New city. New course. New cuisine to fall in love with.

Starting university comes with a lot of firsts.

First lecture. First night in a new house. First group chat that somehow has 78 unread messages before breakfast. First attempt at working out which cupboard is actually yours.

And, if you’re new to Selly Oak, it might also be the first time you properly try Korean food.

If that sounds like you, welcome to Kimchi.

You don’t need to know what everything on the menu means. You don’t need years of Korean food knowledge. You don’t even need to be confident with metal chopsticks.

You just need to be hungry and willing to try something new.

Korean food gives you plenty of ways to start. There’s sizzling Korean BBQ cooked at the table, warming bowls of ramen, rice dishes packed with different flavours and textures, and little side dishes that make every meal feel a bit different.

The best part is that there isn’t one “correct” first order.

You can start familiar, go bold or bring a few mates and order several things for the table.

Here’s our Selly Oak starter guide to help you find your first Kimchi favourite.

Start simple with bibimbap

If you’ve never tried Korean food before, bibimbap is a brilliant place to begin.

The name means “mixed rice”, which gives you a pretty good clue about how you eat it.

A bowl of bibimbap brings together rice, vegetables, meat or tofu, egg and gochujang, the Korean red chilli paste that adds sweetness, savoury flavour and heat.

The fun starts when it arrives.

Don’t politely work your way around each ingredient separately. Mix it.

Get your spoon right into the bowl and bring everything together so each mouthful gets a little of everything.

If you order dolsot bibimbap, it comes in a hot stone bowl. The heat keeps cooking the rice around the edges, creating those crispy little bits at the bottom that people quickly become obsessed with.

For a first visit to Kimchi, bibimbap gives you a good introduction to the balance that makes Korean food so satisfying. You get soft rice, vegetables, richer toppings, heat from the sauce and, with dolsot, that extra crispy texture.

It’s comforting without feeling boring.

Korean BBQ is easier than it looks

From outside the restaurant, Korean BBQ can look like the option for people who already know exactly what they’re doing.

It isn’t.

In fact, we think it’s one of the best ways to experience Korean food for the first time because the meal becomes something you do together.

You choose your BBQ dishes, they come to the table and you cook them on the grill in front of you.

That’s it.

Nobody expects you to arrive knowing every cut, cooking time or Korean BBQ tradition. If you’re unsure, ask our team. We’re happy to help.

The nicest thing about Korean BBQ is the social side of it.

Someone is watching the grill. Someone is passing plates around. Someone inevitably becomes far too invested in flipping everything. Before long, a normal dinner has turned into a proper night with your friends.

That makes it ideal for students.

New housemates who are still getting to know each other? Korean BBQ.

Course friends meeting outside lectures for the first time? Korean BBQ.

Society dinner? Birthday? Friday night when nobody wants to cook?

You get the idea.

There’s something about having the grill in the middle of the table that gets everyone involved.

If you love noodles, start with ramen

Maybe you’re looking through a Korean menu and thinking, “Just give me something warm with noodles.”

Fair enough.

Ramen is probably the easiest starting point.

It feels familiar enough that you know roughly what you’re getting, but there are still plenty of Korean flavours to discover.

Hot broth, noodles and toppings make it exactly the sort of meal you want after a long day of lectures or a cold walk through Selly Oak.

It’s also a useful starting point if you’re not ready for a big shared BBQ meal.

Come in, order a bowl, sit down and enjoy it at your own pace.

Then next time you can try something else.

That’s the point of a starter guide. You don’t need to conquer the entire menu in one visit.

Yes, you should actually try kimchi

A restaurant called Kimchi was always going to suggest this.

Kimchi is one of Korea’s best-known side dishes. The version most people recognise is made from fermented cabbage with seasoning that gives it its sharp, savoury and spicy flavour.

If you’ve never eaten fermented vegetables before, the flavour might be new to you.

That’s part of the fun.

Try a little alongside your meal.

Some people love it immediately. Others need a couple of bites before it clicks. Then there are the people who suddenly realise they’ve finished the whole portion while everybody else at the table was talking.

Kimchi works particularly well alongside richer foods because that punchy flavour gives you something completely different between bites.

Don’t overthink it. Pick some up and give it a go.

What are all the little dishes on the table?

One thing first-time visitors often notice is that Korean meals can come with smaller side dishes alongside the main food.

These are often called banchan.

They give you little changes of flavour and texture throughout the meal. You might move from something rich and grilled to something sharper, fresher or spicier, then back again.

This is another reason Korean food works so well when you’re new to it.

You’re not committing to one flavour for an entire meal.

There’s always something else to try.

And when you’re eating with friends, everyone starts discovering their own favourites.

Worried about spice?

You don’t have to be someone who orders the hottest thing on every menu to enjoy Korean food.

There are spicy Korean dishes, of course, but there are plenty of other flavours too.

Sweet. Savoury. Smoky. Rich. Salty. Tangy.

If you’re unsure about how hot something might be, ask us.

Your first Korean meal should be about finding what you enjoy, not proving anything to the person sitting opposite you who claims they can handle any chilli level.

There are no medals.

Do you need to know how to use chopsticks?

No.

You are allowed to come into Kimchi without completing a chopstick training course beforehand.

If you already know how to use them, great.

If your food keeps slipping out halfway between the plate and your mouth, welcome to the club.

Nobody is grading you.

The whole point is to relax, eat and have a good time with the people you came with.

The easiest first Korean meal with friends

If you’re coming to Kimchi for your first visit and aren’t sure what to order, make it a sharing meal.

A simple first-time approach could be:

• Start with Korean BBQ for the table.
• Add a bibimbap so everyone can try a rice dish.
• Order a few sides to share.
• Add ramen if someone wants noodles or something warming.
• Try kimchi alongside everything and see what you think.

That way, nobody has to choose one unfamiliar dish and hope for the best.

Everyone gets to try a little bit of everything.

It also turns the meal into a conversation.

“What’s that?”

“Try this.”

“Who ate the last piece?”

“That was definitely yours.”

Much better than everyone silently staring at their own plate.

Korean food works well for student life

University meals tend to fall into two categories.

The meal you eat because you need food.

And the meal that becomes part of the memory.

Korean BBQ is definitely in the second category.

It gives you something to do as well as something to eat. That makes it perfect when you’re meeting new people, catching up after class or trying to organise a house night where nobody wants to spend hours choosing what to do.

Kimchi is right here in Selly Oak, so you don’t need to make a huge plan of it either.

Finish lectures. Message the group. Come down. Eat.

Simple.

And yes, students get 10% off

Student budgets matter.

That’s why students can enjoy 10% off at Kimchi with a valid student ID.

Just bring your ID with you and show it to our team.

No complicated process.

So if you’ve been telling yourself that this is the term you’re finally going to try Korean BBQ, bibimbap or proper ramen, you’ve got one more reason to do it.

Find your Kimchi favourite

You don’t need to understand every dish before walking through the door.

That’s what trying new food is about.

Start with something familiar. Share something you’ve never had before. Ask questions. Steal a bite from your friend’s plate. Decide you’ve found your favourite, then come back two weeks later and change your mind.

Korean food is brilliant for that.

There’s always another dish to try and another combination for the table.

So whether you’ve just moved to Birmingham, you’re settling back into Selly Oak or you’ve spent the last year walking past Kimchi thinking, “I really should try that place”, this is your sign.

New term. New flavours. New favourite dish waiting to be found.

Bring your housemates, course mates or the person in your group chat who always knows where to eat.

And don’t forget your student ID for 10% off.

Come and find your Korean food favourite at Kimchi in Selly Oak.

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