The food is okay, it's a good fusion spot. The Korean/Mexican play-on-class dishes like tacos, Esquites, and Tteok-bokki are delicious. My only complaint was if you wanted to pay by card you had to spend over $50. That's fine, so now I'm looking for ways to hit $50. I noticed the soju and asked for it. I was never told the price or shown a menu for the liquor so I assumed it would be $9-$11, the usual markup. I had no idea it was $14+ a bottle! I have the same case in my fridge (6 for $27). That's one hell of a markup.
Ali Navi
We (group of 8) eat there at 7 pm week Day only one other table of two were eating that was surprising since the mall restaurants were all pretty busy I ordered chicken stirfry the menu highlighted all the vegetables and at the end it stated it is toped with Korean noodles What I got was a big bowl of Korean noodles with microscopic size vegetables in between it would barely qualify as a Chow mein. Extremely tasteless after dinner Not we talked about the food we each had and not a single one of us like their dinner 4 people did not finish the plate even halfway Mexican tacos were extremely dry and tasteless they don’t know how to make Korean food or tacos Service was truly lousy one person 2 tables and yet minimal service There are far better Korean and mexican restaurants all around.A restaurant without any repeat customers is doomed to fail one time customers will not sustain any restaurant. We are locals and will will not eat there again nor recommend it.
Anna Wilcox
Wanted to try this place for a while, was pretty disappointed with what I got. It was not very good and not worth the price. Also the service was terrible. We were one of three tables and we had to go up to the servers multiple times to get help with paying, getting the check, getting menus, and ordering. The servers were not attentive at all and sat on their phones. Very disappointing experience and complete waste of time and money.
T Lewis
The environment and plating was nice. Ordered three different plates, but the food lacked flavor, which was disappointing because it looked great.Could definitely benefit from some more seasoning. The service was lacking as well. Not sure if they were understaffed or really busy, but ya. Cool vibes and aesthetic, but price doesn't seem to be worth it.
J W
Mixed review on this restaurant.Good and attentive service.Chorizo Kimchee fried rice looked good but lacks flavor.Signature Tacos ( street taco size) with gogi was tasty and good.
Nano M.
I got the bowl with pork belly, it was very dry. Turns out dressing was missing, but even when I asked for the dressing, there were not a lot of flavors and the Pork was very dry and chewy. The poached egg on it was cold, so was the waitress. The spicy chicken skillet was too spicy, and skillet did not arrive sizzling. The loaded fries tasted good. If you order the pork belly buns as a main dish, keep in mind they are small.
James B.
Took my wife and daughter here for our first time. Checked them out online and everything looked good and specifically came to the spectrum for this restaurant. When we arrived, we were not greeted. We sat down for 10mins and no server came over, so I stood up and walked over to the front computer. I was first in line and the next employee helped the 2 door dash people behind me bc they had bags ready. At this point I was already ready to order to go food. I placed my order and to pay over $70 dollars and get home and the order is wrong, is very upsetting. On top of that, they rolled my sandwich with the paper wrap and crushed my sandwich on each end. The bread and both sides of the sandwich look like a rolled towel. Really disappointed when the food looked so good online.
Irene L.
This is my mom's favorite restaurant. I came here with my mom and my mother-in-law (MIL) for a girls lunch. We sat inside, as it was blistering hot that day. The inside was nice; however, if there's a big group, there voices really echo and take over the place. There was a big group when we were there, but they left about 20 minutes into our dining experience. My mom got urban 3b with bulgogi, my MIL got a salmon salad, and I got the chorizo kimchi fried rice. Both of my moms loved what the ordered. My MIL even asked for her salmon to be more well done, and our server was able to do so! The reason I don't give this a five star review is that I found my chorizo kimchi fried rice to be a bit dry and bland, even after putting hot sauce. Maybe more vegetables would help. Nonetheless, I'll be returning, and I'll probably get urban 3b instead.
Kshama P.
Pleasantly surprised! Since this is a chain, I was expecting the food to be more anglicized and fast foody, but was impressed by the quantity, quality, and overall experience. Dine-in option in early 2021 (pandemic era), masks were mandatory but vaccines hadn't started. Tables were socially distanced and orders were placed at counter. Food came out in 5-10 minutes and was piping hot. Vegetarian friend got a bibimbap and fries, I got the prawn/shrimp hot plate dish. Very flavorful and had leftovers for lunch the next day. There's a lot right out front, which is again a plus as opposed to lots of spectrum stores.
