simon & lee

brunch without excessive eggs dishes
ate here at the weekend and there is even free parking across the road . lovely friendly staff.
heaps of options ,some usual brunch favorites and then a korean mix which is great
we had the original chicken nibbles ,super crisp and tasty so you can add spice using the sauces around as you like .
we then had the bulgogi beef spaghetti which was creamy and filling with decent amount of beef and heaps of pasta
i also had the quinoa bowl ,nice and fresh ,huge half a fresh avocado and great all mixed up ,again notspicydishes as i'm expecting but you can add some spice with sauces as i did think it needed some pepper or something on top
definitely recommended and we will be back in to try more options

quick sunday brunch here last week. bit larger than it looks on the outside so it's pretty spacious, love the atmosphere. we got the kfc lunch and the sujebi (seafood spaghetti). we ordered mildspicyfor the chicken but it really wasn'tspicyat all so definitely order dangerspicyif you like a kick.

same with the sujebi not veryspicyat all although it mentions chili oil but still very flavorful and the prawns were fresh (not too sure about the clams though)

i love fried chicken 🍗 whoever decided to start frying chicken is honestly a genius and i want to hug them. korean fried chicken is my absolute favourite 😍 had a craving for it so i decided to finally try out simon & lee! ordered the chicken lunchbox ($17) which comes with korean fried chicken, slaw, pickles, shoestring fries and aioli (we never got given any aioli tho 🤔). for the chicken sauce i chose garlic soy and safespicy🌶 the chicken was sooooo good, cooked to perfection and juicy. this chicken looks like it does the korean 10 step skin care routine because it was glowing ✨ the fries were crispy and i enjoyed the slaw. pickled radish is essential to the korean fried chicken experience to cut through any greasiness. the pickles seemed pretty random but i still ate them cause your girl doesn't like to waste food 😂 i'd love to go back and try the dangerspicysauce and other menu items!

overall rating: 9/10 🍗🍗🍗

we absolutely love this place! fried chicken is very very delicious. love their waffle fries too. don’t try the dangerspicychicken if you don’t do well withspicyfood. we could not finish it lol. pork belly and rice is tasty but rice was a bit hard.

we orderd the bulgogi spaghetti and fried chicken (danger spicy) and 2 coffees. 

staff checked with us first and warned us that dangerspicyis really spicy! we eat lots ofspicyfood and i have to say it is really spicy! in fact it's sospicyeating it is more like a challenge rather than enjoyment. so yeah it's a shame because otherwise it would have been really nice. the coating remained crunchy even though it's drenched in sauce. ps they give you plastic gloves so you won't get your hand dirty. 

the bulgogi spaghetti was amazing. the sauce was savoury, sweet, and just a little bit tangy, like a richer version of the bulgogi sauce. there's also a nice flavour of shitake in the sauce. mix it with the egg yolk and it's positively heaven! will definitely visit again for the bulgogi spaghetti but maybe just the normalspicyfried chicken. :)

it is a bit hard to find bit it is situated in the corner area with the door just beside the power box. we missed the entrance the first time around and went to hello mister next door.

the cafe is fairly small but does have quite a few tables. we were in the back area by the kitchen and it was comfy. we ordered a few things to share.

they have really nice fried chicken. we went with the safespicychicken nibbles and it was delicious. the sauce was more sweet thanspicybut the chicken was crispy and juicy. they even gave us gloves so we didn't get too dirty for the next round.

we shared the dolsotspicypork belly, bulgogi spaghetti and prawn dumplings (mahn du gok) with ttoek rice cakes. the bulgogi spaghetti was very moreish. creamy and rich with flavours of the mushrooms and beef. the mahn du gok was also quite nice since the soup was really flavourful. the only issue was that some of the ttoek were nice and chewy while others were way too firm. the dolsot had huge chunks of pork belly with a (not very spicy) sauce. the rice was nice and crispy, giving it more flavour and texture.

a really nice place to grab some food. the options are all very intriguing and you probably can't go wrong. just make sure to try some of their fried chicken.

we went here for the fried chicken and ordered the hottest one because we lovespicyfood. couple first bites were soooo good then it was toospicyfor us to handle haha however we managed to finish them all. i would recommend others who lovespicyto try the level before spiciest first to see how you can handle. we also ordered bibimbab which was pretty average.

food : 5/5
price : 4/5
atmosphere : 4/5
service : 5/5

i’m personally very proud of this restaurant for their effort and creative ways to convert traditional korean food into trendy and friendly food that everyone can enjoy.

their korean fried chicken is just on point. its very crunchy outside but the meat inside the batter is just so succulent and juicy.

the dumpling also was very juicy with mouthful of flavours.spicygochujang noodles were fantastic. it had a plenty of different veges and delicious pork belly in it.

service was very good and attentive.

some of their speciality menu gets sold out pretty quickly on the weekend i think. this also proves how popular this restaurant is to a lot of aucklanders at the moment.

i am more than willing to visit again.

the foods general it’s really sweet. like syrupy sweet. i ordered thespicypork belly on stone pot. the pot not even hot so that is no crust on the rice. when you serving in a stone pot you expect the crunchy rice at the bottom. the portion is very small as well. all you get for 21 bucks is few pieces of pork belly with some sad salad leaves and cover with sickening sweet sauce didn’t even have the kimchi to cut through the sweetness. after the second visit i don’t think i would ever go back.

ordered from ubereats today and it was great! chicken was nice and crunchy, the seasoning had great flavour and the sweetspicysauce was a great addition!
the kimchi waffle fries were amazing! the kimchi tasted really great and i would definitely order that again.
the slaw that comes with the meal is also very good and compliments the flavours nicely!

dear waffle fries with kimchi: where have you been all my life?!

i was seriously impressed with the food and photogenic fit out at simon and lee. wandered in at 1pm-ish on an ordinary monday arvo, and there were still a few spare seats. i love their contemporary vibe, mix of clientele, and the amazing smell of korean sauces and seaweed wafting from the kitchen.

my miso ramen came out first, and it wasn't asspicyas it looked. the pork belly was on point, and the portion was quite filling.

the novelty of waffle fries was irresistible, so i ordered a bowl even though i knew the ramen was probably going to be filling. the fries were delicious and the kimchi wasn’t over-powering. i liked the little bits of soft cheese that added variety to the flavours and texture.

although i personally like simon and lee, i suppose it’s not for everyone; anyone who visits needs to manage their expectations and realise they’re going to get high-end fusion food (it’s in the name, after all). service was friendly, but prices are a little steep because it’s in parnell. however, there’s heaps of interesting stuff to try from their menu – i’m already looking to coming back!

while new cafes and eateries continue to grow in auckland, so does my list of ‘where to eat next’. my latest dining venture took my friends and i to simon & lee, a new cafe in parnell opened by ollie simon and david lee from major sprout. their menu is crafted with dishes that you would normally see in a typical cafe but with an asian twist such as savoury rice porridge, black waffles with sesame ice cream and kimchi burger. i decided to try something different today and order the bibimbap which has a mixture of pickled vegetables, raw egg yolk, and rice served in a sizzling hot pot. you could opt to add beef bulgogi mince for an extra $4 and it is served with a small side ofspicykimchi and red pepper paste.