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    Lani Sot

    4.4 (114 reviews)
    ModerateKorean
    Open 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 4:30 PM - 9:00 PM
    Updated 2 weeks ago

    Lani Sot Photos

    Business Info

    LANI SOT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Dogs allowed
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Lani Sot

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    Reviews With Photos

    Li Y.

    Love the space that Lani Sot took over from the Butcher and the Bird in the Salt Our Kaka'ako Complex on Ala Moana Boulevard. Its chic, its intimate, its a great environment for catching up with a friend or date nite. The menu, while a little limited, is tasty. Tonite the two of us shared a bugolgi bibimbap and a half rack of pork bbq ribs (came with 4 ribs). No additional seasonings needed on both. Meals came with three taster dishes of banchan: bean sprouts, seasoned cucumber (?), and kim chee. I say taster dishes because the portions were so small only one person could "taste" it before asking for a refill (unlimited. Just have to ask). Servings are on the smaller size, including the entrees. The bibimbop was tasty tho made even more delicious with the pork rib sauce. Pork ribs... is four ribs half a rack? I guess it is for half a serving size. While the sauce was tasty: tangy with just the right amount of heat, ribs meat was a little on the dry and tough side. Tasty though! Would I be back? Without hesitation!

    Spicy pork
    Brennan H.

    Came here at the recommendation of my cousin. Came during lunch during the week and it wasn't super crowded. The server was super attentive and properly took our order. Once it came out, she thoroughly explained what the dishes were and how to eat everything. I got the spicy pork and it was delicious! I also enjoyed the banchan. I love that they keep refilling the banchan! Overall, highly recommended! Parking is at the SALT lot. They do validate. Scan their QR code.

    Lentina V.

    Went for dinner on a Friday night with a friend. It was just us two but we ordered for probably 6! We ordered the mushroom rice set, the spicy chicken stew set, meat Jun, mandoo, sotteok2, and banana makgeolli. Total bill was ~$170 including tip. We took leftovers home tho. The good: flavors! Everything tasted good. The mushrooms were juicy! Mandoo was good. Sotteok2 was good. Kimchee!!! I asked for extras. The not so good: pricey. The interesting: meat jun was more mochi-like than I'm used to. The seaweed soup had a clam-like flavor which I couldn't wrap my head around. (Coz I see bits of meat). Even though it was Friday night, it was quite empty. There was only one server. She was attentive and the food was served very quickly. The bathrooms are by the first floor elevators. Need a code. 3.75 stars

    Orange and lemon slushie
    Alice W.

    After I moved from LA, I was worried it would be hard to find quality Korean food on Oahu. We came to SALT at Kaka'ako for a maker's market, but ended up staying for lunch and were pleasantly surprised with our dining experience at Lani Sot. We were so glad to see that Lani Sot had outdoor seating where our 2 dogs could sit with us. The outdoor seating area is also in a nicely shaded area with umbrellas which was great because it was hot outside! We ordered the popcorn chicken and fried dumplings to start, which were both light and delicious. For our main course, we ordered the garlic shrimp and spicy pork rice plates. I loved that each order was an individual set with our own side dishes and hot pot (see photos)! The food was delicious and the perfect portion size. We washed it all down with the Lani soju highball cocktail which tasted like a passionfruit+sprite mix and was super refreshing. For dessert, we were served a light orange lemon slushie which was the perfect end to our meal. Throughout our dining experience we received excellent service and attention. The nice thing about the restaurant is that they have call buttons at the tables, even outside, in case you need anything. For the amount of food we received, the food was super affordable and we were glad to leave a generous tip based on how well taken care of we felt. We would recommend Lani Sot to anyone looking for delicious Korean food in Honolulu!

    Lani Sot Korean Cuisine is on the 2nd floor of Salt at Kaka'ako.
    Fran C.

    Wow-wee!!! 10 star service, & 20 star grub = an easy 5 star review on Yelp!!!! I took my sister folks & my dad to a Korean restaurant for here birthday, as I asked her where she wanted to eat? My sister picked this Korean restaurant called - "Lani Sot" due to her coworker telling her about how great this restaurant was. I guess my sister's coworker sure knows a good restaurant when she sees it, as the food here was F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S, and the service here was even greater! The restaurant itself is on the smaller side, but they do have indoor & outdoor seating. Very nice decor inside of the restaurant. We ordered the following items - 1. Hinoki Set ($99.89) cash price, ($102.89) credit card price. 2. Bulgogi Pot Rice ($29.99) cash price, ($30.89) credit card price. 3. Teri Chicken Pot Rice ($24.99) cash price, ($25.74) credit card price. I was the one who got the Teri Chicken Pot Rice. I must say the food portions here was more than generous, and the food was extremely tasty! My dad raved about how tasty his Bulgogi Pot Rice meal was. If pops like, than it's an automatic "5 Stars" in my book! Lol! Should I be craving some Korean grub, I wouldn't mind coming back here to try other items.

