Jang Choong Dong Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Duluth

Absolutely one of the worst dining experiences ever. I really wanted to like this place because it's nearby and it serves food that both my wife and I enjoy. I like the jokbal and soondae kind of dishes, and my wife likes the non-hardcore Korean dishes. Well, as soon as we walked in we noticed there was only one other party there (three people). It was prime dinner time so we were hoping to see some activity. Anyway, when we sat down the old chubby Korean ahjumma server gave us one menu. Mind you, we had a party of four adults and two children. When I asked for additional menus, she handed us one more. Huh? I had to ask again for more menus. Why was she being so stingy with menus? Don't they want us to order lots of food? I learned later she's a very stingy person, in general.

After we reviewed the menu, we ordered donkatsu, soondae, bossam, bibimbap, kalguksu, and more. When we asked about the food, she kept trying to push us to order more items. I didn't like that feeling. Anyway, we ordered what we thought was enough. When the food started rolling out, the first thing we noticed was that the banchan was very very small portion. Literally one bite of kimchi (two tiny pieces). My dad actually called her out on it. We've been to Korean restaurants at least once a week for our entire lives and I've never seen portions this small. Remember what I said about stingy? Anyway, we started eating. Very quickly we started running out of garlic slices, jalapeños, kimchi, lettuce, and more. When we asked for more, she would take forever and bring one at a time. We had to ask multiple times for extra banchan. So annoying. Btw, the food was very average and overpriced. The donkatsu was thin and dry, the pickled radish was old, the bossam was boney, kalguksu was okay, and she never refilled our water.

Towards the end of our meal, we asked for more lettuce because we still had some bossam left. Here's the kicker... I saw her go to the one table that was finishing up (they were still there) and grab their lettuce and take it to the back. I thought to myself, why is she taking only their lettuce? She's not clearing out all their plates... but just their lettuce? And when we asked for refills, she brought everything except for lettuce. Then voila, we have lettuce. Remember what I said about stingy? Very sus. We didn't touch the lettuce.

When we asked for the check, the bill was $120 with no itemization. There was no breakdown. Did we get charged correctly for each dish? Was tip included? Is the tax correct? This is the first time in my life where I went to a dining establishment and didn't receive an itemized check. Isn't that required by law? It was just a total amount of $120. Ridiculous. Suffice it to say we will never be going back. One of the worst experiences ever. Avoid this place...

Prompted to write a review immediately when I noticed the negative reviews people left regarding service, which should be considered outdated.

Friends and I came here on a Saturday while driving around John's Creek, craving authentic Korean food. We were surprised that it was almost empty at almost 6PM but were glad there'd be no wait. The menu wasn't very expansive, which is actually a good thing, imo, as it indicates they focus solely on dishes they know they are good at. I would have loved to try the jokbal, but my friends weren't feeling very adventurous, so we settled on the garlic bossam to share. We added on the rice balls (which is a mix of rice, seaweed, sesame oil and chopped radish) and ordered the donkatsu for my picky toddler niece.

The donkatsu was very crunchy and satisfied the toddler, to our surprise. The portion was enough for 2 adults to share, as it came with 2 pieces of pork (which we had to lie and say they were chicken). We did wish there was more sauce on the side, to balance out the dish. As for the bossam, flavor was great on the pork. We loved the banchan, which helped cut down on the fat from the pork. I'm not sure if the server forgot our lettuce leaves or if they don't automatically give them to you, but definitely ask for lettuce leaves! Definitely gotta wrap your meat! 😉

Also found it surprising that rice does not come with bossam and you have to order it as an add-on. That's pretty much the star deduction here. We spent under $80 (before tip) and it was enough food for 3 adults, 1 picky toddler and still took some tonkatsu home. As much as we love our garlic, it must be noted that 5 hours later, we were still breathing garlic, if that's something that...

This restaurant is hidden and tucked away in the plaza with LA Fitness. Inside, the cozy, dark wood tones and beige walls will make you feel at home. There are tables and private booths for seating. We notice 80% of food produced here was for take out orders ~ so, we assume this is more of a to-go spot than sit down. Things you should know: I. PARKING Within the LA Fitness plaza, there's a massive public lot out front with plenty of free available spaces. II. SERVICE Sweet and kind. Very timely. III. QUALITY Hm, well. When it came to this part of the review I can't say many good things. For the expensive prices, the food wasn't up to par with other competing restaurants. The Tteok Mandu Guk I ordered had very watered down broth ~ not much flavor. And the kimchi was extremely sour. Maybe we came on a bad day but I'd like to try a takeout order here to see if there's more to this place than my one experience. IV. CAPACITY Lots and lots of open tables for a Friday evening. Since this restaurant is so hidden, I believe it's become a to-go place more than a...