Obbar Pocha

It looked interesting, so why not?! Just peruse through their photos and tell me you don’t want some of that specialty Korean burger all up in your grill ~
Bulgogi Burger ($ 9) — rice bun w/​bulgogi, vegetables w/​sticky soy sauce.
Is it hyped? Nahh. The taste is present. The presentation intact. Yeah, it can get a bit messy in the end, but don’t be THAT guy. If it’s good, it’s good. Who cares about your damn hands; just wash ‘em or better yet lick ‘em! There’s always a fork if you got your reasons.
My mouth’s watering just thinking about that burger again. Sometimes it’s just the creativity that edges competition, especially when quality’s comparable. I thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience here.

First thing you notice when walking into the restaurant is its stylish new look! With all of the décor well-​designed, clean and sleek. Restaurant itself is a little dark. The ambience is nice and casual.
Came into the restaurant and was greeted almost immediately. We were seated and handed menus shortly after. Our server was kind and very helpful when it came to picking and choosing what to order (since it was our first time there). Along with that being said, he was patient with us.
I came here and ordered the Noodle Burger ($ 15.75). Dish will come with fries as well. It is a little different, but if you like noodles you’ll definitely like it. The hamburger patty itself is just delicious. It’s surprisingly filling.
Food came out about 15 minutes after ordering. Not too long of a wait at all. Our drinks came out a few minutes after we ordered them.
Although the food is a little pricey, I felt like it was worth the quality of the food. Definitely coming back to try most everything they have to offer!

I love it here! Been here quite a few times, and I just have to say they have the besttttttt pasta ever.
MUST ORDER: mama pasta, crazy obbar wings, and the melon soju.
Skip out on the burgers… They are ok~~~ seriously just order the mama pasta (seafood) Your life will be changed.

I was looking forward to trying out Obbar Pocha after buying the Groupon deal but I ended up leaving pissed off and hungry.
I came here around 7:00 pm and the restaurant was empty with the exception of a couple at the bar and two tables that were finishing up their dinner. However, I ended up waiting at the door for about 10 minutes just to be seated. After waiting for what felt like an eternity just to get a seat, I had to wait another 15 minutes just to get my menu. I quickly decided on a few dishes and set my menu down to let the server know that I was ready. Another 15 minutes passed as I sat there awkwardly waiting to place my order. Instead, my waiter moved pass my table several times to clean up the table that just left. Jesus Christ, learn to triage-it’s an empty restaurant and your only customers are waiting to place an order. DO YOU NOT WANT MY MONEY?!
Once he was done cleaning, he walked right past me and stood at the front of the restaurant staring outside. If he was waiting for more customers, they clearly won’t be coming. I was so fed up at this point that I picked up my stuff and left. The server politely wished me a good evening as I left the restaurant.
I can’t say anything about the food at this restaurant, but my experience with the service here (wait, what service?) is enough for me never to come back.

When I was planning our itinerary for a weekend getaway, I had to fit in some Korean food somehow. I didn’t know how prevalent Korean food was in Seattle but most of the spots that I found through Unilocal seemed similar to ones that we have in California… until I came across Obbar Pocha. The photos of rice buns and burgers caught my eye right away. We have rice bun burgers and ramen burgers here but it’s always cool to see other versions.

Obbar Pocha is located on the corner within the International District so it will easily catch your eye as you drive/​walk by. The dim lighting, quiet ambiance, and modern furniture made it seem more like a lounge than a restaurant. There were only two tables when we arrived but by the time we left, the place was full.
The service was also worth mentioning. Our server was very sweet, along with the guy who brought out our food. They were very friendly and made me notice that all Seattle workers we have come across so far were extremely nice… or we just got really lucky?

