It's rare that EVERYTHING I order is AWFUL, given that I tend to order simple aide dishes, but that happened this time. The kimchi was disgusting, the tofu was nasty, as was the daikon. I threw everything out. read more

The best Korean restaurant ever! Very yummy food and very friendly waiters, waiting time for food is about 3-5 mins, they are very fast We always come very late about 10 minutes before they close and they always very nice with us read more

Korean Express - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

I had the Chicken fried rice with a order of pork dumplings...honestly was a waste of money. The rice was okay, needed more flavor and just looked bland. The dumpling just tasted old and had a weird taste, the wrapping looked good but just wasn't it. It's sad that I was such in a mood more Korean food and this just killed it...unfortunate. Sad to say I'll never eat at one again. read more

Stopped by for a quick meal. We ordered the mandoo, Korean fried chicken, bulgogi kimbap, and hot stone bibimbap. Really enjoyed the hot stone bibimbap and would definitely come back. read more

Korean Express - Hot Stone Bulgogi Bibimbap - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

Okay Korean food. The spicy tuna kimbap was more like spicy tuna of sushi, a little too much spicy mayo. No perilla leaves like in a classic tuna kimbap. Dbukboki was good tho. Decent place for quick Korean food along the area read more

Korean Express - Ddeokppokki and Spicy Tuna Kimbap - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Best to go when you can't decide where to get. I got the kimchi rice & fried chicken and I loved it.

I don't always need to be blown away by the food I eat; nor do I always look for complex layers of flavor in every morsel I ingest. On the other hand, I almost never eat merely for sustenance; I seek to enjoy what I eat. Every now and again, I just need a tasty, fulfilling meal, and that is when Korean Express consistently fits the bill. Korean Express does not purport to impress; it aims to satisfy, which it does with tasty food, reasonable portions for a reasonable price, and courteous service (Soo Hyun is a very amiable server; she is solicitous without being obtrusive). The kimchi fried rice is topped with an over-easy egg, and is offered with a choice of chicken, shrimp, bulgogi, or pork. I have tried it with chicken and with bulgogi, and have always enjoyed it. The runny eggyolk lends additional texture and flavor to the pleasant pungency of the kimchi fried rice. I have also enjoyed the various curries with rice, the kimbap (Korean cousin to sushi), and bibimbap. The bulgogi and kalbi are sometimes fattier than what I care for, but overall, the food here is perfectly satisfactory. read more

Korean Express - Kimchi fried rice - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Korean fast food, cheap prices, friendly service. Some tables are laid out a bit too close for comfort. Can deal with it, being in midtown and all, but just keep it in mind when going with large human beings or inconsiderate families who insist on bringing suv-type strollers into a tight af restaurant (yes 2 tables over lady). Got 2 variations of the lunch special. 2 sides with your choice of carbs (white rice, brown rice, fried rice, noodles or fries). White rice was good, fresh, lots of turnover here, so they'll be going through the rice. Beef stew, came as beef stew chunks minus the stew. Wasn't expecting that. Beef chunks were insanely salty, avid. Fried dumplings, came with 2. Check pictures, looks cheap as hell, give 3 at least? Marinated pork and bulgogi were better options compared to the stew, only because it wasn't eye bulging-ly salty. Otherwise both were very mediocre, comparable to buffet meats at Woorijip in Ktown. read more

Korean Express - Pork and beef - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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I've stalked this place during the two weeks that I lost control and said, "TO HELL WITH THIS DIET, LET ME EAT (CUP)CAKE", and went to the Sprinkles right across the street from this Korean takeout joint to get my fix. During one of those Sprinkles' visits, I decided to grab takeout from Korean Express since obviously, 500+ calories for one cupcake was apparently not enough sustenance for my bourgeoning waistline. I can only say I wish Korean Express expands their business and elbows their way downtown, specifically into the Financial District. I'd have a new favorite place for lunch if so! The atmosphere here is certainly express and college-friendly. Hunter amonst other schools and colleges are within the vicinity, so there are a lot of youngsters in this particular location, not sure they have another one anywhere else. There's ample seating, and service appears to be very speedy and efficient. I ordered a bulgogi kimbap roll, which is one of my favorite foods ever. Theirs is meaty, fresh, and delicious. I also ordered a small 'ddukboki' (rice sticks, fish cake and veggies in a sweet and spicy sauce). The sauce is well-balanced with the sweet and spicy mixture as well as the consistency not being too thick or watery. I took their menu to go and can report that they have so many options from typical Korean appetizers (mandoo, spicy chicken wings, pajeon, etc), to regular and hot stone bibimbap, rice dishes, fried rice, box meals, noodles (jab-chae), and hot platters (kalbi, bulgogi, spicy pork and tofu, etc), stews and soups, and of course, kimbap. The prices are a little high, but you're in the UES and all the pricetags are bloated in this neighborhood, so it's not much of a surprise. If you're on a student's budget, you can get excellent kimbap from $6 to $7. At least the quality of the food is above average and you definitely get a good meal. Now, the question is how do I avoid going to Sprinkles when I'm in the area for Korean Express!?! Hardly seems possible. read more

