The Cup

LOCATION: Very aesthetic, one of those hipster places that serve on metal platters with green walls and wooden tables lol. But conveniently close to USC for students or visiting parents.
PARKING: hella expensive if you don’t find an outside street parking spot. The first 45 minutes are free so I’d suggest running in and running out so you don’t have to pay the ridiculous LA rates.
FOOD: MEHHHH. I got the Cajun Shrimp Pasta ($ 9) and I believe the serving size was just fair. The pasta itself was pretty good, but it had a little too much garlic. The shrimp was cooked perfectly!
OVERALL, would not return unless I’m craving more home-​made type of food and I’m in the area. But not something I would really recommend if I were showing someone around the Inglewood area.
However, after looking through all the reviews, maybe I should just try something different, who knows.

I had the Fatty Tuna (Toro) cup for $ 6.99 + tax. The price is lower because it’s in a smaller bowl than the other menu items. My bowl had grounded raw tuna with mayo & sriracha (I hate spicy) and with lots of green onions. It’s my fault for forgetting to mention about not putting any green onions, but sriracha is spicy – they should let us know or leave the sriracha out and let us put it in ourselves. They put the right amount of soy sauce and roe (mini orange caviar) in the bowl. Tuna is always good, but this wasn’t so special. My friend’s chicken curry looked great though. Horrible seats, cool service.

Came to this place because of all the great reviews I read on here & everybody was right! I had the bulgogi with rice– so good! The beef and brown rice were cooked perfectly and I especially loved that there wasn’t too much sauce on the rice because other places that serve plates like these usually overdo it. I also enjoy the brown rice option. The only reason why I rated 4 stars was because the veggies (specifically the zucchini– which happens to be my least favorite vegetable in the world so disregarding this comment might be a good idea) were cut too chunky for my taste but everything else was delicious! I also tried their spicy chicken soup just for kicks. I don’t normally opt for spicy foods, I actually NEVER go for them but this soup might have changed my mind a little bit? Ok probably not but it had the right amount of heat– if you’re a habanero heat kind of person, it might not be your favorite but it was perfect for me. The protein again, done right, as well as the broth. Overall, very tasty, greatly seasoned food with decent prices for the portion size! Only 5 mins away from home, I will definitely be coming back.
In regards to the place itself. I was in and out very quickly (ordered to-​go). I was actually surprised there wasn’t more people there but it’s very clean with a decent amount of seating. I was greeted by an Asian man who was very cordial in taking my order which took no longer than 10 minutes to be made. I did notice a mini refrigerator with a sign that says «Free!» right on top fully stocked with salad dressing and kimchi available for one to take as many as they’d like I would assume, so that was cool to see.
All in all, love this place! I hope it stays it around longer than most of the other food spots that have been opened up here. Highly recommend anybody to come check it out!

Who could possibly overlook a place that offers a KBBQ option to-​go?! I came here on a whim and it was pretty good. We ordered about 3 different items on the menu. Bulgogi. Chicken curry. And Cajun beef respectively in order to my recommended choice ! The chicken curry and Bulgogi kinda tied but I enjoyed the curry a bit more ! It’s right on the busy street of Figueroa in LA and there could be a parking structure someplace but I chose meter parking. I thought it was awesome of Cups to have this idea to provide free kimchi in the dining area marked «Free !» Haha that should help me with the parking meter pay.
Total $ ~ 17 for 2 bowls

The Spicy Cajun pulled Chicken Soup is worth a visit.
It so good that after dinner I went back to the counter and ordered a bowl to go for lunch tomorrow.
old menu was more Asian Fusion Restaurant
Now serving Cajun Dishes too

This place opened up recently and BLESS because more good food for the USC population! I didn’t even know about this place until we walked by it post-​game-​day on the way back from the coliseum – it’s a little further down after coffee bean, chipotle, and chick-​fil-​a so just keep walking and you’ll see it.
The food is here kind of like Korean fusion. I’ve tried the chicken curry, bulgogi with rice, bulgogi with pasta, and salmon – everything was delicious and reasonably priced. My favorite is the bulgogi with rice – the pasta is okay… too heavy in my opinion. Compared with Kogi just down the street, the bulgogi here taste better and it’s less salty. However, the portions here are also smaller. This place also sells other dishes like tots, Cajun shrimp, salads, bibimbap, etc, you’ll definitely find something you want to eat!

Boo, they completely changed their menu! Came here during lunch and was so confused. It’s mainly seafood now and no more udon noodles. I guess it’s cool to sell Cajun seafood by the pound around USC but sad that their noodle menu shrank.

