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    Sole Cafe

    4.1 (191 reviews)
    ModerateKorean
    Open 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

    Order Sole Cafe Takeout or Delivery

    Sole Cafe Photos

    SOLE CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Sole Cafe

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    Tofu kimchi jjigae, rice, banchan.
    Patti K.

    I've watched this restaurant slowly transform from a dark space with an old drinking hole vibe to its current look--bright lighting, coffee table cook books with tasteful modern ceramics, and a light-colored laminated wood bar. We stopped by for the first time in a few years. The parking lot alley is no longer lit, so we weren't sure if people still used it. In addition to the clean, modern remake, they have fancy metal dishes. The menu has also shrunk. I wanted a stew with lots of vegetables, so I ordered vegetarian tofu kimchi jjigae. My spouse ordered bulgogi. The kimchi jjigae was delicious, and hit the spot on a cold October night. I kept the leftover broth to kick up some soup I had at home. I was a bit disappointed that aside from the kimchi, the stew had only green onions and some carrot slivers as vegetables. I was hoping for more carrots, and vegetables like zucchini. My spouse's dish also had mostly onions as vegetables. The banchan was delicious, but we would have needed to order two more sets of banchan to get our fill of vegetables. To be clear, most US restaurants don't serve much vegetables, so Sole Cafe is not an outlier in that sense. Next time I will ask the server to clarify what kinds of vegetables are in the dish before ordering. They redid the bathroom, which was a nice surprise. And I believe the server is the same man from before. He was attentive and courteous as always. Glad to have Sole Cafe as a local option for Korean food.

    Adriana G.

    Delicious authentic Korean restaurant! Visited Sole Cafe with a friend that had never had Korean food and decided to take them here. We ordered tteokbokki to share, a spicy pork dish and I got a bi bim bap for myself. The tteokbokki was divine. The rice cakes were cooked to perfection, chewy and full of flavor. The sauce was light, spicy and sweet but not too sweet. This so far has been my favorite tteokbokki I've had in MN. My friend loved her spicy pork dish, it was the first time she ever had Korean food and it left a good impression on her. She did say it was spicy (she eats spicy and handles it quite well, they don't go light with the spice level on this). If you like spicy food, you'll love this dish as much as she did. Flavor was amazing too. It is served with a portion of white rice. The bi bim bap I had was good, lots of veggies and good flavor. Would I get it again? Not sure. Next time I am going for something spicy and with meat. This restaurant is authentic and the interior resembles a Hanoi style restaurant like those in South Korea. It's small, clean and the waiter is attentive. Street parking available. If recommend checking this restaurant out for Korean food. Prices are a bit elevated but it's worth it.

    Inside
    Ethan H.

    Sole Cafe is a gem. This is a family-run and no-frills spot, with a cozy wooden interior and a TV playing K-Dramas or Korean Sports (at a modest volume--this is no sports bar). It's tough to wrong with the menu. If you're with a modest group, I'd suggest going family-style. Grab a grill item like their Jeyuk Bokkeum (spicy pork stir fry) or Kalbi (short ribs), a big Bibimbap, and stew like Seolleongtang (or Yukaejang for the spice lovers). Add a couple appetizers on too, their Tteokbokki and Mandu are both favorites of mine. Don't be afraid to ask the owner/server for recommendations or dietary restrictions either, they're very accommodating. The most special part about Sole Cafe though is that it's a real facet of the community. Don't be surprised when people drop in to just chat with the owner! I hope Sole Cafe remains successful in the tough years since the pandemic that have seen so many beloved restaurants go under. I'd highly recommend checking this place out whether you're looking for something new, or something familiar.

    Bulgogi, Japchae and banchan for takeout
    Irene C.

    A California girl in the Twin Cities, so of course I am always craving Asian food. We found this place by checking Eater Twin Cities where they had an article for 13 Essential Korean restaurants in the Twin Cities. We were going to order from the online lunch menu to find out that the online lunch menu doesn't exist. In fact, I don't think it is their website or it's definitely not up to date. But going back to the food, we ordered bulgogi and japchae. As soon as I picked up my takeout order, I could smell how delicious it was. Good portions for sharing with two people, and they included some banchan for us too.

    My sad TTEPPOKKI. It lacks so much flavors, i just threw it away. I only come here for this dish mainly.
    Doua Chi V.