Korean Express - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

I could write this entire review in Korean, but you would hate me. So instead, I'll be frank. Eat here. Is that good enough? The bibimbop and kimchee jigae (possibly the best one, two combo) hits the spot, calms the nerves, and makes me do the "happy happy I've got freckles in my tummy," dance. Which basically looks like this... Take a bite of food. Smile. Chew. Schimmy my body left to right. (Repeat) I could eat here everyday. That's all. read more

Korean Express - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Solid place for Korean food. I don't know why it's called Korean Express when the food doesn't come out fast... Other than the name they have a wide variety of korean food, I had the ramen and the bulgogi stew before which both warmed my insides during 30 degree weather. Especially since it is close by to Hunter, they will be seeing me frequently when I am craving it. Their kimchi and pickled radish side dishes are really good! (They also give out soup to some customers but I haven't gotten any...) The service is great, quick to refill water, quick to refill our side dishes if it's empty. Will be returning as been wanting to try their japchae. read more

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I popped into this Korean place on a way to a party at a friend's house. It looks kind of like a deli at first, but then you realize that it's actually a restaurant. This place is, I think, the closest Korean place to where I work. The food was really good. I ordered Kimchi Pajeon (Kimchi pancake) and also the Katsudon. Both were delicious. The Pajeon was like rich, savory, and mildly spicy. It was like a combination of a scallion pancake with some kind of thinner Sicilian-style pizza dough. I really, really enjoyed it. The Katsudon was great. You know how sometimes Katsudon can just be bland? Like just fried pork with an egg on top and it doesn't really taste like anything? Well, this was the opposite. It had a slightly sweet, yet rich flavor. The onions were falling apart and delicious. The whole experience was very enjoyable. And, the place also seems legit in that they serve appetizers like kimchi and some veggies with vinegar on them. Pretty good stuff. They don't get 5 stars because I couldn't find jjajangmyeon! Whyyyyyyy?!? Otherwise, the place is really good and I wanna go back there yeah yeah yeah. :D read more

Wow! Not bad UES. During my lunch breaks I usually walk around the UES, explore a bit and always walked past this little place. I am such a fan of Korean food and wanted to see if it was kinda the "take-out" "fast food" version or was close enough to the traditional side. Like others have said, it's very cafeteria style. Super casual. I got seated very quickly at cute little table near the window. First let me start by saying that the lunch menu is pretty freaking awesome. You can mix and match a plethora of items all for the price of $9. Now I know you're probably thinking for a lunch that's a lot. But for the amount of food... you'll have leftovers. You can pick a rice (brown, white or kimchi) or jap chae noodles. I recommend the noodles... they're very yummy. And it's different! As for the lunch items you can choose 2 with your meal and I got the Kimchi Jeon (Scallion pancake) and the bulgogi with jap chae. The Jap Chae was great. A bit oily but cooked right. The Kimchi Jeon was a new item to me and I really liked it! It's a big slice of a veggie pancake. Crispy. And my favorite was the bulgogi. The beef was tender and full of flavor. There's not too many Korean places on the UES so this is gonna be my go-to place. It got an "A" in my book. read more

Korean Express - Lunch special with kimchi jeon, bulgogi, and jab chae. Aka heaven on a plate. - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

Ordered delivery, upon opening the bag, a strong odor of marijuana flowed out, later at night had a stomachache. Will never order again.

A bit disappointed in the amount of food that I got here. Ordered food for pick-up and specified a time an hour an half away. I was a bit worried as they set a text saying the food was ready for pick-up 20 mins in, and an hour earlier than my scheduled pick up time. However, when I got there at the scheduled time, they were just packing my food which was still warm. The location is great, super close to the lexington ave/59th street train station. I asked for an extra kimchi and the cashier guy was rude about it but the owner (?) was super nice and put an extra one for me - apparently they typically charge $1 for it. I ordered the bulgogi (beef) bibimbap which comes with a small miso soup. I also got the spicy tuna kimbap (korean sushi). Once I got home, I found that there was very little of the bibimbap ingredients. And the spicy tuna kimbap had a large proportion of rice. However, otherwise, both tasted pretty good considering comparable take-out korean places. And the price, at least for the bibimbap was reasonable. One reason for the 4 stars over 3 was that the kimchi tasted absolutely fantastic! just like how my mom makes it at home. read more

