Review Han River Korean Restaurant - Lower Hutt

We went here to celebrate a friend's birthday. We. Had pre-ordered food, and ordered additional to try. The food is great. The staff are very courteous and fast to act on our requests. The place can be a bit too noisy as it fills up with diners, and acoustics can be improved. Overall, a very good dining experience. Will surely come back for another round of decadent, authentic Korean cuisine.

One of the best Korean dishes I had in NZ,good customer service and extremely clean and tidy washrooms. Pricing is a tad high but certainly good stuff. Pre book table definitely (expect delays in service due to the high volume of customers). Definitely would go back again.

Took my teenage daughter here for her birthday as she wanted to eat at a Korean restaurant and I didn't want to go all the way into Wellington (we are based in UH) googled Korean restaurant and search results came up with Han River. Read the online reviews, and they were all positive, so I was looking forward to it. Parking was a little challenging. We ended up parking closer to Countdown and had a little stroll to the restaurant. I recommend ringing the restaurant at about 330pm or the day before to make a reservation. It was rather busy. We went to the reception and got seated straight away. Nice quaint little restaurant. Not overly huge or small. Our host was extremely attentive to us. Very humble, softly spoken, respectful, and warm gentleman. We were given cold refreshing water as soon as we were seated along with the menu. Because it was my first time here and not very familiar with korean dishes, I was stuck on what to choose. They did have the well-known chicken katsu on the menu, but I was more after a hot pot. They had photos next to the dishes, which really helped, too, plus my teen daughters, who seemed to know everything. We went with fried squid with honey mustard as our appetiser, and then got a chicken katsu, a hot pot with extra rice cake which was a shared meal (feeds 2-4), and a spicy squid and pork belly dish that was also a shared meal. That was sweet and spicy and definitely had a kick. We devoured that. We got small bowls of rice, seaweed, kimchi, and fish cake along with it. They were like side dishes to the mains. Once we finished eating, we stacked all our plates, bowls, and cutlery up on the table (is this just a maori thing? I notice not a lot of people do this. We always do it!) We paid, and again, the gentleman was very thankful and humble. I absolutely loved it here at Han River and will definitely come back to try more yummy Korean kai.

Soooo good! It’s best to check out the menu before you book/go… some menu items require two days advance notice - like the odentang (fish cake stew). Service is friendly and food is delicious. My favourite dishes so far have been the seafood pancake, bibimbap and odentang.

Really authentic Korean food. Food is super tasty and all the flavours go well together. Have ordered the pork BBQ, dduk-bokki, squid and the galbi-tang. All worth getting. The food is so good I'm on a mission to try everything on the menu! They get really busy so the wait time is a bit long, but definitely worth it. Owners are extremely friendly and welcoming. Edit: Just got the budae jjigae, best budae jjigae in New Zealand.

Had dinner here 2wks ago A table for 3 we ordered 6 dish and food was exceptional 👌 very yummy, by far the best I've had. The old man that served us was lovely and helpful Thank you so much for a great night of beautiful food. Highly recommend N1, N2, M3, M5, M6 and M8 Very yummy

We went as a group of 7 people for dinner. We were asked to order our food in advance to help the kitchen prepare the food before we arrived. The service was good, but we did have to ask for drinks menu etc, but it was quite busy. The food was excellent, in particular the chicken wings were fantastic. We got complimentary kimchi, tofu and seaweed with our mains. One of the tastiest meals I've had in Lower Hutt.

Such a good Korean restaurant! It was quite busy when we went there at 1pm so you can really see how the staff can struggle when there are a lot of people coming in. That being said, the ambience and total feel is especially great too, the place is clean as well. Oh and I have to mention the toilet because they are so clean and big. The food did take a wee while to come out but when it did, it was amazing. They were also well priced and the portions are decent. Sadly they also don't offer unlimited korean bbq nevertheless It will definitely be in my list of Korean restaurants here in Wellington

Absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish. Pictures barely do justice. Really enjoyed the atmosphere here but more importantly the service. Very attentive and knowledgeable staff. The food was just fabulous. Every dish we ordered was perfect. Full of flavours. Thank you for the free Mochi 😊 which tasted just awesome. Will highly recommend this restaurant. Will give it 10/10

It's difficult to overpraise Han River. The food and atmosphere is always excellent, especially after the recent renovation. There's not much to say, the photos speak for themselves. And if you think they look good, I can assure you it's even better in person :)

Really delicious Korean food, flavours were on point. Best Korean fried chicken I’ve had! Highly recommended.

Simple restaurant. Books out quickly. Meals are great value for money. A great introduction to Korean food for us. Picture is 돌솥 비빔밥 (hot stone pot with mixed rice)

Han River is the best authentic Korean restaurant in the Wellington region. The new owner serves real Korean food ingredients from the beautiful and clean “Jeju Island” in South Korea. A real taste of Korea!

Lovely little establishment<br/>Service was great and very polite waitress, weren’t kept waiting for too long, food was full<br/>Of flavour and very good we were all too full to move afterwards <br/>Would recommend this place for sure.

