Kimchi Korean BBQ

Jinsook Lee

Amazing service and such delicious food! The tapas menus are perfect for trying out new Korean dishes. I’d say it’s such a fun way to explore different flavors! The owner is always nice to everyone even though it was so busy

Jennifer Jun

The best Korean restuarant ever in Ithaca! Food was amazing! Especially Bao bun was so good. Shredded potato pancake was good too. Servers were nice and atmosphere was decent. Highly recommend this place.

Huri Özbayram YILDIZ

We went there for dinner. We took mandu ( It wasn't the best mandu I've ever tried but it was tasty), honey garlic boneless chicken ( it was delicious because it has not have thick layer), udon with chicken ( udon was delicious but chicken was not delicious), bibimbap ( it was really delicious)

Dave Katz

Had an excellent bibimbap. Kind of eerie experience to go inside but it not be Viva Taqueria, a ithaca staple for many years. The interior design which was the same as Viva. Anyhow the food was excellent as well as decent service. Would go back to try the fried chicken.

Andre Gardiner

Great food and generous portions. We grabbed a couple of the fried chicken options, but the rest of the menu looks great as well. We'll be back!

TD G

I had lunch here and would definitely return. The food was excellent and the quantity was plentiful for the price!

Lucia song

I've lived in Ithaca for about several years, and I can confidently say that this place is the best Korean restaurant in town! I've already been here several times in the past month. The prices are affordable, and the food is amazing! The place is also very clean. Here are some dishes I recommend: Fried chicken - A must-try! I tried several sauces, and my favorite is the one with a 'red' name. I love spicy food, and although it's not extremely spicy, it's very savory! Dduk ppok ggi with kim mal i - Absolutely delicious! Cheese balls - I love them! Hea mul pa jeon - Very good! Jae yuk bokkeum - LOVE IT! Galbi - LOVE IT!(im not sure if the name is right) Soup- i dont knoe the name because my friend order it, but when i tried it, OMG it was so good!(i attach a photo of this) For drinks, I recommend trying the 'mak gol li,' which is a rice wine served here.

Brittany McConnell

The food tasted homemade/authentic and really reminded me of my time living in Korea! Spacious interior and friendly staff as well. will be back to try more menu items!

Rishul Bangar

Eaten here a few times and the experience has always been very good. Love the fried rice dishes. The ambience is also very good.

Courtney Kennedy

The cold noodle soup on a hot summer evening (with a beer) was perfect. The broth was flavorful and the salmon appetizer was yummy.

Xiaoyi Liu

Excellent experience here! Ordered bibimbap and it was absolutely the best I have had so far! Very high quality food and delicious sauce. We ordered the fried sweet potato with hummus as appetizer and it was much much better than I thought!

Ji You Kang

This is a large Korean restaurant in Commons. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was lively. I had the YUL GAE JANG (the beek stew), DOL SOT BIBIMBAP (the stone pot bibimbap) and they were delicious! My friends had the pork belly, stir-fried squid and udon and I recommend them all.

As a Korean, I really love this place and I visit this restaurant one to two times every month. The foods in here are really good as much as the foods I have in Korea. The owner and all the staffs are really nice and welcoming. If you’re in Ithaca and craving real Korean food, you definitely have to give this place a try.

The Lotus is a great place for Korean food. I had the bibimbap and wings. The bibimbap was sizzling hot and tasty. The wings were saucy, crispy, and just right. The service was excellent, with friendly and attentive staff. I highly recommend The Lotus for a delicious meal.

Zaid Shakir

The Lotus is a great place for Korean food. I had the bibimbap and wings. The bibimbap was sizzling hot and tasty. The wings were saucy, crispy, and just right. The service was excellent, with friendly and attentive staff. I highly recommend The Lotus for a delicious meal.

We ordered tapas and the food was mediocre. Some of the meats were dry and ceviche was extremely sour. Also, the server forgot to bring one of the dishes. Maybe if you order main dishes instead of tapas it will be better?..

Bogdan Sieriebriennikov

We ordered tapas and the food was mediocre. Some of the meats were dry and ceviche was extremely sour. Also, the server forgot to bring one of the dishes. Maybe if you order main dishes instead of tapas it will be better?..

This is my third time coming here, but honestly — only because the fried chicken is really good. Unfortunately, the service continues to be the worst in town. We asked to add a seat for a friend who arrived just 5 minutes late, and even though the restaurant was completely empty, they refused. The staff was unwelcoming, inflexible, and created a tense atmosphere for something so simple. On top of that, the iced tea was basically half a cup of ice with barely any tea. Disappointing service yet again.

