What the Seoul? It's a bit of Koreatown in Old Town Pasadena in a warehouse-sized bar/restaurant with 200 TVs! This pocha (Korean-style pub) has got it going on. Super friendly staff will find you a great table and, from there, you are on your own. All ordering by tablet! Soju and Cass beer of course, and bring your appetite. Bar food galore which is actually pretty good. Must gets are the corn cheese, tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes in spicy sauce), steamed egg, fried chicken and seafood pancake. This place is perfect for groups or just a date for two. Dang, I could eat a whole tray of that corn cheese. City lot right across the street for hassle-free parking; that's one thing about the "real" Koreatown you won't miss. read more

I liked it. Cool place to get some beer and soju and some Korean bar food. Inside is decorated with lots of Korean pop/entertainment posters. Plenty of TVs on the wall to watch a game with kpop playing. It's a large space with plenty of seating. There's low tables in the middle and tables and booths on the side. It's a good place for groups. It does get pretty loud in there though. The food is good bar food. I liked the fried rice and wings. The seafood pancake was good but not as crispy as I'd like. Service was good. Friendly staff. You order on the tablets on the tables. It's pretty easy but older folks might need a minute to get used to it. You have to ask the server for the bill though. There's street meters or a parking structure within a few blocks on Delacey. read more

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FOOD: 2 Ambiance: 5 Service: 3.5 Overall: 2.5 Stars Came here on a Tuesday evening, first timer. I originally yelped this place bc I came to visit the Olive Young store front near by. Saw this place had good ratings, thought I'd give this place a try. Party of 4, we were all starving; just wanted food. So this review is solely on food. Items ordered: - Brisket Ttebokk $24.95 Decently flavored, surprised it had udon noodles and cut up hot dogs. No complaints. - Corn Cheese $12.95 Classic usual corn cheese, nothing wowing. - Corn pancake $14.95 Was intrigued, but it's literally Corn Cheese pan fried, I guess I was expecting some kind of batter in it? Like a seafood pancake...but nope. - Beef Tofu Stew (mild) $17.99 Blandddddd. Sooo bland. Watery soup. With a ton of tofu, I usually order Mild, not sure if it's bc I ordered it mild that it was BLAND af. But I've never had any issue ordering tofu stew mild spicy be BLAND like this. The soup itself doesn't have any flavor, I was really annoyed. We asked for some Gochugaru (chili flakes), didn't help, just tasted like spicy water. Yuck. - Honey Garlic wings $19.95 Decent size, came with 5 pcs. Came with the usual side of daikon, which HOWEVER was NOT crunchy... which I find Very weird. Clearly it wasn't stored correctly (need to be fridgerated), bc it was semi room temp. The sauce was off, the "honey" didn't really taste like real honey, but of some kind of agave sweetness? Bc it was very runny, the garlic flavoring was not pronounced at all, the "honey" was over powering... 5 items, ended our bill at a whopping $100. Needless to say it wasn't cheap either, it felt like this place is more for vibes and drinks. The food was an after thought, like "you already drunk so let's do whatever to the food, no one cares" mentality. FYI, drinks were superrr price gauging, for 1 bottle of regular sized soju was $15.95 ($16!). The median price for a bottle that size at a place is like $9 MAX (that's me being generous). We were all shook. The prices are outrageous, we won't be back sadly. For any type of drinks and def. Not the food. Nor will we recommend to our friends/family. read more

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This place was bumpin! We ordered the creamy bulgogi risotto, kimchi spam fried rice, and pork belly with scallions. It was all super yummy, but the risotto was the winner. It's definitely loud but great for groups. Good music was playing, and it even though there were a lot of people there it was still intimate. You order on a tablet and staff is super friendly, but you won't be hounded every five minutes on how your food is. They know what they've got and it's good. read more

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This korean pub in old town pasadena is perfect for party and gathering Old town pasadena 一間適合派對聚會的韓國酒吧 Late nights hit different at Urban Pocha Korean street food, soju, cocktails, a photobooth, and the vibes are just there. Went with a group of 8 and the service definitely held it down Highly recommend the overloaded steamed egg, rolled omelette, corn cheese, and bossam IG: socalhkfoodies read more