    Eel and Pollack Roe Pot Rice Set
    Alyssa Y.

    If you enjoy set meals with a variety of side dishes, I recommend trying Lani Sot. I have been wanting to go here and I'm glad I finally got the chance to. Located in Salt at Kaka'ako, there is parking in the garage and you can either scan the QR code or go to the app to pay. We came on a weekday around 5pm and were immediately seated. They have a variety of set meals ranging from meat to vegetarian to soup options. The set meals come with rice, soup, side dishes and a steamed egg custard. We ordered the Eel and Pollack Roe Pot Rice and Bulgogi Jeongol (beef hot pot) set. Eel and Pollack Roe Pot Rice: The eel was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They give you a spoon and extra bowl, but we mixed everything in the hot pot which had the crispy rice on the bottom. Halfway through the bowl our server asked if we would like tea poured into the pot to finish the meal, like Japanese chazuke. Bulgogi Jeongol: When I ordered the Bulgogi Jeongol our waiter asked if we would like it as a set or ala carte. I chose the set. The portion looked smaller compared to the picture on the menu and I'm wondering if it's because I ordered the set meal rather than ala carte. I wish they added more clear noodles, but the food had good soy sauce flavor without being overly sweet or salty. I wish the portions were a little bigger given the price, but overall the quality and taste are top notch. Will definitely come again to try their other meal sets.

    Garlic Shrimp Pot Rice
    Jillian T.

    Located inside of SALT where the old Butcher and Bird used to be (next to Mana+Pua). Quaint shop with long tables of 4-6pax. Simple, straight to the point menu with no frills about it. Been here twice and the servers have always been very accommodating. Once we had a 2-year old with us, to which the woman server was very keen to. As for the food, the kimchee is on point, as are their other sides that we've had included in our set. I was pleasantly surprised to see chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) served, as that's very rare to come by. Towards the end of the meal, you can ask for hot tea to be poured into your rice bowl, to make another soup out of it. Though for me, it watered down the flavor of the spicy garlic shrimp, so I think I'll politely decline the next time around. All in all, a very comforting and filling experience.

    Mushroom set
    Mona W.

    It was my first time trying this place yesterday with my little sister to celebrate her birthday a little earlier since I won't be here for it. I was trying to look for something that's a bit healthier but also has a Korean kick to it. I've always wanted to try this place and it was great because it wasn't too busy when we got there so we were able to get a table right away. The service was great. The aunty that was helping us was very nice. She even offered us hot tea because it was a bit windy outside. I got the mushroom set and my sister got the eggplant set. She really enjoyed hers and I also really enjoyed mines. I really like that everything was portioned just right. They had little side dishes as well as an egg white custard that was good and tasty. I will definitely be back to try other sets that they have and I don't feel so guilty eating it because it felt like it was on the healthier side of things with lots of veggies and barley tea as well! If you haven't tried yet, I would definitely recommend you to try this place!!

    My garlic shrimp set
    Teri Y.

    Small place so make reservations. Park in the SALT parking lot and get validation for discount parking. Small menu but full of wonderful choices. I ordered the garlic shrimp set. We also Ordered gemari, mandoo and korean chicken. All was crispy and well-seasoned. You just want to keep eating. The set had several large shrimp with lots of banchan on fragrant rice. Im not sure what everything was but it all tasted fresh and yummy. Just trust them. There was even savory chawan mushi. The barley tea that goes into the crispy rice bowl is so soothing. They end the meal with a nice sample of mango slush. Service was top tier. Cannot wait to go back.

    Abigail A.

    Food, drinks, service, loved it all. We enjoyed the meat Jun and the sauce it came with, felt healthy and didn't feel sluggish at all even with all the amount of food we got. Would come back here again! Sunday near 5 pm, seated right away but soon after they did receive more foot traffic. Which is no surprise with the delicious food they serve. Husband enjoyed his high ball drink (: I got the eggplant while he got the teri pork, we both cleaned up all of the plates... nice lighting and noise level of the music wasn't too loud, perfect place to get together with friends or go on a date!

