Seoul Soulongtang — Restaurant in Boston

First thing first, I am not a Korean so I wouldn't be able to tell if this is authentic or not. My review will be based on my own experience with the korean restaurant around the area greater Boston area.

Atmosphere (10 point Scale): 8 decent decoration but not lavish. After all, it is all about the food. One unique feature of this restaurant is the small area which provide the eaters with touch of the authentic Korean dinning experience ( I think it is authentic). The area has a raised floor and lowered tables. The customer would take off their shoes and cross their legs to eat in that area.

Food (10 point Scale): 9 As the restaurant name suggested, I have to give their soulongtang a try. The name can be slightly different spelling at different restaurants. But, all should sound the same when you read it. It's probably a translation from Korean. This dish is a light beef bone marrow broth with thing white noodles and thinly sliced beef brisket. The broth comes unsalted and salt and pepper is provided on the table side to be added for your liking. At first it tasted bland for me because from my past experience with this dish, it always come seasoned. Adding the sea salt and pepper brings out the true taste bone marrow broth. At the end of the dish, I found myself licking every single drop of the broth from the bowl. It was very light, yet you can feel the creaminess of the bone marrow. This dish is a 95/100.

Other than this amazing dish, my girlfriend ordered the Kalbi Tang. This is one of my favorite item in all of Korean restaurant. This is also a broth based dish. This comes in a clear beef broth with large pieces of beef short ribs and clear noodles. This comes pre-seasoned. After the first sip of the broth, I am sure this is going to be my #1 place for kalbi Tang. I guarantee you that you will not want to go anywhere else for kalbi Tang. You can taste that they have really put good quality ingredients into it. The broth feels light and not oily comparing to other ones I have tasted around the area. The kalbi is very juicy and tender. This dist cost $14. I wouldn't call it cheap. However, I think it is well worth it. The amount of kalbi they give you is worth it. I have been in other restaurant where they charge $10 - $12 for a Kalbi Tang and only get 3 tiny pieces of beef and the broth is half as tasty as this. I will give this a 92/100

The last thing we ordered was the Haemool Pajun (Seafood Pancake). This "pan" -cake does come in a hot pan (cast iron skillet). The portion is huge, it can easily serve 4 -5 people with one order.The pancake is pan fried with scallions and assorted seafood then, put on the skillet to serve. There are many variations of this out there. So, I am not really sure what is authentic and what is not. Based on my own taste, I like it to be thin and crunchy side. This one is not a bit thicker (~0.75cm) and more chewy on the inside. The outside could be a bit more fried. I think that they left it less seared because it will be served on a hot skillet. However, I didn't think the skillet was hot enough to continue cooking the pancake while it is on the table. So, I can only give it a 85/100. I think this dish really depends on personal preferences. My girlfriend absolutely loved it (...and she is picky about what she eat... shhhh.. :P)

Service (10 point Scale): 7-- The food came out a little slow. Not sure, if the kitchen was hitting it's capacity since as the place is a full house that day. As with many Korean restaurant, the graciously provide 4 or 5 small pates of kimchi and radishes. I am giving it a 78/100.

Verdict (10 point Scale): 8 Pro: Food is high quality. Good portions. Small but focused menu. Unique traditional Korean seating if desired. Many seating, with quick turnover of customer. So, no need to wait to be seated. Hidden jewel.

Con: Table was too small to fit everything (filled the table with 3 items). Food took really long to come out. Parking might be limited, but...

As the weather gets colder, the desire to have a hearty hot bowl of soup begins to build up in a matter of seconds every single hour I’m awake. It’s a fiend that has to be constantly fed and/or suppressed less it unleashes wrathful hell on everything around it. That’s how this establishment made it to one of my lists of must-visits during the colder months. They serve a rather unique broth for those new to this particular style of Korean soups - really hearty but really clean, seemingly flavorless but also bold once enough salt is introduced.

My introduction to the dish Seolleongtang took place almost two decades ago. I was sick - very sick - and had absolutely no appetite (an obvious recipe for further disaster). A close friend’s grandmother found out and made a large pot’s worth of this broth and “demanded” that she force me to consume a lot of it. I still laugh when I think about it especially my friend’s facial expressions when she showed up with it. Long story short, she didn’t need much effort to convince me. The clean scent was enough for me to be willing try it; the gentle but hearty contrast was enough for me to keep going until most of the pot was gone. It sure got me up and well again overnight and made me a permanent fan of this potent broth.

Seolleongtang is pretty much the same almost everywhere except for the spice condiments that they offer with it. As I prefer mine just with sea salt, I’m just happy whenever there is a place that serves a decent portion of it whenever the weather is cold. If you’ve never had this soup before, I’d definitely recommend it to nourish your soul. My only tip is…don’t hesitate to keep adding salt until the flavor...

Friend and I came here for dinner on a Saturday night around 6pm. The restaurant was busy and there was a bit of a wait for a table. Once we were seated, a server came by not too long after to take our order. The food came out very quickly but everything was hot. We ordered the yachae pajun (vegetable pancake), the combo kalbitang and kalbi. The food was great. No complaints there. I took off a star because I was disappointed with the service. Towards the end, it felt like they were really trying to rush us to get us to leave. I understand it was busy but I didn’t see anyone waiting by the door to be seated. We weren’t even there for 45 minutes and a server came by to drop off the check. Another server came by to try and clear out the table but we weren’t finished eating and I told him I wasn’t done yet. He left but came back later to help us box the leftovers and at some point, a female server came by while the male server was there and she poured one of the side banchan’s into my soup thinking that I was done eating and the other server who was next to her and I both stopped her. I get you see us packing some of the leftovers up but you shouldn’t assume I am done eating. I just don’t get why there has to be multiple servers at one table at the same time (probably to be more efficient) and why would they not ask if we were done with our food before...