It’s hard to say which I loved more during my first outing to the Korean House: waitress Audrey or the chicken bulgogi. Whichever it was, I can’t believe it took us so long to find this place. Given its warehouse exterior in a nondescript strip mall on Carlton Road, it’s understandable how we could miss it. But as soon as we stepped into the equally warehouse-feeling interior, complete with conference room furniture, I knew it was going to be good. With decor like that, the food could only be awesome. Even more promising, it smelled like a garlic-umami-scent wonderland in there (and be forewarned: the smell lingers on your clothes long past the meal).
We started with vegetable and tofu dumplings, which had a nice texture and a tangy dipping sauce. But the main courses really stepped things up. I highly recommend the bibimbap, a mixture of rice, beef, egg, and veggies served in a sizzling bowl in which to mix everything together. It’s a classic Korean dish and they do it well. But my favorite dish of the evening, and one of my favorite foods in recent months, was the chicken bulgogi. Chicken, garlic, soy, spicy goodness. A big assortment of pickled sides came with our dishes, and unlimited barley tea was the perfect balance to the food.
Even if the food hadn’t been so delicious, I still would have fallen in love with the Korean House thanks to Audrey and her parents. Audrey deserves some kind of award for sweetest server in Charlottesville. After a warm welcome and enthusiastic order taking, we had waited perhaps all of 7 minutes for our food when Audrey came up so full of apologies I thought she had gone outside and dented our car or something. She apologized profusely for the “long” wait due to a large group that had ordered ahead of us, brought us a free plate of food, and assured us it would never happen again. And her face lit up when we told her how much we loved everything. Her mom also came over throughout the meal to encourage us to use more pickles or to stir the bottom of the bibimbap. I defy anyone to go to the Korean House and not fall in love with the entire family. One of my new Charlottesville casual food favorites!
Jed says: “A little greasy and salty and fluorescent in there, but totally worth it.”
Rating: Erin: 
Jed: 
Pros: Delicious food, family-run.
Cons: Pricier than you would expect, bare bones ambience, no liquor license.
Price: $40 for a big meal (with leftovers) for two.
Parking: Plenty of parking in the lot.
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#1 by Libby on September 4th, 2009
I've been dying to eat @ The Korean House – have had so many people recommend it! We used to buy prepared beef bulgogi in the Strip in PGH every Saturday, nice to know we can fulfill our cravings in Cville too
#2 by Name on September 23rd, 2009
We ate here last night, and the food was fantastic! I hate to admit that I think it was the first time I tried Korean food, and I fell in love with it (well, at least with this place). And you're right – Audrey and her mom are total sweethearts (and very talkative!)
#3 by misterdonalddraper on October 2nd, 2009
I completely agree with your review. Every time I have eaten there I have been greeted with such kindness and a genuine appreciation for my decision to dine at their establishment. The food has always been excellent and the waitress has always been very informative and accommodating. The price did seem to raise between visits which made it seem a little pricey for a place where you are eating on basically picnic tables with thrift store utensils, but the food is excellent. I am not sure if they still allow this, but the first few months they would allow you to bring in whatever alcohol you would like since they did not have their abc license. However, I believe the abc changed their laws recently and patrons can no longer bring outside alcohol into establishment anymore.
#4 by Marcela75 on October 27th, 2009
We just had dinner at the Korean House. The reason we went there was your review here in mastomillers.com. I personally am a huge fan of Korean food because I used to work for a Korean company for 3 years and was fed on their food every day and even visited Korea for a couple of weeks. I have to say the first impression of the Korean House was “wow, is this where I am supposed to eat?”. But Audrey and the food made it up for the décor of the restaurant. She was the sweetest thing ready to explain the menu, the different dishes and that everything is made fresh while we wait. The food was just fantastic. The four of us shared the beef bulgogi, beef ribs, spicy noodle soup, dumplings, sea food pancakes and pork fried rice, which was out of this world! Audrey asks us where we heard of their restaurant and we told her to go to mastomillers.com to check their excellent review! We told her we will definitely be coming back very soon! And that is the honest truth!
