Tosokchon — Restaurant in Annandale

If this is your first time and you’re checking the reviews to see if its worth it, then let me just say - do not spend a second nor a dime in this place. The atmosphere is extremely unwelcoming, it seems as if they were trained to make the customers feel uncomfortable and disrespected. Me and my family were feeling excited to eat at Tosokchon for the first time. However, I did not like the way things started, no body sat us down, we had to sit ourselves down (not a dig deal, I thought). But it gets worse, no body took our order or even noticed for fifteen minutes and I had to go up to the counter and ask them if they could take our order. Taking our order went okay, however, as the server was placing our food on the table when she brought the food, one of our family member politely requested if he could have extra side (I do not recall what side specifically), the server condescendingly mumbled quietly, “wait,” and he said, “I’m sorry?” She snapped, “I sad WAITT!!!” As someone with experience in the industry, I was shook, so was he. He gently explained, “I’m sorry I don’t mean right now, I’m just saying.” She didn’t say anything after, instead she started tossing our food on the table loudly. We could not believe it. How does this business even stand till this day? I asked myself. Her unprofessional tantrum completely ruined the mood for my family. When I asked if I could speak to the manager, she replied, “she’s not here.” I asked, “Do you know what days she has shift?”, she said, “I don’t know.” It is as if they are TRYING to lose customers. Never in my life am I stepping foot...

If you asked me even five years ago how I felt about this establishment, I would have said it's the best spot for late night, authentic Korean style soup dishes. The past two years, however, the quality of food has significantly declined.

We ordered the signature soondaeguk and a platter of soondae (pork blood sausage) jokbal (pig's feet) , and right away, the smell of the pork was overwhelming. The platters were MUCH smaller for increased prices, and the soondae was even more laughable. You can't call what we were served soondae. There was literally little to no blood in that soondae. It should be embarrassing that they even dared to serve that kind of soondae.

We also ordered a gamjatang. I used to LOVE their gamjatang. But what we got that day was absolutely disgusting. The soup tasted fishy for a pork stew. It was obvious that the potatoes, meat, and soup were all boiled separately to prepare faster and that they were not cooked together. That's the whole point of a stew! I'm usually a person who will eat anything even if it isn't that good because I don't like making a fuss, but the soup from just this past week was something even I wouldn't touch ever again. Downright nasty toilet bowl, fishy soup.

The establishment also smelled strongly of chemicals, and the staff were brusque. If you used to visit this place, don't ever go back. I'm really sad because I used to come here a the time, especially since it's open 24/7. But, this place hit rock bottom just as Seoul Soon Dae, and if the owners don't make any changes, it will probably meet the same...

I visited this restaurant tonight, and while I’ve been here many times before, this experience was unlike any other. Usually, everything runs smoothly—the food was good as always—but tonight, the service left me disappointed.

There was only one server, who I assume was the owner since he spent the entire time standing at the cashier area doing nothing. Meanwhile, a hardworking Mexican guy—who I’m not sure if he’s a food runner or busboy. He went above and beyond. He was the one who greeted us, brought water, refilled drinks, provided to-go boxes, and even dropped off the check. He handled everything, and honestly, he did an incredible job. The owner, on the other hand, ignored us—even when we tried to order from him—and left all the work to the food runner.

When we were ready to leave, I tipped the food runner in cash directly because he absolutely deserved it. However, as we were walking out, the owner approached me and asked for a tip. I told him I had already tipped the Mexican guy who actually took care of us. It’s outrageous for the owner to demand a tip when he provided no service at all.

My advice? Be sure to tip the right person. The Mexican food runner worked hard and delivered excellent service—he deserved every bit of that tip, not the owner. Management needs to do better and acknowledge the people who are truly keeping the...