Hancook is a new restaurant located on Lincolnway in South Bend, about a 15-minute drive from campus. They specialize in Korean cuisine and are open every day of the week except Tuesdays. Joined by fellow staff members Wren and Emmalee, I decided to check out this new restaurant and see what they had to offer.

Right off the bat, the atmosphere inside the restaurant was great. It felt very homey and welcoming, complete with a bookshelf full of Korean books. They even had free, self-serve ice water available. The staff members were very friendly and kind and had very good service. The only negative thing about the atmosphere was that it was rather warm inside.

Hancook had a decent sized menu with many different options. We ended up ordering a lot of different plates for everybody to share, including yakisoba, shrimp tempura, shrimp tempura udon, dumplings, takoyaki, bulgogi kimbap and white rice. For drinks, we ordered Japanese soda called Ramune.

When we received our food, it was plated very nicely and was hot from the kitchen. I am not too familiar with Korean food, so the majority of the food we ordered was new to me. I tried all of it, even the takoyaki, which could be off-putting to some because it includes octopus. I was iffy about it at first, but it was actually very good. All of the food tasted great and very fresh. The dumplings were just the right texture and flakiness, the shrimp tempura were crispy and amazing and the yakisoba tasted great. My favorite thing ended up being the bulgogi kimbap, which were seaweed-wrapped rice rolls that were stuffed with rice, meat and assorted vegetables.

“The food was generally really good, the presentation was really beautiful on all of the dishes, and the server was very polite and attentive,” Emmalee noted.

The food was a bit expensive, but for the quality and portions I think it was fairly priced.

“The starters are very good for their price as well.” Wren added. “The entrees are a little expensive, but again, the food is filling and it’s good quality.”

I quite enjoyed my time at Hancook, and I would rate them a 9/10. I would definitely recommend them to anybody who loves Korean or Japanese food or is looking for something new and different to eat around South Bend.