M Pocha

M Pocha was a fun, tasty experience. The space is quite quaint. There is a long, central, picnic style table in the middle, then the windows are lined with bar like seating, and, I believe, there is some outdoor seating. It's not too loud, but it is a cozy fit. The food was such a delight. I came with a party of 5 and tried: 1. Brussel Sprouts2. Gai Lan (chinese broccoli)3. Chicken Karaage4. Spicy Por Buns5. Nasi Goreng6. Budae JigaeDon't sleep on the Gai Lan. All the food was scrumptious; but the Gai Lan stole the show. It had no business being that good! Tip: After you finish the broccoli, order a side of rice and mix it in with the left over sauce. It becomes a dish on its own.The service was great!

It's been my goal to visit all the M restaurants in the area and M Pocha was next on my list! I came here with a friend for an early dinner on Saturday night and luckily they had an open spot for us outside without a reservation. The restaurant is pretty small so I can see why reservations are encouraged. They have a few tables outside on the sidewalk to accommodate more guests. My friend and I ordered the spicy pork buns which were really good! They were DIY style so they came deconstructed and we assembled them. I ordered the budae jjigae (army stew) and it was pretty good! It came with a side of rice, dried seaweed and kimchi. It was decently spicy and had lots of sausage in it. I also ordered the squid ink cocktail with mezcal because it sounded unique. My meal overall was pretty decent, I enjoyed all of it. I would definitely order the spicy pork buns again, but probably not the budae jjigae because I'm not a huge fan of beans in my jjigae but that's just personal preference. I'd want to try the ramen next time!

We had a great dinner at M Pocha in downtown Durham. Our well-traveled friend from Nashville, who ate with us here, said it was the best meal he's had in a year. He told me I could quote him in my Yelp review. In barbecue circles, he's known as Speedy of the Barbecue Bros: https://bit.ly/3KlTpgdI personally wouldn't go as far to say this was the best meal I've had in a year, but it was certainly very good. I give M Pocha a solid four stars.If you're not familiar with the "M Restaurants" of Durham, they're among the best Asian restaurants in the Triangle. Their most popular restaurant, M Sushi ( https://bit.ly/3QnVQTo ), has the best sushi in the Triangle, in my opinion. M Restaurants set the bar high. The "M" stands for Michael, Michael Lee, chef-owner of the M Restaurants.M Pocha is named after Korean street tents/stalls called pojangmacha. While Michael is Korean and this restaurant was inspired by pojangmacha or "pocha," the menu spans a variety of Asian cuisines, from Chinese to Thai. Like many restaurants in this part of Durham, M Pocha doesn't have a dedicated parking lot. My friends got lucky and found a spot in the nearby free lot off Morris St (same block). Otherwise, it's metered street and surface lot parking. If you don't want to park on the street, I suggest parking in the municipal lot at 111 W Chapel Hill St. You can walk through a brick alley and across Five Points to get to M Pocha. Parking is enforced Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm, except for city holidays.This is a small restaurant. If I recall correctly, the max occupancy I saw on the wall was 49 people. Reservations are recommended. Like all the M Restaurants, except for M Kokko, M Pocha is on OpenTable. Book your reservation using OpenTable and earn dining points which can be used to redeem restaurant discounts, Amazon gift cards, and hotel stays.Here's we, four adults and two kids, shared:Cocktails* Cocktail of the Day ($16) - some sort of whiskey sour cocktail with egg white (I don't remember the exact description)* House of the Rising Sun ($20) - Hibiki Whisky, Bekseju (Korean herb wine), charred lemon, miso caramelSmall Plates* Lobster "Mac" & Cheese ($26) - crispy rice cakes, Mornay sauce, herb breadcrumbs, chili poached lobster* Shrimp Toast ($17) - Japanese milk bread, white shrimp, wasabi sweet chili sauceDumplings* Meat Mandu ($12) x2 - traditional Korean dumpling: ground pork, mushrooms, chili crisp, kimchi, buchu chives; handmade fresh daily* Crab Shumai ($16) - crab meat, shrimp, kani, cabbage, scallions, yuzu and truffle ponzu sauceMeat* Chicken Karaage ($14) - marinated fried chicken, special spicy dipping sauce* Spicy Pork Buns ($17) - DIY steamed buns, spicy Korean BBQ pork, pickled cucumbers, ssam* Meat Plate ($48) - grilled galbi marinated Korean short rib, dry rub Iberico pork chop, duck fat pickled oyster mushrooms, seasonal kimchi, grilled onions, choice of rice or side salad (we chose rice)Rice* Chashu Don ($19) - braised pork belly, gravy, spicy cucumber salad, six-minute egg, scallionsNoodles/Soup* Xiao Mian (Chongqing Fire Noodles) ($19) - alkaline noodles, ground pork, gai lan, pickled mustard greens, housemade chili oil, sesame sauce, peanuts, cilantro* Drunken Noodle ($16) - stir-fried rice noodles, tofu, broccoli, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, beech mushrooms, Thai chilis, spicy chili sauce, peanuts, Thai basilSides* Chili Crisp Garlic Fries with Kimchi Aioli ($6)* Kimchi (regularly $5, but we got this for free; I think it came with a dish or maybe we got it because we ordered a lot)In general, everything was very good to excellent. I think the group favorite dishes were the Lobster "Mac" & Cheese, Shrimp Toast, Spicy Pork Buns, and Xiao Mian. My favorites were the latter two. The buns were freshly steamed and the pork was succulent. I enjoyed the Sichuan hot and numbing spice of the Xiao Mian. Every dish contained high-quality ingredients and was presented beautifully.I also really liked and recommend the Chicken Karaage for a simple, comforting fried chicken dish. The Drunken Noodles were tasty and are worth getting as well. M Pocha's Drunken Noodles can stand up to the best Drunken Noodles I've had in the Triangle. The noodle texture was terrific.What kept me from giving M Pocha five stars was the Meat Plate and Chashu Don. While tender and good quality, the pork chop on the Meat Plate lacked flavor. The Chashu Don pork had fantastic slices of pork belly and a perfectly-cooked egg, but there was too much rice and it was just soaked in sauce (didn't taste the best).We and the table next to us got complimentary dessert. It was like a sweet version of Crab Rangoon.The cocktails were well-made, refreshing, and delicious.Service was great. Our server was Ben and he did an amazing job. The dishes were paced as they were ready. Due to the limited table space, Ben was quick and creative in making more room for us as new dishes arrived.M Pocha opened in June 2019.

