Tosokchon NYC — Restaurant in New York

I want to preface this colossal review with the fact that I have been to the motherland Korea, before, so I do have a good reference point. If there’s anything that I took away from that trip, besides great memories and a fondness for k-pop, it’s my newfound love for Korean food and flavour. Every day was an adventure for my tongue, whether the food was traditional or Korean-Western (like Italian pastas, or French pastries). With that being said, coming back to the States left a huge hole in my heart. I always say that I left a part of me in Korea. Since then, I made it my mission to seek out authentic Korean food that would taste and feel like home, right here in New York. After two years of searching, I stumbled upon this little, but mightly hole in the wall. Right in the heart of K-town, Tosokchon NYC absolutely blew me away!

When people think “Korean food” they usually think of K-barbeque, which is a wonderful staple of communal dining and K-culture, but it isn’t the only thing Korean flavour has to offer. Jjigaes 찌개 , guk 국 and other dishes with banchan 반찬 make for a dining experience that is just as satisfying – and that is exactly what I got from this restaurant. Tosokchon is a small but spacious and cosy joint with decor that brings me right back to common food joints found back home. With mood lighting, steady k-tunes, a generous menu, and an even better price point for its location, you can’t go wrong.

Whether you want a shareable snack or a full meal, this menu has the perfect variety to choose from. For my visit, I ordered soondae guk 순대국 and was not disappointed. Not only was it served boiling hot, but the banchan and dipping sides were on point. The flavours combined well and the presentation took me right back to my time in Korea. On top of the food, the staff is very attentive and friendly.

In addition to the guk, I ordered tteok-bokki 떡볶이 to-go because I simply couldn’t resist treating myself to another Korean staple from this place. I had that meal the next day, which not only reheated, well but tasted, once again, just like home. The tteokbokki reminds me of the one I tried in a Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi joint.

Long story short, I can not wait to come back to Tosokchon for my next meal, even though it is a little bit of a far trip for me; it is worth, it just trust me. If your goal is to eat and enjoy authentic Korean cuisine, this is the stop for you! I honestly can’t wait for summer to try their...

Disappointing first visit. Food was slow. Gopchang was over cooked. Missed cold noodles. And overall mediocre.

Came here on a Saturday for lunch. Had good expectations. The gopchang looked good on Instagram and RedNote. The restaurant was spacious. Portions were excellent to share

The radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi, and the pickled opinions were generous and delicious! Great banchan to start.

We ordered the gopchang entree and cold noodles. And we waited. And waited. And waited. The restaurant was not packed. And we waited some more. Maybe 15 minutes has gone by. We already finished the banchan and it was refilled. And we waited some more.

But the gopchang was NOT worth the wait. It was overcooked and dry. All the fat has been cooked out of it. Another reviewer mentioned the exact same issue. The amount of gopchang was satisfactory. The rice cake was crispy. And the chives and onion kimchi looked delicious. But the gopchang was definitely overcooked by the time it got to the table. Very disappointed here.

Still waiting for the cold noodles.

We ordered the tuna rice ball. This was quite savory and good to share. This came out quickly.

Still waiting for the cold noodles.

Then we ordered the pork intestine soup dweji gukbab. Came with rice. Which was really excellent and hearty. Lots of pork slices and pork stomach. This was a really good dish. It was excellent to share. Very glad we ordered this. The pork stomach was tender and heart.

Didn't finish the gopchang. (We took the left overs home instead and decided to steam it to add the moisture back.) The gopchang had great flavor and excellent portions but it was over cooked. I think there is a good dish here. Just poor execution today.

The cold noodles never came.

Service was okay. The water jug was never refilled either. There were only two ladies there. i didn't see a lot take out orders. There were quite a few empty tables. I'd say it was 2/3 full with big most big tables with 4 ppl. And they were already there when we arrived. So it wasn't like more people were coming in around the time, which was like 3pm-ish.

Overall I was very disappointed. The gopchang had potential but was poorly cooked. The rice ball and pork soup were really good. We never got the...

Finally tried this place out and was honestly pretty disappointed. I got the soondae guk, kimchi dumplings and small order of soondae. Soondae was pretty much only glass noodles, it’s suppose to be Korean blood sausage but there was no blood, it was just a noodle sausage. Soondae guk was packed with pork bits but I wanted Soondae guk and there was barely any of that and once again, it was the low quality soondae with no pork blood. I tasted their radish kimchi and cabbage kimchi, the worst kimchis I have ever tasted in my entire life. Radish kimchi was completely sweet, as if they mixed it with corn syrup or sugar and the kimchi just had absolutely no depth flavor besides just being spicy, even the texture of the cabbage was off. Both items lacked the flavor of the sourness from the fermentation, aftertaste reminded me of a gas leak. These items weren’t refreshing at all and didn’t cleanse the palate or counter the heaviness of the main dish. I don’t know if they made them in house but why bother to when you’re gonna just cover up the fermented flavors with sugar or not even make kimchi properly? For the kimchi dumplings, I love kimchi dumplings but these were gross and had no flavor or any hint of kimchi besides the color. I think they just used frozen dumplings from bibigo because they had no kimchi flavor whatsoever and were more meaty in consistency. I’d never not finish a plate of kimchi dumplings but these were so awful, I didn’t even want them anymore. Atmosphere-wise, they had obnoxious k-pop blasting. Overall a very...