There are many Korean restaurants to choose from along 32nd Street. Less known is that there are good Korean restaurants along 35th Street as well as we discovered. Cho Dang Gol is on such restaurant known for its home made tofu. In the back of the restaurant are large pots that are used to make fresh tofu. The place is always packed with patrons and at peak time, there is a long queue.
We ordered tofu kimchi soup, stone bowl bibmbap with bulgogi, and korean pancakes (chijimi). The side dishes were very refershing in that they were not all different versions of kimchi. Tofu soup was mild, not too spicey, and full of soft tofu. Very tastey. Chijimi was more vegetables than batter, which we liked because it brought out the flavor of the vegetables and kimchi. The rice bowl was taste and mild. The best stone bowl bibmbap in New York so far.
The staff was attentive and quick; and no non-sense service. A bit on the pricey side for a Korean restaurant but it was worth it. We'll certainly go back again.
55 West 35th Street (between 5th and 6th)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 695-8222
http://www.chodanggolny.com/
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Soba Totto - Sequel
Recently, I went back to Soba Totto for dinner. Although my prior visit was not the best experience, the soba noodle was good so I decided to give it another try.
What I learned was that the restaurant does not take reservations for parties of less than four. I had three in my group, so the restaurant simply told me that I will have to come to the restaurant to get a table. I did not think too much at the time since it was a dinner with few of my good friends. But, I would not use the restaurant for any client dinner or dinner with important guests. Sure, if I have four or more in the party, it looks like the restaurant will take reservations. But I could not quite understand the reason there. For important dinners, I need to know that I can secure a table so that we can get seated. Next time, I may ask why. Certainly, I would not come back for any important dinner.
As for the dinner, we were asked to wait at the bar until everyone in the party was there. So we had to wait for about 10 minutes until everyone was in the restaurant. But we got seated with no further problems. There staff was friendly and did not get the order wrong this time. Everything on the memu were available this time. I was a bit surprised that the each portion size was small - small even for Japanese standard. Perhaps we did not notice this the last time since we were more focused on getting the right food to begin with. We orderd different kinds of yakitori and few other dishes. Nothing to fuss about. Ordinary yakitori.
The soba was good. But the rest of the food was so so. Luckly, Aburiya Kinnosuke is only a few minute walk away. So next time, I'm inclined to have dinner at AK, then perhaps stop at Soba Totto for a quick soba noodles to finish the evening.
What I learned was that the restaurant does not take reservations for parties of less than four. I had three in my group, so the restaurant simply told me that I will have to come to the restaurant to get a table. I did not think too much at the time since it was a dinner with few of my good friends. But, I would not use the restaurant for any client dinner or dinner with important guests. Sure, if I have four or more in the party, it looks like the restaurant will take reservations. But I could not quite understand the reason there. For important dinners, I need to know that I can secure a table so that we can get seated. Next time, I may ask why. Certainly, I would not come back for any important dinner.
As for the dinner, we were asked to wait at the bar until everyone in the party was there. So we had to wait for about 10 minutes until everyone was in the restaurant. But we got seated with no further problems. There staff was friendly and did not get the order wrong this time. Everything on the memu were available this time. I was a bit surprised that the each portion size was small - small even for Japanese standard. Perhaps we did not notice this the last time since we were more focused on getting the right food to begin with. We orderd different kinds of yakitori and few other dishes. Nothing to fuss about. Ordinary yakitori.
The soba was good. But the rest of the food was so so. Luckly, Aburiya Kinnosuke is only a few minute walk away. So next time, I'm inclined to have dinner at AK, then perhaps stop at Soba Totto for a quick soba noodles to finish the evening.
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