    I'm not sure if the owner had changed but my food today is so different from my other orders I've had before. I'm so sad and disappointed. I recommended this place to all of my friends and now its not the same. I had to call them and was told its a different chef. I don't think i'll be going there anymore. I'm just sad because there's no tteppokki as good as this place used to have them here.

    Bulgogi
    Mary Y.

    Again, this place is pretty good, but pricy. I understand due to the prices in everything. The dumplings are always a hit! This time i got the soup, and im not a big fan of both the soft tofu soup with beef and kimchi soup. It just taste like pepper with tofu. Kind of flavorless. The japchae was oka, it taste like sesame oil mostly. The bulgogi was good, i also got the spicy pork buligogi. It really help that those dish was there. Definitely a little family restaurant. It feels a bit slow because it is only the wife and husband. They make everything pretty fresh. I would definitely come back for the seafood pancake. This is a great place for it!

    Soontofu
    Cyann L.

    Food was absolutely amazing. Each dish has its own umami taste- Seafood Stew and Squid Stir fry. As for the bibimbap, the fried rice was crispy and the sauce that was on the side it was super delicious! I def love love the squid here because it's such a big portion! Can't wait to come back and try other dishes The place was very authentic just like the food. Sadly no. AC in the building but they do have fans running and is constantly running around to making sure you have water!!

    Newly renovated dining area

    Great place for delicious authentic Korean food and a cozy meal! We were pleasantly surprised to see that this place had been recently renovated since our last visit. The dining room has a warm and calming ambiance, great for a dinner with family or friends. We ordered the green onion pancake as a starter and it was nice and crispy on the outside, packed with soft veg and served with a great dipping sauce. My dolsot bibimbap with beef came out sizzling and was absolutely delicious! A perfect blend of vegetables, crispy rice, beef, egg, and govhujang sauce. My sister got the manduguk and really enjoyed the mandu dumplings and broth. The barley tea and complementary banchan sides were just the right finishing touches for our meal. The service was attentive and welcoming! He refilled our tea and banchan a couple times - very kind and really made our experience memorable! We will definitely be coming back in the near future.

    Great dinner
    Pat C.

    Very good Korean meals, authentically spicy and flavorful. Our group tried several things, Galbi, Bulgogi, Bibimbap, and also were served a selection of sides. This is a small placed owned and run by a couple of- he's the chef, she's everything else.

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    7 days ago

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    9 months ago

    Fantastic food and really nice staff! We come to Sole Cafe at least monthly. I have not once been disappointed with the food or service.

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    9 months ago

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    11 months ago

    The food is so authentic. The place is packed with Koreans. A good sign! The service is impeccable.

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    1 year ago

    Didn't take pictures but was good. My friend liked the food. Service and ambiance were good too. .

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    3 years ago

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    Page 1 of 5

    Ask the Community - Sole Cafe

    Is the restaurant still open? I ask because the last few times I tried stopping by they had the same sign that they would open on X day but never did. Hoping I get to try their food soon! Thank you.

    Yes they are. Just Mondays they are closed

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

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    Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse

    Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse

    4.0(119 reviews)
    3.1 mi
    $$$

    Me and my friends have been here several times. Great Korean BBQ spot with tasty food and friendly…read moreservice. The staff were attentive overall. One thing to keep in mind is that they can get very busy at night or on weekends, so the wait for a table can be pretty long. Also, during busy hours, a few of the items we ordered were missed, and we had to place the order again. Despite that, the experience was still good

