So Moon Nan Jip — Restaurant in Palisades Park

I used to like it. The quality of food and experience used to be good but each time I've gone, about 6 times, it has consistently gotten worse. This time we brought some family and were embarrassed. The waitress sat us down served us waters and after about 5 minutes of getting comfortable, she came and asked us to move to another table which was exactly the same size. She then sat another family in our seats. That is unheard of! After ordering, they brought all of our food out at once so the soups we ordered, the free kimchee, side orders, and the BBQ were all at the table at once. The food was lacking in quality and they reduced the portions. They used to bring out complimentary fried fish but they told me it wasn't available. They brought out 1 bowl of egg for 4 people which I have always gotten 1 for 2 people. Part of the fun is having the BBQ at the table, if you have been there you know what I mean. The waitress tried to convince us to let them cook it in the back kitchen because she didn't want to cook it for us. We spent $135 on 4 soups and 2 BBQs. The BBQs were much smaller portion than usual and could have served one person. After cooking the first small portion of meat, I asked her if she could hold off on cooking the second one until we ate a little more of the soup. When she came back she got impatient and told me they wanted to take the charcoal to another table. The waitress kept cutting in front of me as I was eating and leaned across my dish, putting her shoulder in front of my face for minutes at a time as she grilled the meat and remove items from the table. We were rushed as the waitress kept taking food from us before we finished. The lady took our lettuce from our table as we were still eating, added some more on top, and then served it to another table. After the horrible experience I gave her a small tip. When she saw the amount she confronted me and made a scene. I explained that I have been there before and this was the worst experience I've had. I told her she rushed us and the food wasn't as much or as good. She began raising her voice telling me she gave us excellent service. I got very angry and told her she didn't even deserve a tip! I will not be...

Being strongly NY biased for Korean food, it's not surprising that we've never been here given this restaurant’s name which roughly translates to “Famous House”. There are many Korean eateries around here so the competition just makes everyone better. They offer free valet parking in the back (perfect since it was raining). When you come in, it’s a bright, standard Korean restaurant with a short bar near the front entrance. For a place that offers charcoal grilled kbbq, it did not have the usual strong smell of smoke. Probably due to a network of powerful exhaust fan over each table’s grill. We got there right at the tail of a surge so we waited a few minutes for a table but within 30 minutes, there was no waiting. Despite the temptation to go for the increasingly rare charcoal grilled kbbq, we only ordered prepared dishes. First, the agui jjim (spicy steamed monkfish with bean sprouts), an order of the jaeyook bokkum (spicy pork with vegetables), and an order of the ojingo dolsotbibimbap (spicy squid bibimbap in hot stone bowl). A lot of food for 2 but the agui jjim is usually huge and we expect to take home most of it. Everything was pretty delicious. The agui jjim was cooked perfectly with the usual mound of sprouts and chunks of meat. The spicy pork was just mildly spicy with tender juicy pieces of pork. The squid bibimbap was impressive, arriving in a hot bowl causing a pleasing sizzling sound. It was over filled with rice and the mix of squid and vegetables. Surprisingly, this was the spiciest of the three by far. One thing to note is that everything was very sweet. The banchan included kimchi, marinated bean sprout, pickled radish slices, spicy fish cake, julienned spicy radish, and marinated water parsley. All really delicious. Service was efficient as typical in Korean restaurants and everyone seemed very happy. So bottom line - really tasty food with good sized portions but slightly sweet. Good service. Free valet parking...

I have never written comments online. However, I should for this restaurant.

The waitress' Service and the FOOD were the worst I ever experienced in my life. My friend and I ordered 2 Combos ( 1 Galbi Combo & 1 Pork BBQ Combo ).

(1) Galbi ( Pre-cooked ) was only about 2 strips and the Pork BBQ dish looked like left overs ( Hardly could find the meats hidden in sauteed vegetables ). The price for COMBO menu is higher and deserves better than THAT!

(2) So we asked for the lettuce as a substitute. We had to find the alternatives to Just to Enjoy(?) our dinner. The waitress charged $5 for 6 leaves of lettuce that a side dish should come with any meat ( BBQ ) menu. The waitress said 'it only comes with BBQ ( Grill on the table ), not Pre-Cooked menu.' It was totally non-sense !!! Lettuce is typical side dish for meat in Korean food. It should have given free for any meat menu , it is like a kimchi in Korean meal.

(3) Since there were only 6 pieces for 2 people, we needed ask for more lettuce refill. She charged $5 more dollars for another 5 pieces of lettuce. Terrible !!!

(4) So we could not enjoy, and finish all dish. We wanted to doggy bag. As soon as we mention that the waitress SAID that you only can take home the meats BUT NOT THE SIDE DISHES. Most of the side dishes ( Banchan ) were left since we did not finish eating there. We asked. "Don't you throw them way? Are you re-using these?" She said. 'No. We throw them away, but you cannot take them." HECK! We deserved to take home what we paid for! She had no idea what a SERVICE should be.

I was so disappointed that I walked in that restaurant among hundreds of other Korean restaurants in Pal Park. The quality of FOOD and the SERVICE were TERRIBLE, and I threw the money way for feeling...