Christine F.
My boyfriend and his friend toured me around Irvine Spectrum Center and offered me to try this spot as it is a Korean fusion cuisine. I got the chicken katsu sandwich and thought it was okay. I also had a side of a salad but the salad was frozen??? Like I felt some ice on my lettuce as I was chewing and even looked at it (wished I took a pic but I decided to let it defrost which I ended up not eating anymore). The dressing was goood though. I honestly don't think there was anything special with the sandwich but it was pretty filling. My boyfriend seemed to enjoy the chorizo kimchi fried rice skillet. Average eats, interesting vibes (heard some heavy metal music), but quality time w/ my boyfriend and his friend.
Service was lacking on the Memorial Day weekend. But it wasn't because they were super busy. They just forgot about us. No big deal. We ordered the taco trio with Gogi meat. They're tasty. But also very hard to eat without it falling apart and getting everywhere. Also ordered the sliders. Server asked waffle fries or sweet potato. We felt like this was a trick set up! To get us to upgrade the meal for an extra 2 bucks. We fell to the offer. Sliders were also just okay. Presentation was somewhat pretty. But that's about it.
Korina S.
Finally tried this place at the Irvine Spectrum. We were pretty happy with our dishes and plan to be back. Tried the Gogi and Pork Belly Tacos. With the signature taco dish comes with 3 tacos, able to choose protein. The loaded fries were good. We tried the spicy pork fries. Our favorite was the pork belly tacos. Servers were friendly. Tables available inside and at outside patio. Can work for larger groups. Many other food options in this area of the Spectrum Mall. Parking can be a challenge during busier times like the evening or weekends.
Jules B.
My friend and I was in the area and decided on Urban Seoul for a bite to eat. I ordered the Garlic shrimp skillet for $18.95: garlic paprika shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, onion, sunny side up egg and garlic fried rice. Meal was so so oily, I couldn't even stomach it. Shrimp had good flavor though. Service was fast and attentive. Indoor and outdoor seating. Located at the Irvine Spectrum Mall with tons of free parking.
Jackie
Very pretty plating and presentation however, it completely lacks flavor. It’s very bland and the pork belly is dry. I ordered this because it said it was a chorizo skillet. There is no chorizo in this dish whatsoever. Pork belly is NOT chorizo. Please change the name of the dish if it’s not going to include the very ingredient it’s named after. Based on other comments, the lack of chorizo was not an accident. I really wanted to like this place sadly, I don’t recommend eating here. Sorry. ?Edit 5/3/2022 in response to owner:You are extremely rude and disrespectful. I am well aware of what chorizo is and looks like. I don't know how you expect to stay in business when your food is not great and you have snarky responses such as "If you have a question, ask your server and not complain" or "by the way, pork belly is pork belly and not chorizo. I know what pork belly is and that it's not chorizo. Oh, by the way, Urban Seoul, did you know that kimchi is a Korean dish made of salted and fermented vegetables? I bet you also didn't know that Seoul is the capital of South Korea. ? Now do you see how rude that is?How do you expect your customers to know that a dish named after an ingredient is not the MAIN ingredient and the burden falls on the customer to ask? That's no different than me advertising a strawberry cake but then serving chocolate then getting upset at the customer for not realizing that the strawberry was mixed into the cake.You could have responded in such a different manner and calmly explained why it would be such an easy mistake for a customer to make given that I am not the only one who complained about the same thing. I was not rude in my review and the tone of your response was unwarranted hence which is why I'm responding in kind. Get a better PR team.This is the owner's response to my initial review in case they delete it:First of all, I am sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with our food. However, our Chorizo Kimchi Fried Rice is mixed with 100% pork chorizo by blender with Kimchi and other ingredients such as bacons. You can not find a piece of chorizo because of this reason. If you have a question, please ask your server not to complain about the fact you don't know. By the way, the pork belly is pork belly not chorizo.
Kimberly Hall
I really liked this place. It was fusion food and at first I thought it would be weird, but I really liked the tacos. Friendly staff and good atmoshpere.
