Kim Ga Meon Ok Fort Lee — Restaurant in Fort Lee

I normally don’t write reviews about businesses on Google unless I am exceptionally impressed with their service, because even though my review may have minimal impact, it can still affect a business when others read it.

However, I’ve decided to write this one because I’m still confused about how the cashier (female) treated me and my family regarding seating. As we all know, this restaurant is self-service, meaning we find our table, order food with the cashier, and pick up our food from the kitchen (more accurately, from the island right outside the kitchen.)

There were two elderly ladies ordering food ahead of me, and I was there with my family, ready to order after them. There was one table left with some high chairs by the windows, so I told my family to go get the table while I ordered the food. As soon as the cashier overheard me, she stopped my family and said we couldn’t get the table because the two elderly ladies were ahead of us. I was confused and started to feel upset because this restaurant is self-service, not a place where we wait to be seated.

She must have wanted to give the only available table to the elderly ladies since the windows are warm, and the restaurant’s poor AC made it even warmer near the windows. If that was her intention, she could have simply asked me if I was okay with giving the table to the elderly ladies first because they were elderly. If she had asked, I would have said yes because I have an elderly mother, too.

But unfortunately, the cashier just stopped us and we ended up waiting for about 5 minutes. Honestly, I wanted to walk right out, as it put me in the mood to leave even though my family was craving 냉면.

We ate in this restaurant a week ago during dinner time when there were a few tables left, and we just went straight to a table we found and ordered from the table using the app. Stopping me from the table that we had spotted and the fact that she overheard me telling my family to sit there felt just absurd and unnecessary since this is a self-service restaurant.

To be honest, the food wasn’t good, either. The noodles in my 냉면 were all clumped together, and I ended up leaving a third of it because they were stuck together like little balls.

If there are any restrictions, such as not being allowed to take a table before ordering food, please post them visibly instead of stopping your customers when they are about to sit down.

This was definitely a negative experience that ruined...

Wow everything here is delicious. The quality is so outstanding that it is really surprising that this is a self serve place. All quality and convenience of quick service. Even the complimentary soup is delicious. The noodles are the best naengmyun in the Tristate, the noodle soup is authentic and the best. The stews are all very good, dogani tang and gukbap are my favorites. Everything is handmade here and it tastes like it. They even have jokbal. The don katsu is great, the sauce is more traditional Korean sauce. It is clear there is a lot of care and thought in the food here. Highly recommend, I come here crossing the Tappan Zee every chance I get. They also have breakfast specials! Those are a great deal, I wish I lived nearby or I'd get...

7/29/2024 Went back and had the same Don katsu again. This time, it was markedly better than the first time. The Donkatsu was just fried and had good mix of cabbage and corn as side. The amount of Don katsu was still very filling. I've revised the review accordingly.

Seriously, the amount of sugar they add in their food is at toxic level. If you want to get diabetes, eat here everyday. Plus is no tip and free ice cream bar. Minus is their price is higher (feels like they charge more b/c of no tip). So you end up saving a couple of dollars vs. dining at a sit down restaurant w/ servers. If they make the food a little more healthy by removing half of the sugar in the food, I would give 4...