Jaws Topokki Palisades Park (죠스 떡볶이) — Restaurant in Palisades Park

Braved the deep freeze for a quick bite with my wife who loves tteukbokki. The atmosphere is cozy, with self service areas for utensils, water, and to place the trays after the meal. The food was both a hit and miss for me. The tteukbokki is great reminiscent of old school tteukbokki made of flour and not rice for that chewy texture. The regular spice level was perfect for us and the fried fish cake sprinkles added a crunchy texture. The soondae was always great and didnt leave me wanting for more as the set menu was more than enough. Also had a roll of gimbap which I thought was very good. Believe it or not, though very simple to make it is very easy to screw up, case in point any of those gimbaps at supermarkets like hmart. The mixed tempura was a miss for me though while the taste was clean and not oily it was just bland and one note. In regards to the price of $30~ $40 doesnt seem much in relation to the amount of food, it also didnt leave me with a sense of wanting to drop in all the...

It's definitely a huge step up from the Jaws Tteokbokki I used to know back in high school 👍. But the Palisades Park branch still has some work to do on the basics. I felt such nostalgia that I almost got emotional, but there was a bit of an odd vibe. Whether it was the supervisor or the owner, she seemed to let some personal emotions spill into the service. If they intended to make me hungrier by keeping me active, that’s one thing. Otherwise, maybe I’ve simply gotten too used to being served, and I forgot how self-service works. With the biggest set menu, some kimbap rolls, and five slushies, I ended up making seven round trips to the counter. It wasn’t so much that I ate a lot, but forgetting that self-serve routine seemed to add to my feeling of fullness that day. I think, for a restaurant, the sound of guests enjoying their meals is far nicer than the relentless ding-dong chimes, which come across as more competitive...

The food is not that good. I don’t know what these 5 ☆ ratings are but we got the regular spicy rice cake and the regular fish cake soup. The rice cakes weren’t soft and chewy and it tasted like they cooked it in the morning and just reheated it once we ordered. The fish cake soup tasted a bit odd & the fish cakes tasted like they washed it down with soap. The chefs aren’t korean and while the kitchen is open for the customers to see, we were able to see that while one cook was making our food another worker was sweeping the floor right next to him. That is not sanitary at all and I would’ve preferred that he swept the floor after our...