Alina

This is my third time coming here, but honestly — only because the fried chicken is really good. Unfortunately, the service continues to be the worst in town. We asked to add a seat for a friend who arrived just 5 minutes late, and even though the restaurant was completely empty, they refused. The staff was unwelcoming, inflexible, and created a tense atmosphere for something so simple. On top of that, the iced tea was basically half a cup of ice with barely any tea. Disappointing service yet again.

KJR

As a Korean who eats Korean food often, I am so disappointed by the quality of food, service and atmosphere. I went two days in a row, back to back. The service is entirely lacking and that is putting it nicely. I had to call the Waiter over to take the order the second time I came with different group of people. There were non stop hovering of fruit flies both days and the second day, two landed in two different items of our ordered food. The quality of naengmyun noodle and bulgogi were poor and the banchan is just ok. My friend also told me that the last time they came, the server took the banchan they had on their table (but did not touch) at the end of their meal and took it to another table and gave it to them. While they hardly touched it they did pick at it. I was excited to see a korean food option, and was sorely disappointed at the lack of care and quality all around.

Went for lunch. Terrible food, slow service, and not worth your money or time - go somewhere else! First time going to this particular restaurant. Went on a personal recommendation, but did NOT have a good experience. Went for lunch, and when we arrived, we seated ourselves, and the waitperson did not come to take our order in a timely manner. Others arrived after we did, and he stopped at their tables and took their orders first. There weren't many diners there (and now I know why). When he finally did take our order, he did not seem like he wanted to be at work, let alone serve anyone. The items on the menu are not adequately described, and what you are brought vs. what you think you will be getting is a large difference. When someone questioned this, he made an excuse that they changed things up. However, the menu should be more accurate, or...if changes are made, when someone orders an item, the waitstaff should inform diners that the menu item is no longer available as described. (We received an official "eye roll" on this observation, from the waiter.) The food was substandard for the price, and really, if I could give this place a negative rating, I would. But a "1" out of 5 will have to suffice. The food was bland, the chicken patty seemed undercooked, and if you are not experienced with chopsticks, you may or may not get a fork if you ask for one. Initially you just get a spoon, chopsticks, and a napkin. I will never go back there, and I would suggest to others to steer clear as well. In their defense, perhaps dinner is an entirely different staff and experience, but I can say without reservation that our lunch was decidedly disappointing.

FRAUD. The menu didn’t list any extra charge for protein for the stew, but they SECRETLY charge you on the bill. I don’t know how many people accidentally got into this trap and paid the money because of this. They charge you more without mentioning anything on the menu. For the rice dish, they make it looks like the fee is if you add extra protein in addition to the one already listed, but they later said that if you don’t add the money you don’t get the food. Do NOT come here

Terrible dining experience - have to avoid. The manager speaks terrible English and ordered half of the dish wrong and end up blaming us for his fault. The kids waited 90 minutes for the udon to come up. Most of the servers are rude, and appeared suddenly beside you with super hot pot - very reckless and almost hit the kids a few times in a row and don’t take any suggestions. Would not recommend.

Terry Mingle

Went for lunch. Terrible food, slow service, and not worth your money or time - go somewhere else! First time going to this particular restaurant. Went on a personal recommendation, but did NOT have a good experience. Went for lunch, and when we arrived, we seated ourselves, and the waitperson did not come to take our order in a timely manner. Others arrived after we did, and he stopped at their tables and took their orders first. There weren't many diners there (and now I know why). When he finally did take our order, he did not seem like he wanted to be at work, let alone serve anyone. The items on the menu are not adequately described, and what you are brought vs. what you think you will be getting is a large difference. When someone questioned this, he made an excuse that they changed things up. However, the menu should be more accurate, or...if changes are made, when someone orders an item, the waitstaff should inform diners that the menu item is no longer available as described. (We received an official "eye roll" on this observation, from the waiter.) The food was substandard for the price, and really, if I could give this place a negative rating, I would. But a "1" out of 5 will have to suffice. The food was bland, the chicken patty seemed undercooked, and if you are not experienced with chopsticks, you may or may not get a fork if you ask for one. Initially you just get a spoon, chopsticks, and a napkin. I will never go back there, and I would suggest to others to steer clear as well. In their defense, perhaps dinner is an entirely different staff and experience, but I can say without reservation that our lunch was decidedly disappointing.

