Hop House - Kimchi Restaurant

10/12/2015

Excellent Korean and Japanese food
Lot of choices mmmmmm
very good sushis... v fresh and tasty
Staff is lovely
It is better to book a table ( yep, v busy of course!)

Génial ! : )

12/4/2016

Worth a visit! I love Korean food and this place is up there with one of the best ones in Dublin. The place is half Korean restaurant, half old school pub. This sounds like a strange combo but works well.

Tasty, spicy, yummy food with beers, perfect for a Sunday evening!

6/4/2016

I used to really love this place. If I had reviewed on the first time I went in I would have given it five stars, but since then the place has really let it slip.

This was the first place I ever tried the Korean dish bibimbap. I loved it. Even though their menu is full of other amazing looking dishes I nearly always go back to the bibimbap. I had not been her for about a year, maybe more, and I convinced my girlfriend that we should go in here for a pre-cinema feed. I ordered bibimbap along with a number of other sides and dishes. Most of it was fantastic but the bibimbap only had like 4 pieces of beef in it. For a dish that is primarily a beef dish this is not really ok. Now the other food was all amazing. The soya potato sushi rolls are some of the nicest sushi I have ever had. I should probably be giving four stars, but I can't really help but feel bitter about my bibimbap.

As a bar the place is nice to drink too. They have a decent selection of beers and also have a loyalty card system; buy 6 beers and your 7th is free.

• 

  Vegetable mandu

  Vegetable mandu
• 

  Soya potato roll. Hiding under all that delicious fried potato is delicious avocado and cream cheese sushi.

  Soya potato roll. Hiding under all that delicious fried potato is delicious avocado and cream cheese sushi.

30/3/2016

I had the salmon bibimbap and I liked it. Since it was the first bibimbap I've ever had, I can't say if it was very authentic or how it was compared to other restaurants. The staff was very friendly.

The interior isn't bad and there is a pub connected from which you can also order food. I'm not sure if it is part of the restaurant.

• 

  Salmon bibimbap

  Salmon bibimbap

26/12/2015

Suffering with a terrible hangover, I stopped by here recently with a friend for lunch. We were lucky to get a table for 3 as it was packed at 1pm!

I went for the chicken Mandu (like gyoza) with delicious chicken and herb stuffing and the beef bibimbap. Both were really tasty and there was so much of my main I took half of it home in a carton for supper that evening!

I would have liked a little more beef in the main dish but it was piping hot and just what I needed, total comfort food but with the added bonus of all the healthy vegetables in it to cure me!

• 

  Beef bibimbap before I stirred it up

  Beef bibimbap before I stirred it up

17/8/2015

I love Kimchi! I was initially a bit hesitant when I walked in as it doesn't look particularly fancy or impressive, but I soon learned that the impressive thing is what I suppose you would want, the food!

The food is genuinely fantastic. It's Korean... fusion, maybe? The staff are really sweet and helpful, the menu has loads of options for different tastes (and plenty of veggie options too). Everything I have had here has been out-of-this-world-delicious (with the exception of the bibimap, which I found bland/ick - i was told by my dining partner it was due to the lack of meat? anyway!) But everything else Is lovely. I would (and do, all the time) really recommend trying their Soy Potato Sushi Roll if you haven't. Really different to anywhere else that I havent tried in Dublin. Love it!

• 

  Veggie bento - Teriyaki tofu, mushrooms&rice, veg spring rolls, salad, 2x veg fritters, pumpkin croquette, inari & avocado sushi

  Veggie bento - Teriyaki tofu, mushrooms&rice, veg spring rolls, salad, 2x veg fritters, pumpkin croquette, inari & avocado sushi
• 

  Soy Potato Roll - the sushi is underneath :P - absolutely gorgeous. Try it if you haven't!!

  Soy Potato Roll - the sushi is underneath :P - absolutely gorgeous. Try it if you haven't!!
• 

  Soju Cocktail

  Soju Cocktail
• See all photos from Liv O. for Hop House - Kimchi Restaurant

24/1/2016

Ahh, it is ok, but may I am not coming back. It seems that this old pub was taken over by new tenants and these divided the venue in two spaces: a Korean restaurant and a pub space where you can get food as well.

It is a good place for people looking for a good prices, young people or students. However the service is slow, the dishes not very tasty and the restaurant´s atmosphere slightly tacky. The waiters are lovely people, with limited English but good intentions. Anyway it is unfortunately not enough to manage a good public service.

I went for a sushi rainbow dish, and tempura aubergine. The rice rolls were ok, but the aubergine not for me, I expected something different.