M Pocha is another cool "M" restaurant located in Durham. A small store, similar in size to M Kokko (maybe slightly bigger?). Had to put down a reservation in order to get seated, so come prepared!A lot of interesting items on the menu but landed on the Nasi Goreng, Xiao Mian, and Chili Fries. The chili crisp fries were great, my favorite out of the three that we ordered. The way that it paired with the kimchi aioli was fantastic, a great flavor twist on normal fries. The nasi goreng was sweet and had a strong spicy kick to it. I think the sweet was a little over done on this dish, but that is a personal preference, you might like it a lot! The xiao main killed me, there were heaps of chili oil in the dish, so much so that I couldn't really taste anything else other than spicy and noodles. My stomach didn't recover until a couple of days later, not sure if I got a bad batch but there was just way too much chili oil in that dish to be justifiable. My experience was pretty hit or miss with the dishes I ordered, but I'm sure that there are more menu items that are great.

I really really enjoyed my first visit to this restaurant. I went with two friends on a Tuesday night and enjoyed some noodles, some dumplings and the Pocha vesper. I enjoyed it so much that I went back on Friday to celebrate a birthday with a friend of mine. Katie and Julia are extraordinary, weight staff, and they are quite knowledgeable. The restaurant is busy and busy lots of movement, friendly ambience, and I love the gold and silver teapots sitting around for decoration.

A fantastic place to celebrate something or someone special! Food wise, I like how the menu rotates but sometimes they bring back fan favorites on their specials menu. I think having a small menu helps them focus on making those dishes really good. We got the Nagasaki champon and Nasi goreng as our mains, the shrimp burger (a throwback item) as an app and the Pocha Vesper as the drink. The price is right for the entrees and are packed with flavor. The nasi goreng is the best I've had in a while, it is a TRUE fried rice. I also love how the shrimps are fried with a sweet and sour sauce drizzled on top. The Nagasaki champon is very rich, spicy and light at the same time. I enjoyed the shrimp burger too, but it was a bit smaller considering it was the same price as the mains - but love the homemade tartar sauce! The Pocha vesper was very strong, if you like tart soju then this is your drink but it has a beautiful lavender color. Next time I will probably get their asian pear juice though! Customer service wise, the waitress was attentive and when I realized they forgot mussels on the champon, the chef hand delivered the mussels to us in broth which was nice. We also ordered another nasi goreng to go, it's just that good.

My boyfriend and I came by M Pocha tonight with high expectations. On our quest to try all of the M franchises in Durham, we've checked out both M Sushi (amazing) and M Kokko (solid). Unfortunately, M Pocha did not hit the spot.The ambience was a little cramped on a Thursday night, but service was friendly and prompt. We tried a wide variety of dishes (3 small plates and 2 entrees, with lots left over to take home). The papaya mango salad had an odd aftertaste, and the pork mandu was oily to the point of being soggy. The highlight of the dining experience was probably the nasi goreng- specifically, the juicy and flavorful shrimp on top. While we wouldn't come back to M Pocha, we'll still round out our tour by visiting M Tempura sometime.

The Korean bar snacks at this little spot are beautiful. According to their website - Pocha is short for Pojanmacha in Korea, meaning "Tented Cart on Wheels," which serves street food with drinks. This restaurant serves food that is made to eat while drinking. That is just about my favorite combo. The drinks were sadly not great. Mine was overly sweet and unbalanced. The Chashu Don - pork belly, gravy, spicy cucumber salad, poached egg - was incredibly good. We sat outside on a warm Saturday night and it was lovely. Service was quick and very friendly.

First time trying M pocha and it was pretty good! Highly recommend making a reservation bc the inside is pretty small. We came on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was full. We ordered baby octopus karaage, shrimp toast, fried kimchi onigiri, and a side of chili crisp garlic fries with kimchi aioli. We ordered the Army stew as our main. The octopus karaage was our absolute favorite and the chili crisp garlic fries were 10/10. The fries were all perfectly crispy and were so delicious with or without the kimchi aioli. The army stew was also delicious and we had leftovers. I was disappointed though that there weren't any rice cakes in mine even though it said on the menu it had it in there. Otherwise it was packed with lots of veggies, beans, and meat. Come with a side of rice, kimchi and seaweed.The only small complaint we had was the service was slow with getting the food out. They brought out each individual order of food and it took about 15-20minutes in between for each dish to come out. Otherwise the staff were great!

Some dishes were very good and others were just good. Small dining area. Fortunately it was off hours so there wasn't a crowd crammed into the small area. The whiskey sour was very good.