    Hi, my family and I ate here last night and we were all pretty disappointed in the service and the…read moremeal. We ordered the Hot Pot and Korean Bbq. For all 7 of us. The Premium Dinner. It was our first experience at a Hot Pot spot, so the server explained the menu and took our drink order. He also informed us where we could find the sauce bar (near the entrance) if we wanted sauces. Good. We ordered and received the Hot Pot bases and all of the toppings relatively quickly. The server turned on the bbq pit thing in the center of the table once the proteins arrived. Great! The table ordered Original, Miso, Kimchi (best favor), and Tom Thai. Most of the flavors were bland at best, except the Kimichi, which was too spicy for most of the table but it was tasty! Bc I was sharing a pot with someone that can't tolerate spicy, I didn't get that base. We tried the soup bases. Meh... Everyone added proteins and veggies to their soups. 6 out of 7 people were disappointed with the hot pots. The common complaint was "this doesn't have flavor." We had two 10 years that enjoyed watching the squid tentacles curl in the soup but not the soup, specifically bc it was bland. This was true for most of us at the table. The beef, chicken and pork all had a mild fishy taste but lacked beef, chicken, or pork flavor. I cooked the protein on the little table grill with chopsticks (we weren't provided with tongs) but again, no flavor. I went to the sauce bar for the table (I found the tongs there). We were told about the sauce bar but not about the tongs, which made my personal experience laborious bc I was one of two people decent with chopsticks at our table. Anyways, sauce bar. Got sauces. Sauces didn't help cover the fish taste. Nor did the sauce help the already cooked protein taste good. The ambiance was smoky, probably due to the grills on the table but of our guests had to leave bc the smoke gave him a headache. The started off nicely but as the meal progressed the server never came to refill drinks or inquire about our meal. He didn't provide recommendations to get the best experience and he didn't provide serving utensils. All in all, I don't recommend. I would like a refund but based on the lack of serve (especially knowing this was our first experience at a Hot Pot spot), I didn't feel comfortable saying anything and I didn't feel like being upset. We just decided to not return and leave a review. Passive, yes, but the experience remained underwhelming not overwhelming. ALSO, you get ice cream bars at the end of your meal! They didn't tell us that! But I saw so many other guests eating them and we were still hungry, I asked if they were included in our PREMIUM DINNER. Ice cream was included. No one told us until we asked. We spent close to $300 dollars for this meal and we received subpar serve and subpar fishy food. I don't recommend.

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    Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse - Seating

    Seating

    Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse - Instant noodles, enoki mushrooms, bean curd skin, tofu

    Instant noodles, enoki mushrooms, bean curd skin, tofu

    Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse - Entrance area

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    Entrance area

    J Pot - Bugolgi meat was the best and it tasted like butter so tender so yummy!!!!

    J Pot

    4.4(93 reviews)
    8.7 mi
    $$$

    Great spot for Chinese hot pot or Korean barbecue, or both! Only $5 more for both at dinner. Love…read morethat everyone gets their own hot pot so they can choose their broth flavor and manage their own pot. I still lost things in my pot but they still tasted good even after cooking for 30 minutes! There are an impressive number meat, vegetable, seafood, tofu and other items that can be cooked in the hot pot or on the grill. And they are delivered by robot! The marinated meats are great. I also got a lot of vegetables from the salad bar to cook in the hot pot, which are a great complement to the grilled meats. The fruit on the salad bar was surprisingly ripe, even out of season. Creating your own sauce is also fun. I happened to go within 3 days of my birthday, so my meal was free. Amazing birthday deal!

    Fun and festive! Plus tasty…read more The concept is simple- you can choose to cook your food in a broth, on a table top grill or both. As a vegan-leaning pescatarian, there were plenty of options- including several tofu styles. It's all you can eat, with a plot twist- if you take food you don't ear you may end up paying extra, which makes sense. There are plenty of sauces, sides and a few desserts all included. so much to eat- bring your appetite. It's a great place for a group -and at least when we were there the birthday girl or boy gets to eat free if there are two other adults with you. Enjoyable and tasty spot for a big meal.

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    Mai's Kitchen - Pho

    Mai's Kitchen

    5.0(2 reviews)
    6.0 miDayton's Bluff

    We absolutely LOVED having breakfast at Mai's Kitchen! This is one of the many restaurants located…read morein the food court at Hmong Village...it reminds me a bit of a hawker center in Singapore. We tried two different types of noodles...red kapoon and regular pho, plus some purple sticky rice. The red kapoon is a spicy with a hint of pickled flavor, it's complex and tasty. The pho is very rich and also extremely well flavored, with a hint of toasted garlic. Both really hit the spot on a cold morning, and we would get both again. The purple sticky rice was perfect for our toddler to much on, she loved it. Prices are extremely reasonable and service is quick. The food court was not very busy at 9 am but most of the restaurants were open. We will definitely be back!

