BORI - Spring Branch

Went for a birthday meal with a group of Koreans last Saturday. The restaurant is beautiful and makes you feel like you've been transported to another place. There is an art gallery and the grounds are impeccable. First impression of the service was not that great. Our server provided us drink recommendations and we took them. One of the drinks (the mule) had a funny taste so we asked to switch. Her response was "I have to check with the manager". Huh? They ended up changing it but it was an awkward exchange to start off the night. The lychee martini was not too sweet but we ended up sticking with beer and soju the rest of the night. The dining room is LOUD. It's hard to have conversation. We weren't bothered as we are LOUD too. The food is not good. There were some stars but they didn't make up for the overall blandness of the food. The good things were the meat (we did a combination) but it is expensive! The kimchi pancake was the star of the visit! The seafood one was too thick but was actually cooked really well and was crispy. The banchan (if you could call it that) was a few pieces of random stuff that had no flavor or was just lacking something. The Doenjang-jjigae was watery. We would have just done a bunch of lettuce wraps but their samjang was bland??? How do you mess up samjang???Basically everything needed a little bit more of salt or flavor. This cost over $300. We ended up going to a pocha and eating afterwards if that says anything. Go to Karne if you want Korean BBQ at this price.

Solid Korean food. I went recently with my mom (she's Korean and has good taste) for lunch. I got the kalbitang lunch special and my mom got the yookejang lunch special. Both were great, and we left full plus some leftovers to-go. One small note: there was very little banchan options offered (the free side dishes) but they did refill a few of them as we ate along the way. The service was fine. We were seated after waiting only about a minute, and the food came out relatively quickly. The owner also stopped by our table and greeted us. It was a nice gesture! The ambiance of the restaurant is quite special. They have a large outdoor area for when the weather is cooperative, and a fancy art gallery too (kind of random, but I'm not complaining). I've also experienced dinner here many times, and it's one of the best Korean BBQ restaurants in Houston. It can be a bit pricey if you grill meat at the table; my experience has been ~$50-$75 per person, depending on how much you wanna eat. Lastly a quick warning: their lunch service closes at 1:30 pm. So when I mapped it to Bori for lunch, my Tesla GPS gave me a warning saying "this establishment is closing soon". Then I checked Yelp and saw that they close at 1:30 pm and reopen at 5 pm. I hope to visit the Montrose location soon.

We were the last table seated Sunday night. The place is quiet with nice decoration. My gf and I ordered a small seafood pancake and the ABC platter. The waiter was a bit slow to take our order but seeing as how we were the last ones in, it's understandable. The food came out pretty quickly. First were the sides like kimchi and salads, then the seafood pancake, finally the meat. The salads were both really nice, fresh, and zesty. The seafood pancake was really delicious. It's a thicker style but didn't feel overly starchy, big chunks of seafood, and really crispy. I'd come back just for the pancake honestly. The meat was solid, the short ribs were our favorite. The kimchi stew was also quite good, good amount of spice. The steamed eggs were also really tasty, light, and fluffy. Overall a very satisfying meal and without all you can eat, this made me feel good after eating rather than trying to stuff myself at other restaurants.

Here last week and went to Bori Montrose this weekend. Good food at both locations and more upscale compared to your typical KBBQs. Jap wagyu is good and they do a good job cooking to your style as requested. Great ambiance and has both private rooms as well as an art gallery. Very scenic and clean environment. We've been here a few times with family and highly recommend them!

I had the beef bulgogi. It was good, of course. But there wasn't enough dips and sauces to go with it. There was one that was okay IMO. So I mainly had it with the kimchi. I didn't love the kimchi. The one that came out first was a cube shape one which I didn't like because I like my kimchi in small bites and the cubes were a little too big for that. I asked for another kimchi and they brought out the regular type but the taste of it was not as good. So I ended up just taking bites out of the cubes one. The KBBQ just isn't as good as the KBBQ that you can find in Dallas. For the price point, it's a little disappointing.

We were seated and greeted fairly quickly, which was surprising since I've heard of how busy it can get here. For our food, we ordered spicy naengmyeon and I believe the first combo (the one that comes with beef belly.) To go with it, we chose the marinated short rib and New York strip ( I think) steak. Really tasty and tender meat, but on the smaller portion side for the price (I was surprised since we chose the large option.) It came with salad and small sides. It also came with cheese corn and soybean soup. The sides were tasty, but we never were offered refills of the banchan unfortunately. The spicy naengmyeon was pretty good, but I have had better. What really lacked for me was the service, which was honestly disappointing considering it's supposed to be an upper scale restaurant.

Went there for dinner with a large group, therefore we were seated in one of their private rooms. It's almost surprising that they don't have any coat hanger in the room. Decor was elegant and artistic. Service was fine. For food we ordered two platters of steak plus 8 oz of Japanese Wagyu (8oz is the minimum order), along with a number of appetizers. Steaks were yummy. Complementary side dishes were so so - all tiny pickle dishes. Steam egg was good. Spicy Naeng Myun was alright - noodles all stuck together - they should have provided more watery sauce. Japchae portion was not big. Raw crabs were yummy - very spicy. Salad coming with spicy sauce as dressing?? Very interesting... In general everything is on pricier end.

This was my second visit to Bori, and I was not disappointed in the least! This is definitely one of the best (if not the best) Korean restaurants in Houston! All of the food - the appetizers, the entrees, and the sides - are amazing without exception! My favorite is the marinated short rib. While the prices are certainly not low, you definitely get what you pay for! The quality of the meat is superb, and don't even talk about "all-you-can-eat" places. They're able to do that because they don't server the quality of meat that Bori does!The servers cook the food to its ideal state. While I enjoy cooking my own Korean BBQ just fine, I prefer to leave it to the experts here who are able to converse and cook simultaneously!The decor in the restaurant is beautiful, and the atmosphere is great for families and parties alike! If you love Korean food, run - don't walk - to Bori!

This has become one of my favorite places to get food! The first time I visited was for a Saturday dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday. While we were seated promptly, we ended up in the outside section without a grill. Surprisingly, we enjoyed it; the atmosphere was quiet, giving us the feeling of having our private room. However, being tucked away meant we weren't checked on as much.For appetizers, we ordered:- Kimchi pancake- Japchae: This dish was truly life-changing! It was so flavorful and looked beautiful.- Small ABC platter (1 choice of meat in each row)In hindsight, we could have skipped the appetizers and still been full due to the abundance of sides - all of them delicious!The second time I visited was for lunch, where we ordered the grilled bulgogi for two and japchae. We probably didn't need the japchae to be full, but it was so good the first time that I had to get it to share :)

Here's my take from the soft opening on 4/10: The bangers: Seafood pancake, kimchi stew, marinated short rib, pickled seaweed, & ssamjang. The other bonchon was alright, we ordered the ribeye from list A and it was good but probably wouldn't order it again as I'm sure there's better cuts on the menu. Pork jowl was good but wasn't a crowd pleaser since my crowd wasn't used to it, but I'd order it again. The ambiance: MONEY, the restaurant is housed in an impeccable historic 2 story house in the heart of montrose with a plethora of valet parking. I loved it. The service: top tier, if you like Kbbq but don't like to cook it and like to be fed with a silver spoon, this is your place!I'm a bang for your buck girly so will be sticking to my AYCE handam for now but may drag friends here on special occasions or when there are specials. Thanks for the experience & good food!