#5 by Marcela75 on October 27th, 2009
We just had dinner at the Korean House. The reason we went there was your review here in mastomillers.com. I personally am a huge fan of Korean food because I used to work for a Korean company for 3 years and was fed on their food every day and even visited Korea for a couple of weeks. I have to say the first impression of the Korean House was “wow, is this where I am supposed to eat?”. But Audrey and the food made it up for the décor of the restaurant. She was the sweetest thing ready to explain the menu, the different dishes and that everything is made fresh while we wait. The food was just fantastic. The four of us shared the beef bulgogi, beef ribs, spicy noodle soup, dumplings, sea food pancakes and pork fried rice, which was out of this world! Audrey asks us where we heard of their restaurant and we told her to go to mastomillers.com to check their excellent review! We told her we will definitely be coming back very soon! And that is the honest truth!
#6 by Marcela75 on October 28th, 2009
We just had dinner at the Korean House. The reason we went there was your review here in mastomillers.com. I personally am a huge fan of Korean food because I used to work for a Korean company for 3 years and was fed on their food every day and even visited Korea for a couple of weeks. I have to say the first impression of the Korean House was “wow, is this where I am supposed to eat?”. But Audrey and the food made it up for the décor of the restaurant. She was the sweetest thing ready to explain the menu, the different dishes and that everything is made fresh while we wait. The food was just fantastic. The four of us shared the beef bulgogi, beef ribs, spicy noodle soup, dumplings, sea food pancakes and pork fried rice, which was out of this world! Audrey asks us where we heard of their restaurant and we told her to go to mastomillers.com to check their excellent review! We told her we will definitely be coming back very soon! And that is the honest truth!
#7 by Andrew on April 29th, 2010
Are you kidding me? If you think this place is good, you've never had Korean food. First off, they charge a lot for such small portions. The Bibimbop here had two little pieces of beef. The beef bulgogi I ordered had 75% onions and 25% beef. Sure, the owners are very nice, but should that make up for the mediocre and way overpriced food? Seriously, do yourselves a favor and drive up to NoVa for some real Korean good. I pity you.
#8 by Jed on April 29th, 2010
Don't pity the foo! Whether it stacks up against the great regional Korean restaurants or not, it has always been delicious. We can't make any claims about authenticity, so we'll take your word for that. (Though I have had Korean food on a number of occasions before, made by Koreans, at various places around the country and world, and it was often as good as this, rarely better – so maybe you've just been lucky to have truly extraordinary food!) And you're right, it's not cheap, but we haven't experienced the meat shortage you mention, and always end up with enough leftovers for another full meal. Audrey being so nice is just the sugar on top…
#9 by Foodie on May 3rd, 2010
Wow. You guys obviously never went there when the previous owners ran the place. They were much much faster, the food was way less greasy, the sides were more plentiful and varied, and most importantly, when we went in with more than two people we didn't have to wait over 45 minutes for all the food to come out. Have you not read the warning on the front of the menu? It is there for a reason. We used to go there all the time, and were always assured of a good meal (with prices 25-40% lower than they are now) and we didn't have to freaking share our food while they prepared all the dishes. I went there once with a group of 7 people and the first to get their food was finished before the last dish was even cooking. Share- works just fine unless the vegetarians are the last to get served. This was never a problem for the previous owners.
The Bibimbap was super oily. The Dak Bulgogi (chicken, which is still pretty tasty even though they won't make it as spicy as the previous owners) is floating in a sea of oil. I poured off easily 1/4 cup the last time after I finished eating so no telling how much I consumed. The price of the food there has skyrocketed, and I don't think they are really that nice.
I went in during the transition phase and noticed the new faces, and they seemed nice enough, but after they first took over, things changed. I commented about how much I loved the food there and how I had been a customer for almost two years. Audrey started by blasting the previous owners and saying I would like the new food better since they “had restaurant experience.” What restaurant, I can't say because I have never had to wait so long for food at any other restaurant. I had gone back a few time and was greeted (the second to last time) by Audrey saying (after ordering some things in Korean with a proper accent) “have you ever had Korean food before?” I had to facepalm considering I had been in several times since they took over, even as the old owners were helping them out, and I am quite obviously half Korean.
I will say that even though the decor is weird and, at first, the owner is not super friendly that I now get my local Korean food at the Bamboo House.