Had Fathers Day dinner here which was delicious, exotic, and affordable. Highly recommend the kimchi pancake and sizzling shared meals (we had BBQ pork), which are meant for 2 but are enough for 3 with all the sides as well (noodles, kimchi, potatoes, and rice). The fried dumplings were also tasty but are quite a delicate flavour. There are a selection of Korean drinks available but they do BYO. Prompt and attentive service. Absolutely HAVE to book as there are only 8 tables and most were reserved. Loved the kimchi and was pleased that they have it ready-made for takeaway. Our new local favourite! Huge thanks!!!

Best Korean Restaurant in Wellington!!! <br/>The food is very local and also nice for kiwis.<br/>Really enjoy sauced fry chickens and almost all soup menus^^

I visited Han River for the first time last night with my friend and my five year old daughter.<br/>We sat down, after my friend finally decided which table was going to work best for getting the bbq (the server was very gracious and moved us around easily), and we ordered sweet and spicy fried chicken, 떡볶이 (tteokbokki, rice cakes, fish cakes and egg smothered in a red pepper paste sauce) and 삼겹살구이 (pork belly, barbecued at the table which came with mushrooms and onions).<br/>my five year old made sure to tell our server that she wanted the kimchi, she definitely wanted the kimchi, and he brought out 8 small dishes with different styles of kimchi and some potato, with a few bowls of rice to go along with our mains.we waited (patiently)for about 20 minutes for our mains to come out, and the wait was worth it.<br/>my little one had already started digging into the kimchi sides and had rice and salad on her plate and the server seemed quite surprised that she was handling the spice so well, and when she said 잘 먹겠습니다 (thanks for the food, I will eat well) when the mains were brought to the table.anyway, to get to the point, the food was freakin delicious, we will definitely be back, and I'm recommending that you visit Han River and try lots of different foods, bring friends, the dishes are made to share!! <br/>Book a table!! there were a few walk ins who were turned away due to the tables being reserved. and it seems to be pretty family friendly!.Thanks for the wonderful food, and for a really nice first proper korean barbecue experience!!!

Thursday 16/08/2018 - First time dinning at this restaurant with my partner and it was a great experience! The server was very helpful and friendly, and showed me how to mix the dish that I ordered - the Korean way 😀. Presentation was beautiful and the taste was even better! I enjoyed eating here and am looking forward to returning and trying out more dishes!

Love this place- friendly service, fresh & tasty food - my son loves the katsu and I'm a fan of their dumplings - yum! Korean food has never tasted so good

Delicious food. We had a few starters which were beautifully presented and really tasty. Our mains were amazing too. Good service and a nice place. Prices are also really good.

Helpful staff who took the time to recommend and explain the dishes. Delicious food. Loved the dumplings and big spring rolls as starters. The chef kindly cooked the Pork bbq dish we ordered for our main because we didn't think the cooker would fit on our table for two. It was perfectly cooked. John & Jenny

Han River is a lovely quiet place to meet with friends. Very friendly staff who are very helpful. Delicious food,  I recommend the kimchi. If you like spicy food then Han River is the place to go.

Been here. Food is great. Staff is accommodating and gives suggestion on what to order.. give you description of food if you're not familiar with korean food..

WOW!!! Look ! That amount Kimchi even not bigger than my half card holder. Feel like I don't have enough money to pay for or I have too cheaper things so they only allow me to have 4pices Kimchi and tiny tomato >

Great place full of energy and the staff are very friendly and welcoming. Loved the food. Went there with my friends and bought different dishes to try and had some soju (korean beer) which was superb. The interior is not top notch but the food makes up for it😎.

Kind, friendly owner/service, good Korean food, and a very relaxed environment. Not a fancy dinner spot but the food is good and very reasonably priced.

As a Korean, it might not be the fanciest/nicest restaurant, but the service and taste is what I would deem more than acceptable in Wellington where there is a huge shortage of Korean cuisine. Recommend to all! They will refill your side dishes for free as much times as you want too :)

Han River is a bit of a staple for me and friends. Unpretentious place with good food. The owner is gracious and looks after us.<br/>There is a lot on the menu but my preference is the chigae especially on a cold day.

