Cuisine guide · data as of 8 October 2026
Korean food scores best in New York and London, on the data
Across 346 scored Korean places, the top cities cluster tightly, the very top is mostly casual, and Google and Yelp often disagree.
- Places scored
- 346
- Scoring 90+
- 21
- Cities compared
- 10
- Median Harry score
- 79
The ten best-scored korean places
Ranked by Harry score among places with at least 150 reviews. Chains are counted once. Scores are explained on the how-it-works page.
| # | Place | City | Harry | Worth it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam's Chicken & Pochakorean | New York, NY | 93 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 2 | DupBopBro - Korean Rice Bowlkorean | New York, NY | 92 | 83 | Great Value |
| 3 | THE ON by Chankorean | London | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 4 | Jumsimkorean | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 5 | Jun Won Dak IG @junwon_lakorean | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 6 | COTE Miamikorean | Miami, FL | 92 | 77 | Occasion Worthy · $$$$ · Michelin Guide · Eater 38 · Time Out |
| 7 | NaRa Chicken & Korean Cuisinekorean | New York, NY | 91 | 80 | — |
| 8 | Yori Boxkorean | New York, NY | 91 | 82 | Great Value |
| 9 | Lucky Chixkorean | New York, NY | 91 | 80 | — |
| 10 | MukBap - Korean Vegankorean | London | 91 | 80 | — |
Which cities are actually best for Korean food?
New York leads on average Harry Hungry score at 84.3 across 43 places, with London close behind at 83.6 across 36. Sydney follows at 82.6 across 27. That is a clear top three, and then the numbers slip: Los Angeles averages 79.8, Melbourne 79, and San Francisco 75.9.
The implication is that in the top cities you are less likely to have a bad meal, not just more likely to find a great one. San Jose sits last of the ten at 68.1 across 42 places, so a large number of restaurants does not guarantee a strong average. Los Angeles has the most places here, 52, and still sits fourth. Volume and quality are different things.
Which city does it best?
Cities with at least twelve scored places for this cuisine, ranked by average Harry score.
| # | City | Places | Average | Best scorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York, NY | 43 | 84.3 | Meju |
| 2 | London | 36 | 83.6 | THE ON by Chan |
| 3 | Sydney, NSW | 27 | 82.6 | Yumko Korean restaurant |
| 4 | Los Angeles, CA | 52 | 79.8 | Jumsim |
| 5 | Melbourne, VIC | 34 | 79 | ChangGo Korean BBQ House |
| 6 | San Francisco, CA | 27 | 75.9 | YASIJANG |
| 7 | Chicago, IL | 31 | 74.9 | 82 Kimbap |
| 8 | Austin, TX | 26 | 73.5 | KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot |
| 9 | Seattle, WA | 23 | 73.5 | Hanok |
| 10 | San Jose, CA | 42 | 68.1 | Seoul Bulgogi |
Is the top end fine dining or fried chicken?
Mostly the latter, or at least the casual end. Of the ten highest-scoring places, only COTE Miami carries a $$$$ price and any acclaim: Michelin Guide, Eater 38 and Time Out. It scores 92 for quality and 77 for Worth It, the lowest value score in that top ten, and its badge is Occasion Worthy.
The rest are mostly casual spots with no listed price tier and no awards on file. Adam's Chicken & Pocha in Flushing tops the list at 93. Several others are chicken or rice-bowl places in New York, Los Angeles and London. Read that as a sign that crowds reward consistent, affordable cooking heavily, not that critics are wrong. Awards and review-platform scores are measuring different things.
Best value in the data
Places scoring 70 or above on the Harry score, ranked by Worth It score.
| # | Place | City | Harry | Worth it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DupBopBro - Korean Rice Bowlkorean | New York, NY | 92 | 83 | Great Value |
| 2 | Yori Boxkorean | New York, NY | 91 | 82 | Great Value |
| 3 | Adam's Chicken & Pochakorean | New York, NY | 93 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 4 | THE ON by Chankorean | London | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 5 | Jumsimkorean | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
| 6 | Jun Won Dak IG @junwon_lakorean | Los Angeles, CA | 92 | 81 | Smart Spend |
Where does the value actually sit?
New York, mainly. DupBopBro - Korean Rice Bowl has the best Worth It score among the value picks at 83, with a Harry Hungry score of 92 and a Great Value badge. Yori Box in Brooklyn follows at 82 and also earns Great Value.
Then comes a group at 81 with the Smart Spend badge: Adam's Chicken & Pocha, THE ON by Chan in London, Jumsim and Jun Won Dak in Los Angeles. What stands out is how little quality is sacrificed. Every one of these scores 92 or 93 on quality. For a diner who wants a very well-reviewed meal without a big bill, this short list is a better starting point than any tasting-menu shortlist.
When Google and Yelp disagree, who do you believe?
The gaps are real. J BBQ in Los Angeles has 4.6 on Google from 1722 reviews but 3.6 on Yelp from 810. Del Seoul in Chicago has 4.7 on Google from 2232 and 3.8 on Yelp from 1700. Ten-Raku All You Can Eat Korean BBQ sits at 4.7 on Google and 3.9 on Yelp, and Ahjoomah's Apron Korean Restaurant at 4.3 and 3.5.
The review counts are large on both sides, so this is not a small-sample quirk. The data cannot say why. It does show these are places where the platform you check changes the verdict, and that is useful. Treat them as crowd-pleasers with divided opinion, not as reliable bets, and read recent reviews before you commit.
What can the acclaim data tell you?
Among the places with recorded acclaim, the Michelin Guide appears 10 times and Eater 38 appears 8. The James Beard Foundation and Time Out each appear 4 times, World's 50 Best 3, and the National Restaurant Awards 2. Condé Nast Traveller and The Infatuation each appear once.
That is a thin base beside 346 scored places, of which 21 score 90 or above. Price data is thinner still: only 44 places are confirmed at $$, 4 at $$$ and 3 at $$$$. So the data speaks more confidently about review-platform quality than about price or prestige. Use awards as a tiebreaker, not a filter, and remember that many of the best-scoring places carry none.
Where the review platforms disagree
Places with at least 150 reviews on both platforms and a gap of 0.4 to 1.0 stars. Yelp is used for US cities, Tripadvisor elsewhere.
| Place | City | Other platform | |
|---|---|---|---|
| J BBQ | Los Angeles, CA | 4.6 (1,722) | Yelp 3.6 (810) |
| Del Seoul | Chicago, IL | 4.7 (2,232) | Yelp 3.8 (1,700) |
| Ten-Raku All You Can Eat Korean BBQ | Los Angeles, CA | 4.7 (1,578) | Yelp 3.9 (333) |
| Ahjoomah's Apron Korean Restaurant | Chicago, IL | 4.3 (1,497) | Yelp 3.5 (714) |
The short version
For the best odds, start in New York or London and look at the casual, high-value places before the awarded ones. Where Google and Yelp split widely, check recent reviews first.
Every figure on this page is computed from Harry Hungry's own database on 8 October 2026; the commentary is written with AI assistance from those figures and checked against them. Scores blend Google, Yelp and Tripadvisor with editorial acclaim; see how they work. No placement on this page is paid for.