The food is okay, it's a good fusion spot. The Korean/Mexican play-on-class dishes like tacos, Esquites, and Tteok-bokki are delicious. My only complaint was if you wanted to pay by card you had to spend over $50. That's fine, so now I'm looking for ways to hit $50. I noticed the soju and asked for it. I was never told the price or shown a menu for the liquor so I assumed it would be $9-$11, the usual markup. I had no idea it was $14+ a bottle! I have the same case in my fridge (6 for $27). That's one hell of a markup.
We (group of 8) eat there at 7 pm week Day only one other table of two were eating that was surprising since the mall restaurants were all pretty busy I ordered chicken stirfry the menu highlighted all the vegetables and at the end it stated it is toped with Korean noodles What I got was a big bowl of Korean noodles with microscopic size vegetables in between it would barely qualify as a Chow mein. Extremely tasteless after dinner Not we talked about the food we each had and not a single one of us like their dinner 4 people did not finish the plate even halfway Mexican tacos were extremely dry and tasteless they don’t know how to make Korean food or tacos Service was truly lousy one person 2 tables and yet minimal service There are far better Korean and mexican restaurants all around.A restaurant without any repeat customers is doomed to fail one time customers will not sustain any restaurant. We are locals and will will not eat there again nor recommend it.
Wanted to try this place for a while, was pretty disappointed with what I got. It was not very good and not worth the price. Also the service was terrible. We were one of three tables and we had to go up to the servers multiple times to get help with paying, getting the check, getting menus, and ordering. The servers were not attentive at all and sat on their phones. Very disappointing experience and complete waste of time and money.
The environment and plating was nice. Ordered three different plates, but the food lacked flavor, which was disappointing because it looked great.Could definitely benefit from some more seasoning. The service was lacking as well. Not sure if they were understaffed or really busy, but ya. Cool vibes and aesthetic, but price doesn't seem to be worth it.
Mixed review on this restaurant.Good and attentive service.Chorizo Kimchee fried rice looked good but lacks flavor.Signature Tacos ( street taco size) with gogi was tasty and good.
I got the bowl with pork belly, it was very dry. Turns out dressing was missing, but even when I asked for the dressing, there were not a lot of flavors and the Pork was very dry and chewy. The poached egg on it was cold, so was the waitress. The spicy chicken skillet was too spicy, and skillet did not arrive sizzling. The loaded fries tasted good. If you order the pork belly buns as a main dish, keep in mind they are small.
Took my wife and daughter here for our first time. Checked them out online and everything looked good and specifically came to the spectrum for this restaurant. When we arrived, we were not greeted. We sat down for 10mins and no server came over, so I stood up and walked over to the front computer. I was first in line and the next employee helped the 2 door dash people behind me bc they had bags ready. At this point I was already ready to order to go food. I placed my order and to pay over $70 dollars and get home and the order is wrong, is very upsetting. On top of that, they rolled my sandwich with the paper wrap and crushed my sandwich on each end. The bread and both sides of the sandwich look like a rolled towel. Really disappointed when the food looked so good online.
This is my mom's favorite restaurant. I came here with my mom and my mother-in-law (MIL) for a girls lunch. We sat inside, as it was blistering hot that day. The inside was nice; however, if there's a big group, there voices really echo and take over the place. There was a big group when we were there, but they left about 20 minutes into our dining experience. My mom got urban 3b with bulgogi, my MIL got a salmon salad, and I got the chorizo kimchi fried rice. Both of my moms loved what the ordered. My MIL even asked for her salmon to be more well done, and our server was able to do so! The reason I don't give this a five star review is that I found my chorizo kimchi fried rice to be a bit dry and bland, even after putting hot sauce. Maybe more vegetables would help. Nonetheless, I'll be returning, and I'll probably get urban 3b instead.
Pleasantly surprised! Since this is a chain, I was expecting the food to be more anglicized and fast foody, but was impressed by the quantity, quality, and overall experience. Dine-in option in early 2021 (pandemic era), masks were mandatory but vaccines hadn't started. Tables were socially distanced and orders were placed at counter. Food came out in 5-10 minutes and was piping hot. Vegetarian friend got a bibimbap and fries, I got the prawn/shrimp hot plate dish. Very flavorful and had leftovers for lunch the next day. There's a lot right out front, which is again a plus as opposed to lots of spectrum stores.
