Jamie Z.
Yelp
It was a Friday night at 8PM, my boyfriend wanted to go to the restaurant two buildings down the block but they had an hour wait time. He suggested that we should order to go, but I felt sitting down and eating at the restaurant would create a more meaningful experience with the food. We didn't want to wait, so we decided we were going to go to a different restaurant.
As we were heading to the direction of his car, we spotted Bonjuk, a restaurant that we haven't tried before. Without any research or much thinking, we spontaneously decided this was the restaurant that we were going to try tonight, and didn't know what to expect.
As we walked in, the lady at the front greeted us and sat us down. She was very friendly, and appeared to have a calm presence. As we navigated through the menu, the first few pages contained different kinds of porridges, ranging from savory to sweet. There were so many different options when it came to porridges, but since I made homemade congee the night before, I decided not to order the porridge. I just finished with a gym workout, so I wanted a high protein post-workout dinner meal. I was deciding between the tuna & kimchi hot stone bibimbab and the chicken bulgogi with rice. I wanted to have a balanced meal, so I ordered an avocado salad as a side for both of us. On the other hand, my boyfriend was deciding between the cheese donkatsu, the curry katsu, and the chicken bulgogi with rice. The picture of the cheese donkatsu poster on the wall caught his eyes. He thought the portion size would be small and not filling for the price, which was later proven wrong as I saw a photo in the review section of the cheese donkatsu. In the end, he ordered the same thing as I did.
The food came out in a timely manner. The chicken bulgogi with rice came with three sides: kimchi, pickled yellow radish, and miso soup. The presentation of the avocado salad surprised me. It looked artistic and creative with a balance of greens, shredded carrots and cabbage, sliced avocado, and the perfect amount of dressing.
My boyfriend and I really enjoyed the avocado salad.
The chicken bulgogi had a mix of alittle sweetness and saltiness to its taste which compliments the plain white rice. Every bite creates a sense of happiness within me. On the other hand, my boyfriend's thought on the bulgogi chicken was okay. He said it was flavorful, but needed a bit more moisture for his liking. I personally didn't like the miso soup as much because it was too salty for my liking.
Overall, it was a great experience all because we decided to be spontaneous! I will definitely come back to try their wide variety of porridges as it is comforting especially during the colder seasons.