So Poong — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

I love Korean food. Prepare it at home all the time. When I walked in I was greeted by a woman preparing an order that was ready to serve. After serving the previous guest she attempted to take my order where I asked for the Han Mari fried chicken, which was on the menu outside. She told me they didn’t have any chicken, which I assumed meant they ran out for the day, but actually meant they no longer sold the Korean fried chicken. Once she said this I was met with a man taking over for her at the register, but this time I asked for the Galbi Tang (traditional pork neck one soup, they sell it everywhere). He said they didn’t have that either, then what shocked me the most is he yelled “NEXT” while I was standing right in front of him and proceeded to take the next guests order despite the fact that I hadn’t even ordered yet. After patiently waiting for my turn again, I went up and ordered japchae and beef gimbap. My food was ready in about 10 minutes, but the buzzer didn’t even go off so the man had to yell my order in the store for me to know it was mine. The food was okay, didn’t have enough flavor for me, and the gimbap meat was a little dry and flavorless. I won’t be coming here again unless they treat customers with a little...

So Poong opened in April 2018 to relatively little fanfare. Now, less than two months later, it has quickly become my favorite place in Collegetown and easily makes my top 3 in Ithaca because of their food quality, prices, and great service. Where else can you spend $7 and get an incredibly filling yet relatively healthy meal around here?

It serves some of Korea's most well-known comfort foods (that actually taste like what I'd get back home) with prices that can't be beat. $6 for a kimbap that is so filling that I just barely manage to get the last end piece down? Or $7 for ddukbokki with maybe a side of $3 Ggoma kimbap (mini-kimbap) would be a hefty meal for one or snack for two. Their $7 japchae, which I hesitatingly ordered with a side of rice (I've rarely had good japchae in the US), was...

I love this place! I usually get their kimbap which is really good and pretty cheap ($7-$8). I also like how they have every Korean dish I love (Budae stew, Dduk mandoo, Ddukboki, etc)! They have a large picture menu at the front so it’s easy to know what you’re getting.

The lady was also really sweet! We came before opening and she served us kimbap anyways!

There is a lot of seating in the restaurant as well and the interior is clean, so it’s a nice place to hang and do work. They also have outdoor seating as well (probably just for the summer I presume).

Also cash fyi: Credit card minimum is $10 so if you’re just ordering 1 roll make sure to bring cash.

In general this place is pretty cheap so it’s a great option to get Korean food for lunch...