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Super accommodating spot, we had a group of 12 on a Thursday night. Some of us visiting from out of town, and we had Bianca as our server! Very attentive and accommodating to our group. There's a lot of space and seating; as you go in more toward the bathroom there's a bar to the left. It's great for small or big groups. We ordered a lot of items like clam soup, fishcake soup, pork belly, fried chicken gizzard chicken wings, ddeokbokki, kimchi pancake... A LOT; luckily we can order it on the little tablet at your table without having to flag a staff down multiple times. Super easy! Bianca brought our dishes out pretty quickly (since we ordered it kind of sporadically) and all the items were delicious! Our top favorite was the fried chicken gizzard, had a good crunchy coating and the fried onions were also so good together. The cocktails were pretty good, not overly sweet. One of the highballs was really good, I forgot the name but I tasted cranberry juice in it. Such a fun time, Bianca checked in on us multiple times, brought us water and kept everything orderly, and we mentioned it was 4 of our birthdays and she even brought out some sweet treats and sparkler candles! Super sweet, many thanks to her! Also Urban Pocha has a little spin the wheel game and Bianca brought that out for us to see what we'd win! Definitely coming back to this spot. read more

Urban Pocha - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

Urban Pocha is such a fun spot, especially at night! The atmosphere is lively, energetic, and full of great vibes, making it the perfect place to hang out with a group of friends. The staff was incredibly fun, attentive, and always checked in to make sure we had everything we needed. They really helped make the experience even more enjoyable. Between the delicious food, upbeat atmosphere, and outstanding service, we had an amazing time and made so many great memories. We'll definitely be back for another fun night out! read more

Urban Pocha is a chill spot for afternoon or late night drinks; their selections will likely include just what you're looking for if it's within the realm of Korean pub. On my most recent visit, my friends and I shared a Kloud with fries and bulgogi cream rissoto. Service was alright, though definitely on the slower end. Ordering is via self-service kiosk at the table, but paying is with the server. Our food came out rather quickly, and everything is fairly consistent. The food is generally overflavored in salt and sugar, but it tasted good otherwise. Overall, a decent spot to visit if Pasadena is your group's main gathering point. read more

Urban Pocha - Kloud - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

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What a hidden gem in Old Town Pasadena! It was a Saturday night and it was not busy near the beginning of evening time. I love the vibes in here as it really reminded me of an actual pocha. There's even a photobooth! It's a great place just to hang out and catch up with friends. The price was reasonable as the portion of the bossam filled 2 people up. It was fresh. I especially liked the radish. The pork belly was cooked to perfection. I like how they have a device to help order. There's a parking structure across the street too :) read more

Urban Pocha - S3. Bossam - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

Came here Friday night hoping to catch the Milan Winter Olympics but got k-pop videos instead. Oh well, let's just focus on the food, which is a solid 3-star for Korean comfort food (Yelp says "OK" but 3 stars means "Good" in my book) The 'Urban wings' have too much thick batter and grease; the squid cold noodle has very little squid in it, and the sauce is quite bland (my Korean friend could not quite put her finger on it but said it's "definitely missing something"). The seafood pancake, while looking nothing like the picture on the menu, was excellent (4 stars). Very nice staff doing their best to accommodate. Would I come back? Yes during Dodgers season. read more

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It's a cute little place, but places in KTown are significantly better so not worth to come here imo. The corn cheese was fine, but the cheese layer on top was just the hard mound of cheese after a few min. The lychee martinis were so unbelievably small... but whatever. The spicy chicken was good, but the buckwheat noodles were very cold, which was kinda making the chicken cold too. The tteokbokki could've been way better, it just was not that flavorful? My friend got the bulgogi risotto though and that was pretty solid. read more

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Loved their tteokbokki and friend chicken. The tteokboki was the right amount of spicy that we were looking for and the chicken was dripping in honey and super crispy. The kimchi pancake was disappointing- seemed undercooked as it was soggy and fell apart as soon as I tried to pick up a piece. It's the typical vibe of a pocha - casual eats and drinks. read more

