Jaws Topokki

Founded in 2007, Jaws Topokki is a South Korean street food chain that began its U.S. expansion in Orange County, wisely choosing Buena Park’s Korean shopping mall The Source for its first American location. Opened in late 2020 – originally as “Jaws TPK” and currently branded “Jaws Express” – it was subsequently joined by an Irvine version in mid-2024, inside the Westpark H Mart supermarket’s H Market Eatery food court. Unlike the Buena Park location, which offers a smaller menu, the Irvine restaurant offers Jaws’ full range of topokki, gimbap, tempura, and rice bowl choices, closer to the template Jaws will use for upcoming Anaheim and Westminster stores in 2025.

Jaws offers four different topokki soups: the basic version made with a sweet red pepper gochujang base at your preferred spice level, a rosé version that adds cream, a cheese version topped with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, and a jajang topokki with Chinese black bean sauce. Thick, chewy rice cakes are the foundation of each version, with ingredients such as quail eggs, tofu, mandu dumplings, and fishcake mixed in as proteins. We liked the base topokki, finding the top “spicy” level to be pleasantly hot and sweet, and appreciated the ability to order a half-size portion to sample. This option is only available for the standard toppoki.

At the Irvine location, guests can choose between 12 different gimbaps – Korean sushi-style rolls – each sliced into 10 pieces and served in a surprisingly well-decorated take-out box. Overlapping with Jaws’ rice bowl options, surprisingly diverse gimbap flavors include pork cutlet, fried shrimp, bulgogi, spicy fish cake, spicy pork wrap, beef rib, chicken galbi, and cream cheese, as well as tuna, bareun, and even a keto version. We tried the spicy pork wrap gimbap, and though it wasn’t super hot or intensely flavored on its own, it went well with the topokki sauce.