Tofu Story 두부 이야기 — Restaurant in Boston

We were super excited about a new Korean tofu soup place in Boston! But alas- we did not enjoy the food here at all.

First, it took 45 minutes for our food to come out. But we knew they’re still in their early days, so we were trying to be understanding that they are still working out the kinks.

However, the food itself, which we waited so long for, wasn’t good. We ordered a seafood tofu soup and a kimchi tofu soup, which should be staples for a restaurant specializing in tofu soups. But there was barely any tofu in it (the egg was bigger than all the tofu combined), and the tofu itself was too watery/melty. The soups were WAY TOO spicy, even though we ordered medium/보통, which should be the standard level of spiciness. As a Korean, I can take heat well, but these were way too spicy. They also served the rice 5 minutes after they gave us the soup- so we were sitting there just looking at our soup, not being able to eat it.

Also, they charge $3 more dollars for their “special rice,” which wasn’t all that better than their normal rice. I guess you’re paying extra for the 누룽지 (the burnt rice with boiling water poured on top to make a soup-like thing), but they didn’t pour enough water in it - so instead of it becoming 누룽지, which should be soupy with bits of burnt/crunchy rice in it, it just tasted like mushy rice.

The banchan (side dishes) were pretty sad. It was two types of kimchi, basic salad (literally lettuce leaves), and cubes of bland potatoes.

So bottom line - I would not recommend. All the servers were super nice, but they ultimately didn’t make up for the lack of efficiency and low quality food. I have high hopes they will improve their efficiency with time, but more importantly, they need to dramatically improve the quality/taste of their food. For the quality and quantity of what they’re serving, the prices are way too high. The tofu soups are $18-19, but $21-22 with the...

TofuStory is a brand new Tofu soup (Sundubu) restaurant located in the heart of Allston, with large glass windows to be able to peek inside. There was a decent amount of people waiting before we arrived, but we were seated nearly instantly. They have a large amount of seating, as well as a screen playing Korean music while I was there.

The service is good, very hectic but able to place our order in a timely manner. There was an accident with spilled water when we came, but they were very professional about it and cleaned it up nearly instantly.

The prices are reasonable, portions are a bit on the smaller side than what I am used to, but the flavors are good with the Sundubu. I got the pork version, and the tofu was very soft and the pork was good as well. I got the medium spice level, but it was still pretty spicy even at that spice level, so I would recommend getting mild if you cannot handle spice.

Banchan was pretty standard, except for a tofu that came with some sauce. It was very soft and the sauce helped compliment the tofu very well.

My only issues were the wait time for the food and the Kimchi pancake. I am used to more crispy kimchi pancake, but the one I got was a bit soggy and fell apart easily, and didn't have much flavor outside of the kimchi. It was also priced the same as the tofu soup, which for the portions was good, but I probably wouldn't get it again.

The wait time for the food after ordering was also around 20-25 minutes, which seemed kind of long compared to other restaurants. However, I would assume since this is a new restaurant and it was a busy day, it would be better during less peak hours.

Overall a great experience, with some minor issues that I believe can...

I love tofu soup, so I visited this newly opened spot. The young servers were friendly and explained everything well, making the ordering process pleasant. However, the issue was with the food. One of the charms of Korean restaurants is the generous side dishes, and at a tofu house, you usually get a pot of freshly cooked rice to enjoy with the soup. Unfortunately, not only was the tofu stew, which they claim is made from freshly ground soybeans, underwhelming, but the portion was also only about a third of what you’d get elsewhere. Even the rice, which I had to order separately, was so small that my 11-year-old son ended up eating both servings, and I had to order extra rice to finish my meal.

What was even more disappointing was that the soup arrived first, and the rice didn’t come out until I had nearly finished the stew, so I couldn’t enjoy them together. Having moved here from Manhattan recently, I used to go BCD Tofu House in Koreatown, and compared to that, the portions here were a third of the size, with side dishes barely enough for one bite. It felt like I paid more but got much less in return. The galbi I ordered separately was expensive but tasted decent, at least.

I also noticed two young men at the next table, who appeared to be Chinese, ordered spicy galbi, but it looked like they received less than half the portion shown in the picture on the wall. I felt sorry for them as they just quietly ate without complaining. As a Korean, I’ve never seen such a small portion of spicy galbi for that price. It was such a baffling experience that I wondered if the kitchen was purposely skimping...