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Unlimited kimchi ! I come here for spicy seafood udon. It's good not too salty which is good. Servers are quick and nice ! Me likey !!! I definitely come back here ! Totally recommended !!!!! read more

Korean Express - Chicken jab chae - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

Korean food is Expensive if ordered in Manhattan. I ordered the special which came to cost around 12 bucks. It included the dokkbokki , Korean beef stew and kimchi friend rice. It was a bit spicy but alright I guess. Everything tasted like kimchi and I am not really used to eating kimchi and all other spicy food like dokkbokki. I really don't know how so many people like to eat dokkbokki. It was actually my first time eating Korean food so I don't know if it is authentic or not. Hopefully I will go to KOREA someday and compare the foods for their authenticity. Anyways, the prices seem to have increased by a dollar from previous menus I have seen by other yelp reviews. I also didn't pay any tips while eating there and I don't know if it is even required. The place is pretty big actually and there are lots of customers. The staff are pretty nice too. read more

Don't come here for the ambience Come here for the spicy hot and super quick Korean food. No nonsense and barebones but the food is delicious They have good lunch specials where you can order two dishes and one side (my total bill was $21 and I ordered Beef Bolgogi and spicy chicken along with Jap Chae noodles (see pictures). I went for lunch and I'm surprised it wasn't fuller and more crowded. Sure, it's not for the timid and probably not the best place to take your visiting business colleague from Italy (their loss) but if I worked around the area I would be a regular You don't have to wait for your food. It's served quick. The serving size is appropriate and you don't have to get anything lacked. Don't expect the array of little appetisers that are normally spread out for you before your meal at Korean places though. And again, don't expect much ambience but the food won't disappoint. read more

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I've only been here once and unfortunately that is enough for me. I went inside after work around 4, there was plenty of seating so that's a plus. However I didn't order to sot in, but to take out. The person at the register was on her phone until I got her attention as I was looking around for athe prices. I ordered bulgolgi bibimbap hot. I was waiting around 20 minutes for my order when I finally asked about it, they had it just packed and sitting there. I got home and opened it up and started mixing it up. The food: My rice was burned!!!!! How do you burn white rice?! Especially in a bibimbap.. They must've forgotten it under the "hot stone" or however you cook it I'm unsure. The vegetables that topped it was definitely not fresh but wilting at the ends. The prepackaged kimchi containers were also soggy and not worth even eating. However the bulgolgi was good and so was the miso soup that came with it..... I just wished I didn't spend 14.50$ on the order. I'm giving it 2 stars because I didn't die, and the food was edible. What a shame, this is one of the only Korean spots in the area. I used to work near Korea town 32nd and 5th and loved how fresh the bibimbap was. What a huge let down...I wouldn't even be mad if the chef said I'm sorry I burned the rice, you'll have to wait a little longer...but instead was shrugged off, ignored and packaged anyway. What a shame. read more

Korean Express - Wilted vegetables and the burned rice they gave me... You can clearly see the burned parts that were probably just siting on the pan. - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

I'm a huge Korean food fan so I have tried many places in New York that serves Korean food. First I'd say, this location charges way more than other Korean places I have been to and they give you a smaller portion. No bigs, I understand it's located in the upper east side. I got myself kimchi fried rice and the portion was disappointing for the price they charge. However, it was delicious so I won't complain. My friend didn't finish his chicken teriyaki because it wasn't as good as he thought. My favorite plate was the kimchi pancake. It was thick and delicious! Only plate with a good amount of portion. Customer service was alright (3/5). I could tell they were not really interested in working. One of them kept staring at herself in the mirror when customers (as in me) needed her attention. I put the chopstick wrapper/paper on the side of the table for them to throw out and she didn't notice until the 3rd time she came to the table.. I assume they were trained to only serve you food without the service. Rating 4 stars because I was satisfied with the food despite the service I received. read more

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"In and out, my kind of style" If you want true authentic Korean food, this may not be the place for you. However, if you want something good, cheap, and fast the pull up a chair. For a Korean lunch spot there is a good variety of food on their menu. There is a 2 "entree" with a side for 10 bucks lunch special. I had the spicy chicken and Korean beef stew and the food was good buuuutttt the portions were a little small. Maybe, I was really hungry. This place is decent enough for a taste for Korean food but it you are a super Korean food expert then you would be better off going to K town or Flushing. read more

Galbi and kimchi were spot on and great, quick service as well. So many choices of food items and quick if you don't have lot of time to wait. read more

My go-to korean food in the neighborhood. Love this place. I've been going here for the past 5yrs. Highly recommended.

