Don's Bogum Korean BBQ and Wine Bar (Review)
My mother-in-law wanted to celebrate her birthday by having dinner at a Korean BBQ joint. I'd suggested Woo Lae Oak (as recommended on Chowhound) but in the end we found ourselves at the funky facaded Don's Bogam who's windows remind me of the geometric characters of the Korean language.
The space itself is divided into roughly four spaces, the wine bar up front, the limited dining area at ground level, the raised "main" dining area where we ate, and the kitchen in the rear. The seating was remarkably uncomfortable and could be, for some, impossible to get in and out of the chairs with its sunken legspace.
Service was fairly swift and before we knew it, we'd been served a wide selection of appetizers, or probably more accurately named, amuses.
There was kimchee (nice heat and crunch...standard), spicy pickles (nice heat again), crunchy and very spicy whitebait(?), pickled green radish (very different, cross between cucumber, pear and apple-like flavors...but pickled), seaweed salad, a slaw of some kind made with corn, peas and carrots, and some other stuff.
For our ordered appetizers, we had something I think was called Hae Mool Pajun, which was a scallion pancake...very green in color and slightly bland and texturally awkward (kind of slimy and floppy, passable - but not even close to being great), and an order each of steamed and fried dumplings, neither of which were memorable. In fact, they weren't very good at all. They make the dumplings at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar look like the gold standard of the dumpling world.
For my entree, I ordered the Bibimbop with spicy tuna. The tuna, which was very spicy, was fire engine red upon service. A heavy mixing of the bbq sauce they provide and the heat coming off of the stoneware quickly cooked the fish. I let the rice (which is on the bottom of the dish) sit for a little bit to get a little crunchy which helped make the dish work. Then I mixed it up and enjoyed the salmagundi of ingrediants. Danna ordered the short ribs version of this, as did my brother in law. His girlfriend I think ordered the traditional beef version and my father-in-law the same. All of which were pretty good but not earth shaking.
The birthday girl went for the cook-your-own BBQ beef...which in the end was mostly prepared by an employee of the restaurant (not just at our table either) on an electric, not coal fired, table stove. The beef was reasonably tasty and only one piece was slightly too fatty to enjoy.
Service was friendly, but slightly harried and not necessarily helpful in describing dishes. The wine we had, I simply don't remember the name of it, was awful. It opened up a little bit as the night went on but oof...no good.
Overall the experience was fun and has encouraged me to try Korean a little more often but it didn't wow some of us, and understandably so. I'm excited to try some new places (recommendations are welcome) in the near future but probably won't go back to this place.
Pics are on the site below.
By dkstar1
on May 8, 2006 12:36 PM
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i haven't been to don's bogam bbq myself, but i'm not at all surprised that your dining experience was mediocre. that's because i've never, ever had truly great korean food on or around 32nd street or in manhattan in general--and i wasn't expecting this place to be the exception.
by default, one of the better korean bbq places in manhattan is choong moo ro (32nd st btwn bway/5th ave). i'm not crazy about it, either, but as a korean who knows what korean food should taste like, i find the food there to be at least passable. dae dong myun ok (across the street) is ok, too, and so is han bat (35th btwn 6th/5th aves). gam mee ok (same block as dae dong myun ok) still serves good sullungtang (beef broth) as well as soondae (korean blood sausages) and bo ssam (pork with various condiments--NOT barbecued), but of course they don't do the whole bbq thing.
again, though, none of these are really outstanding, just the best of a mediocre bunch. incidentally, i think the worst korean place on 32nd st is kum gang san (a.k.a. the gaudy place with the waterfall, closer to broadway). and everything outside of the 31st-36th area in manhattan (woo lae oak, do hwa, dok suni, kori, korea palace, bann, sura, plus "hip" places in brooklyn like dokebi) is just below average to flat-out awful. if you're at a korean restaurant and the decor/atmosphere is slick, you can pretty much bank on the food being tame, unauthentic, and mediocre tasting at best.
if you want really good korean food in the ny area, you have to go to northern nj (fort lee and palisades park in particular) or flushing, queens (especially further down northern blvd away from the end of the 7 train).
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great information to know. Thank you very much.
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no prob, anytime.
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I have been here. The kalbi is not bad, and there is actually a decent number of wines - sort of rare for Korean BBQ places.
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I'm not such a fan of Dae Dong. Two you didn't mention that I like are Woo Chon and Kun Jip.