Bing Li

Terrible dining experience - have to avoid. The manager speaks terrible English and ordered half of the dish wrong and end up blaming us for his fault. The kids waited 90 minutes for the udon to come up. Most of the servers are rude, and appeared suddenly beside you with super hot pot - very reckless and almost hit the kids a few times in a row and don’t take any suggestions. Would not recommend.

Sophie Liu

FRAUD. The menu didn’t list any extra charge for protein for the stew, but they SECRETLY charge you on the bill. I don’t know how many people accidentally got into this trap and paid the money because of this. They charge you more without mentioning anything on the menu. For the rice dish, they make it looks like the fee is if you add extra protein in addition to the one already listed, but they later said that if you don’t add the money you don’t get the food. Do NOT come here

This was hands down the WORST restaurant experience I have ever had. The service was unbelievably poor, rude, and completely unprofessional. We were a large group and repeatedly tried to wave someone over just to place our order. The staff clearly saw us and deliberately ignored us. Not once. Not twice. Over and over again. Meanwhile, they were attentive, friendly, and responsive to other tables. It honestly felt like we were being treated differently because we were a large Asian group. The contrast in service was obvious. Other customers were greeted warmly and helped immediately. We were ignored and given side-eye looks the entire time. The server with glasses was especially rude. He kept telling us to “wait to the side” even though the restaurant was nearly empty. There was absolutely no reason to treat us that way. His attitude was dismissive and disrespectful from beginning to end. To make things worse, it took ONE HOUR for the food to arrive. An hour — in an almost empty restaurant. Completely unacceptable. And then the most outrageous part: they automatically added a 20% gratuity when we paid, without any clear notice or prior warning. There was no sign, no explanation, nothing. Forcing a 20% tip without transparency is extremely unethical. It feels like robbery when you provide terrible service and then demand a mandatory tip. This place does not deserve your money. The service is discriminatory, disrespectful, and exploitative. I strongly do NOT recommend anyone go here. Absolutely unacceptable.

I gave this restaurant two chances, and both visits were absolutely terrible. The first time, the service was shockingly bad. We sat for over 30 minutes without being served water, appetizers, or even being properly greeted. No one came to take our order. We had to repeatedly get up and search for a server just to place it. It took forever for the food to arrive, and when the entrées finally came out, we still hadn’t received any water or appetizers. The lack of basic service was unacceptable and made the entire meal frustrating rather than enjoyable. The second experience was somehow worse. We had a party of five in an almost empty restaurant, yet we were told to wait in line while multiple tables sat open and ready. Shortly after, a larger group walked in and was immediately seated while we continued standing in the corner waiting. To make matters worse, we were forced to pay a 20% gratuity without any clear verbal notice or proper communication, despite the service being extremely poor. Charging an automatic tip for bad service is unacceptable and feels dishonest.

ry disappointing experience. The overall atmosphere felt unwelcoming and the staff attitude was surprisingly indifferent toward customers. For a place that charges fairly high prices, there was very little sense of professionalism or hospitality throughout the visit. After looking through other reviews, it seems that concerns about service have been mentioned multiple times, yet there doesn’t appear to be any effort from management to address them or improve the situation. A restaurant should value its customers and feedback, but unfortunately that was not the impression this place gave. I would not return.

I want to make it clear that this was not an isolated incident. This is not the first time my friends and I have felt unwelcome at this restaurant. After multiple visits, the pattern is consistent — the atmosphere feels cold, dismissive, and completely lacking in basic hospitality. We paid a significant amount of money for our meals. When you spend that kind of money dining out, you expect professionalism, courtesy, and at the very least, respect. Instead, the service repeatedly felt indifferent and unwelcoming. There was no effort to make guests feel valued. It honestly felt like they simply did not care. What is also concerning is the way management appears to handle feedback. If you look through the reviews, there are multiple negative experiences shared by others describing similar service issues. Yet there are little to no thoughtful responses addressing concerns or demonstrating any intention to improve. Ignoring consistent complaints instead of responding professionally reflects very poorly on how customer feedback is treated. Additionally, I was told by a friend about an incident where a staff member allegedly used a customer’s reservation contact information to privately message her afterward. If true, that is highly inappropriate and raises serious concerns about privacy boundaries and professional conduct. At this point, it no longer feels like a one-time bad experience. It feels like a recurring issue with the culture of service at this establishment. I strongly encourage management to reflect on how guests are being treated and how customer information is handled. Until there is clear improvement, I cannot recommend this place.