Angelica Le
Google
Overall: 4.6/5 (dine in)
The service here is a cut beyond the rest. The owner is super nice and goes around talking to every table. He's pretty attentive to the customers and offered so many things like tea, super spicy chilis, or banchan refills. They also pack your leftovers for you! The personalized service you receive here creates an instant fondness for this restaurant and makes you want to tip very well or become a regular. The owner gave me an apron to wear so I don't spill any food on my white dress!!!
For banchans, we got homemade kimchi, seaweed, radish, sausage, and bean sprouts. The kimchi and radish were so delicious we got refills. The seaweed was white and had a crunchy texture so it was fun to eat. The sausage and bean sprouts were okay. I got the super spicy chili as well. The first piece burneddd but the pieces after that weren't too bad. My husband also got a cup of tea which I think is barely tea. It was a great way to wash down the meal.
We got the combo plate which includes kalbi, meat jun, and BBQ chicken ($20.95). The meat jun was the best of the three. It was so tender, soft, and delicious - especially when it's "swimming in sauce". This sauce is fantastic on the white rice too! The BBQ chicken wasn't overcooked but also wasn't as juicy as I would have liked it to be. The kalbi was good too and probably my second favorite meat. Only the mac salad was okay.
Ja Jang Myeum (black soy bean sauce noodle) + Tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork or chicken) combo ($21.95): The flavors were more Chinese than Korean for these 2 dishes.
- When I ordered tangsuyuk at other restaurants, they usually serve the protein - typically pork - coated in the sweet & sour sauce. Here they put the sauce on the side to dip. Their sauce is THICK and has pieces of random fruit (pineapple) or vegetables (bell pepper, wood ear mushroom) in it. For this dish, I recommend eating the protein with the sauce together. We got pork which was dry inside the batter and tasted pretty bland by itself. I would have also liked the batter to be a bit crispier.
- The ja jang myuem tasted different than what I was expecting and didn't really bring out the flavors of the ingredients. I barely tasted the meat or onions. They also give you a side of raw onions, pickled radish, and more of the black bean sauce which is suppose to be more for balancing out the heavy dish but it did more for me by giving a nice contrast in flavor and heat profiles. I also topped off the ja jang myuem with gochugaru chili flakes and ate it with the banchans to give it more flavor. The noodles, however, were fresh and really good!