I been there about 5 times now, it was a good run till near the end, when you go to a restaurant enough you start to see the real deal, Food is OK in taste value, not the greatest, I been better as I have been to Korea many times over, the greatest downfall is the service you will receive, because when you order and you want an explanation on meals on the menu, the owner ( YES Owner ) decides that he will not give you an answer because he's too lazy to make an effort!, I have seen this with other customers while I am there. When you are given side dishes, they will not top up automatically, you gota ask, thats if they are not busy walking around your table constantly( why don't they see this?,ANSWER: too cheap to offer a good service)<br/>They also sweep the floors around you, so dust is pulled from the carpet and hits your meal, because the floors are more important than actually having a meal without getting disturbed.<br/>Oh, don't bother bringing your kids to this place, they will tell them to sit there ass down because theres no room to move even though 80% of the tables are free, ( No Customers).<br/>Lastly, the owner there won't strike a conversation with you unless you say something, so don't expect much, I expected more out of a local restaurant, it's not even in the heart of town, MAN, quite disappointing in the service, I come from a customer service background, no1, If a customer asks a question, dam well answer it and don't disappoint your customers, this place can make more money, BUT just like most of the food businesses out there, they don't take it seriously and settle for half booked tables or less daily.<br/><br/>I would NOT go there again, better off eating MAcDonalds, at least they try there.<br/><br/>I been robbed over $40 each time,,

First time with Korean food. This was really lovely. Staff helped with information of what we ordered. Will definitely return to try other dishes.

food was amazing! i was a little bit skeptical at going in at first but food was great, location wise it's not the best. Food was ordered and it quickly came out, would defiantly go back!

Ordered spicy pork, service was nice (we liked reading about the proper eating etiquette on the menus) food was ok along with the accompaniments. Nothing to rave about but was nice enough.

Not bad performance. They provided four free side dishes and the potato was delicious! My friend said the rice cake was too sweet and I totally agreed. I like the cold noodles soup, not strong flavors.

Tonight was probably about the fifth or sixth time here. I usually like to try different dishes each time. It was a very cold night tonight so chose the soontubu jigae with moo ssam starter. The starter was just delicious and so fresh tasting. The jigae came out very hot and was great also.<br/>Service was great and very friendly as usual. Will definitely be back and may buck the trend and go for moo ssam again.

Second time to leave review here. Been here another time with same nice service, good foods. I became regular here. My friends start to know there is a good Korean restaurant in Lower Hutt.

Had twice experiences here with one of my friends.<br/>First time we had seafood steamboat. We were surprised! Because of the season, there was no crab in steamboat but replaced with many mussels and prawns. Mussels and Prawns were very fresh and big, served with Tofu, mushrooms and other veges. The soup was very nice. So lovely sharing this soup with friends in winter. What I see is the front hold by one of the owners. He was very kind and givng a very good service. The way he served and talked making us feel we were welcomed. Also he was helping us stirring hot soup from bottom to top which cooks seafood on top of steamboat faster. I would say this is my best experience in Korean restaurant. <br/>Second time we ordered beef and dumpling steamboat which pleased us either. same service, even better food. the owner alway fill up our side dishes very soon when we finish them. Oh, the side dishes were very nice. Traditional Korean kimchi, sweet potatos, beans, pickled white carrot. <br/>If I feel like Korean food, this one will be my first choice. I will definatly come back for the food and for this lovely owner

Been there a few times now and never been let down or had any bad experience.<br/>Service is perfect and meals are beautiful and the chef look always for high quality ingeredients.<br/>Thank you for a lovely meal again.<br/>Will be back

Went there tonight as I thought I would try them out as there were good reviews.<br/>I was disappointed, the portions were small and not enough meat in the dishes, the kimchi was dry and bland tasting as with the other pickled veges. This meal was just like takeaway food, boring, nothing really special about it.<br/>The over priced pot of Korean tea cost $5.00 and it had a tea bag inside instead of tea leaves. Plus, the tea was served in a cup and saucer rather than traditional cups to match the tea pot the tea was provided in. The tea cup and saucer just didn't go with the Korean concept. On the other side of things, the place was cosy, clean and service was very good. The food came out within minutes so thumbs up to the chef.<br/>In conclusion, I will not be going back in a hurry.

This is the place to go for those who are craving Korean. Worth the travel if you live out of the city. <br/>We have been here twice now and last Friday arranged a meal with our friends. They have all travelled extensively and were very impressed with the taste of the meals served. What anyone who loves Korean expects is this.<br/>The owner is very friendly and inviting. The food is served in a timely manner at a perfect temperature and so so tasty we just want to go back for more.<br/>Will keep going back and recommending people to come here.

Great restaurant, very reasonable and I love how the mains come with side dishes. The server is lovely and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this place, I’ve told friends about it and they also love it here. Absolutely delicious meals!!

10/10 - when we go out for a meal, we always come here as we don't want to risk having a bad experience elsewhere. The man who serves us is always very friendly and our dishes are always sizzling hot and delicious. The prices are very reasonable and we love how the mains come with little side dishes to try.<br/>We 100% recommend this restaurant to all :)

Excellent service and value for money. Attentive staff, very friendly and helpful. I will be going back for sure. food was fab.

Having not experienced Korean food before, we tried Han River last night. What a pleasant surprise! We ordered mains of jaeyuk bokum (pork) and bulgogi (beef) to share. The food arrived on sizzling hot plates along with rice and four impeccably presented side dishes. The silver chopsticks were a nice touch, compared to the usual plastic or disposable wooden ones you generally see. The service was efficient and our meals were served quickly. Softer lighting would enhance the environment and give a better indication of the quality of food awaiting diners.