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Had a large group dinner here for my birthday. Process of making the reservation was super easy. They were surprisingly empty that Sunday night, but that just meant we got to the be the dominant table of the night. It's sort of overstimulating restaurant (in the best way) with different screens projecting either kpop videos (that doesn't match the music playing), local news, or sports. The menu is a little tough for vegetarians, but my group really enjoyed the bossam, fried chicken, and corn dishes. I'd say most people in my group felt like this was a better place for a happy hour, but they appreciated how the menu had items you don't typically find at Korean restaurants in the area (no one ordered this but people were eyeing the silkworm!). Worth checking out at least for drinks and appetizers, but I'd come back for a full meal as well since they have other interesting things I didn't get to try! Since I brought my own dessert, the gave us a free bottle of soju lol. I'm definitely coming back for a frozen beer. read more

Came here around 6PM as part of a large group for birthday dinner on Sunday a few weeks ago. The restaurant was pretty empty at the time, made mostly out of circular tables of 2-4, with the capability to accommodate larger groups (ours was 9.) Food was average, the size of the appetizers encouraged ordering a variety for sharing with the table. Our end of the table ordered the bossam ($36) to share with how big it was. Large variety of drinks, cocktails and alcohol available. A solid place for hanging out with friends, didn't feel rushed, and didn't feel like we had to yell over the music. They did a whole sparkler thing for my friend's cake cutting which was very nice of them. Parking available in nearby structures. read more

We absolutely looooooove this place And Olivia is the most sweetest genuine person we have ever had a pleasure of meeting. She's one of the newest bartenders here at least for us because we haven't been here in a while but when we come back, just see her we absolutely love her to death. You guys have a gem on your hands. The food is amazing. You cannot go wrong with anything here, but Bulgogi risotto is our favorite garlic, chicken wings. The chicken is amazing fried chicken. We love it and they have a good happy hour as well. Don't forget to ask for a snow coat on top of your beer. read more

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Simply, yet delicious dishes. You can get the Kimchi Fried Rice, sub tofu, no egg for a great Vegan option. They also have a Kim chi pancake which is another vegan option! They have great drinks & pineapple sorbet! Nadia was great answering all my questions, I'm sure I had many annoying ones lol. read more

Came here late night with friends to grab some food and play cards. This was the perfect place to chill and hang as servers/staff were also really friendly/fast and nice. The food was also really good, we got some of everything like the kimchi rice, fries, tteokbokki, the noodles and corn cheese. Overall this place is great and must try in Pasadena area. Only bad thing is if you come earlier during the day you will need to pay for parking. But past 8pm street parking should be free. read more

Great spot for Korean comfort food in Pasadena! We ordered japchae, tteokbokki, galbi, kimchi fried rice, honey garlic chicken, and spicy chicken, everything was flavorful, well-seasoned, and generous in portions. Service was fantastic, our server was on point and kept the Diet Cokes coming without us asking. The space is big, has a projector and multiple TVs for watching sports, and parking is super convenient right next door (paid lot). Definitely a new go-to for casual eats and hanging out with friends. read more

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Came back again for a reunion happy hour. Service was on point since we had a separate section from the restaurant out in the back. Can't go wrong with the Bossam, Short ribs and spicey rice cake. I think we order a lot and still couldn't finish. Drinks are okay but I cut out the alcohol so the mocktails people comment said it was delicious. Ambiance is like a typical pocha. Well lit and easy to find. Great for big groups. read more

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The service is always a 10/10 and the food is great! It's awesome having an authentic korean restaurant in Old Town for the whole family. The projectors and TVs are great. They always play K-pop music videos or sports games, so it's very entertaining. They also have a bar area in the back of the restaurant, which is perfect for private parties. read more

Urban Pocha is one of those places that reminds you why small, owner run spots can be so special. From the moment we walked in, there was a genuine warmth that set the tone for the whole meal. The kimchi fried rice was excellent. It had real depth of flavor with the right balance of tang, spice, and richness. Each bite felt intentional, from the way the kimchi was cooked down to how the rice stayed fluffy without being dry. The portion was generous without being overwhelming, and it tasted like something made with care rather than rushed out of the kitchen. Service is what really elevated the experience. The owner was incredibly kind and welcoming, checking in on us and making sure everything was perfect without hovering. It felt personal in the best way, like they truly cared that you were there and enjoying the food. That kind of hospitality is rare and makes a lasting impression. The ambience matched the food and service well. It's cozy and lively, with a relaxed energy that makes you want to settle in and enjoy your time. Whether you're there for a casual meal or hanging out with friends, the space feels comfortable and inviting. Urban Pocha delivers on all fronts. Great food, heartfelt service, and an atmosphere that feels authentic. This is an easy five stars and a place I'll happily return to. read more

