CHIKO

What an unexpected amazing find! We were hosted by Miller and Cambria and ate unique and delicious food. We will so be back! We ordered Pork Belly Bao, Half-A-Cade Salad, Chilled Peanut Noodle Salad, and couple beers from the local Carlsbad brewery. What a treat! All food was unexpected and fresh and delicious and the beers a yummy ice cold find that was more unique than anticipated. And everything was topped off with warm welcome and service by Miller and equally kind and gracious help from Cambria. We came at a wonky time in the middle of lunch and dinner which was perfect, as the food seems perfect for either or both. The atmosphere is casual and easygoing, and the patio open to pets and the parking spaces. I already cannot wait to return!

Ambiance..cute.placr with a nice outside area to sitService..fastFood..loved the sides.mgood portion sice..got chicken egg rolls..butter noodles..rice 2ith butter..spiced ginger lemonade..delicious and simple

The idea of Chinese-Korean fusion is great and the food is well presented. First impression after walking in is the size and the setup of the building. It would be more accurate to call this place a food shack/food stall instead of a restaurant. This had nothing to do with the food. It just felt like an odd space.We chose a table outside on the patio overlooking the train tracks. There were shades from the trees and the ocean breeze was quite nice. The table however was not stable and can be easily fixed with a rock or something.Tables need to be cleaned faster. A couple tables finished their food and left the dirty plates. It didnt get cleaned the whole time we were eating (30-40 minutes).The staff was friendly and gave us directions to use the QR code on the table to order. Water and utensils are self-served. The staff only bring the food to your table and not expected to bring utensils and water but ours was nice enough to grab some utensils for us.The food we ordered:Orange-ish Chicken: visually this dish was colorful with lots of garnishes. Batter had a nice crunch and although some parts of the were undercooked and doughy. Chicken was juicy and tender. Some parts of the chicken still had red veins we simply discarded. The sauce however was odd. It's more on the soy citrusy side instead of the sweet citrus from the well known Chinese Orange Chicken and Korean Sweet and Sour Pork.Spicy Cumin Lamb Stir Fry: this dish had way too much sauce to the point of being salty. The noodles were broken which is not okay in any culture. It was overpowered by the minty taste of the green veggie. No cumin flavor anywhere else except the lamb meat itself. Overall the ingredients were not cohesive and work together, just a bunch of stuff thrown together. We didnt enjoy this one.Kimchi Dumplings: were quite nice. Kimchi is not too sour and the vinegar sauce was great.Overall very interesting concept, location and setup. This place has lots of room for improvements (in direction, service, and taste of the food). Glad we gave it a try but probably won't come back.

We dined in this past Sunday.Patrons can either use a QR code or request a paper menu to order . Personally, I'm not a fan of using QR codes to order my food when dining in.Their food was palatable. A very good intersection of Asian flavors. Yet, pricey. Friendly staff.Unfortunately, the tastiness of the food and the welcoming of the staff were unfairly underscored by the atmosphere of the restaurant. The tables were sticky and the floor of the restaurant was dirty . I get it. How do you keep cement clean ? Since it's a place where people eat, you just have to be vigilant about it . Grease lined the walls. The lighting above the area where they prepared the food had spider webs (long strands ) hanging down. And , the staff prepping and cooking the food did not have their long hair in hair nets . I watched a server wipe down a table and not wash his hands afterwards. He went straight back to the table behind where I was sitting. He put on gloves and resumed placing noodles into plastic bags/weighing them on a scale .Needless to say, their flavorful food and kind staff is not enough for me to return.

TL;DR: fun Chinese/Korean-fusion eats with a cute backyard patio for outdoor diningOrdered: - Full Monty banchan (4/5): really fresh and different style of banchan compared to a traditional Korean restaurant. Big fan of the picked radish and kimchi. Not so much of the rice and furikake butter- Mushroom Juk (4/5): wanted to like this more but would've loved something crunchy to provide a change in texture- Soy Glazed Brisket (4.5/5): Really yummy brisket but way too much rice for proportion- Pork and Kimchi dumplings (4/5): crispy and yummy but missing a lot of the kimchi funk covered by the pork- Korean Fried Wings - dry (5/5): super crispy and flavorful throughout. Exactly what we wanted for wings- House Fried Rice (3/5): didn't find this special especially when compared to the rest of the rice dishes we orderedOverall, good food and relaxed ambiance - always down to come back to try more new dishes!Cheers, CHIKO!

We have been here a few times and have loved the food. We came from out of town and were there an hour prior to closing. The guy at the grill started shouting "no more orders... no more orders..." and we asked the cashier who said yes our kitchen is still open. The cashier was super nice but then stepped away to call the manager. We decided to leave as we felt super uncomfortable being there with them arguing. Pretty disappointing as we were looking forward to this meal.

Husband and I went in for dinner. We had food delivered from CHIKO that was delicious the year before and decided to go in for dinner.Walking in was really odd. Young gal started explaining their process to go sit down, use a QRCode to access the menu and order. Very off putting to be honest. The kitchen sounds made it hard to hear her.If that's their process, fine...but there was no warm welcome or engagement. There was no introduction to their menu and what they may be known for. The restaurant was completely empty with two tables of patrons outside so we headed to the patio.We ordered several dishes and enjoyed the Broccoli, egg rolls, Orange Chicken and another dish. When the food started coming the girl delivering the food didn't bring utensils and started to walk away and then came back and offered to grab us what was needed.In hindsight we realized that this portion of the directions we must have been missed as the gal at the counter started early in the spiel before we realized she was talking to us. I ordered a can of Diet Coke which was delivered all banged up, like the can had been dropped, so my husband opened it it, away from the table in case it was a mess.For a meal that was about 80.00, we wouldn't go back. The food had some interesting elements but the lack of care or engagement, which may be the new standard, sucked. During COVID, we got it..but there's no reason to have such a disinterested team representing your business. Not sure why the Owners have this low bar as the standard but for the money, we wouldn't go back. On an evening that was slow, a warm welcome, some feedback on the menu or just people checking to see if anything is needed, questions...would have provided some bit of connection. What a bummer.

Fun concept and a lot of fun options! Came by at a weird hour (3pm on a Friday), so parking was easy and food came pretty quickly. After a difficult few rounds of choices btwn us, we narrowed it down to cumin lamb noodles and the brussel sprouts. Growing up w Chinese food, I thought this was a fun reminiscent dish! Loved the clingy ragu style lamb and familiar flavors. Only con was a little greasy for my taste. That being said, the brussel sprouts were not a great flavor match w the noodles since both were heavy dishes. Would've opted for the noodles and a salad in retrospect. You order through the toast tab and servers bring things out to you. We did have to wipe our table outside down before we ate... Got a little scared by a train partway through our meal, so be aware if you're outside! Overall, I'm glad I came to try! More of a casual pickup/quick meal spot for me

Chinese Korean modern fusion kitchen with indoor and outdoor seating. Parking available on the side street and a little lot behind the restaurant. You seat and order for yourself through the Toast app. We tried the orange chicken, spicy beef rice cakes, and shrimp lo mein!!! Kind of a wait to get the food, but food came out hot, crispy and fresh. I like spicy food and I admit they were all on the spicier side. Had to frequently drink water and wipe my sniffly nose lol. The food was great, definitely worth a try, but on the pricier side ($17+ each). Definitely high quality, delicious food that you can share with your friends. One minus star because there's not really any service here, no one to help seat you or give you recommendations if you're new.

Tonight we came to Chiko and it was excellent! We tried many things off the menu, they were all amazing, but we especially liked the chicken spring rolls and lamb stir fry. Not to mention the attentive and helpful staff. Great place!