I want to like Korean Express- I really do. It's the only Korean food close to where I live on the UES. This is my second time here. The first time, I ordered for take out. I ordered the lunch special, which is such a steal. For under $10, you get 2 protein sides and a carb. I chose Korean Beef Stew and Spicy Pork with kimchi fried rice. Way spicier than I expected, and very oily, but very good. The second time, we dined in for lunch. Service was fine. The restaurant was relatively empty when we went at 12, but by the time we left around 1, the place was packed. We ordered one lunch special and a seafood pajeon (korean pancake) to share between 2 people. For the lunch special, we chose the Korean Beef Stew and Teriyaki Chicken with Jap Chae (glass noodles) as the carbs. The list of lunch special sides you can choose from is not very extensive. Our food arrived very quickly, which is great. The lunch special tasted alright, and for under $10, I would say it's a pretty good value. But watch out for the Seafood Pajeon- oh my gosh. Right when our server brought the pancake, we were hit with a strong smell of seafood- and not the good type of seafood smell. It was very fishy. Not rotten. Just very fishy. The pancake didn't look right, either. It was very thick and when we broke off a chunk, we saw that the insides were still gloopy-looking. It didn't look fully cooked, and much to my dismay, didn't taste fully cooked either. The seafood items inside the pancake seemed to be fully cooked, at least, but the smell and the taste were just unpleasant. I asked our server to bring the pancake back to the kitchen and cook it for a bit longer. When it came back, it definitely looked much better. But upon tearing a piece off again, it still looked wrong inside. The taste was still offensive. And I was still disappointed. I'm disappointed that Korean Express won't be my go-to Korean restaurant in the area. The dishes are much too Americanized and don't taste authentic. Most dishes are not bad. They're just not authentic. But whatever you do, do not order the Seafood Pajeon. read more

Korean Express - Seafood pajeon (pancake) - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

If you're looking for the classics with welcoming service and a great price, you have to come here! They serve all the classics, perfected to be enjoyed by foodies who are looking simply for a great meal. With an authentic type of restaurant feel, mixed with an open kitchen and the best tier of service, Korean Express offers a simplistic and delicious menu of Korean staples seemingly brought from Korea. I always experience friendly, quick service. And being a huge fan of Korean food, I can say that this place has perfected the classics such as bibimbap or japchae. I know New York City has a lot of every type of restaurant to choose from, but when it comes to getting the classics right and doing it with great service, this place does it the best. So, if you want a place that serves some amazing, classic Korean dishes for a great price with friendly service, then this is absolutely the place to go. read more

I gave 4 star to jab chae. Tofu stew is so so. Overall is 3.5 star:) One of the few Korean restaurants in UES, can't be too serious, a good spot for stop by when craving for Korean taste. Service is fast and good. read more

Korean Express - jab chae，love it - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Their soy based wings had good flavor but a bit small and skimpy on the coating. The squid bibimbap was flavored well with the meat cooked perfectly. But it was the soggiest, mushiest bbb I've ever had. Albeit tasty. If I wanted congee I would've ordered that. Or mash potatoes. I'd even specifically put in the instructions to burn the bottom "hard". That said there was 0- I mean 0! Pieces of soccarat in the entire dish. No crunch nor chew at all. C'mon, I just don't get it. Add insult to injury, they were 25 minutes late from the requested delivery time. read more

I've been coming here for years... I cannot find a place in NY that makes spicy tofu stew better. I travel out of borough for this place. I'm committed. The service is so fast!!! It's delicious and so comforting.. I will be so sad if this place ever closes . I would cater from here for my wedding. Yelp and NYC.. do your thing. read more

Not bad for a $10 lunch special! Well, it's $9.95 to be exact without tax. With tax and tip (if you're dining in), it's about $12-$13 per person. You get to pick a side from white/brown rice, japchae (glass noodles), kimchi fried rice, fries, salad. Then two dishes that range from bulgoki, spicy pork, dukboki, fried chicken, spicy chicken, chicken teriyaki, vegetable curry, Korean beef stew, fried park dumplings, spicy beef jalapeño, tofu. Came here with a friend for lunch on a week day. She got a salad, dukboki and bulgoki. I ordered japchae, spicy pork and vegetable curry. First off, brownie points for the dukboki and japchae. The rice cake itself was plump and chewy with the right amount of spice. Japchae was also deelish, even more flavorful when mixed with the spicy pork sauce. Can't say much about the salad, bulgoki, spicy pork and vegetable curry. All pretty mediocre. Btw, the vegetable curry consisted of about 4 pieces of potatoes and carrots each, dumped inside a small bowl of curry. Not what I expected. This is a great place to swing by if you're around the area and craving simple Korean street/comfort food. It's quick, cheap and plentiful for the amount you pay for the lunch special. I wouldn't say they hit the bullseye with each dish but it's not bad, just don't have such high expectations. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here but aforementioned, if you're around the area and want something Korean that's quick, cheap and filling, this would be the place for you. read more

