They have decent Korean food. I love the fact that they serve pickled vegetables with any dish u order and can ask for refill for free.

Good effort and decent location, but I probably won't be back anytime soon. I came here for dinner a few weeks ago after class because everyone I was with was craving Korean food. U-Town didn't have terribly great ratings on Yelp, but I was willing to give it a try anyways since I hadn't had Korean food in a while. Atmosphere: U-Town operates within a really compact space in which they manage to fit in several tables and chairs. The product is a semi-intimate dining experience in some ways. When we went during dinner, there was no other seating besides four empty seats in the slightly awkward bar seating area in the very front, so we opted to wait for a table instead. No major complaints. There are lots of college students and it's a Korean restaurant, so don't expect it to be that quiet. Food: Being the only Korean person in the group, I made a couple of food recommendations to my friends. I ordered spicy squid over rice, which is one of my favorite dishes ever. Although the level of spiciness was quite reasonable, there was something really off about the dish. One of my friends ordered jjampong, a Korean-Chinese fusion dish, that also was lacking some serious punch. I forgot what the third person ordered. I remember the banchan for our table was so disappointing -- just kimchi and daikon radishes, which is usually paired with Korean-Chinese food. As far as I'm concerned, they should've given us a typical set of side dishes. Price: So, I've gotten used to relatively expensive Korean food on the east coast, but U-Town is actually quite pricey in light of the overall experience. Sure, there are college students willing to pay for convenience, but I did feel like I could've gotten something way better at a more authentic Korean restaurant anywhere else for a marginally higher price. The food quality and price mismatch/gap is probably my biggest hesitation about this place. Two-stars. I've DEFINITELY experienced better. read more

My friends rave about this place, and it is conveniently located for a late-night hangout on 40th St, but the food is very meh. The katsu-don was served soggy last time I ordered it, and didn't really have much flavor other than the bit of onion underneath the chicken. I also had their burrito, which was so-so. I heard the seafood soup is pretty good, although I haven't tried it, and their pickled vegetables aren't bad. Overall a cool little shop with nice ambiance/decor, but the food could be improved. read more

I really wanted to like U-town, but I think the food was okay. The soon dubu here wasn't much different from the same dish at Koreana. Both a bit watery, but here the tofu actually comes in one or two large blocks instead of tofu that's falling apart. What I do like about U-Town, though, is that they offer patbingsoo, which is decent. read more

I've been to U-Town twice (and Koreana, their most direct competition, about five times) and I honestly can't say that much good about them when my experience with Koreana has consistently been better. I got the budaejigae (#36?) on the menu and it was kind of meh and also had a weird soapy taste to it (not sure if it was that or the rice that came with it) as if the dishsoap hadn't completely been washed off the dishes before they served the food. I got one of the soon doo boos the first time I went (don't remember which one) and it wasn't particularly memorable. read more

Good for the college scene. It's not the best. I got soondubu which was not out of the world but still good if you're craving. Good kick of spice. But their patbingsu (Korean water ice) was gross. It wasn't how I pictured it. It was an artificial mess! read more

Considering the lack of Korean options on Penn's campus, I would consider this a win for Korean food. It's always packed during the day, filled with both Koreans and Chinese people. The taste is far superior to Koreana's, and I think they use less MSG. Pretty good, convenient option if you are craving Korean read more

Really nice! I come U town twice a week! Service are friendly and restaurant is very clean! When I listen Korean songs in U town I felt like I am in Korea! read more

Food here is far away from delicacy. Only thing is the position which is quite near to University City.

Reasonable price. I love their korean desert!!! The bibimbap is really good as well. Fast services!

It's not bad. Some of the items are even pretty good. Still not amazing and a little bit more expensive than it should be. Has a great variety of Korean food though. read more

The food was good. I got a yuk gal tang which is basically yukgaejang with beef ribs. The timing for the food was okay. However it takes a while to get the workers' attention which resulted in me going up to them to ask for things various times. Overall, service was not bad. As for debit card users, they charge you as credit instead of debit, so that's something to be aware of. I give this place a 3/5 because the food is okay and the service is okay. read more

This place was really good, we ordered the chicken dumplings and beef tacos., it came out very quickly. I gave it 3 stars because the water they have for their customers is just a plastic bottle with tap water. I felt the water had a strange taste and was pretty warm. Also, the tacos were advertised as not spicy i found that the sauce was very spicy. The tacos were still delicious but it would have been better to get the sauce that i expected. I will still recommend and will return myself. read more

We had the bulgogi bibimbap and a spicy chicken dish. The bibimbap didn't blow my socks off but it was good and it came pretty quickly.The chicken was super spicy but that was my fault for not realizing it. Place is nice, kinda small but good service. Prices comparable to surrounding area. read more

U-Town - Bulgogi bibimbap - Korean Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I have been there several times. Every time I ordered different thing, and everything is perfect！you have to eat ice cream here! All kinds of noddles there are good. read more

I love the sea food noodles soup, and it was awesome because there are lots of sea food on it like shrimps, squids and scallops. I also like the cold noodles, but it is a little bit sweet. Their fried chicken wings are very delicious and both of my friend and I like it so much!! read more

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Number 38 is my fav. I guess I could totally cook that by myself with a little help from Shinbowl tho.

