Koreana

Food was good, service was good, albeit on the slower side when it gets busy, nonetheless, meals here are enjoyable.

Korean has a nice environment inside and has Korean BBQ grills in the tables so you can fry your marinated meat yourself. They also do dolsot bibimbap with multiple different meats — the beef though was larger cooked pieces rather than the raw also mincemeat I normally get. I wasn’t that impressed that they don’t provide any banchan but the kimchi (for which there’s a charge) was nice. The seafood pancake was far smaller than I’ve had elsewhere but that’s actually good so you don’t get too full before the BBQ. We got pork belly and duck, the latter of which had a particularly nice flavour but there was a very awkward moment where the waitress realised two of the pork belly bits were stuck together as they were still frozen! I think that kind of summed my feeling about Koreana up — there’s something there that doesn’t quite convince. That said, in a city where there basically aren’t any good Korean restaurants, and the best bibimbap is at the canteen style eatGoody, it’s worth a try if you haven’t had much Korean food (I am reviewing this from my New Malden-​reared fussy perspective), although the wait staff are a bit shy speaking English they will help and explain things if you ask. You could also try the good value lunch deals. Finally, make sure you get my favourite barley tea (plum wine good too!).

I was heartbroken when Baekdu closed at Shudehill… But BEHOLD I give you Koreana.
Unlike the clinical atmosphere of Baekdu, this is warm and inviting, especially when its pouring with rain outside. The deep natural wood complimented the beautiful rich wooden furniture. This was broken up with Splashes of colour created by the artistic pictures of food and Shoji screens. They have really made the most out of their snug space.
We were greeted by a waitress who at first seated us at a small intimate table. A male waiter spotted us, and led us a to a cool large table with a grill in the middle instead. I was much happier :)
One heavy wooden menu was provided. when we tried to explain we needed another it did take some time, and several other waiters, but they were sweet about it… Their English was limited, but as long as my food order was correct I did not mind.
The first few pages offer several banquet meals, which looked good value for money, but I was not ravenous. I flipped to the drinks menu first, and was quite tempted to try a £4.20 cocktail but after a skinful I wisely chose a simple green tea instead. .
I know this is a Korean restaurant but I was secretly hoping they offered some sushi… because the starters were a tad limited. They offered prawn, chicken skewers, potato pancakes with various fillings, spring rolls and dumplings. Guiltily we decided on the spicy chicken wings (I really am getting a taste for meat these days!!)
For the mains, you can order these massive soups, for a about £25 which you can coven like, let it bubble on your own personal stove and share amongst your group. You can even utilise this stove for their BBQ meals .For me, I wanted to replicate my long lost Bakedu and aimed for a favorite dish…
Divided between the bibimbap (rice, fish and egg which you mix for a tasty treat) and other tasties, I chose the Seafood casserole, The boyfriend had the Beef casserole for about £9 each.
When our drinks arrived, we placed our order, the chicken wings came flying out not long after,
The portion was good, each wing was encased in a sticky spicy coating, nom we made fast work of these. After discarding the evidence by washing my fingers in the bowl provided… Their skeletal remains were soon replaced by the the spicy casseroles.
.I was ecstatic, these looked and smelled the same as Bakedu… We had ordered sticky rice to compliment the dish, in which I poured into my spicy broth. The temperature was still at boiling point (I guess the bubbles gave that away) but I was soo hungry.
Mine contained good chunks of salmon, cod, prawns, squid and giant green lipped mussels. These bobbed in a gorgeous spicy flavoursome juice, but there was so much of it… The beef was apparently succulent and tender, and not tough despite it was still cooking in this broth for a while after, it must have gone into to the soup still mooing.
Defeated, I politely agreed to look at the dessert menu, despite holding my bulging stomach. If my dessert stomach had been working, I would have chosen the green tea ice cream. Instead I ordered the latte to prevent a food coma occurring in the restaurant.
Overall, a very cosey Korean restaurant with reasonable prices and fast friendly staff… To make this a five star place I would expand the starter menu slightly, and add sushi. Little details too, like the carrot garnish with the chicken, had no seasoning and was limp (don’t put something on a plate which serves no purpose!). COme here for a great date night or a big get together… I will return

