Hong's (홍이네) — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

A very humble looking restaurant we stumbled across on a very normal weekend. We don't frequently dine-out in Takapuna, let alone North Shore, so seeing a very clean, fresh face on what used to be House of Chocolate caught our attention.

You will be welcomed by what I'd describe as a boring interior. When you observe closer however, there are moments of colours on places and areas that matter most. A very simple and modest atmosphere. Effortless but meaningful.

The menu is very enticing and we very much enjoyed looking through it. If I'm honest, we hesitated a lot on what to order. For people like us, I highly recommend the half-half dishes and combo varieties that really saves time.

In terms of pricing, it is above average and we were skeptical to pay this amount for Korean Chinese cuisine but I have no regrets as the flavours are unique to their taste and, in my opinion, cannot be found in any other place that serves Korean-Chinese cuisine in Auckland.

Between two persons, the portion size was very attractive. We ordered the special Beef Noodle Soup, which is very unique. A white clear broth, lightly seasoned but truly magnificent. The Jajangmyeon was not salty nor oily. Noodles were al dente and at "goldilocks" thickness. Upon the first bite of the black bean noodles, there is a hint of apple sweetness coming from the sauce that really elevates the dish to the next level. To compliment the savoury hints, the Tangsuyuk is also delectable. Crispy coated pork pieces with the right amount of sauce and strong sour scents from the vinegar. And do note there is very little flour used in the pork batter which is extremely generous and very rare to see amidst a cost-of-living crisis.

The Sweet Soy chicken is irreplaceable in our meal and I cannot recommend this enough. The stickiness of the chicken was heaven.

"People eat pizza to see the cheese pull. At Hong's, you eat chicken to see the sauce pull." ;D

Words to describe the food here would be "Real" and "True".

There are a number of restaurants serving Korean-Chinese cuisine, but not many as honest and true to their taste as this restaurant.

I hope more and more people will see through the simple atmosphere of the restaurant and try their food here because you will...

Came here after seeing good reviews. We decided to try the half half jjamppong with black bean noodles, beef noodles soup and their king pork katsu. The black bean noodles was very good, one of the best ones I have tried. The jjamppong was just ok for me, but the noodles that they used in this restaurant was excellent, I love the slight chewiness to it. The beef noodle soup had a rich beef broth taste but it was not overly salted. This dish feels quite nutritious to eat and if you love the beef taste then this is very good. The king pork katsu was very big, even bigger than the other king katsu I've tried in other Korean restaurants that I have been to. The sauce is not the typical bulldog sauce or apple sauce, the sauce was more like the sauce they use in Japan when they make the beef hamburg steak. It is most likely a mixture of butter with some tomatoey and Worcestershire sauce.

Overall the food was pretty good, it didn't completely wow me but I really enjoyed it. The place was comfortable and the guy who was running the restaurant - he was super professional and feels like he is playing real life...

Went here a while back. Do NOT get number 33. The Osam Bulgogi. Unbelievably sweet, it was the sweetest food I had ever put in my mouth and tasted sweeter than a cake would!!! Both my mother and I agreed upon this and asked to have some vegetables put in to minimize the sweetness after the server couldnt offer a solution. All they did was put a few slivers of onion in and scrape off the sauce. When giving them feedback we told them and was told "we have never heard of this before, no one has said it was sweet before" (in a manner refusing to admit it). Quite an ignorant response in my opinion, doesn't matter if it was their first hearing of this just apologize and offer to remake the food or an alternative. The other food my family got was alright, the fried pork cutlet was alright but not great.

If you're after authentic Korean food go to the place...