Conveniently outside California Science Center. We stopped here to grab a bite to eat. I only had the kale and quinoa salad. It’s a great value. 4.99 for a good sized salad. Ingredients were fresh. The dressing was kinda not good. It was a too tart balsamic vinegar. It needed more sweetness for balance. Maybe an off day? Cheap, filled me up, not much to complain about.
Other people ordered the seafood. It looks like boiling crab stuff. Same price, same she-​bang ingredients. It smelled good. Maybe I’ll try this next time when I want to get my hands dirty.
Metered parking. Next to the science center and under an apartment complex so you’ll have to fight for a spot.

Looks healthy but the food is just not that good. We ordered three different dishes
Salmon avocado
Cajun shrimp
Clam & Shrimp combo
All of us were disappointed in our food. Shrimp was dry, rice & veggies were bland. Service was nice. Will not be coming back though.
Not sure how it is rated so high.

It pains me to give only one star… but I was really disappointed in this place! Given its high rating on Unilocal,I was excited to try the Cup, eyeing the soups in particular. I opted for a salmon avocado bowl instead, and my friend went for bulgogi. It was reminiscent of dining hall food.
The salmon was lukewarm, but the rice was piping hot. A small assortment of overcooked vegetables lay on one side of my bowl. I combated the lack of flavor with two soy sauce packets – the last of the ones they had out for customers. Ultimately, I didn’t finish, not out of fullness but because of how unappealing this meal was. My friend showed initial satisfaction with his bulgogi but commented that the rice had a weird flavor; he didn’t finish either.
The *bowl* theme reminded me of nearby California Gogi Grill, but if you’re deciding between the two, go with Gogi.

Just came here for lunch, and I was disappointed by my salmon avocado bowl, primarily because I was not a fan of the combo of heavy herbs and what looked like eel sauce that coated the salmon, it had a strange taste that even the soy sauce could not make better. If I got this again, I would ask them to not put the sauce. The salmon was cooked well, not overcooked, which I worry about when I order cooked salmon. The brown rice was also kinda hard, and the avocado was not ripe yet so it wasn’t very tasty. That being said, I did like the veggies that came with the bowl, and I wouldn’t mind coming back to try the bulgogi bowl sometime since I had debated between the bulgogi and salmon. My friend ordered the tater tots, and those were crisp and delicious, and not too oily. I also had a bite of her cajun shrimp bowl, which was tasty. The shrimp had a curry taste.
This place has a cute/​modern ambiance with affordable prices and nice portions. I also like the fridge of condiments: kimchi, ginger, and salad dressing that makes it easy to help yourself to what you need-it’s always nice when restaurants are generous with their condiments. This place has a lot of variety including pasta, rice bowls, tater tots, and quinoa salad. It’s a nice option to have in the area.

What’s with all these Asian fusion places popping up around USC?! The Cup is one of the newer restaurants to open up around campus, though it’s situated a little further off, next to Chik-​Fil-​A.
The food is okay. I definitely wouldn’t get the traditional Korean dishes here (because K-​town is 10 minutes away, so why not get the real deal there?), and the fusion dishes are satisfactory but lacking in something. I got the kimchi bulgogi pasta, and it was generously portioned but sooo creamy. Tried a bite of my friend’s plain bulgogi pasta, and definitely did not enjoy the flavor. It was pretty bland. I would maybe come back to try the salmon avocado bowl, but I’m not sure if it can top the one from the café underneath the law school (as far as on-​campus options go).
It’s also cool that a place on campus serves soju! But it’s horrendously overpriced. I’d rather just go to Galleria/​H-​Mart and buy a couple bottles there for the $ 9 or so they sell it for at The Cup.
I guess the running theme of this review is TL;DR: Go to K-​Town for Korean food and drinks.

I’m a fan, but not like yay! I’m a fan. I think it’s more a 3.5 right now. This place replaced the old hot dog joint that was here so we’ll see how long they last. This isn’t the best location on this small strip, but hopefully they survive being the last little food place attached to Tuscany.
Prices have fluctuated, when they first opened items were 10+, then in August I think items were 5 – 7, and now they’re back to the 8 – 10 range.
I decided to try the kimchi bulgogi pasta and found it okay. I think it was my own expectations that skewed things, I thought it was going to be a white sauce, but it was more red creamy.
The garlic bread and little tortilla chips that were on top were sooo good though, those were honestly my favorite parts of this meal.
I paid 10.00 and the food lasted me 3 full meals, so I’d say I got my moneys worth for the portion. I’ll probably come back before the year ends to give another pasta or dish a try. I think this place has a lot of potential, but it’s a uphill battle.
While the food is good, there was nothing spectacular that I could see keeping the place open for long. I do hope for the best as I did enjoy my meal.