3/3/2016

Bibimbap is my favourite healthy comfort food; rice,veg, meat, an egg in a superhot bowl, mix in as much chilli sauce as you like and the heat from the bowl cooks up the ear and makes the rice nice and crispy.
I eat here about once a month and try to vary the dishes I order but get bibimbap at least 50% of the time.
The hophouse is a charming oasis of calm just off bustling O' Connell Street.

23/4/2015

This is a lovely restaurant serving Korean / Japanese food.

Eaten here twice...

I've had the tuna sashimi here, they're nice and fresh. The tempura prawns are lovely as are the battered prawns I had for a main.

Both visits the food and service were excellent. You can see why this place has won a lot of food awards - they're well deserved!

• 
• 

  Dakgangleong

  Dakgangleong
• 

  Tuna sashimi

  Tuna sashimi
• See all photos from Sarah S. for Hop House - Kimchi Restaurant

30/6/2015

Just average. Service was average, food was average, experience average. Skip it if you can, as in if you know of a better korean place that you know you like, go there instead.

Portions - good size, good amount, the amount an average person should be eating and just a wee bit more. You probably won't be able to take home any leftovers.

Service - poor. Not sure if this is just the Irish/korean way, but our waters weren't refilled once and we probably couldn't even ask for a refill because we weren't really tended to. Also, another customer was asking what kind of seafood a certain seafood dish contained. The lady at the till didn't know, had to find someone else and ask them. They were busy that night with a big 25 or so party of other Koreans and they were visibly flustered.

Food - poor/average. Husband got bibimbap, not that much meat. I got soondubu (sp?) which is the spicy seafood soup + rice. The dish started off average and then progressed to poor. It started off average because the only seafood in my seafood soup were those tiny shrimps and strips of what I think is squid. It progressed to poor because when the temperature of the dish cooled from scalding hot to warm, I noticed its flavor was just bland. Now, I'm more of a bland eater, so for me to say something is bland means it quite bland. It tasted like spicy water with a small pinch on salt, perhaps because it was lacking a key ingredient: seafood. However, somewhat of a pleasant surprise was the fraction of a mussel I found towards the end of my meal.

Sides - best part! The Kim chi was the best part of our meal. Flavorful and fresh (as fresh as fermented veggies can be =p). The cucumber, bean sprouts, and potato sides were also flavorful and good for texture.

If the sides are the best part, just don't bother coming unless this is the only korean place near you.

• 

  06.30.15: one fragment of one mussel in my "seafood soup" soondubu

  06.30.15: one fragment of one mussel in my "seafood soup" soondubu
• 

  06.30.15: delicious sides

  06.30.15: delicious sides
• 

  06.30.15: bibimbap which needed more meat. Delicious Kim chi

  06.30.15: bibimbap which needed more meat. Delicious Kim chi
• See all photos from Tracy S. for Hop House - Kimchi Restaurant

5/1/2016

I've been to Kimhci a number of times and always left with the same impression. It's ok, but nothing to write home about! It pales in comparison to Arisu, in terms of price and quality. The mains range from about 12€ to 16€. A couple of the mains come with little side dishes which are really nice - keep an eye out for them on the menu!

13/2/2015

I've only every eaten Korean food 3 times before, twice in in Dublin (Han Sung and Arisu ages ago, and once in Japan), and I have to say I was pretty impressed with Kimchi. I don't know much about Korean food, but I found Kimchi to have a really authentic feel to it, and i loved the bibimbap! It was pretty packed but the service was still quite good, and they have a nice button on the table to call the waiter (I wish every restaurant had this!). I loved the lively atmosphere and the service was pretty quick, which was surprising since it was quite crowded!

In terms of price, I found it very reasonable; most mains were in the 10 euro range, starters were 5~6 and sides were 3~4 euro. The lunch menu is pretty small so it seems better to come here for dinner (you can check them online) when there's a lot more stuff. They also have a few Japanese dishes too in addition to all the Korean dishes like sushi, sashimi etc if you're not into spicy. My favourite Korean dish is Bibimbap, and they do pretty good ones here!

• 

  Bibimbap

  Bibimbap
• 

  Tofu bibimbap

  Tofu bibimbap

31/8/2015

Was my first time here so I had try something I had never eaten before. To start I went for the chicken amd leek dumplings which we scantly drizzled in a sauce but it was delicious.

The main, I can't remember the name but it was a Korean chicken dish. It was a dry chicken coated in Korean spices,  they had used chicken thigh so it was moist and didnt need to have a sauce. It came with a big side of rice and a small portion of Kimchi.

I was there Sunday afternoon so it was still the lunch menu which was very reasonably priced,  €5 for the appetiser and €7.50 for the main!

The service was great, rally friendly and helpful waitress who was very attentative even though she was alone and it was busy.

Looking forward to going back for more nom nom

28/9/2015

I've been here before and it was pleasant enough, but my last visit here on Saturday was not short of disastrous.