    Teri chicken ($24.99)
    Greg T.

    Lani Sot is a Korean restaurant that specializes in hot pot rice--think dolsot bibimbap with a metal rather than stone pot. When ordering your hot pot rice, you have the choice of vegetables (eggplant, mushroom) or meat (chicken, pork, shrimp) as your primary topping / protein. Unless you order one of the premium options (bulgogi, short rib, eel), your standard pot of rice also comes topped with lotus root, green onions, a pepper medley, and other vegetables. Each set comes with three banchan and soup, which rotate on a daily basis, as well as chawanmushi. The restaurant regularly posts their banchan and soup on their Instagram account, so check that out if you're picky about your sides. I thought my teri chicken hot pot was good, with a nice mix of traditional and local flavors that made for an enjoyable dish. I lucked into an excellent seaweed soup as part of my set, and I would gladly eat that soup on every visit if it were possible. I appreciated how staff automatically added barley tea to the hot pot at the end of the meal to make nurungji or scorched rice, ensuring that we left full and satisfied. My only critique would be price: at $24.99, the price of the restaurant's offerings are on the upper end for what I'd be willing to pay for similar fare. The restaurant is relatively small, so I'd recommend making a reservation if you'd like to avoid waiting at prime meal times or if you come with a larger group. But I had no trouble getting a table for two shortly after opening on a weekday. Since the restaurant is located in SALT, it provides discounted parking for the adjacent parking garage. With validation, parking is $2 for 2 hours, $3 for 3 hours, or $4 for 4 hours (plus a 99 cent service fee). Note that the parking garage requires the use of an app/website as well as a credit card.

    Entrance
    Andrea M.

    This is a newish Korean restaurant on the second floor of SALT. It's a somewhat limited menu because they focus on the pot rice set and that's their specialty and they do it very well. I was able to make a reservation for Saturday evening using Google assistant (good for those with phone anxiety) since there is currently not an online reservation system. I went with a group of 4 including my 9 year old. We are vegetarian so we all got either the spicy or regular eggplant. My daughter got just the set with plain white rice she enjoyed putting the cucumbers and kimchee and mixing it with the rice. The eggplant rice had a mix of other veggies including my favorite, lotus. There's also a steamed egg on the side and the soup of the day. I was pretty hungry and ate it all quickly and probably could have eaten more. No worries, thats what the downstairs ice cream is for. The spicy eggplant rice was not overly spicy but had a nice kick. I liked that I didn't feel heavy afterwards, it's a generally healthy hearty meal. I would have liked some more appetizer options but what I got was really good. After a few minutes they come around and offer to put barley tea in the pot so you can eat the crispy rice with it. I don't know why I expected it to be more flavorful since it's just barley tea but I needed a little bit of salt or something to add more flavor but nevertheless I thought that was pretty cool. It reminds me of the crispy tadiq on the bottom of Persian rice. It had rained so the outdoor tables weren't available but the setting was nice with about 10-12 tables inside. Service was fine, a little explanation about the concept would have been a little appreciated for newbies like me but it's pretty self explanatory

    Teri pork
    Dathan C.

    Going to be honest here, we intended to go Highway Inn to have our out-of-town guest try Hawaiian food. But that line was epic. Walking around evaluating our choices, we spotted Lani Sot, which was on my list of places to try. Located in the former Butcher and Bird on the second floor of the SALT complex, (which relocated and reinvented itself as the Local General Store in Kaimuki, go there too, Jason Chow is amazing, they even have in-house made spam), Lani Sot offers a very limited menu of mostly Korean rice pot sets. Our party of three was able to get walk in seating for three and we quickly ordered two Teri pork and one spicy pork Korean rice pot sets. The piping hot metal bowls were filled with seasoned rice, vegetables, and meat, creating that lovely crispy rice in a sort of bibimbap way. The dish was accompanied by chawanmushi and the usual Korean banchan. The Teri pork was tender, flavorful, delicious with a good amount of pork. No complaints here. The amount of food is deceptive though. It doesn't look like that much, but when you're about three fourths of the way done, you start to feel full. The wait staff also came around with barley tea and suggested filling our crispy rice coated pots with barley tea to create a soup of sorts. I'm not into barley water, but my dining companions went for it. The restaurant is a bit dark, but clean with a polite, efficient wait staff. There is partially validated parking. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.