I decided to come here with my co-​workers to eat lunch. I ordered the Cajun Shrimp with brown rice. It was spicy! I couldn’t taste the cajun spices at all; the spiciness just overpowered the cajun sauce. They also give a scoop of mashed potatoes on top of the cajun shrimp and vegetables which is a weird mix. My coworkers got the bulgogi pasta and spicy vegetable soup. The bulgogi pasta was good, but not great. The spicy vegetable soup was quite tasty. I would order their soup again. Next time I’m going to try the udon and clam chowder soup. Overall great concept, but they just need to work on the flavors. The price is affordable too; around $ 10 a bowl.

I’m a fan!!! Fo’sho!!!
Since our office relocated towards the more industrialized/​manufacturing side of Los Angeles, finding a decent place to frequent became a challenge — I seriously thank my handy-​dandy Unilocal app as it gave us suggestions of places to grub on West of the 110 Freeway! Eventhough The Cup is at least a couple miles away, driving towards this section of LA/​USC was such a relief as options are aplenty!
I love the menu options that The Cup offers, it’s like a Southeast Asian Fusion with a cool Italian flair! I personally LOVE the Bulgogi beef, the serving is quite generous for $ 7.99! so flavorful and tender, served with vegetables and rice, definitely perfect for college students on a budget! They also have quite a few selections to tickle one’s taste-​buds! I was actually torn between the Chicken Curry (spicy) $ 6.99 and the Bulgogi Beef — the Bulgogi won, but for sure I’ll try the Chicken curry next time!!! if you feel you want to add more to your order, they also have some side items you can order, I ordered a serving of Garlic tater tots — it’s garlicky good!
This restaurant is perfect for college students on the go but also has a few tables and chairs inside as well as outdoors. The place is clean and the service efficient. I am so glad to have stumbled upon this place! Definitely a welcome sight!
Enjoy!

Ordered over the phone the salmon avocado. To my surprise. There was no avocado to be seen anywhere around the bowl and there was no extra container on the side that may have contained it.
The rest was still good. Good flavor on the salmon and rice. But for something that is called «salmon avocado»… You’d expect to have the avocado inside :(

My friend and I were looking for a place to eat before FYF (2015 @ Exposition Park) and found this quick stop randomly. The exterior was very welcoming and perked our interests so we went inside and were delighted by the many unique options!
We shared the Cajun shrimp cup, and warning, it’s slightly spicy. It had rice, mash potato, and shrimp –yum! I give this place a 5 star review b/​c not only was it delicious, it left me wanting more. I’ll definitely come back again to try the other options!

My boyfriend and I stumbled over here on a fine Saturday morning after a fun filled morning at the Los Angeles Science Museum across the street. His nieces wanted noodles so we depended on Unilocal to find a walking distance restaurant that will fulfill their needs. The Cup is located right next to Chic-​Fil-​A and Chipotle.
My boyfriend ordered the Bilgogi rice and I ordered the spicy Cajun shrimp «the cup». The Bilgogi rice was good and the Cajun Shrimp was A-​O-​K. It was different and interestingly put together but it was at least healthy. When I mean healthy, it was served with brown rice and colored vegetables to satisfy some of my vegetable servings for the day. I had an ample amount of shrimp which is good but it was served over mash potato which was different.
The girls got the garlic noodle and salmon noodle and they mentioned it was too oily. At least it fulfilled their noodle crave since they were hungry.

I beleive that a good eating place has excellent food presentation. 50% is the taste,
No extra charge for white or brown rice, plus the Kimshi and Ginger are available with out asking for it
this place had me at… Curry

What an awesome newer Italian/​asian fusion restaurant!
Right across the street from USC on the street with great frontage.
It is a cute bright walk in restaurant with great food. They even have a self ordering station.
You can even sit outside and eat while enjoying the nice weather.
Food is tasty and they offer great rice dishes and udon.
Brandon, the owner is super friendly and the atmosphere is great with friendly service.
The menu is simple but has enough variety. Obviously I’m Asian and love the rice bowls like salmon avacado or the ahi tuna bowl.
Uni udon is tasty and they have curry rice dishes too.
Used to be called Cup Bop but changed their name to The Cup which is easier to say for non asians haha.
Great check in offer with soup and I recommend the spicy soup.
Great addition to the area. Get lucky and you find street parking right in front!
Definitely try this place.