HamaHippo Korean Kitchen

My first time here today. I was blown away by the taste of the food. With my server Tori’s great advice, I had the pork tofu soup. It was a great mix of savory blends…. I would come back here immediately..

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I got BiBim Nangmyeon (Spicy Cold Noodles) and Soondae (Blood Sausages). The sides were great. My favorite were the fish cakes since it was peppery (something I’ve never tried the way they made it). The tomato and cucumber salad was great, sour and refreshing. Kimchi tastes homemade, more on the gingery side of flavor. The only thing I would have preferred would be a stronger cold noodle broth. Prices were reasonable.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

A new local favorite for us. Great food, amazing staff. Thanks again!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was SO GOOD!!! I never leave reviews but for this one, I will because the food was very authentic Korean, seriously every bite I was doing a little dance with how delicious it was!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Pretty good Landon

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Outstanding, a keeper

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My extremely picky 9-year-old made me promise that everytime we go to the Fullerton area we MUST eat at HamaHippo!

The food is elegant, comforting, intentional, authentic and honest.

I had the Hama chicken and it was gloriously sticky with a punch of flavor.

The service was warm and made us feel like family. I brought my niece and nephew from Dallas because they only have Chinese food near them. They loved everything.

I will keep my promise and we will be back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The layout and cleanliness - 5
Food - 3
Service - 2

* Very very slow service
* Young lady server needs to smile and look at the tables, not just rush by constantly w/o giving any attention
* Food is mediocre, depends on the dish
* Music is toooooooo loud... turn that thing lower PLEASE.
* Side dishes were good
* Korean girls should speak Korean to Korean customers, not pretend to speak English. My Korean friend tried talking to her in Korean, but she ignored it... (maybe this is controversial?)
* Jangchi noodles did not taste like Jangchi party noodles
* The vibe was bad, stressful environment for some odd reason...

I felt stressed out the whole time I was there... just seeing the server's face stressed me out. The food took like 20min to come out, and no side dishes until the main dishes came out...

The slowest K restaurant I've ever been to.

Hope this feedback lights a fire to the owners and they improve....

🙏

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 2

Great food, fantastic wholesome service! Can’t wait to come back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was delicious and the service was exceptional

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

My wife and I have eaten here several times. Such an amazing place. The food is amazing and I highly recommend eating here for authentic Korean food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Everything about this place is amazing. This is coming from someone who has lived in South Korea. If you are looking for a your Korean spot, this is it.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This place is amazing. Korean food that is heavenly and an extremely friendly and attentive staff! Love this place. Do yourself a solid and head to this awesome restaurant ?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Tofu soup

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I am a first-generation Korean who visits Korea often. This place has become our go-to spot for Korean food (my husband who is 5th generation Californian).
- Tasty: Even my picky 80 years old uncle loves their food.
- Fresh ingredients: No frozen, no old ingredients
- They don't cut corners. For instance, one of favorite Korean dishes is stir-fried squid (calamari), which HamaHippo makes exceptionally well (try it with noodles if you can take gluten) - tasty and generous with the portion of squid. They close on Sunday but I needed to go out for a dinner, so I went to my former go-to Korean restaurant and ordered the same dish. Most of the dish was noodle with very little, not-well thawed squid. After visiting my former go-to Korean restaurant, I appreciate the food quality of HamaHippo even more. Another example, when you order Bibimbap, you will get variety of fresh, generous portion of vegetables.
- Super reasonable prices, especially considering how fresh the ingredients are.

Vegetarian options: I am a pescatarian. The owner says they can make any dish vegetarian-friendly, even vegan. For example, in my case, when I ordered Bibim Naeng Myun in a hot day, I asked if it was vegetarian. They usually use beef broth for the sauce but accommodated my dietary choice by bringing the beef broth separately, which my friend enjoyed. The dish was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Ban Chan, 2 - Seafood PA Jun, 16 - Bibim Naeng Myun, 9 - Tofu -Bibimbap, Tofu Dolsot Bibimbap, 4 - K F C