Girin
We look forward treating you to an amazing dining experience,
Gumbei!
Food and ambiance were great. Service was a bit awkward during the dinner but good overall. What really negatively impacted my experience was how our leftovers were packed- a full plate of sticky runny sauce was dumped into this tiny paper container without a secured lid, placed in a paper bag, without our awareness. It of course spilled in the car as we drove through the ups and downs of Seattle roads. Took me hours to clean the car afterwards.
A hidden gem. Great food, great ambiance, great happy hour, great service. Only thing I’d say is the cocktails could use some work. The taste of the bourbon mint drink was good but all the sugar just sat at the bottom and that part wasn’t appealing. The flam drink was ehh, mix didn’t taste great. But still 5 stars only left drink review for them to improve.
Our server was fantastic. Knew the menu very well and was deftly and professionally able to help with some decisions based on some odd dietary restrictions. The picked and fermented vegetables were outstanding. I'll be coming back!
Absolutely excellent food, customer service and overall event. We had a team of 100 for a buyout dinner and everyone RAVED about the whole experience. I highly recommend June and her team for all business events!
My marinated beef was low quality. Tough, had to cut very very small slices to chew. Beer at 8.00 a glass too high. $6.00 is reasonable. Appetizer ribs super good.
Everything we ordered was delicious, and our sever Cee was great.
Girin was fine but nothing special. Our Ssam was good but the chicken wings and the kimchi stew were just decent. The cocktails were nice and we enjoyed the barley custard. The ambiance was nice for a special night out but the food wasn’t quite worth the price.
Underwhelmed when I first glanced through the menu. Lack of volume of sheer items to order from is easily trounced by the goodness and special individuality of each plate. Get the wings and most assuredly the dumplings.
The food was great. I recommend the chicken wings.
Food was great. Servers were nice but trying hard to hurry the meal and turnover the table more than most places I dine at.
The menu says something to the affect of ‘happy to accommodate allergies, accordingly’. I can attest that this was far far from reality. They were, in fact, in no way able to accommodate my wife’s sesame allergy.
My wife and I had been curious about Korean food for a bit and had not eaten at a Korean restaurant before going to Girin. Our waiter was outstanding and our service was impeccable. We were seated immediately and liked the environment of the restaurant. We started with an appetizer that had mushrooms and pea shoots but the sauce was a bit sweet for our taste. My wife had a steak and I had the kalbi ribs both in the style that came with a lettuce wrap. The proteins were cooked just fine but they were impossible to differentiate between them. They had a non offensive flavor but a sameness that could only be altered by changing up the spices and veggies that came with them. There was nothing wrong with the dinner but there was also nothing memorable other than Justin our waiter.
We arrived for our reservation on time at 7PM. We were seated and told with great exhaustion how busy they had been, but that they were caught up. It took ? 15 minutes to order our first drink -- a bottle of white wine -- and another 10 minutes to come back and ask us to select something else, which we did. It took them another 15 minutes to come back and advise they were out of that. In this time NO appetizers arrived, but another table was seated and served drinks and a meal. When we finally got our third choice of wine it wasn't the correct bottle. PARCHED at this point, we said we'd just keep it for fear we wouldn't get anything. First appetizer finally arrived, then all of our food arrived. No where to put the second appetizer...
We've been to Girin 3 times. First time, about a year and a half ago, it was great. Second time was a game day and disappointing due to limited menu and what seemed to be a number of pre-cooked dishes and harried waitstaff. This time was the last time. We know other Korean restaurants with great food where our business is appreciated.
Delicious food, outstanding service. The Happy Hour offerings made dinner a good value.
I take the train frequently and sometimes have time for a meal before I leave. This is around the corner from the station--it is wonderful. I was there early so had the kimchi pancake (on the happy hour menu) and the spicy squid and rice cake dish. The spice was not too hot and had a lot of flavor.
I sat by myself at the counter and the service was great. I will always go here for a meal before the train but I am also going to take the train up from Olympia with a friend just to eat here. They have a chef's tasting menu that sounds irresistible.
It was a good dinner for our anniversary!
Food and service were outstanding! We will definitely visit again.
Food great, servers very knowledgeable but service was spotty and slow.
Outstanding, true-to-country Korean cuisine. I literally felt like I was eating in my favorite Barbecue in Kangnam.
An excellent choice for Restaurant Week! Great options, fast service, and delicious food. I’ve been here for Happy Hour a few times too. One of my favorites.
Great value for lunch for Seattle Restaurant Week. Refreshing mule
I am not sure what has happened but Girin has fallen.
The service was especially poor with almost out-of-control serving of food and insane pressure to finish quickly (even though the restaurant was not that busy. The server literally picked up the half-eaten plate in front of me while I was eating.
