Mahdang Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in North Bethesda

This review is for the way the restaurant manages the line out the door. We left without even bothering to sit down here after realizing they have zero organization to their line out the door and let everyone just wait forever with no idea how long it might take while other people show up and waltz right in saying they are on some “waitlist” or that they have “reservations” when there is no person at the front even verifying any of this and no place even on their website for reservations. So people waiting in line an hour have others just walk right past them and into the restaurant. This lack of organization needs to change or else this business will go downhill fast.

EDIT: The restaurant replied with saying they work to take reservations first. I will say a lady came out ONCE while we were waiting in line and yelled “reservations reservations!” But that was the only time during a long wait before we decided we had to just leave, and it made no sense because there was no clear way to even make reservations. The problem with this is that their website has no place listed to make reservations and there is nothing on their website about the process for reservations - if they truly do take them. I spoke with other patrons in line, and they also expressed that they didn’t see any way to make reservations. If the only way to know if reservations are accepted is to call the number, that is unacceptable and antiquated and needs to be updated - or else people end up wasting their time as we did. Additionally, Yelp has a “waitlist” for this restaurant which makes things even MORE confusing and frustrating because nobody organizes the line out the front door by reservations, waitlist, time spent standing in line, or anything else.

I have been to many different Korean BBQ restaurants, and I’ve noticed that many are similar in this way. I also hope I am mistaken, but it always seems that Koreans who arrive at these restaurants often somehow are able to skip the line and get seated quicker than others who wait in line. This was a similar experience I had in San Diego as well. Again, I hope I’m wrong about that. It seems you are either “in the know” or you aren’t here and that will make or break your experience.

The business should create a clear process for patrons waiting for service. Nobody should be wondering what is legit and what isn’t. Have someone organize the line with...

This is definitely one of my low key fave Korean spots in Maryland! The atmosphere to start, isn’t remarkable in the sense that it isn’t a trendy place to eat but that is why I love it. I’ve been enjoying Korean food in the dmv for decades and can tell you I miss the cozy feel I get when I eat here. It’s a warm comfy environment where you could get some drinks and enjoy some home style Korean cooking. The staff are generally all very kind and attentive as well.

Typically we always order the kimchi pancake to start which is a nice crispy savory pancake that always seems to hit the spot. They will also start you off with banchan or side dishes. They give an assortment of dishes to enjoy with your main meal free of charge and will be happy to refill them if you ask.

My partner had the chance to try out their yukgaejang which is a spicy beef soup in a typically flavorful beef broth. This time we didn’t get that hit of flavor in the broth that we were expecting but I will mention they were very generous with the beef, noodles, and veggies that usually come in the soup.

I recently had the bibim naengmyeon which are cold buckwheat noodles with a spicy mixing sauce. They were generous with the portion and it was absolutely delicious. Also if you’ve never had this dish then I will say please cut the noodles with a pair of scissors. Years of my childhood spent scarfing these stringy noodles have taught me to just take a moment to cut the noodles before stuffing my face!

Overall, this small cozy restaurant will continue to be one of my local go to spots for my Korean food cravings. Give it a try and...

Came in a group because of previous good experiences getting take out. We were expecting to get to cook our own food, that's part of the fun. But that wasn't even an option, everything came out already done, even though the table had hot plates/stoves in the center.

The servers seemed inexperienced, because they took 15 min to come get drink orders, only checked on us once in 2 hours and the fact that it took 2 hours on a slow weekday night with bad weather. Also we were a larger party, but we're never asked if split checks were needed and the whole order was run together.

The food itself was fine I guess, not a huge selection and wasn't anything I'd want to have again.

But what really tanked the evening was the refusal to serve our friend on her 21st birthday with a valid ID. The staff and manager tried to say it's MD law that you can't serve to anyone with a vertical ID. It's not, but it is MD law that they don't HAVE to accept out of state IDs.

It's their choice and I get it's their liquor license, but the manager even acknowledged that she was 21 today based on her ID which was good for another year. The manager tried to explain that they allowed someone with a horizontal ID and a 2023 birthday drink last week, but turned away a vertical 2022 birthday....which sounds like bad...