First, the service. Not sure what more we could have done to get the waitress' attention, because it was hard, and the place was not packed. When she finally did come, I'm sorry to say the girl who served us had very limited English and the two Asian girls at the adjacent table had to translate to her.

Second, we mentioned we were in a rush and asked how much longer till our food would arrive. Aside from not being answered, it turns out our food was delayed because the waitress was waiting on another staff member to fetch us a bottle of gluten free soy sauce, seriously.

Thirdly, the reason we were waiting on the soy sauce is because the GF one they had given us originally was past its use by date, *by over a year*. When we made mention of this we were told that in Asia they consider this fine, but if we don't want to risk it they'll get us another one (turns out there weren't any more GF bottles. Fair enough, but serving expired sauce, really?)

When the food finally arrived it wasn't bad, but due to the unnecessary delay we ended up having very little amount of time to eat, so then when we asked for the bill, mentioned again we were in a rush by this point, and asked for the card machine to be brought out with the bill, it still took a while to get the bill (again, they weren't busy), without the card machine.

Overall, not a great experience. Shame, because good Asian is not so easy to come by in Dublin in my opinion and the food quality here is generally good. For the poor service experience, I think I'll be going elsewhere next time.

27/9/2015

Think I just found my favourite Korean restaurant in Dublin.
Have 2 Korean sisters in law - I know, random - and they both had mentioned this place many times but only got around to trying it today.
Went for a pint first in the pub which connected to the restaurant. Pub was nice, rugby match was on but it was not too crowded and a nice chilled crowd.
Once we had our pints we moved to the restaurant part. The place itself ( like the pub) is by no means fancy or "posh" but - oh my God - the food was amazing, probably one of the best I have had in Dublin in a while.
Myself and my fiancé ordered two different starters and mains so got to try 4 different things.  Everything was absolutely delicious, way better than a lot of similar restaurants I have tried.
I was also surprised as the prices were extremely reasonable considering the generous portions and superb quality.
Definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to try some authentic good Korean food, will go back.

• 

  crispy chicken - 46 on the menu - was SO good

  crispy chicken - 46 on the menu - was SO good
• 

  menu looks great

  menu looks great

11/10/2015

Is this the best Korean food I've ever had? No. Is it the best you'll find in Dublin? Probably! I was having some fierce cravings for Korean cuisine, and Hop House really hit the spot. I didn't wander into the bar area, but it seemed divey enough to be my style as well! I went with the bulgogi, and it was really delicious. They also gave me free water which I always appreciate. The service was really fast and attentive. If I lived in Dublin, I would make this a regular spot!

16/6/2015

I was really excited to try this place as I miss the pub attached to an Asian restaurant thing that happens a lot in London.

The food was good but we waited over 40 minutes for it after waiting 20 minutes to order so 1 hour after arriving at the restaurant we got our first dish.

Unfortunately we had to be at a talk for 8pm so were rushed and the thing I usually love about bibimbap - that it doesn't get cold because it's in a fiery cauldron  - was a total pain when you are trying to shove a pound of veggie rice down your throat in 10 minutes.  

I'd definitely go back to give it another shot but would make sure I'd nowhere to be afterwards. Food was 4 star, service 2 star so it gets 3 overall.

23/2/2016

I really liked this place. Had the seafood tofu stew (lunch--incl rice and kimchi) and paid €9.5. Good size stew but would have liked a bit more rice and kimchi. But it was enough to satisfy the hunger and leave me thankful I'd chosen this spot for my day out in Dublin. Staff was friendly, even amidst obnoxious guests.

29/9/2014 Updated review

The service was not great on my last visit here. Due to mix up with the booking, the staff were unable to cope with us and the others diners in for dinner.  But they fitted us in all the same, which was good of them.

With twelve of us sat between two tables in the bar, we waited to order and then waited for the food. It took well over an hour. In fairness they gave us three bottles of Korean wine to make up for it.

Food was ok. The pumpkin croquette a highlight, although it could do with an accompanying sauce. The bulgogi bibimbap with chilli not as mind blowing as I remember.

Service at the bar was quite slow also at one point. I guess it was busy for a Wednesday night.

My partner was not a fan before this visit, but I managed to convince him to come along. I very much doubt either of us will be back if I'm honest.

9/4/2015

It was my friend suggestion and I dont mind trying new cuisines. My first Korean experience and I really enjoyed it. We started with spring rolls and Eddie mammi,  I ordered Tempura roll with vegetables and my friend had a dish that I cant  really describe but was  mainly chicken and it was her favorite. The staff were so friendly, polite and helpful. The place is nice and very asian. I would recommend this place.

• 
• 
• 

  Tempura roll

  Tempura roll