Da Rae Won Restaurant — Restaurant in Beltsville

This is one of my favorite places to go but for the first time I have to give this place a bad review. Most of the time I truly enjoy my experiences here but my most recent visit was atrocious.

I've patronized this location for years now and made it my goal to ensure that during the pandemic when they remained open (for take out only) to always include at least a 20% gratuity as I knew their business was being affected by covid. Most of my times dining there I included a gratuity of 20% or MORE because the service was phenomal.

My most recent experience isn't bad because of the food (the food there is consistently amazing as you'll probably see from other reviews.) Rather it was from the service. Everything seemed normal at first as the server took our order and brought us our food. After that though it went all downhill.

1st. We requested hot green tea but received only hot water (there was no tea in it at all...) Now this wouldn't be a problem as mistakes happen... However, we couldn't rectify this problem as once the server brought out our food she was never seen again. Now did we get all our food? Yes. But did she ever check up to make sure everything was OK? No. Had she checked she would've realized that the drinks were wrong. Was she even still in the building? After approximately 45 minutes (after we had completely finished) we waited another 15 minutes to see if she would ever come back. No. She was gone. I looked around to see if she was even still there. She wasn't. No notice, didn't bother to switch us to another server, nothing. Several people had a server but we were just awkwardly sitting there waiting for someone who would never come.

So I went to the counter myself to close out the bill and they had the audacity to ask me to leave a 15%+ gratuity. I let them know that 1. I don't even have a server to give the tip to and 2. At most they deserve 10%. Simply for plating the food and placing it on the table (which is all they did). If anything the cleaner deserves most of that 10% since they're actually the ones doing the most work in this instance.

I understand things happen but if you're going to just leave the building and you have people you're waiting on at least have the common courtesy of 1. letting them know and 2. GETTING THEM ANOTHER SERVER. I'm OK with leaving 20% even if my order gets messed up, the food takes a long time, the server spills something on me, whatever. Because mistakes happen. As long as the effort is there. But to not even take ownership of a table is absolutely...

Wow! Handmade noodles, delicious chicken, incredible shrimp, amazing service, what more could you ask for?

First of all, the set up for the whole restaurant showcases the hand made pulled noodles. There is a window to the portion of the kitchen where two people are making noodles from imported Korean noodle flour. It's a great distraction for the kids if they have extra time in their hands. Even some adults are fascinated at the process where noodles are pulled ("LA" in Chinese means pulled, and "MIAN" means noodle, thus, "LA MIAN" becomes "RAMEN" in Japanese.

The standard small dishes found in Korean dinners is reduced to one compartmentalized plate of kimchi radishes and onions. This is already an improvement since many dishes are often overlooked and simply contribute to added dishes headed for the dish washer.

We ordered the Ja Jang Mian (#9) which is the standard cold noodle traditionally eaten during the summer. The difference is in the texture of the fresh noodles. In Chinese, the texture is called "QQ". There is no direct translation, but the closest description is "chewy".

We also ordered the noodle with vege & beef spicy seafood soup(#4). We had a couple of spicy food connoisseurs in out party, and the consensus was that it ranked pretty high on the spiciness index....at least an 8 or 9 out of ten.

Besides the special noodles the chicken (#31) is amazing! Somehow they deep fry the chicken while integrating their sweet and sour sauce into the meat. Their shrimp dish(#36) is similarly prepared and just as delicious. They use fresh jumbo shrimp and they don't skimp on the portions.

The only disappointment we encountered was that we ordered "double noodles" for both bowls of cold noodles that we ordered. When they came, they didn't seem any bigger than the normal portion. Since it is cold noodle, they could simply give a separate smaller bowl of noodle to add to the abundant sauce. At least psychologically, we would feel like we got more noodles.

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My wife and I have been coming here for about 4 years now. We LOVE their food and this is one of the better Korean restaurants in the area (Silver Spring, Beltsville, etc...). Don't be alarmed with the pounding (like someone is banging on a door or countertop) that you will hear because this is one of the few places that actually make their own noodles; which you can see through the tinted glass in the back of the restaurant. Our niece and nephew were mesmerized by the kneading of the dough for their noodles.

It goes without saying that you MUST try any of their noodle dishes to taste their made from scratch noodles. We especially enjoy their seafood jjampong, the flavor and spiciness is the perfect combo for us. You also must try the shrimp (or chicken) in garlic sauce. This meal is absolutely wonderful!

The one complaint I have with Da Rae Won is their prices. Over the past four years their prices have gone up by $3-$5, depending on the meal. This wouldn't bother me too much because their food is so good, HOWEVER, their portions, in certain meals, have gone down. My wife and I used to share the garlic shrimp and still have some left over, but since the portion size have decreased (and price has increased), we cant do that anymore. They used to put a scallop in their jjampong but now they not only leave this out but the price has increased.

If you've never been to this place then you wont be disappointed, DEFINITELY VISIT! However, if you've been here as much as we have over the past four years, the food is still wonderful but the prices have become a bit...