So Gong Dong Tofu & BBQ SGD — Restaurant in Palisades Park

Came in for lunch at around 11:30 on a Sunday with my husband and my parents. It wasn’t too crowded at that point. There were a few large groups but we still felt like we had enough space. We ordered a bunch of dishes - probably too much because we had a ton of leftovers for lunch the next day. Here is everything we ate:

Korean Style Corn Cheese - this was soo good. It was piping hot and super cheesy. It’s heavy but it was the perfect amount for four people without feeling too greasy

Tteokbokki - we added cheese to this, which was a mistake after eating the heavy corn cheese. It’s also very saucy, maybe a little too saucy. This was everyone’s least favorite

BBQ Squid - this had great flavor. I wish they had cut it up for us but they just gave us a pair of scissors and it was very difficult to cut. Because I this, I expected it to be chewy, but thankfully it was not

Seafood Pancake - filled with lots of morsels of seafood but not a huge fan of Korean pancakes in general

Soondubu Special (wild seeds and beef, soft tofu, shrimp, oysters, and clam). Good but pretty standard. This is nice if you just want a bowl of something hot and comforting. It’s served with stone rice and I love the crispy edges of the rice

Galbi - so tender and flavorful and comes served on a sizzling hot plate. This was everyone’s favorite dish

Aside from the galbi, the other thing I loved was the banchan. They aren’t skimpy with it. When they notice you running low, they’ll replenish it for you - most of the time before you even get the chance to ask. There’s kimchi, cucumber kimchi, fish cakes, soy radish, bean sprouts, and spinach (?) with gochujang. My top banchans we’re definitely both kimchis and the radish. I could probably just eat this with rice and be happy.

I’ve been to other SGD locations and the quality across is usually pretty consistent. Writing this review now makes me want to go...

As a vegetarian, I've always appreciated SGD's veggie soon tofu and curry soon tofu stews. Like all of their soft tofu stews, each comes served in a scalding hot pot that allows the soup within to burble long after it's been deposited before you. The spice levels are customizable on a five point scale, ranging from 'mild' to 'very spicy'. I love that the accompanying rice is served in a similar pot here (note: some Koreans like to pour water in here after they've scooped out the fresh rice to create a traditional congee-like rice porridge for the end of their meal).

Since the last time I came here, SGD's expanded their menu to include a few more items besides their namesake soon tofu (soft tofu) stews and Korean barbecue. This time, I ordered the vegetable bibimbap, a rice dish that comes with a spicy gochujang sauce. This is a bit of a DIY-meal, requiring diners to delicately mix the sauce, rice, and vegetables, all without scaling yourself on the preheated cast iron plate (pro-tip: leave the very bottom of the rice undisturbed to create some soccarat-like crunchy rice). I enjoyed the mixture of veggies provided here - cabbage, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, spinach, and julienned egg. I just wished some of the vegetables were cut a little smaller for ease of eating.

Your first step toward a good meal here is finding the place in the first place. SGD is on the second floor of a building complex, accessible through either stairs or the elevator (the first floor is currently a small clothing shop). There's metered parking on the street level, along with a small lot behind the building (courtesy...

This Iike my 3rd times here with my boyfriend, I can’t believe we found a go to spot like this spot, we drove all the way to NY to NJ just to eat this delicious hot tofu soup. It’s very cheap for it price which comes with rice, appetizers, eggs and the soup itself. It was very fresh and tasty I can feel that every was very flavorful. The customer service was amazing everyone greeted us and wished us a goodnight and have a nice day. Which I felt very welcome and very appreciated it. When I finished some of the appetizers I didn’t expect to them to refills so the women did and I was like wow extra food. !! Since I love their radish. I like to drink tea especially when I eat, I asked them for an ice cup and hot tea which make it ice tea they were checking in my tea and make sure that my tea was refills. We both ordered a tomato soup I believe it’s less than $20 for a tomato soup. Which was very worth it and it’s very refilling the one thing this restaurant beat the others one is their customer services deserve a shout out! And I can taste that the taste of food is very fresh, flavorful, I wish they open one in NYC so that I don’t have to travel all the way to NJ😩, but it is worth it on a cold day ! I will...