I ordered the Shake Shack box, since I saw a lot of photos of it on Unilocal beforehand. It’s basically a bento box full of vegetables, rice, spicy pork, and kimchi. They open it and show you what it looks like and then offer to shake it for you. He shook it a few times and it was mixed as much as it could’ve been considering the box was pretty full. Everything was delicious and had a good kick to it. I wish they offered it in bulgogi otherwise I would’ve gotten that! I did get to try my boyfriend’s bulgogi burger though and that was really good — the cheese is weird, but it works. I would definitely recommend this spot for anyone looking for a unique spot that offers quality Korean food with a twist.

I was excited to try Obbar Pocha when I visited a few weeks back. However, left sorely disappointed with an empty stomach. When we arrived the restaurant was fairly empty with a few people sitting at the bar and one or two tables filled, with one party clearly on the tail end of their dining experience.
Despite this, it took around five minutes to seat us at which point we started looking over the menu. We quickly decided on a few dishes we wanted to try and set the menus down — a clear indication that we were ready to order. Ten minutes later, nobody had come to talk to us despite clearing dishes from the now empty table next to us. Hangry and generally fed up with the entire experience we left, to be politely wished a good day by the employee near the exit who sat us 15 minutes prior.
Based on the service (well lack thereof), I don’t expect I’ll be going back.

Ate here for the first time on Saturday night. We ordered the tteok bokki, mama’s homestyle pasta, crazy style wings, garlic wings, and Kim chi fried rice. The wings also came with fries.
The food we had was good, but I’m not impressed. I would eat the pasta again if I split it with someone as it cost $ 14 and didn’t taste particularly «amazing” – just like some good comfort food. Both kinds of wings are really flavored which makes sense as to why they’re served with fries to balance this out. Really juicy chicken as well. I would have the Kim chi fried rice again for sure. This dish is unique and had a nice balance of flavors.
Don’t order the tteok bokki. It was the second dish to come out and we wanted to wait for all our food to begin eating, but that took a while so by that point out tteok bokki was inedible. It’s a chewy tapioca-​like consistency which hardens up as it cools down. Would never come here for it again. I was extremely disappointing not on the because of the texture but because the kitchen used the same (or very similar) sauce on this dish as the crazy wings. They could have warned us that about the consistency of the tteok bokki. I’ve never had this problem before where the chewy pieces didn’t remain soft and edible.
Additionally, we were told that they would be ready to serve the ramen burger on this day, but they weren’t. We came specifically for it so that was disappointing as well. All they could tell us was that they’ve heard mixed reviews of the ramen burger so they were debating on whether or not they would put it back on the menu, but didn’t have a time frame.
Overall, decent food, but don’t have too high expectations.

Like the taste of rice burger
the fried rice cake is too chewy and I don’t really like it the sauce is good tho
Somehow there is only one waiter today so my friends and I waited for quite a long time

Here is an updated review after dining here for a few times.
I’m still in love with Mama’s house pasta (or whatever it’s called) and the bulgogi pasta. The crazy Obbar wings are okay. They’re good and all but I wouldn’t come just for the wings. The rice burger has a very interesting palette. I wasn’t a fan of it but it could be that I’m not very familiar with the unique tastes of Korean food though.
I think they could work on the timing of when the food comes out. The last time I came, the pasta came out like 10 minutes before the wings came… We tried to wait for all of the food to come before we chowed down but realized the pasta also cooled down pretty quickly.
Service is alright. I know they are trying their very best to keep the customers satisfied. But I do feel like it’s hard to wave someone down because they don’t look at you.
Overall though, I’m still a fan because I am addicted to the pasta and fries #carbqueen. And they deliver!

Korean fusion food sounded intriguing, so we found ourselves here for dinner on a Wednesday night. The place was pretty empty when we arrived at 7PM, but a few more parties arrived over the course of the next half hour – I guess we just happened to arrive between waves.
We started out with an order of fried tteok-​bbokki as our appetizer. It was spicy, but not the best tteok-​bbokki I have had. I then got a six-​piece order of the crazy Obbar chicken wings for myself, since I wasn’t super hungry. However, those wings turned out to be among the largest, juiciest wings I have ever seen! I don’t know if there are just more GMO chickens out there these days or what, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. The wings were also delicious – they were a combination of sweet, tangy and spicy – and left me completely stuffed. My boyfriend ordered the shake shack box, which was just a basic combination of rice, spicy pork, and egg. This was the most disappointing thing we ordered.
Altogether, our meal ended up costing about $ 30. It was not bad by any means, but it didn’t blow me away. They seem to have Groupons out – if you can snag one, I think you’ll have a much better experience in terms of value for money.