People in my office have been raving about this place for a while now so I decided to join them this week when they popped in for lunch.
You can either call ahead and pre-​order or you can just walk in, order and then sit and wait for your takeout. We opted for the latter because we weren’t in any rush. The takeout lunch menu is fairly small, there’s rice boxes and noodle boxes with the option to have spicy pork, chicken or vegetables. I was shocked at the prices, due to them being so low I was expecting a tiny portion or just average food, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted my spicy pork noodles.
The portions were generous considering the price and the food was delicious. The pork was tender and the noodles were packed with flavour and a little bit of spice. Definitely a great and healthier option for lunch (compared to the surrounding lunch places). I very much enjoyed the fact that it was freshly cooked to order and the boxes used for takeout are strong so even after the walk back to the office they were still in one piece and had managed to keep the heat in.
Whilst waiting for our food (which took less than 10 minutes) I managed to have a little nosey around the restaurant itself and I also spied some of the dishes that other people were eating. I must admit, the restuarant looks amazing so I’m definitely going to be heading back one evening soon to try some dishes from their main menu.

Beautiful food and great service! Never tried Korean food before and can say I’m glad to have started here! Staff even politely check if you know how to eat certain dishes to ensure you get the best experience. Cost around £40 for two of us eating set menu and a bottle of wine

If it’s good enough for Park Ji Sung (former Manchester United player), it’s good enough for me!
Having said that, I don’t think the food is as good as Baekdu over in Shudehill.
Koreana is a much more restauranty affair than the aforementioned Korean canteen I like to frequent, found down a small flight of stairs just behind Kendals with what seems to be authentic old-​school asian décor. Koreana is the sort of restaurant you could take a family member new to Korean food and they wouldn’t feel out of place.
The menu is quite varied, with plenty of my favourites including kimchi pancakes, warming stews and rice bowls, it’s all nice, if a little unexciting — Koreana also do a lunch time menu, which I usually ring & pick up for a bargain £3.50 — £5.00, you get a choice of rice, noodles and a meat (always the spicy pork in my case), which comes with egg rolls and dumplings.
Nothing to get too excited about, but certainly not a duffer.

This has followed the trend of several other Korean restaurants I have visited in the past.
Full of oriental customers it is usually a good sign of things to come. The food was excellent, but the service was absolutely awful.
I ordered a chicken dish with some noodles, which announced itself on the home laminated menu as «our most popular dish!» Why go against the trend? It was particularly good. I also tried some of my fiancées tofu dish that was also good.
Apple fritters for dessert, that although were small portions, were also tasty.
All of this being served by a waiter who huffed and puffed around the restaurant more than he spoke to customers.
My old housemate use to have a rule that if you asked for the bill and it didn’t turn up within 20minutes, then he would consider that the restaurant wanted him to have it for free and he would walk out. I was soooo tempted…

This subterranean gem serves hot, spicy and authentic Korean. The dining room is warm and inviting and the wait staff is friendly and efficient. The stainless steel chopsticks made me pause for a moment. But I figured it out. I never thought I’d find good Korean in the heart of Manchester. It was a welcome find after Christmas shopping all day.

Its alright.
I have been here a couple times before. Once for friends birthday years ago and had a nice selection of things. Another time, had a lunch with Uncle and had the delicious bibimbap.
This time, we had a set menu. For about £20, it was 5 courses. A starter, soup, 3^rd course, main and dessert. Good value for all that!
Starter I chose prawn spring onion. Pretty good. Friend had a starter selection — included sort of a chicken «bite», fish slice thing, beef «nugget» — although it may have been chicken. It was called Sa Jul Pan.
For the soup, it was a nice beef dumpling soup. Possibly a bit salty.
3^rd course was a some sort of cod fillets with courgettes. It was alright. Friend had a chicken skewer — a bit dry and some nice, sweet sauce.
For the main course, we both went for Beef Bulgogi — a beef BBQ dish. It was beef which was nice and tendy and sweet — like Terrayaki style. This with rice and lettuce (some unusually big lettuce leaves).
For dessert, we had choice of few ice creams, a mango dessert and a few other things. I had the green tea ice cream. Tasted nice but by this time I was full!
My rating is for the overall experience (and also considering previous visits). The food was overall «OK» this visit with some lowlights and some highlights. However the service was good. We turned up and since it was just 2 of us, they quickly sorted out the table for us. The waitress came up very quickly to us and took our order quickly — almost roadrunner quickly asking what we wanted.
The first course came very quickly. The next course did take (comparatively) much longer.

