ChoDang Tofu House - Cerritos — Restaurant in Cerritos

Met up w/ my foodie brother from another mother, Steve, for lunch to catch up and stuff our bellies. We were originally supposed to dine at a new place across the street, but I was told they would open on Thursday, even though their ad in the Filipino newspaper said they were open now. We made a quick Plan B and made the short trip to Cho Dang. Having dined at the rival BCD a short while ago, I put on my food critic hat and slammed down the food challenge quantlet.

I orderd the Seafood & beef soondubu. The soup was piping hot, spicy per request & delicious. The accompanying banchan complemented the main course. I especially enjoyed having the nori. I picked up my bowl and slurped up every last drop of my hearty soup.

Free soft serve and coffee/hot chocolate is always a great thing. However, the soft serve is the reconstituted powdered, slushy stuff. BCD has the real deal ice cream going for them, which diners scoop for themselves.

Service was great, as our banchan was refilled w/o even asking. We didn't require other assistance besides that, but our waitress was friendly & smiling so kudos to her.

Seating was plentiful, with wooden decor and placemats w/ the menu on them.

My bottom line - BCD wins the food challenge quantlet by the narrowest of margins. I do like the food at Cho Dang, but in my humble opinion, BCD is just that much more...

The only thing holds me back from going there anymore is the customer service. Not a single one of the servers ever seemed nice and I've been going there for a while now, so you can take my word for it. They never crack a smile or greet you properly. One time my girlfriend couldn't understand what the server lady with the Hoka shoes and glasses was saying because of her accent and she became extremely angry at us and began talking aggresively, which was so shocking! My girlfriend didn't realize the lady was asking for beef or pork and it caused a little confusion, but her reaction was unacceptable. She began treating us badly from then on. For example, she wouldn't even bother putting the dishes on our paper mat. She would just leave them at the edge of the table and go. I've never had an experience like this before. So embarrassing for her to give us a chidlish attitude like that. She needs to stay at home and take care of her grandkids. I cannot emphasize enough just how bad their customer service is and how unkind the servers are. You feel bad for even going there like you're...

I craved a hot bowl of tofu soup (soondooboo) on a rainy and cold evening, and Cho Dang Tofu restaurant satisfied the craving. Not once had a bad experience with their quality and taste on my past visits. I ordered the perilla seed with mushroom soondooboo ($12.99) at the medium spice level. For the first timers try the seafood & beef or my favorite bean paste soondooboo that comes with clam, beef, and mushroom. The meal comes with a container with the yummy side dishes (banchan), white rice, and a fried fish. I recommend that you reheat the soondooboo in a pot and add an egg immediate after you turn off the fire.

Picked up the new To-Go Bento set ($12.99) beef bulgogi and the restaurant is having a 20% off promo until end of January 31st on the Special Bento set ($16.99) or the To-Go Bento. The Special comes with additional banchans. A good amount of bulgogi with onions and no funny business with onions hiding underneath the bulgogi. This set will fill you up.

Will come back to try their other specials and...