I’d give it a 2.5. I wanted to like this place as it is one of the only contemporary fusion restaurants in ID, but I was disappointed. I was hesitant on coming; I wouldn’t have came in if it weren’t for the groupon.
The inside is really pretty! Smaller than I imagined but fairly contemporary and fancy schmancy. I got the seafood soup and my bf got the army noodles. I was not too highly impressed with the food. His soup came hotter than mine… Mine was just a little past warm. It really did seem like they grabbed a bunch of cheap and random ingredients and put them together. Concept is cool and it got me excited, but quality and execution was lacking leaving me disappointed.
Not only was my seafood soup hot, the seafood pieces were very overcooked. The shrimp, octopus/​squid… Tough to eat. Clams? Really mushy. The broth was pretty good though. It was probably the best part about the dish; it had a great amount of spicy kick to it but I still wish it had deeper flavors.
The service was great. No complaints there. She was very accommodating.
I’m just not blown away. The restaurant is so beautiful and the menu is creative, and the food is pricey (thank goodness I had that groupon) but the food was lacking that quality that you would expect in such a nice restaurant. I’d rather stick to ID’s old school Asian restaurants; I guess fusion cuisine is not really my thing.
I’ll give it another shot in the future. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? I’m going to have to leave it at a 2 for now.

This place is fantastic!!! Been here twice now, and I am a huge fan and will keep coming back. Here’s what I’ve learned so far in my two visits:
1. Get the Mama’s Pasta. I can’t stress enough that you should get the Mama’s Pasta. The first time I was here, my friend ordered it (with pork) and the server really commended her for the choice. And truly, it was hands-​down the best dish at the table. Beware that it is extremely rich and creamy, so splitting it with another together with something lighter might be a better option.
2. The wings are pretty darn good. The Crazy (sweet and spicy) I would say is just slightly better than the garlic ones. If you’re with a large party, you should order 12, and split the order so you get half Crazy and half Garlic, so you can try both.
3. The lunch box is just so-​so. It’s pretty standard Korean food. Skip the ordinary and go with the extraordinary. You can get spicy pork with nori rice and an egg anywhere. You can’t get the Mama’s pasta or crazy or garlic wings just anywhere. But in the end its your decision dude. Just sayin’.
4. If you have one or two friends willing to share, try the pork belly soup. It’s not really soup, it’s more like a cheese whiz dip with pork belly bits in it. It comes with these «chips» that are quite delicious, and you should dip fries in it too! Don’t eat this alone… really meant as a share plate.
5. As of last week, the ramen burger was off the menu temporarily while they «worked out the recipe». I’m excited to try it.
6. The rice burger is very difficult to eat as a burger. After you pick it up once and put it down, it will crumble. Spoon definitely a necessary option. It’s more hype in presentation than anything… really, it’s just rice and spicy pork (and whatever protein option you choose with it).
In sum, get the mama’s pasta and the wings. These are what makes this place stand out.
Side notes:
— It’s the ID. Parking will be tough and it’s all street parking. It’s close enough to Uwajimaya that you can park there and just run in to buy something to get your parking validated.
— The service both times I was here was fantastic. Super friendly and attentive.