My recent trip to the UK over the holidays would not have been complete without a meal at Koreana. Their menu was pretty much the same since the last time I went back in 2007. Their set menu is still a great deal.
The dolsot bibimbap was pretty much the same as what i would get in the States.
Overall, if you are craving Korean food in the Manchester area, i would definitely recommend this place.

Been going to Koreana for a few years now, always at lunch. Can’t comment on the meat (as I don’t eat it) but the seafood and veg dishes I’ve had have been fresh and tasty. Unfortunately never been to another Korean restaurant so nothing to compare it to.

Oh West King Street, you little trove of treasure you. There you are, tucked round the side of Kendal’s (I repeat, KENDAL’S, not House of Fraser… I’ll only end up calling it House of Frasier anyway due to my love of the Cranes), all unassuming and modest, when really you should be singing from the rooftops, #I have knick knacks, I have designer dresses, I have vintage engagement rings, snuff boxes, high class greasy spoons and Korean foooood!#
I worked in the same building (nay, at the same cluster of desks) for just under a year with a half Thai friend of mine, and he often scooted over to this little restaurant during his lunch hour to pick up a lunchbox to bring back to the office. They always smelt divine and he regularly bragged about the sheer volume of food you got for £4.Why did I never go with him? Because I’m a damn foo’, haven’t you realised this by now? Also my seemingly endless supply of houmous and salt and vinegar rice cakes (apart from the time that we had the Office Thief… gosh, they stole a lot of food and it does seem to be a universal problem…
… That said, with victim responses like this, who could blame them for staying silent?
…) often kept me too full for large and delicious lunches.
Koreana is exceptional value for money. You get lots of goodies in that lunchbox, from tempura vegetables to perfect egg fried rice, and strips of mushroom omelette also accompany your choice of pork, chicken, beef or seafood. I went for the marine option and received a delightful little medley of prawns, mussels and squid in a spicy sauce that had a hot but brief kick — the best kind in my book. Everything was delicious, and having never eaten Korean food before I have nothing to compare it to, thus I can speak very favourably and say that it tickled my tastebuds and tightened my jeans just nicely.
As well as being a fine takeaway, this is also an actual restaurant and as I waited for my sweet-​smelling bag of food I clocked the traditional, almost antiquey ambience of the dining area, very cosy and ornate. I could imagine myself being quite relaxed and enjoying a few dishes here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my enormous lunch has made me rather sleepy. I’m going to take either a cold, brisk walk or a warm, long nap. Hmm, which to go for…

Excellent, authentic food at a good price. I had the steak tartare to start and a Korean style curry, which were both excellent. All of the people in our group enjoyed the food and the service was excellent.

Koreana doesn’t rate that badly compared to the amazing cuisine I’ve sampled in Koreatown, LA. This is one of very few good Korean restaurants outside of London, in fact when Mrs Kim opened it in 1985, it was amongst the first.
The key to traditional Korean dining is to order a lot of dishes to share with your fellow diners. There are great choices on offer here for you to do just that: you order a main each, like Marinated Beef Flat Rib or Soybean hotpot and you’ll get a small selection of dishes on the side including the classic Kimchi, rice, fresh soup and vegetables.
The staff are very friendly and the restaurant itself has a warm and charming feeling. Try the Korean saké and the plum wine, they’re an acquired taste but I like them both very much.