    Maybe I'm a Mai's at the way you love me all the time Maybe…read moreI'm a Mai's at the way I really need you The Hmong Village is a huge Warehouse full of textiles and trinkets and amazing Goods that are generally Vietnamese but also from all parts of the world. And at one end of this massive Warehouse of goodies and delights is this enormous endless row of magical food places which are serving everything from Pho to fake Chinese food to fake Japanese food to Korean food and even some real Chinese and Japanese to go with the Thai and the Filipino and a little bit of everything such as Laotian and Cambodian - but definitely heavy on the Vietnamese stuff as is the expectancy. The sad thing is that people on Yelp haven't really made a dent into these yet as I came here and noticed that probably only three or four of the 30 or 40 food places in this massive Market have even been put on Yelp yet. I've now put them all on Yelp and will be working my way through them each time I visit Saint Paul until I have put up pix of various dishes at each one. But if you live around here and you come here more regularly than I do, what's your excuse? Give all of these places a try! Put them on the map! Figure out which ones are the true hidden gems! Why go to Ye Olde Basic Brewery yet again for yet another pale ale and yet another microbrew craft beer and some more freaking Mozzarella Sticks. You can come here and do what Yelp is really all about which is trying new things and putting little places like this on the map.

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    Mai's Kitchen - Red Kapoon

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    Bonchon

    Bonchon

    4.2(86 reviews)
    3.2 mi
    $$

    I was in town on business and looked up restaurants close to my hotel. This one popped up and was…read moreabout five minutes from me. It is located in a small strip plaza and you just walk in to be seated. They are extremely busy with people seated to eat and to-go orders. When I arrived, someone was cleaning tables, taking payment, and delivering food to tables. This was all being done by the same person. He directed me to a table, gave me a menu, and brought me a glass of water with a straw. He was moving about the restaurant taking orders, cashing people out, cleaning tables, and delivering food the entire time I was there. He came to get my order after about ten minutes. I ordered the Seoul sampler with the soy garlic sauce on the chicken. I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. The chicken was cooked and seasoned to perfection. It was crunchy and flavorful. There was a lot of food too. I ended up taking some back to my hotel and eating it later. It was hard not going back to this restaurant during my stay, but I wanted to try different places. It took about fifteen minutes for my food to arrive at the table and bulgogi fries came out first on a separate plate. This sampler is a good representation of several of their menu items. I recommend getting it if you are new to this restaurant. I paid $46 after adding a tip.

    Stopped by for a quick bite after workout and before my evening meeting. It was my 1st time at this…read morelocation. The server was friendly but he was super busy because it seemed like he was the only server who was also taking care of to-go orders. The food was ready relatively fast. I was disappointed in the taste of it because a few pieces of the chicken were a little dry and some of them weren't the type of crunchy you would expect of Korean fried chicken. The restaurant is spacious and clean.

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    Mai's Papaya - Cucumber and papaya salad

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    4.6(5 reviews)
    6.0 miDayton's Bluff

    Was a quick wait for my order of the papaya and cucumber salad. They gave us a beeper to notify us…read morewhen our order is ready. The salads were very pungent and strong with umami flavors, so it isn't for the weak stomach. It tasted amazing with the other food options in the Hmong Food Area. I can't eat it by myself but some of my friend was chowing down as if it was a refreshing snack. Would totally recommend giving a try when you visit Hmong Village.

    Maybe I'm a Mai's at the way you love me all the time Maybe…read moreI'm a Mai's at the way I really need you Anyway it's time for me to say Papaya. You say papaya, and I say hello. Halo halo! I don't know why you say Papaya, I'm going to play Halo. The Hmong Village is a huge Warehouse full of textiles and trinkets and amazing Goods that are generally Vietnamese but also from all parts of the world. And at one end of this massive Warehouse of goodies and delights is this enormous endless row of magical food places which are serving everything from Pho to fake Chinese food to fake Japanese food to Korean food and even some real Chinese and Japanese to go with the Thai and the Filipino and a little bit of everything such as Laotian and Cambodian - but definitely heavy on the Vietnamese stuff as is the expectancy. The sad thing is that people on Yelp haven't really made a dent into these yet as I came here and noticed that probably only three or four of the 30 or 40 food places in this massive Market have even been put on Yelp yet. I've now put them all on Yelp and will be working my way through them each time I visit Saint Paul until I have put up pix of various dishes at each one. But if you live around here and you come here more regularly than I do, what's your excuse? Give all of these places a try! Put them on the map! Figure out which ones are the true hidden gems! Why go to Ye Olde Basic Brewery yet again for yet another pale ale and yet another microbrew craft beer and some more freaking Mozzarella Sticks. You can come here and do what Yelp is really all about which is trying new things and putting little places like this on the map.

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    Mai's Papaya - The facade

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    Note the sausage is from a different stall

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    Sole Cafe - korean - Updated May 2026

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