I really wanted to love this place due to all the awesome looking food they have, but I just wasn’t impressed. FYI, they’re revamping the ramen burger, so although it’s on the menu, it’s discontinued for the time being. They said it kept falling apart, so they’re trying to improve it.
I ordered the chicken wings and Mama’s pasta. The pasta has a lot of flavors going on, for sure. You get a rich cheddar taste, mixed with bacon and pepper. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something I’ll give praise to either. It was decent though. The chicken tasted too strongly of sweet and sour sauce, which I wasn’t a fan of. I ended up eating one chicken wing and bringing the rest home for my mom.
Now, as for the service. It appears they took in everyone’s previous Unilocal reviews because the guy who was there definitely went above and beyond to ensure I was taken care of. He offered to place me in better seating due to me choosing to sit in the bar area near the speaker. When I told him it was okay, he told me that he’d turn the music down so it wasn’t too loud in my ear. That was a nice gesture, for sure. He also gave me gloves to eat the chicken wings with. SWEET! Overall, he was a fantastic waiter. Very high energy and you can tell he’s proud of the restaurant he works for.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be back. I just wasn’t impressed with the food. It’s a cute place and the food is definitely «Instagram worthy» but it’s not some where I would return, personally. Sorry :(

Obbar Pocha is a new Korean street style restaurant in the old Hing Loon space. While it made me sad Hing Loon is gone, Obbar Pocha marks a new, more «international» flavor moving into the ID. When it came up on Groupon, I decided to give it a shot.
Ordered the Bacon wrapped pumpkin and pumpkin seeds as an appetizer. Tasty, but a bit pricey at $ 8 for 5 tiny bites. Came for the noodle burger, but it wasn’t available, so opted for the rice burger. The rice burger was tasty, but not what I expected. I thought the rice would be fried or crispy so you could eat it like a burger. This was more like extra glutenous rice with beef and fried egg inside that you kind of have to eat with a fork. Would have been nice if the rice was crispy like dulsot bibimbap with runny egg yolk, but tasty none the less. I think the rice burger is more of a novelty, as you’re probably better off getting bibimbap if you wanted the same flavors.
The star of the meal was the Fried Chicken. Both the Crazy (standard spicy Korean fried chicken, not spicy enough) and Garlic were excellent. Perfectly cooked, and crispy despite being doused in sauce. The best KFC I’ve had in Seattle. Fries were good too, but they only give you about a teaspoon of ketchup. You can ask for more, but I thought that was strange.
Interesting menu and plating, usually on a cutting board or in the pan. Plating made for kind of a mess as there is not much room on these trays and nowhere to put bones when you are eating family style. Service was decent, but it did take a while to get our food. This place has a cool vibe with K-​Pop playing in the background to add to the experience.

If only the food tasted as good as it looks i wouldn’t feel like I wasted so much money here. My boyfriend and I ordered the shake box and the rice burger and they both tastes exactly the same. The pork was way too sweet and the pink lemonade tasted no different from the blue lemonade.
We also ordered their garlic chicken and their house chicken which tasted so alike we couldn’t even tell which one was which. The chicken to our surprise was also way too sweet. We barely ate any of the food and threw most of it away.
We decided to give the menu another chance and ordered the mama pasta, spicy udon, and kimchi fried rice to go and they all tasted horribly. The mama pasta was the only thing that tasted decent however you do get tired of it quickly. The spicy udon was bland and not only did it not have any flavoring to it at all it also wasn’t spicy. The kimchi fried rice was dry and bland. The customer service is decent, the food is pretty but it’s not good.

When this place first opened, they only opened in the evenings, but they recently started opening for lunch so I went with a couple co-​workers. I was super stoked because the photos of the food on Unilocal looked so good. I ordered the Original Rice Burger with Spicy Port Belly and I was not impressed. My co-​workers ordered the chicken wings and they said it was awesome, which means when I go back, I will definitely order the wings. I also want to try the ramen burger.
I liked the way the place is decorated and laid out, but the music was just too loud. It might have been ok in the evening, but during lunch… I think they could benefit from turning it down a little. Also, the serer was really nice, but she was all alone the day that I went so it took a while to get our food. Totally not the servers fault as it was really busy. They definitely could have used another server that day.

