JangSu Seolleongtang — Restaurant in Ellicott City

My new (and probably the ONLY) favorite Korean restaurant in this area. (Fortunately, I go to Korea every year ... which unfortunately makes most Korean restaurants in this area unpalatable to me.) But JangSu is a specialty restaurant like you see a lot in Korea rather than a place that does (or try to do) everything. Their specialty is the beef broth soup. They really seem to do it right. It tastes much like something my mother used to make. Ate here twice in the last 3 days. I plan to go back at least 3 more times within the next week to try 3 other dishes.

Honestly I find the low reviews difficult to understand based on my experience. My guess is that those who are complaining about bland taste are young people who haven't tasted the genuine stuff. They probably grew up tasting the MSG filled instant types. FYI, seollengtang is one of those that really take a LONG time to make. It needs to be cooked at least for a day or more. The longer they boil it, the better. Most restaurants can't afford to cook a big vat of broth for over 24 hours ... which is why almost all Korean restaurants that I see in the U.S. that serve this dish use the instant prepackaged stuff (rather like ramen) and why I almost never order this in the U.S. Even when I'm in Korea, I order it only at a restaurant that specialize in it and has a good reputation for it. In the past 20 years of living in this MD/DC/VA area, I only saw one other restaurant (it was in northern VA, but closed a few years ago) that actually cooked it like it's supposed to be. Those that are complaining that the dish was expensive are probably folks that have no idea how it's cooked. Seollengtang definitely isn't a common easy to make dish like a bibimbap. For a genuine stuff, I don't think it was expensive at all.

I gave 4 stars for atmosphere because it's just like a typical Korean restaurant. The place was simple, clean, and functional, but nothing special.

The server told me that they've been open for 5 months now. I hope JangSu will stick around for a long time and stay true to how they make their soup. I finally found a place where I can enjoy the...

Jangsu is a hidden gem! I'm surprised that there wasn't a line of people waiting to get in. This is about as close as to what my grandmother used to make seollengtang at home. My grandma made better soup for sure, but then she cooked it for 2 days or more! I don't expect anything like that from a restaurant. But almost all Korean restaurants that I've been to that has this seolleongtang on the menu use the MSG infused instant soup which is why I never order those. I understand that it's difficult to make money cooking something for an entire day. That's why Jangsu is so so special. I can taste the real thing here!!! Expensive? It's not cheap, but for the quality, it's not at all expensive. It's like the difference between a McD's burger vs a gourmet burger. For how they make seollengtang, this is not expensive at all. Even their side dishes (not numerous) are great. They are definitely HIGH quality (vs quantity). I could see myself just ordering an appetizer, a bowl of rice and have a meal with their side dish. It's that good! Their galbi wasn't anything special, but to my surprise, their nangmyeon (cold noodle) was simply great! When the weather gets warm, I'll probably visit this place more frequently. I'm looking forward to another visit to try their meat platter (not cheap), but if as high quality as their soup, well...

I was excited to visit this restaurant because they serve one of my favorite dishes, Tang, which means bone broth soup in Korean. We ordered three Tangs and a Sooyuk, an assorted boiled meat platter. The side dishes (banchans) were served first, followed by the Sooyuk. The banchans and Tangs were not bad. However, the Sooyuk was disappointing and not worth the $40 price tag. The dish mainly consisted of mushrooms, which made up half of the platter. Of the remaining half, about three-quarters was meat, and the rest were Chinese chives and a cup of soup. The presence of mushrooms wasn’t mentioned in the description, and I ended up paying for food I didn’t like. To make matters worse, when I asked for a to-go container, they gave me a very thin one for the hot soup, which made me uncomfortable. The overall experience was so stressful that I couldn’t eat, although the rest of my family did. When I first complained about the small amount of meat, the owner insisted that there was actually a lot. Then, when I checked out and complained about the large amount of mushrooms, he told me I should just remove them. While the servers were kind and attentive, the owner was not. Overall, I found the meal to be overpriced for what was served and felt misled by the lack of information...