No worries: Tofu at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park is as good as ever

The rice-flour seafood pancake at So Gong Dong in Palisades Park is one of the soft-tofu restaurant's non-spicy dishes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We've been relying on So Gong Dong in Palisades Park for years to deliver a filling meal of healthy soft tofu, rice and vegetable side dishes for only $10. 

But in September, when we stopped there for dinner, my wife complained the beef broth of her soft-tofu stew was too salty, and I thought the grilled whole squid I ordered was a lot smaller than before.

Those proved to be momentary setbacks, as we found out on Friday, when we returned to the second-floor restaurant with our son, who was home from college and just had to have soft tofu.

Belly busting meal

I ordered an oyster tofu stew with rice and complimentary side dishes, and it was as good as ever ($9.99).

I also ordered a seafood pancake to share ($11.99), and my wife and son chose pork soft-tofu stews ($9.99 each). 

I'm not sure why, but after a couple of slices of pancake, I couldn't finish my tofu stew, and took the leftovers home.

Our son also ordered Bulgogi or Korean barbecue made with prime beef, and couldn't finish that either ($14.99).

Soft-tofu stews can be ordered from "no spicy" to "more spicy."

And when you finish the kimchi and other side dishes, just ask for more.

If you're afraid the beef broth will be too salty, you can order your soft-tofu stew made with hot water.

Organic tofu

For 100% organic tofu, try BCD Tofu House, 1640 Schlosser St., Fort Lee, where a complete dinner of tofu stew, rice and side dishes is $12.99.

The Fort Lee restaurant is usually packed, but doesn't take reservations, and you might have to wait on line.

When the soft-tofu stew is brought to your table in a stone bowl, it is bubbling furiously, hot enough to poach the fresh egg that is provided. We always ask for the stew "more spicy."

One of the great pleasures of a soft-tofu dinner is breaking a soft-boiled egg yolk over white rice and eating them together. The crunchy rice lining the bottom of the stone bowl is worth trying to scrape up.

Seaweed with gochujang, a spicy red-pepper sauce, was one of the complimentary side dishes on Friday.

Pickled radish with sliced jalapeno pepper.

Cucumber kimchi, above, and cabbage kimchi, below.

A side dish of bean sprouts.

The dining room filled up quickly as we ate.

Details

So Gong Dong Tofu & B.B.Q., 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550.

Open 7 days, 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Valet parking and free parking on side streets. Meters in effect 7 days until 9 p.m.

Although So Gong Dong doesn't have a liquor license, you are discouraged from bringing beer or soju to enjoy with your meal.

When the weather turns chilly, this $9.99 meal is sure to warm you up

I cracked two fresh eggs into my steaming stone bowl of Soft Tofu with Oysters at So Gong Dong Tofu & B.B.Q. in Palisades Park, and the yolks were poached perfectly.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Korean soft tofu stew is as delicious as always, and the price for a comforting meal with steamed rice, four side dishes, a fresh egg and tea still is only $9.99.

But the place-mat menu is new, and the Palisades Park restaurant's name is longer, So Gong Dong Tofu & B.B.Q.

In addition to a Hartsdale, N.Y., branch, SGD Dubu has expanded to Glenview, Ill., a Chicago suburb, and soon will open another New Jersey branch in East Hanover.

To chase away the chilly weather on Saturday, we headed for So Gong Dong and another wonderful dinner of spicy soft tofu and a grilled seafood pancake.

Crunchy radish is one of the four side dishes that come with every soft-tofu meal, above and below.

Bean sprouts.

Cucumber and cabbage kimchis are the spicy side dishes, above and below.

The side dishes or panchan and a dipping sauce for the Pajun ($11.99), a large, grilled seafood and vegetable pancake made from rice flour.

New menu item

The revised place-mat menu lists a new item, Soft Tofu with Perilla seeds ($10.99), but when I asked about them, the waitress said I probably wouldn't like the taste.

So, I ordered my usual Soft Tofu with Oysters, but now I've learned the seeds are also known as wild sesame and the oil from them is rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Still, as I tucked into my soft tofu with perfectly poached egg yolks, crunchy side dishes and a wedge of seafood pancake, I felt this could very well be the perfect meal.

I didn't have white rice to keep the calorie count down, but did pry loose a few crunchy bits from the bottom of my wife's stone bowl.

You can ask for your soft tofu four ways, from "no spicy" to "more spicy." The seafood pancake is a non-spicy dish.

Soft tofu can be ordered plain, with seafood and 14 other ways.

Service is excellent, and a second or third set of side dishes can be had for the asking.

The simple setting for a delicious and inexpensive meal.

So Gong Dong Tofu & B.B.Q., 118 Broad Ave., Second Floor, Palisades Park; 201-313-5550. 

Open 7 days. Valet parking and free parking on side streets. Meters are in effect until 9 p.m.