Cheap and decent Korean food. Tried the Jap Chae and def would get it again. Large enough portion for ~$12 ($12 dinner in the city!?) read more

Korean Express - Jap chae - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

Thank you for satisfying my post COVID bibimbap craving. I walked by this place thousands of times and never thought I'd step inside since most NYC bidders have korean dishes and K town was just a quick Uber ride away but COVID changed all that. Their bibimbap had generous portions of beef bulgogi and vegetables (not just lettuce but the root vegetables that are missing in deli bibimbap) and came with soup, small containers of kimchi and daikon radish and the delicious hot pepper paste. It also comes with soup container of rice which i only used 3/4. For $17 I think it's good value since I enjoyed it and finished the whole thing which honestly could have fed 2 average eaters! This place is only authentic korean restaurant in This area of UES and I'm so glad they are still open. I'll be back again for sure. read more

Average Korean food that does come out pretty quickly. I got the hot stone bibimbap but for some reason, it was pretty...watery. 'Eh, didn't like that but overall it was good. $13 for a bibimbap still pains me, however. There was also no boricha. Whackoo. read more

I came here for their lunch special that was 7/8 as advertised on the storefront with a friend, planning to split it since we weren't that hungry. After deciding on what to order, the waitress told us that we could NOT share the lunch special. Additionally, she did not serve us water until we ASKED. As for the food, it tasted like korean fast food take out. The bulgogi was very greasy and my friend's tofu was made with way too much sesame oil. The ddukbogi was okay, but if you mess that up then I wouldn't say you're fit to open a korean restaurant. I would rather go to a pricier Korean restaurant at 34th or St Marks for their lunch special and pay a few bucks more than to eat here. read more

Slightly above average food but way too expensive. My coworkers order from Korean Express all the time so I knew I had to try it out sooner or later! I got here at around 1:30 and I was surprised to see that there were many people eating inside since I had imagined it to be more of a takeout place. The service is pretty good/fast and the decor is ok (similar to your typical Korean fast food places). Here's what I got: Spicy tuna kimbap- I liked it! I'm usually not a fan of spicy tuna sushi but I really enjoyed this kimbap. It had the perfect amount of spiciness and they were not skimpy with the spicy tuna (some restaurants load their kimbaps with rice). It also had a rich tuna taste to it that I enjoyed. Bulgogi japchae- Was not a fan...it was too oily and salty. And to make things worse, it was $10+! My mom could make a much better tasting japchae at home for a fraction of the price. Overall, the food here is only average but costs way too much. I ended up paying $20+ for my kimbap and japchae which I found completely unreasonable. If I ever decide to order from here again it'll probably be for the kimbap or for the lunch specials which actually seem decently priced. read more

We have been coming here for lunch and dinner do years. It's the best place to get decent Korean food in UES. read more

Korean Express - Corn silk tea - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Looks like a dive. Food was actually really good. The Bimbimbap was fresh and tasty. No banchan really, but miso soup came with the meal. read more

Korean Express - Yummy Bimbimbap - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

This place was pretty solid. No frills and good food! It's new years and I wanted to get dduk mandoo soup as its tradition in the culture to eat it this day. Also got spicy pork rice box, and it was delicious! I'll definitely be coming back :) read more

Korean Express - Korean Near Me - New York, New York

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Quick and cheap Korean food. You can get a lunch special for $10, I had the bulgogi with kimchi rice and dumpling. Tasty!

After eating here for lunch, I got the Kimchi stew, I got food poisoning!! Their Health Inspection grade is a B which should have been a sign but I thought it wasn't a big deal since the place looked clean and there were people already eating. But this was the wrong decision. I eat a lot of Korean food so I know it's not because my body isn't used to it. So if you go here and have a sensitive stomach you might want to reconsider. Also, Just saw in another review someone found a roach in their food gross!! No wonder I got sick.... read more

My go to Korean spot that's on my way home. Great food and friendly service. The ramen soup is delicious and it's on the spicy side. read more

Korean Express - Korean Near Me - New York, New York