Urban Pocha - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

The music is too loud. in the restaurant. The lighting makes everything look pinkish as you can see from the pics of the food I took. It makes the food look unappetizing. I feel bad for the server, because he's also the host and the server for the entire place, and he was never around. We had to wave him down to take our order. And after delivering the food, he never checked on us. The food itself is alright. The fried gizzards were crispy and the yuzu sauce is a perfect dippping sauce. The Bossam is good, but too much fat on the pork. The seafood udon is tasty but the udon is not chewy. We asked for mild spicy level, and that was just perfect for us. Overall, the food is decent. read more

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Urban Pocha was on my friend and I's list to try and we got to swing by since we were in the area! Vibes are great and there's a lot of music/kpop on the TV and walls. Menu has a good variety of food, service was great as well. Army stew - 7.5/10, for the price we expected the taste to be a little better, we all agreed it was just okay, there were a lot of ingredients in it though Bulgogi Risotto - 10/10, we ordered this one a whim but it was surprisingly good! The bulgogi and risotto taste amazing together and loved the cheese pull as well Chicken/Potato/Cheese - 10/10, we've never had anything like this before but it's really good. the potato on top was crispy and the chicken and cheese go well with it Overall we had a great experience and the ambiance was fun for pocha with friends, I would come by if I am in the area again! read more

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came here last night for NYE with my friends and was so shocked at how spacious it was inside! perfect place to come hangout and get a drink with friends. the food was great. my favorite dish would have to be the corn pancake. i never had a corn pancake prior to going here, so i kept wanting to have more of it! i also enjoyed the chicken - was so so crispy i loved it. the service was amazing! staff was friendly and welcoming. they gave us a free drink in honor of NYE which was so sweet of them! highly recommend everyone to come here if you're in the pasadena area! read more

Urban Pocha - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

Great, dim, colorful environment for groups to celebrate. Fun drinks and variety of dishes, although pricier. Service is slow, only 1-2 servers. Would get again + Pork Jowl and Shishito peppers: "crunchy" tender, flavorful pork delicious w roasted shishito and onions (8.7/10) + Fried chicken: honey garlic and plain both friend well (8/10) + Steamed egg: super fluffy and big portion (7.8/10) Would pass + Bossam: pork could be thinner and more, for the price (7/10) + Tteokboki: super small portion, not worth the price but a good level of spice (6/10) + Green grape cocktail: has the artificial green grape flavor, wish it was fresh (6/10) + Rolled Omelette: nothing special but cute to eat (5/10) read more

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Ambiance: Great vibes, seating is easy to get for group of 2-4 people. Krush Beer: Light, crispy Asian beer. Tteokbokki: It's on the spicier side that builds up, the rice cake was soft and chewy. Great sauce flavor. Crispy corn pancake: Corn was crispy sprinkled with parmesan. Flavor is on the sweeter side than savory. It was slightly burned at some of the edges. Parking: De Lacey Parking Facility, I would recommend bringing cash. The machines may not always take credit cards. First two hour charge is $1, every additional hour afterward is $2. Walking over 1-2 mins. read more

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Stopped in for lunch on Monday. Good ambiance, good customer service. We had kimchi fried rice with spam, mandu, sundubu jjigae with beef. These 3 items were more than enough to feed 2 people. Everything was delicious. 10/10 recommend and will return whenever I'm craving Korean food. read more

