KuKu Canteen
“For an easy, satisfy-that-Korean-craving meal around NYU, you can't beat Kuku.”
“I'm usually skeptical of Korean joints that appear to have non Koreans in the kitchen but they must've learned the real thing in terms of ingredients etc. And huge portions don't hurt either.”
“It's best to go early or late to avoid the lunch rush, or you could just order your meal takeout and sit in the park.”
KuKu Canteen
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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This place is awesome! Granted – I've been here 2x and got the same thing (tofu bibim bap). I have BIG PLANS to come here a bunch more times. It's close to the office, service is decently quick + you know they make everything to order. It's not sitting around prior. The girl who usually packs up the food is a bit flustered moving around but maybe she just wants to get things right. I didn't notice that anyone was particularly friendly but that's ok.
Eating in has never been an option since there's never a seat available but that's OK, the park is close by and I love eating outside when the weather permits.
Bang for Buck? Meh.. Around $12 for chicken w/veggies, brown rice. Sorta sad to pay for these marinated veggies when you get them for free at korean restaurants 🙁
– Soy glazed chicken: same as bibimbap w/chicken, except more meat, less veggies
– add $1.50 for extra veggies (marinated bean sprouts, spinach, broccoli)
– add $1 for brown rice
It's very americanized korean food, but good for on-the-go. Spicy sauce is pretty good.
Healthy? Relatively, but are there better food options for less? Probably.
I mean Kuku Canteen is what it is. You can't go in expecting to eat great Korean food. Obviously, I've experience better, but I mean c'mon you're around NYU campus, and it's either here which is very close, or maybe eat at M2M, or if you want to walk to Bleecker then Choga. I mean I had the soon dooboo jjigae here (soft tofu stew). It was spicy, but was it flavorful? Mehhhh. I mean it was spicy, so that was good, and it had a good amount of seafood.
My friend ate the bulgogi over rice and it looked like they gave a decent amount of bulgogi, and it looked okay.
I mean this place will definitely wow you. If you look inside, there are no Korean employees, even the chefs inside aren't Korean.
I do miss Manna Bento (the mom/pop korean fast food restaurant that was here before Kuku). However, I mean it is what it is, and if i'm in need of a quick fix for Korean food, I guess i'll come here if i'm too lazy to walk to Choga.
Stop by here to pick up a quick lunch around 12:40pm on weekday – surprising it was pretty crowded. I got the kimchi friend rice with vegetables – it was decent – but wished the rice was a little less soggy. In terms of flavor it was good and the smelled definitely attracted my other co-workers when I brought it back XD. Overall, good – but a little bit pricey.
Not bad, actually, better organization on orders, the chef is still loud, and the sauce is pre-packaged up on the wall – you can ask for a little more of the red sauce. Not sure how long it'll last in the heat, though. The fried tofu – still small, but the bibimbop is still plenty of food in portion size. Not sure about the rest of the food, but it certainly suffices for a spicy touch of Korean in the area. Small area to sit and free water – though the first glass I picked up was dirty. They should probably consider plastic cups or paper.
And for $3, a huge portion of kimchee on the side – they'd do better charging $2 and giving quite a bit less, I think.
Very popular place to grab a quick lunch by NYU. I got the vegetable udon which was huge and filled with lots of fresh greens, bean sprouts, bean curds etc. Very salty but tasty. They have a $10 lunch special like a bento box which is a great deal. The rest of the menu (ramen, bibimbap, dumplings etc) are a bit overpriced considering it's not really authentic (more like hipsters working the register at a wannabe Asian spot) but decent solid joint in the hood.
Found my way to this place after three of my work colleagues kept going on and on about it, like, for three weeks! Okay, I'll give it a try.
24 hours later, sitting in my office, I can't get it off my brain. This is my new favorite lunch and/or dinner spot. No, it isn't the cheapest place but certainly not what I'd classify as pricey. The staff blows me away. Friendly, smiling, talkative, engaging. Just basic, real, nice folks. So rare for New York.
But the food is what will keep me going back. From the steamed dumplings to the seafood or chicken ramen soup with spinach.. Just the right amount of heat, a MASSIVE quart size. You'll be stuffed and happy but without the guilt of a high calorie lunch.
Glad I found it. You should definitely try this place out, at least once. You can't go wrong.
Had the lunch special: pork bibimbop with steamed pork dumplings and pan fried tofu. Because it was in lunch, the line was a bit disorganized. It's a small place with some seating, but if you're in a group more than 3, you should order take out.
You order at the cash register and then they make the food for you. So you have to go past the food line to order (which is a bit confusing because usually you want to order as soon as you get into a restaurant).
The food itself was mediocre; I used a lot of sriracha to add kick to the bibimpbop; usually the red sauce that comes with bibimbop should suffice, but it did not. I would say that this is fairly affordable for the Washington Square area. The place does accept card, and my meal was only $9.99.