Bonchon - Rockville — Restaurant in Rockville

Greetings all,

I'm writing this review as I sit in the restaurant. I've eaten at Bonchon in Rockville and NYC before and never faced the issues I faced/am facing today. My friend and I went to Bonchon today and put in our order right away as we know what we want (this included an order of lemons). Our waters came and no lemon. My friend asked for lemons again. Still no lemons. Then a couple that ordered their food about 15mins after us received a plate of fries before us followed by their wings. Now we still haven't received our food which is odd because our order was not only before theirs but smaller.

Mind you, still no lemons.

When our food finally came, the edamame were not as delicious as usual (it isn't hard to steam edamame and evenly sprinkle w/salt) and my chicken strips were dry. My friends side order was not was she asked for. When brought to the waitress' attention in a sweet way she looked as if she was frightened for her life. Why you ask? Not sure. Any who someone else came over and seemed bothered when I asked for an alternative to this unfortunate situation. Long story short, she took it in the kitchen and brought it back less dry, but not as coated as our neighbors and chicken I've ordered in the past. I am so disappointed that I didn't finish eating. My highlight was the cole slaw and please understand that I'm being facetious.

I am highly disappointed in the service, the food, and the way staff handled the situation. I will not be returning to this Bonchon when I visit from NYC.

Oh and my friend finally got her lemons by asking the busboy, who didn't even bother to alert our waitress, just brought it back immediately. Hopefully, today was all a series of unfortunate incidents versus our experiences being linked to...

I made the mistake of neglecting to double-check my pick-up order. After driving back to work, a 10-minute trip, I discovered they had omitted the steamed rice, which is an additional $3. Upon calling to address the issue, the person on the line offered to have the rice prepared for me to pick up but refused to issue a partial refund, suggesting a credit instead. There was no acknowledgment of the inconvenience, let alone an apology. While I didn't anticipate anything beyond a refund, it seemed unreasonable not to receive one. Why should I endure another 10-minute drive, find parking, walk to the restaurant, and then return back to work? By the time I'd return, my chicken would be cold. Not to mention I was starving at this point. It appeared they regarded my inconvenience lightly, despite my payment and tip. Requesting to speak with a manager, I was initially denied, and after insisting three times, I finally spoke with Gorica. However, she maintained they couldn't offer a refund. I expressed disbelief in their inability to refund a mere $3, especially in this day and age. Eventually, Gorica relented, mentioning she needed to consult her own manager. She promised their manager would call me within 5 to 7 business days. It's absurd for such a small matter to require such a delay. While normally, I wouldn't fuss over $3, the lack of empathy displayed was utterly unacceptable. Now, I wait to see if they fulfill their promise and issue the refund. Positive Note: Gorica called back to tell me that they refunded...

Picked up a to go order.

The person on the phone was very helpful and i was greatly looking forward to another amazing delicious Bonchon.

When i got there, while they weren't busy, they were less than friendly and not helpful at all (there were a number of them clustered about socializing.

One very young and very disinterested girl came to disenchant and shoo me out of their way and was not happy answering my questions and seemed more bothered by them and adding new items to the order (as was suggested on the phone), almost killed the poor soul.

No one else took interest away from their huddle enough to even check or given a hint of recognition.

I was bothered enough that when it came time to tip, I was already left with a sour taste in my mouth even before the food. While I felt a little bad scrooging them on the tip, i felt way extremely justified later.

When I did get home to share my normally exciting Bonchon, we found they hadn't cared to open little vent holes in the box and put in the box super hot. For those who know, that means the chicken was super soggy by the time I got it home. Since Bonchon crust is supposed to be super crunchy, and I've had it many times from different Bonchons, i was very unsatisfied and left extremely disappointed in their Rockville location. I felt bad for the happy soul on the phone when the others that touched my order contributed to a terrible experience.

And for the happy girl on the phone that cared, thanks. As the song says, don't go back to...