It was a Saturday night and I entered with my friend. We both ordered the Soon du bu. When I got mine, it looked awfully unappetizing. The looks correlated accurately with the taste. It was a very below average Soon du bu. Perhaps, growing up, I was spoiled by being surrounded with good Korean, but if I am going to overpay for Korean food, I think it's only fair to expect it to be above average. Definitely not impressed. However, the below average taste of the food is not the reason for the one star. If I were basing this judgement off of the quality of food, it would be around a 2 or a 2.5 star. It's the horrendous service we received that brings this down to a 1 star. Too bad yelp doesn't give My friend ordered her Soon du bu to be spicy. When it came out, it seemed as if the workers forgot to add it. So we kindly asked the waiter if they could add more spice to the soon du bu. He went back to talk to the owner. The owner came back out and angrily said "this is what YOU ordered, I'm not going to change anything". Then we asked if we could just cancel this item, and the owner refused to cancel the item too. Then he said "just eat it and go". Unfortunately, the angry owner made my friend cry. This restaurant operates off of the fact that other Korean restaurants in the area have similar, if not worse quality of food. It takes advantage of Korean-American/Korean students from Upenn/Drexel/USciences who crave Korean food and settle for sub-par food. Because of this horrendous service, I know go to Koreana which is another Korean restaurant in the area which has a similar quality for food. However, I go to restaurants that respect their customers, not push their requests to the side. Perhaps the owner would benefit from attending "Restaurant Management 101". I grew up understanding that the customer is always right. It's sad that some restaurant owners simply do not understand this. read more

I have been here two times for a week. I think U-town is best Korea restaurant in Philadelphia that is closed at the University City. There were a lot of people when I went there and we were seat at table bar table. The service was perfect and friendly. Each table services one bottle water and side dish of kimchi and sweet pickled radishes; you can refill side dish anytime. Actually, the food was very delicious especially seafood 'soondubu' was my best favorite food in there but I recommend only people who like eating spicy foods. Price also nice, each food average price is about 10 dollars that is not expensive and one food enough to eat one person. From what I can see, the food is very good because after I finish my dinner, people were still coming. I will come here again when I want to eat Korean food. read more

Hubby and I decided to randomly try this place since we were walking by looking for somewhere new to eat. I ordered the chicken hot stone pot and my husband ordered the "seafood" hot stone pot. Despite the fact that our dishes were a bit bland, and dry, thankfully the food still tasted good. I have seafood in quotes is because, he got in his "seafood" dish: two baby shrimp, two nickel size rings of calamari, and one measly mussel. The rest of it was mostly rice, onions and a few veggies ($12.99). My chicken dish was in the same boat as his, a little chicken with lots of rice and some veggies ($12.99). The portions were disappointingly small and expensive for what you get. The only one server was polite, but did not bother to suggest something to order, especially since we were first time in the restaurant and unfamiliar with the cuisine. We had to pry it out of him and ended up ordering the hot pots. He did not come back to ask how it was... There was another person behind the counter who seemed to be the owner, who also did not bother coming over to ask how everything was or if we needed anything else. After dropping $32 plus tip for two snack-size entrees, we left the restaurant feeling jipped. We will not be going back... read more

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This place is terrible and don't listen to instructions when you order take out! I ask for no meat in my food but they put it in anyway. This is not the first time this has happened either. read more

Absolutely horrible service. Came here twice with friends and had an upset stomach both times on top of rude horrendous service. Do not recommend. Support other restaurants but not this one. Not coming back! read more

i ate there spicy squid dish wasn't very good , there prices is a little higher than koreana they put too much msg it gave me that after taste i did,t like that at all.i would not go back there. i am going back to koreana there prices is good and the food is good. read more

It's nice having another Korean option in UC, but neither is great...convenient location, but the food is just okay.

Been 3 times and it never disappoints! The food is wonderful (especially the jajangmyeon) and it was great. Service is super casual and I love the comfy atmosphere. They play kpop music along with the videos so it's a lot of fun to watch. read more

I go here all the time for their beef soondubu. My fav because the flavor is more savory than the traditional seafood soondubu. I'm just really upset this time (2/18) I went when they only filled up my rice and soup about 2/3 of what I normally get. Disappointed. read more

I would say way better than Koreana. I think this place serves more authentic Korean food than its counterpart. Has a variety of selections to choose from but I would definitely recommend their soups especially gam-ja-tang (pork bone soup with veggies) which is very hearty and filling; you can even divide it into two meals! read more

Tasty and healthy food; fast and attentive service. Not fancy or pretentious. I appreciated the ample portion size and complimentary pre-meal snack. I will be back often! read more

I've been desperate for some Korean food ever since coming to Philly, and I was told U-Town was one of the two Korean restaurants in University City. It wasn't as bad as Koreana (the other Korean restaurant), but it was still disappointing. I could almost taste the MSG in the food to enhance the taste, and I could just tell it was not authentically cooked. If anything, I definitely don't recommend Bibim Noodles since they were so dry, and definitely not the other soup-based items on the menu, as they contain a lot MSG. If you want a safe item, I recommend the Bibimbap, a staple Korean food, and something you really can't go wrong with. read more

I'm new to Korean food, but I decided to try U-Town because it was packed on a Thursday afternoon with a lot of Koreans. I tried the dak galbi (chicken) stone pot and the chicken dumplings and they were both very good! Definitely going back to try everything on the menu. read more

I should say I went out of my way to order Korean food rather than Japanese and that is clearly their specialty. The food was not as spicy as I would like compared to Korean food restaurants in Los Angeles, but it was very flavorful and fresh. The restaurant is a no frills sort of place, but if you don't mind average ambiance and good food then I recommend this place for your Korean food cravings. read more