Korean Kitchen celebrates its third birthday

Korean Kitchen restaurant in Southport town centre is celebrating its third birthday!

The iconic venue has attracted a large following since opening on Lord Street in 2023, after outgrowing its original home in Hillside.

People are invited to call in and enjoy some special offers throughout November and join in their birthday celebrations. Look out on their social media pages for more details.

The Korean Kitchen is owned by husband and wife Tae Kim and Lynne Monks, who met while Lynne was in South Korea.

The couple were excited to open Southport’s first ever restaurant serving authentic, freshly-cooked Korean food, adding something new and exciting to the town’s diverse culinary offering.

The Lord Street restaurant offers a blend of modern and traditional Korean cuisine, serving up dumplings, bibimbap, seafood tempura, and crispy, panko-crusted Korean katsu.

Its best-known dishes are the 'Home Alone Bowls' and their famous Korean fried chicken, which comes in a choice of flavour including Yangnyeom and sweet garlic.

As well as being able to dine in, people can also order Korean dishes to be delivered straight to their home.

It’s a real success story which has thrived despite opening a restaurant at the worst possible time.

Tae Kim and Lynne Monks said: 

“We opened the Korean Kitchen in 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic!

“We were planning to open it for ages. We found the place we wanted in Hillside and then quickly found ourselves in a series of lockdowns.

“We had a few seats at the front which was good during social distancing and were doing lots of deliveries, plus we had a great relationship with The Grasshopper pub next door.

“We wanted to open a restaurant which served authentic Korean food, just like you would find if you walked into somewhere in Seoul.

“We were keen to offer diners food and a dining experience that was brand new and exciting, like nothing else on offer in town.

“It was a risk trying something new, but it’s worked better than we could have hoped.

“People in Southport love Korean food! We have so many loyal customers who have been with us for a while now.

“We’d like to thank everyone for all their love and support over the last three years — we couldn’t have done it without you!

“We loved being in Hillside but we were packed; we often had to turn people away.

“We needed to find bigger premises and also wanted to open somewhere on Lord Street.

“It’s such a brilliant place to be. It’s right in the centre of Southport - it’s great for diners coming in and also helps us with delivery orders.

“It would be great to see even more independent restaurants opening in Southport town centre, bringing even more world cuisines or new ideas.

“We are trying different things. Recently we announced we are organising a kimchi making class on 7th November, which sold out very fast! We’re keen for people to discover how delicious freshly-made kimchi is, and how different it is to kimchi you buy in jars from big supermarkets.

“Last year we opened an additional outlet in Southport Market - Little Korean Kitchen - which has been very well received. We are currently revamping the menu there, creating more sharing options.

“We are grateful to all our customers who have visited us since we have been open.

“However, despite our reputation, there are still some people out there who don’t know we are here - or who haven’t come in to try Korean Kitchen yet.

“We’d love to spread the word about what people can enjoy here!”

“We have enjoyed seeing the new events which have taken place this year and we’re looking forward to seeing what 2027 brings.

“It’s encouraging to see all the work happening to restore Southport Pier and to create the new Marine Lake Events Centre.

“These are exciting times for Southport with so many reasons for people to come and visit.

“Hopefully they’ll come and enjoy some authentic Korean food while they’re here!”

You can enter a special third birthday competition to win two free home alone bowls via the Korean Kitchen Instagram

Korean Kitchen is situated at 509 Lord Street, Southport, United Kingdom, PR9 0AY.

To book a table or order online, visit koreankitchensouthport.co.uk.

For Korean Kitchen updates, follow their pages on Facebook  and Instagram.