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i'm not a big fan of either woo chon or kun jip, but i will agree that they're relatively better than, say, kum gang san or won jo--or anything outside of k-town in manhattan.
as for dae dong myun ok:
yeah, i don't think it's *great*, either, but it's serviceable. as with most places on 32nd st, what you order will influence your impression of the food there.
i noticed that their food tends to polarize ppl into the "love it" or "hate it" category; i actually fall somewhere in between, and would not bother going there if there was a far better korean option in manhattan (again, choong moo ro might be the best by default). incidentally, dae dong's food is prepared pyongyang-style (as in the north korean capital), which is seasoned and spiced differently than the seoul-leaning fare at most other korean restaurants in the nyc area. this difference in cooking styles may or may not explain why dae dong's food polarizes ppl, as it's one of the only distinctly north korean-style korean restaurants that i know of.
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>>incidentally, dae dong's food is prepared pyongyang-style (as in the north korean capital), which is seasoned and spiced differently than the seoul-leaning fare at most other korean restaurants in the nyc area.<<
Actually, that makes a lot of sense. I'm korean too, and I've always felt like their cooking tasted a bit off, but I know other koreans who like it. Perhaps it's a question of expectations.
On a related note, do you know any good korean-chinese places either in manhattan, NJ, or queens? Hyo Dong Gak and Kum Ryong just aren't doing it for me. Bonus points for places accessible by public transportation.
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yeah, the korean-chinese food in manhattan isn't so hot. here are some options in nj and queens:
1) mandarin
110 broad ave @ e. harwood ave in palisades park, nj
it's on the 2nd floor of a white retail building called "palisades park plaza", at the southeast corner of the intersection. i mention that b/c there's an identical-looking building on the northeast corner, also called palisades park plaza. in fact, these two buildings are referred to as the "ssangdoongee" (twin) buildings by locals.
you can get here via nj transit's 166 bus, which departs from the port authority bus terminal (the 8th ave/40th st location) and goes right down broad ave, right in front of this place. it's a 25 minute ride off-peak, 40-45 during rush hour.
2) myung dong kal gook soo
452 broad ave near e. edsall blvd (about 1/3 mile further north along broad ave than mandarin), also in palisades park. as with mandarin, the 166 bus drops you off right at this place.
while they do serve jja jang myun, the thing to get here is the kal gook soo or the soo jeh bee.
3) sam won gahk
probably the best korean-chinese restaurant that i know of in queens.
the closer location is on 82-53 broadway btwn vietor/elmhurst aves in sunnyside, queens. take the g or r train to the elmhurst ave stop, and upon exiting the station, the restaurant will be 1/2 block away. i haven't been to this location in a while, so i can't vouch for its quality nowadays, but last few times i went it was very good.
a second location is on 144-20 northern blvd between parsons blvd and 147th street, flushing, queens. take the 7 train all the way to its last stop (main st, flushing), then walk 3 blocks east along roosevelt ave until you hit parsons blvd. make a left onto parsons and walk 3 blocks north until you hit northern blvd. make a right onto northern, and sam won gak will be on your right.
i went to this location more recently; the jja jang myun is pretty good and so is the ggan ppoong saewoo (garlic shrimp), but the tang soo yook was really bland.
there's a third location in bayside, but it's not really accessible by mass transit.
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Thank you...you have made my day!
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no prob
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Appreciate the info. Have you tried Guh Song in Bayside? Heard some good things about it recently.
Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...
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no, i have not been here, but have heard good things as well. i've been meaning to try it; when i do, i'll definitely report back here.
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pretty much agree with your 32nd st assessment.
there is one restaurant outside of k-town that i thought was ok ... li hua in chinatown.
ga mee ok's bibimbap is also much better than the leftover crap gumbo you get at most places.
could you recommend good places in flushing? i ran into this problem last time my sister came into town and had to go to the only good place i know (kalbi joint 2-3 blocks away from macy's -- i don't even know the name of it).
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As with a lot of restaurants, there are some dishes they are known for that are really good and the rest of the menu can tend to be mediocre. If you want to enjoy your meal here (or anywhere), order the right dishes. I've only eaten here once. I've tried the kimchee chigae (stew) and one serving of kalbi (not cooked at table). The meat was a little tough but the kimchee chigae was THE best I've ever had. There were chunks of pork belly in it that made it deliciously rich. I crave if often and plan to go back for it soon. I'll order a different meat dish next time though.
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Don's Bogam
17 E 32nd St, New York, NY 10016
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