Urban Pocha - Kimchi fried rice, mandu (dumplings), sundubu jjigae with beef (perfect spice level) - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Came here with my family as I found out about this unique Korean restaurant through Yelp. The restaurant name intrigued me as pocha in Korean means "tent/covered wagon." This usually means that the restaurant serves mainly street-side food stalls. Since we were going to Korea in a few weeks, we wanted to get that type of experience and see what food items we may eat. Parking is street or nearby lots. Upon walking inside, it is quite dim and dark and they play a lot of Korean music. It is quite loud, which makes it feel very "bar-like." We ordered the following items: 1. Steamed Egg: 4/10 I don't know why i was expecting more but it literally just tasted like an egg but no additional flavor. It was quite soft and spongy but nothing worth noting. 2. Chicken Gizzard: 6/10 The skin was crispy but because its gizzard, it was really hard to chew and eat. Probably wouldn't get this again but flavor wise, it was good. 3. Kimchi pancake with squid: 8/10 This was probably my favorite dish out of everything we had ordered. Kimchi pancake was perfect texture and had a lot of flavor. The squid was delicious and everything was seasoned well, not dry at all. 4. Brisket Rose Tteokbokki: 7/10 This was a bit spicy for me but nevertheless the tteokbokki was seasoned well. Nothing too special/new as I've had something similar before. 5. Fish cake soup: 6/10 Idk but this just tastes like chicken bouillon soup filled with fish cakes... didn't really have much flavor in it/ was a pretty simple dish. Didn't think it was worth $20 for it. Overall, the food was okay but the vibe was definitely good for group gatherings/Friday night hangouts. It was nice to hear popular Kpop groups' music and they also had TVs around the walls with their music videos playing. Service was also pretty chill and they were attentive as we were one of the only people there around 5 PM on a weekday. read more

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Absolutely OBSESSED with the honey garlic wings! So crunchy and I could eat those everyday, all day. Lychee martini was sweet and yummy. We were so shocked by how much we enjoyed the sweet potato chicken. We would definitely get that again. Kimchi fried rice was a bit spicy as well as the pork collar. If we came back, our order would be: - Honey Garlic Wings - Chicken with Sweet Potato - Army Stew - Cheese Corn It's pretty dark inside, but a great vibe. The service is really on top of bringing waters to the table which we loved. read more

We came here for dinner and ordered urban wings, honey chicken I think?, spicy chicken feet, tteokbokki, and bulgogi cream risotto. The food was super flavorful! I really enjoyed the risotto a lot. Would definitely come back here :) read more

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Had an amazing time at Urban Pocha on Friday night! Came around 8pm to catch NBA games--started quiet but got nicely busy later on. For our party of four, we ordered the army stew, brisket rose tteokbokki, urban wings, and seafood pancake. Everything was delicious. We got two bottles of soju and two beers, and while we were drinking, they sent us a complimentary bottle of soju which was such a nice surprise! The servers were super attentive and the vibe is a notch above your typical pocha--still fun and casual but a bit more polished. The space is surprisingly roomy with a bar in the back and even a photo booth! The restrooms were very clean and spacious too. Great spot for watching games, enjoying solid Korean drinking food, and hanging with friends. Highly recommend!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ read more

Urban Pocha - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Stopped by for dinner! Lots of food options perfect for sharing over drinks with friends. We got the cheese corn, the beef rice cakes, and Korean fried chicken. The corn was sweet and has hot crisp cheese! Helps with the more spicy dishes. The rice cakes show two spicy chilis on the menu. We asked and they were able to accommodate a little less spicy. It actually wasn't too bad so perhaps the normal spice would have been okay. We got the honey garlic chicken wings. It seems too drenched with garlic sauce. Next time we will get plain instead and dip the sauce ourselves. They're very crunchy! read more

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I came here on a Tuesday during their happy hour. Their happy hour isn't too bad but doesn't include cocktails except for one. The hours are good too because it ends at 7:30PM. I came here once before and I think their food options are better now. I had the spicy bulgogi japchae. The portion size wasn't that much. The taste was alright, not too flavorful. The downside to this visit was that only half of the cocktails were available. The waiter said something about it being out and the new bartender not knowing how to make the drinks which was weird. Overall the place is alright. It's not the best place to get drinks for your money but the experience is fine. read more

First time trying this place and pretty disappointed. First there was something black floating in my drink so I had to send it back. I then ordered rice and kimchi but they are serving jasmine rice at a korean restaurant which I thought was strange and didn't work with the meal. We ordered a steamed egg and dumpling salad to share but the steamed egg has no flavor and the dumplings didn't have any meat which was not detailed in the menu and came out cold. This might be a good place to grab drinks if you enjoy k-pop music but from what we tried the food was not enjoyable. Would also like to note they only have disposable utensils which is strange for a sit down restaurant at this price range. read more

