Daniel B.
Yelp
Book Chang Dong is a Korean tofu house located in the Super H Mart shopping plaza on Pleasant Hill Rd. Think of a Korean restaurant along the lines of So Kong Dong or Cho Dang Tofu House on Buford Highway -- limited menus with a focus on sundubu (tofu soups).
It's a casual, small-ish restaurant with traditional Korean wooden decor inside. The menu has a dozen different types of tofu soups, ranging from vegetables to seafood to beef and kimchi. Affordably priced between $8.00-8.50 per piping hot bowl. For a handful of dollars more, you can get ~$14 combos that include soup (or noodles) plus Korean BBQ short ribs (galbi). Not bad.
The noodles served are naengmyun -- dark, cold, chewy noodles made from arrowroot starch. Other menu highlights include Korean short rib soup, stir-fried octopus, steamed pork and kimchi wraps, and bulgogi beef (thin slices of marinated beef).
I've had the naengmyun + Korean BBQ short rib combo here. It's not bad. One order consists of a healthy and generous portion of noodles. Good luck finishing them all in one sitting. The menu has a few different types of naengmyun with different ingredients and broth or no broth. Ask your server for details.
I had the bibim naengmyun which were the noodles topped with a whole host of vegetables (scallions, radishes, etc.), slices of boiled beef, boiled egg, and spicy red paste (gochujang). The large metal bowl of noodles was accompanied by a small bowl of ice cold, tangy broth. Quite flavorful.
The galbi (BBQ short ribs) were good. It's hard to find a Korean restaurant that makes terrible galbi. I don't know anyone who doesn't like galbi. It's always a safe choice to order at a Korean restaurant. The slices of rib are served on an iron skillet, sizzling hot so be careful. The final pieces that lay at the bottom of the pile are naturally greasy.
I was disappointed in the banchan (complementary side dishes) here, which is mainly why I'm giving this place 3 stars. I know this is an economical Korean restaurant, but I still expected better quality banchan. The banchan was actually sub-par. It consisted of deep-fried fish (croaker or pollack? not sure), kimchi, cucumbers and ground beef, picked daikon radish, and pickled bean sprouts.
Simply put, they just did not taste good. Not very fresh. The only respectable item was the sliced cucumbers and ground beef. The rest of the stuff was pretty forgettable. I normally love to eat banchan and clear those plates out, but I hardly made a dent in these guys. The kimchi was probably the most disappointing/worst offender. Note the fried fish is served whole and has many small bones, so you have to be rather meticulous when eating it.
Service was very good. No complaints. Attentive servers and the food comes out in a reasonable amount of time.
Overall, I'd say Book Chang Dong is a decent place for a quick and casual Korean meal. Personally, I like So Kong Dong and Cho Dang Tofu House better, but if you live up this way, then Book Chang Dong should suffice. I'll try the sundubu next time.