My boyfriend and his friend toured me around Irvine Spectrum Center and offered me to try this spot as it is a Korean fusion cuisine. I got the chicken katsu sandwich and thought it was okay. I also had a side of a salad but the salad was frozen??? Like I felt some ice on my lettuce as I was chewing and even looked at it (wished I took a pic but I decided to let it defrost which I ended up not eating anymore). The dressing was goood though. I honestly don't think there was anything special with the sandwich but it was pretty filling. My boyfriend seemed to enjoy the chorizo kimchi fried rice skillet. Average eats, interesting vibes (heard some heavy metal music), but quality time w/ my boyfriend and his friend.
Restaurantji Recommends
Service was lacking on the Memorial Day weekend. But it wasn't because they were super busy. They just forgot about us. No big deal. We ordered the taco trio with Gogi meat. They're tasty. But also very hard to eat without it falling apart and getting everywhere. Also ordered the sliders. Server asked waffle fries or sweet potato. We felt like this was a trick set up! To get us to upgrade the meal for an extra 2 bucks. We fell to the offer. Sliders were also just okay. Presentation was somewhat pretty. But that's about it.
Finally tried this place at the Irvine Spectrum. We were pretty happy with our dishes and plan to be back. Tried the Gogi and Pork Belly Tacos. With the signature taco dish comes with 3 tacos, able to choose protein. The loaded fries were good. We tried the spicy pork fries. Our favorite was the pork belly tacos. Servers were friendly. Tables available inside and at outside patio. Can work for larger groups. Many other food options in this area of the Spectrum Mall. Parking can be a challenge during busier times like the evening or weekends.
My friend and I was in the area and decided on Urban Seoul for a bite to eat. I ordered the Garlic shrimp skillet for $18.95: garlic paprika shrimp, broccoli, cabbage, onion, sunny side up egg and garlic fried rice. Meal was so so oily, I couldn't even stomach it. Shrimp had good flavor though. Service was fast and attentive. Indoor and outdoor seating. Located at the Irvine Spectrum Mall with tons of free parking.
Very pretty plating and presentation however, it completely lacks flavor. It’s very bland and the pork belly is dry. I ordered this because it said it was a chorizo skillet. There is no chorizo in this dish whatsoever. Pork belly is NOT chorizo. Please change the name of the dish if it’s not going to include the very ingredient it’s named after. Based on other comments, the lack of chorizo was not an accident. I really wanted to like this place sadly, I don’t recommend eating here. Sorry. ?Edit 5/3/2022 in response to owner:You are extremely rude and disrespectful. I am well aware of what chorizo is and looks like. I don't know how you expect to stay in business when your food is not great and you have snarky responses such as "If you have a question, ask your server and not complain" or "by the way, pork belly is pork belly and not chorizo. I know what pork belly is and that it's not chorizo. Oh, by the way, Urban Seoul, did you know that kimchi is a Korean dish made of salted and fermented vegetables? I bet you also didn't know that Seoul is the capital of South Korea. ? Now do you see how rude that is?How do you expect your customers to know that a dish named after an ingredient is not the MAIN ingredient and the burden falls on the customer to ask? That's no different than me advertising a strawberry cake but then serving chocolate then getting upset at the customer for not realizing that the strawberry was mixed into the cake.You could have responded in such a different manner and calmly explained why it would be such an easy mistake for a customer to make given that I am not the only one who complained about the same thing. I was not rude in my review and the tone of your response was unwarranted hence which is why I'm responding in kind. Get a better PR team.This is the owner's response to my initial review in case they delete it:First of all, I am sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with our food. However, our Chorizo Kimchi Fried Rice is mixed with 100% pork chorizo by blender with Kimchi and other ingredients such as bacons. You can not find a piece of chorizo because of this reason. If you have a question, please ask your server not to complain about the fact you don't know. By the way, the pork belly is pork belly not chorizo.
I really liked this place. It was fusion food and at first I thought it would be weird, but I really liked the tacos. Friendly staff and good atmoshpere.