Overall like 4.2/5 because it's pretty good food and scratches the itch for Korean food. Came here on Friday night around 7 pm and had no wait to get seated. We ordered the omelette, sausage and rice cake skewers, and the brisket rose tteokbokki. Ratings for food: Brisket rose tteokbokki (5/5): very good flavor and creamy but extremely spicy for someone who doesn't eat spicy food much (me!). Comes with a good portion of nice sausage and cooked brisket. Sausage and rice cake skewer (5/5): yummy crispy sausage and well cooked rice cake with a gochujang spread. Very good, but a little spicy but it's expected for Korean food. Omelette (3/5): Very much eggy, but very simple. I was hoping for like another type of flavor, but fluffy eggs. Cool vibe, a little loud with the k-pop music, but not too bad. Lots of tv screens to watch music videos and watch sports on (they had the Laker game on during my night). read more

Urban Pocha - Free shrimp chips in the beginning. - Korean Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Came as soon as it opened on a Saturday afternoon, since it was just opening, it had little to no wait. We were immediately seated and then we selected our order from a small device that came with every table. It was a large restaurant which looked like it was meant to get a late night drink and food with friends. We ordered their Corn Cheese, 3 tacos, Bulgogi Risotto and Mandu. The Bulgogi Risotto was something out of the ordinary and it had a good balance of that cheesy sauce and savory flavor from the bulgogi, it filled us up well. I would give all my stars to the service especially. We told them it was one of our friend's birthday and without even asking, they came out with a surprise desert to celebrate! Overall, this place will make sure you have a good time with good food and company. Will come by again during later hours and during their special nights! read more

I came here for lunch with my friend during the weekday. It was very empty and there was only one server/waitress so we were waiting to be seated since no one was at the front. After getting seated, we realized that there's a different lunch menu which is pretty limited than the full menu. As someone doing keto, there was basically nothing to eat at lunchtime. lol! I ended up getting the pork with peppers and onion since it was the only thing I could eat. It was okay! lol! The deco and interior seem like a typical pocha so I feel like this would be a great place to come go at night. My review is only about lunchtime. I think lunch time is probably skippable here. I'll have to come back for dinner or second round post-dinner to get the full, real experience! read more

The best k pocha in this area. Food and services were great! I had a good time here read more

Around 10-pmish on a Friday night, we were seated quickly but it took a loong time before we could flag someone down to get our order. Granted, it was busier than we thought it would be and there seemed to be a party towards the bar section. Other than that, drinks and food were good. Food is pricey tho. - Fried Chicken Gizzard $19.95: not gamey, crispy, topped with a nice honey citrus-like oil and green onions. Shareable for 3-4ish - Bokbunja HIghball $9.95: i liked this! it was like a sangria. fruity - Cass 500ml $9 - Kloud 500ml $9 - the table's fave - Tropical Banana $15 - suuper sweet but also tasty - Whiskey highball $9.95 - friend liked this too, but I think i liked the bokbunja better Next day we came back and sat at the bar. Only one person working in this section around 11:30pm. Shortly after she closed up, while the rest of the restaurant remained open. SO liked the Korean Iced Tea, while our friends liked the Lychee Soju Cocktail. Bathrooms and interior were clean. Cute lil photobooth in the corner, $10 for 2 strips of 4 photos. read more

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I've been seeing this place on my feed so decided to go check it out with my husband for our date night this past weekend. First off, there was no wait and we were seated right away. Water and shrimp chips were brought to us right away. We browsed the menu and ended up ordering drinks with the fried chicken gizzards, honey garlic chicken, french fries and tteokbokki. The first bite of everything was good. The yuzu sauce with the chicken gizzards was different and unique. After a few bites though things were getting a little too saucy for the gizzards and the honey garlic chicken. Everything ended up soaked in the sauce so it was a little overpowering. The french fries were good but the ones with a little too much seasoning was salty. Would hope to be more spread out. The tteokbokki was good and spicy, like how it should be. Overall, this place isn't bad if you are in Pasadena craving some Korean food. You definitely get the vibe of a Korean "pocha" while you are here. read more

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