Review at a Glance:

• Such a great price, $3.99 is a complete steal for this!
• Flavor is overall good, although a bit bland.  Definitely benefits from your condiment of choice (soy sauce, chili crisp, gochujang, or your favorite teriyaki sauce would all be great here!).
• Texture is amazing, especially considering this comes from frozen.  The rice isn’t gummy or hard at all, which I consider to be a miracle of food science.
• Ready to eat after a two-minute run through the microwave, making this a super convenient meal.
• Reheat leftovers in a skillet with a little oil, and you’ll have a crispy rice version which is quite nice!
• Pro tip: If you want to get your hands on these, go early!  TJ’s gets two cases a day, and once they’re gone, that’s it for the day.  Early birds get the kimbap, according to our TJ’s cashier!
• All in all, totally worth the viral hype!

Well friends, I finally got my hands on the (very viral!) Kimbap roll from Trader Joe’s, and I’ve been so excited to finally get to try it.  This roll sells at Trader Joe’s for $3.99 a pack, which is truly a steal.  You can find it (if it’s in stock) in the frozen section, and it’s ready to eat after a quick two-minute run through your microwave. 

The roll is filled with sliced carrots, spinach, pickled veggies, and thinly sliced braised tofu, so it’s very veggie friendly.  I really liked the fillings and I thought they all had a nice texture, and everything worked well with the warmed-up rice and seaweed wrapper.  My one complaint about this roll is that it’s overall pretty bland in flavor, it needs a little extra sauce to make it pop.  Even the Trader Joe’s website for this item admits to this (which I find pretty funny), so definitely serve with some soy sauce, chili crisp, gochujang, or your favorite teriyaki sauce.  It’s very tasty with a little help from a flavorful friend!

I really loved the texture of the rice when this roll was re-heated – it was perfectly sticky, however not clumpy or gummy.  Each rice grain held it’s own, while still holding the whole roll together.  The roll came out of the microwave pleasantly warmed throughout, which I think is a great achievement for a roll that came from the freezer.  One of my personal pet peeves in life is refrigerated rice that becomes too hard as it cools (a common problem I have with pre-made sushi), and this roll avoids that problem completely, which I think is a fantastic feat of food science.

This roll has 420 calories for the whole roll, or 140 calories per serving (three pieces).  The roll is nine pieces total, and the servings are neatly divided into three sections of three pieces.  I personally ate half of the roll (well, 5 pieces) on the first night and half on the second, just because this roll is a bit high on carbohydrates (rice, obviously) and sodium for a whole roll for me.  I definitely could have finished the whole roll in one sitting though, and may on some occasions in the future!  The package recommended re-heating the leftovers in a skillet with a little oil, which I tried on my second night and really enjoyed.  Be warned to keep an eye on them if you do this though, the veggies tended to burn pretty quickly (low and slow heat is key here!). 

All in all, I think this was a worthy purchase from Trader Joe’s, especially for the price of $3.99.  My boyfriend, Chris, was finally able to get his hands on some for me and got me three (the per customer limit, I believe).  Chris also got the hot tip from the TJ’s cashier that they get 2 cases a day, every day, so your best chance of getting your hands on these is right when they open for the day.  As a usual afternoon TJ’s shopper, I can confirm that these have been sold out every time I have tried to find them, so if you want to try these, be like Chris and go in the morning!

So, is it worth all of the viral hype?  Yes, I’d say so!

I will be buying these again, and I am very pleased that I finally got to try these.  Just add a little sauce on yours for me and you’ll be good to go!