So Gong Dong in Pal Park: Now there are three

Soft-tofu stew at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

We had another belly busting dinner at So Gong Dong, the standout soft-tofu house in Palisades Park, home to dozens of Korean restaurants.

On Saturday night, three of us had soft-tofu stew, steamed rice, four side dishes and a fresh egg ($9.99 each, including tax), and I ordered steamed dumplings for the meat eaters ($8.99).

I just managed to finish my Oyster Soft Tofu, which was hot enough to soft boil two small eggs that I ate over the rice. Delicious and comforting.

A seafood pancake.

I noticed a change on the place-mat menu: Three So Gong Dongs are listed now:

• 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 1-201-313-5550.
• 6 St. Marks Place (between 2nd and 3rd avenues), Manhattan;  1-212-533-5363.
• 411 N. Central Ave., Hartsdale, N.Y. (Westchester County); 1-914-397-1790.

Fiery raw squid and raw garlic is one of the free side dishes that come with every soft-tofu stew. The others are cabbage and cucumber kimchis and bean sprouts, and servers will gladly bring you a second set.

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• Service can suffer at popular Korean restaurant

Service can suffer at popular Korean restaurant

The flash of cabbage kimchi being cut up and plated by your server, then covered in extra sweet-and-spicy sauce, is part of the experience at Gammeeok, a popular Korean restaurant in Fort Lee.

The Tofu Soup with Seafood for Two is filled with big chunks of soft tofu and large clams, mussels, head-on shrimp and even a few crab legs for flavor.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

This weekend, we showed up at Gammeeok, a popular Korean restaurant in Fort Lee, without a reservation (I didn't know the staff took them).

We didn't go until after 6 p.m. on Saturday, so we could park at a meter for free and avoid the valet in the small lot, but had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.

The restaurant was full, and that was reflected in the slow service.

There was a delay between the kimchi service and the arrival of a Seafood Jeon, a large, fluffy pancake with tender squid, shrimp and scallions ($14.95) that three of us shared.

And then we had to wait some more for our entrees -- two Korean comfort dishes.

The Dolsot or Stone Bowl Bibimbap -- rice, vegetables and ground beef topped with a raw or fried egg that you mix up and eat with a mildly spicy sauce -- was $13.95.

Gammeeok's signature cabbage and radish kimchi.

Seafood Jeon is enough for three or four to share.

The Tofu Soup for Two with Seafood wasn't listed on the menu, but we were offered it when I asked for an individual tofu stew.

The soup for two is served with steamed white rice for $20, about what we pay for two soups, rice and side dishes at So Gong Dong, our favorite tofu house in Palisades Park ($9.99 each, including tax).

We ladled the Tofu Soup into individual bowls.

At So Gong Dong, the tofu soup arrives at your table bubbling furiously and you take a fresh egg and crack it into the broth, which cooks it to soft-boiled perfection.

At Gammeeok, the soup was hot, but not boiling, and no egg was provided.

Still, there was plenty of soup and rice left over to take home and offer to our teenage son.

I liked the strongly flavored broth and the big mussles, clams and shrimp, but my wife doesn't care for shellfish and didn't think the version here approached the tofu soup at So Gong Dong.

Of course, she might have been upset at being denied bibimbap, her favorite dish at Gammeeok.

Condiments include bean paste, above, that you can scoop up with fresh cabbage, below.

Although we had to wait for food and for our tea cups to be refilled, the staff accommodated me when it came time to pay the bill, honoring a coupon I had, even though I didn't buy $50 in food.

The coupon, from the local daily newspaper, was $15 off a dine-in order of $50, not including tax, and I was short more than a dollar.

The Fort Lee restaurant, a branch of the Manhattan original, has been a reliable choice for Korean food since 1991.

 
Gammeeok (say GAM-yo), 485 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-242-1333.

Web site: www.gammeeok.com

Kimchi service makes this Fort Lee Korean restaurant a standout

At Gammeeok in Fort Lee, servers bring a tall bowl of cabbage and radish kimchi to your table, cut it, plate it and pour on extra sauce, which is both spicy and sweet, above and below.

The kimchi service -- unique to Gammeeok -- isn't the only reason to go there. The restaurant turns out terrific versions of such Korean classics as bibimbap and seafood pancakes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The good news is that the kimchi at Gammeeok in Fort Lee is as good as ever -- an appealing combination of sweet, spicy and crunchy.

We had dinner there on Saturday night after an absence of more than a year, and Gammeeok is still our favorite place for bibimbap, a non-spicy dish that is true Korean comfort food.

I ordered another non-spicy dish, Seafood Joen, a  pancake with tender squid and shrimp that is fluffier than other versions I've tried ($14.95).

My teenage son ordered two entrees that could have fed three to four people, and finished everything, including a small bowl of white rice.

He loved the stone-bowl bibimbap ($13.95), as well as the grilled beef short ribs or Galbi ($22.95). 

The kimchi served here is so good it is available to go.

OB, a Korean beer, is $4.50.

Korean short ribs (galbi or kalbi) will delight meat-eaters ($22.95).

The seafood pancake is thick and fluffy, and includes tender squid, small whole shrimp and scallions, and comes with a dipping sauce ($14.95).

Stone-bowl bibimbap comes with a mildly spicy red-pepper paste (gochujang) that you spoon on top before your stir up ground meat, vegetables and rice ($13.95). We asked the kitchen to cook the egg, and you can have a bibimbap without meat.

A vinegary tangle of shredded radish is one of the complimentary side dishes.

Every table gets large, crunchy leaves of Nappa cabbage and fresh hot peppers, rear.

Valet parking is available at dinner, but you also can park on the street. No need to feed the meters after 6 p.m.

Details

Gammeeok, 485 Main St., Fort Lee; 201-242-1333. Open for lunch and dinner. No American Express  Cards. 

I used a coupon I found in The Record giving $10 off a $30 order, $15 off a $50 order and $20 off an $80 meal.

Web site: Good food, good service

The next night, I had three Korean specialties at home, all purchased from H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave., Englewood: Jinga-brand translucent, yam-flour noodles called japchae, with vegetables and tofu, front (19 ounces for $5.99); stewed wild-caught Alaskan pollock, left rear (16 ounces for $16.99); and stewed tofu, right rear (11 ounces for $3.99).