The food is fabulous, but I would definitely go during happy hour for value, and on Mondays for the best this place has to offer. They have absolutely wonderful Korean fried chicken, but it's only available on Mondays, so know before you go.
Because I fly to Korea often, this place is no way spicy if you are looking for heat. They blended their flavors with east meets west. Although if you wanted spice on the side it can be given. Menu is limited. Some of the portions are small. Side dishes could be vamped up a notch ( kimchee, etc.) Overall all the food was pretty good as well as the flavors. I would go back after a football game at the Stadium. Easy find on google.
Great location, food & atmosphere. Waiters very attentive, went there after a Seahawk game to celebrate a Birthday.
Fantastic food and stellar service. Everything we ate was incredible and we will definitely return. 2 downsides:
The cocktail was tasty but mostly ice and fruit, for 12 dollars it didn’t seem to have much alcohol.
Once the space fills up it gets loud and the ambience changes quite a bit.
This is a terrific restaurant and well worth taking the time. If you want to explore Korean food in a great setting it is the place for you.
Overall it was Ok, we went before the Beyoncé concert. When there are large events at Century Link, the menu at Girin is limited- they ensured i was aware of this when they confirmed the reservation, however, I didn’t realize how extremely limited the menu was. For the omnivores in the group, the food was tasty but we ended up ordering multiples of the same thing since there were so few things to choose from. For the people who eat chicken or fish or vegetable, there were three choices of snacks, so there were multiple orders of those.
Overall, the service was good, the ambiance is very good, the flavor of the food offered was good, but maybe expand the limited menu by a bit.
Thanks!!
We ordered the fried chicken (3 stars, nothing special) - it was fine but glad we didn’t order the half chicken. We wouldn’t order it again.
The banchan was good for 1-2 people, and the rice cakes were pretty good. What makes this place really special is the steak: 5 stars!!! I don’t say that lightly. It. Is. Phenomenal. While you don’t get a ton (1-3 people) it is SO worth it.
Food was amazing and if you get a server that is very helpful - the evening is FANTASTIC!! 1st time there, server was SO helpful in letting us know you could order things with the sauce on the side - some people in our group are spice sensitive - that was perfect - 2nd time not so much. Have recommended this to friends and will come back.
Good food. It's hard for a real Korean to try Korean food that is catered to non-Koreans. I just can't get that into it. Great ambiance and service though. I think it's great for happy hour.
The menu was incomprehensible for someone new to Koran food.
The staff was incapable or unwilling to explain what things were in language that made sense. I have 142 IQ and 3 post-graduate degrees so I don’t think the confusion and frustration was my fault.
Arrived with reservations almost two hours prior to Sounders game. The restaurant was not yet very busy, but became so as game time approached. We had to wait 45 minutes for meal to appear and arrived one dish st a time. We needed to rush eating to get to game in time. Also they had a very limited menu ckmkared to the usual, presumably to help speed service. It clearly didn’t work. Food was tasty and I hope they will be able to address this in the near future.
Food was mediocre. I did not get what I ordered. The waitress clearly did not understand English well enough to confirm what we ordered nor ask questions. I pointed to the Box special and asked her questions about it, said that was my order and then got something completely different. Portions were skimpy and the meat was flavorless. The restaurant was not busy yet she never checked to see we were happy or to refill iced tea. Not impressed
Service for drinks (wine) was a bit slow, but the food was fun and delicious.
Delicious! Was never a fan of Korean food. I had tried it twice before in the ID and U district. Food here was fabulous with a fresh NW twist.
I had some surprise friends/family in town and wanted to go to a nice family style eating experience. We did the chef’s course and I’m not sure what happened but we ended up eating for 3 hours. I hope that’s normal because otherwise maybe we overstayed our welcome!
The food was fantastic and our waiter was patient and super helpful picking the right food for us. The best part was when the bill came. The guests in town were trying to pay so I handed the card to the waiter and said “do not let them pay” and he bolted around the corner before anyone at the table could protest. All the way around a wonderful experience.
One of my favorite happy hour spots in Seattle. Great drinks, food, and service, many gluten-free options, and ample seating for groups!
Great food and service. A little more expensive but a well run facility and a fantastic meal!
Girin is a nearby restaurant that we frequent regularly. We really enjoy the happy hour prices on the food and beverages. It seems that service is consistently slow to take our order, but once the kitchen has our order, we are served in a reasonable amount of time. It’s usually not busy when we arrive for happy hour, yet it takes a long time for the servers to come by for food or drink orders. Not sure why...
The food is consistently good and fresh, in a nice environment with friendly waitstaff.