    Inside one layer of the hinoki box.

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Lani Sot

    Can you order extra banchan?

    Refills are available while you are dining , we also sell our banchan in container. FYI. Our best seller is our Kimchee :) thank you

    Is this place pet dog friendly? (Not a service animal)

    Yes

    Do you serve alcohol?

    Not yet. We still waiting liquor license. We accept BYOB now

    Where do you park?

    Hi. We have parking garage building. 1hour validation.

    View All 6 Questions

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    Came to Jagalchi on a Friday night closer to 7pm without reservations for a party of 7. We had to…read morewait around 15 minutes for a table. They have free parking in the small lot right outside their restaurant, but there is also paid parking across the street. We were lucky, and people were leaving as we got there. For 7 of us, we got the rabokki, meat jun, half order of bossam, and kimchee pancake. This was more than enough food for everyone, and we probably would have skipped the kimchee pancake next time. The food was really good, and I would definitely recommend the bossam if you're with a group. The meat is super soft and flavorful, and even the half order was a generous portion. We also ordered the lemon soju and yogurt soju pitchers. They have tablets for you to order the food, which was super convenient. The food comes out pretty quickly, and the service is friendly. Overall, would recommend here for good Korean food and fun vibes.

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    Jagalchi - By the time we were ready to leave, the restaurant started to get more crowded.

    By the time we were ready to leave, the restaurant started to get more crowded.

    Jagalchi - Bulgogi bibimbap

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    Jagalchi - We went early, so the restaurant was pretty empty.

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    If I could give this place zero stars, I absolutely would…read more The customer service was horrible from the moment we arrived. We were told the waiter was the owner, must be under a new owner and if that's true, his behavior was extremely disappointing. I would not recommend eating somewhere where you're made to feel like an inconvenience. My soon do bu tofu soup was literally thrown onto the table, causing some of it to spilt over on the side. We were not given enough chopsticks, and when we asked for straws because the ones we had broke, his attitude became even worse. He started slamming things around, and when we tried to get his attention, he clearly heard us, laughed, said something under his breath and walked away. Thankfully, the other person working with him came over and helped us. At that point, I couldn't even enjoy my food because of how uncomfortable and unwelcome we felt. I ended up asking for my food to be packed to go. The overall atmosphere felt extremely toxic, rude, and unwelcoming. What made it even more disappointing was that we were there during a time when it wasn't even busy. I will not be returning, and based on this experience, I cannot recommend this place.

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    We are extremely disappointed with our recent experience…read more We've been loyal customers and typically eat here twice a week whenever we're on assignment on the island in the last five years. We have also left two previous positive reviews because we've genuinely enjoyed the food and wanted to support this small business. Earlier this week, we ordered the bulgogi for our kids, but the meat was too chewy and tough making it inedible. Wanting to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, we ordered the bulgogi again the following day and even requested it be cooked well done. Unfortunately, it had the same too chewy and tough texture, and again, could not be eaten. After feeding the kids something else, bathing them, and putting them to bed, I called the restaurant around 10:00 p.m., but they had already closed. I called the next day, and the owner (a lady with glasses) returned my call. Instead of listening to my concerns, she repeatedly interrupted me and spoke in a passive-aggressive, dismissive manner. I was on speakerphone with four other adults in the car, and everyone commented on how unhelpful and condescending the conversation felt. I explained that I wasn't calling simply to complain - I wanted to share feedback because we genuinely care about the restaurant and have supported it for a long time. I even mentioned that I had previously provided constructive feedback about the takeout bowls, which the restaurant later improved. Before I could finish, she cut me off and said, "We're not talking about the to-go bowls right now, are we? We're talking about your bulgogi." She insisted that if I wanted a refund, I needed to return to the restaurant in person, and that if something was wrong in the future, I should come back immediately so they could remake it. Unfortunately, that's simply not realistic for us. We're staying in a hotel with two young children, and the restaurant is about 40 minutes away. By the time we discovered the problem, got the kids settled, and called, making another round trip would have meant roughly 80 minutes of additional driving with tired, hungry children. I understand that mistakes happen, and I wasn't expecting perfection. What disappointed me most was how the concern was handled. This business does not value customer feedback and will never first listen respectfully, even from repeat customers who have consistently supported and recommended them. Sadly, based on this experience with both the food quality and the customer service, we won't be returning.

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    Interior.

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    Lani Sot - korean - Updated September 2026

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