There’s been a lot of buzz about Obbar Pocha lately, so my friends and I went the other day to check it out. I love the concept of «modern pocha», but the execution could use some work!
The space itself is very clean and sleek. It was pretty empty when we visited at 6PM — there were only two or three other parties during our entire time there. Even so, it took quite some time for our food to come out (at least a 40 minute wait). :/​
Our group shared the following:
–Rice Burger — Pretty underwhelming. If you’ve traveled abroad in Asia, you’d know that rice burgers are fairly commonplace and cheap. Here, it’s a $ 9 dish that kind of fades from your memory. :/​I’m glad we split this because I feel like I would’ve gotten tired of the taste halfway through. (maybe TOO much rice?)
–Obbar Chicken — As a friend put it, these wings had a «satisfying level of crispiness». I’d probably give this place 2 stars if it weren’t for these wings! We got both the Crazy and Garlic flavors, and I personally liked the Garlic flavor better. Just FYI, the Crazy flavor wasn’t as spicy as you’d expect it to be!
–Shake Shack Box — Fairly average, nothing too surprising. I think the attraction of this dish is how it’s presented? As others pointed out, you can either shake it yourself or have the staff shake it for you. Either way, it tastes just like what you’d expect — rice, kimchee and so on.
All in all, a lackluster experience at Obbar Pocha. Once again, I love the idea of modernizing Korean street food, but with the long wait times and weird mix of flavors (the cheese and rice in the burger was kind of strange.), the taste wasn’t too memorable. I think it’s worth visiting at least once if you’re in the area, but don’t go out of your way for it.

Nestled in with the various restaurants in the International District/​Chinatown, is this new chic little restaurant that serves some pretty unique dishes in a Korean/​fusion style. For some odd reason, I had a weird obsession in wanting to try a ramen burger for the longest time, and finally, got that desire of mine satisfied with this place.
Obbar Pocha is a pretty new place on the block, modern look for the interior and overall, it’s a pretty small and cozy place. I came here to try out a few dishes, especially the rice burger and the noodle (ramen) burger and a couple of other dishes. I guess since this place has opened, the menu is slightly modified (with a few items being crossed off and no soju option available =[).
Rice burger verdict: This was alright… the pork belly was very flavorful, with a hint of sweet and spiciness to it. However, the meal itself (fries and burger) were pretty cold with barely any heat to it. The side was an average salad and not sure if it was me, but the ketchup was oddly sweet. Which did prove to be a nice balance to the salty and limp fries.
Noodle Burger (or known as a ramen burger in other places) verdict: Meh. Imagine eating a burger without the buns and put noodles on top and on the bottom of your burger content and voila! You have the tasting of the noodle burger. The noodles itself was bland with no taste. The meat and veggies were standard burger quality with no outstanding flavors. Overall, the concept was cute but I think if there were some sauces added to the noodles or something, this dish would have some promising potential of being a yummy unique dish. Upside to this burger: it’s pretty big and filling.
Overall, I would recommend trying out this place if you’re in the mood for something different. The service is pretty decent, parking is limited to street parking, but if you’re looking for some legit Korean or Korean fusion food places, I highly recommend trying somewhere else. Also, do note that prices here are a bit higher than most of the average places around the area.

Decided to come here to check out the hype on the ramen burger my friends have been posted on Instagram. It was decent, nothing too special but it’s definitely worth a try! We also ordered the blue lemonade, which was bubbly and refreshing! Cute presentation in a big beaker. Definitely reminded me of Lunchbox Laboratory. Personally, I enjoyed the rice burger with pork belly more than the ramen burger. It reminded me of KBBQ but in burger form. I actually liked it so much, I decided to come back with other friends the next day to have some more but it was probably too soon because it didn’t taste like magic anymore haha.
The restaurant itself is cute, clean, and quiet. The service was perfect and very attentive. Definitely spreading the word about this place and will probably come back soon if I feel like driving to China Town!

This place is awesome! The décor is very modern and hip. The staffs and owner are very welcoming and friendly.
Food was excellent I had the rice burger, the pork belly was delicious and surprisingly the rice bun didn’t break. The portion is reasonable. I will be coming back to try the ramen burger and pasta that they recommended.