to eat on a cold drizzly Washington day, and with a little touch of spiciness to get the sinuses opened up.

All in all it was a warm, cozy and delicious experience. I can’t wait to bring in co-workers and family and friends to support this wonderful new addition to the UP food scene. Come in and try it all, family style. If you’ve never tried Korean food, just order a bunch of stuff and be adventurous. Korean food is vibrant and...

I am not a food critic, but I love food, especially Korean food. I am writing this review genuinely in hopes that the owners will improve their food quality. They were lovely people and the atmosphere was great. However, the food was not good. We ordered Hot stone bibimbap meal combo that came out with bulgogi, sweet and spicy chicken, and Tteok Bokki. Bibimbap was average at best, the gochujang was blend. Tteok bokki was also average but bit over priced. My biggest issue was the sweet and spicy chicken. If you are expecting yang nyum chicken like BBQ or Pelicana do not go here. It was salty and tasted like chili sauce you get from Chinese restaurant. The skin was crispy so I think fried chicken might be better. Bulgogi was also very salty and not...