Bonchon Centereach - Centereach Mall — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

Second update: Came here again, and I must say, things are definitely improving here.

Service: Exceptional during my most recent visit.

Atmosphere: More pictures are being hung, there are ballon decorations when walking in, and the facility is clean.

Food: ordered Bibimbap and Korean fried rice this time. These were very good.

Will be ordering here again.

This is an update to my original post.

I was finally able to stand on a much shorter line on Sunday. It wasn’t quick, but it definitely wasn’t an hour long wait on line.

Food: I enjoyed the food, my family, not so much. I ordered a six piece wings, eight piece drumsticks, and Korean doughnuts. The four sauce selections for the chicken are good and I enjoyed them all, especially the yangnyeom sauce. My family thought the chicken was over breaded, and although I agree for the wings, not the drumsticks, to me both were good. The doughnuts were also good, fresh, and soft, and came with a little sauce packet.

Atmosphere: It is not a very large place, and it was a Dickies BBQ before this. There is seating, but it fills up real fast. The decor is ok for the size of the establishment.

Service: Ok this is a tough one, but I will curb as the place is new. Cooks: They have ample staff in the kitchen. And from the front looking in, looks like they’re cooking, constantly. From some reviews it looks like some of the cooks are still learning to cook the Korean dishes, however, there was a woman, Korean I believe, who may have been teaching the them how to make the dishes (bulgogi, janpache, etc). Hopefully they pick up quickly. The cashiers: The place has two registers, but when I’ve been in there, only one cashier. I believe they’re still hiring. The young ladies are nice, however, as in my previous post, it takes at least three minutes per customer on the line, longer if their cards are not working, or the customers don’t know what they want, or want an explanation of what the Korean offerings are. Hey, maybe look it up on Google? But three to five minutes per customer, with ten people on line, is 30-50 minutes, just to make an order. They are learning too, but when this improves, it will make the experience here, much better.

I happened to speak to who I believe was a manager there, and he said that it’s been tough since the opening and that they are working on online and phone ordering, but that it’ll take time, which is ok, I’m patient. He was definitely concerned about the success of the business, and its future. To me it is as if they were not expecting the amount of people that actually showed up, including ones that didn’t want to wait in a long line that never got to order.

Will definitely give Bonchon Centereach more chances and will recommend to others, but that they’ll need to be patient.

It is wonderful that it opened in Centereach and I wish it...

We decided to try this newly opened restaurant. I called to place an order, but they do not take orders over the phone (per Corporate rules,) only online. And the online App was not up and running yet. Located in a small storefront, in an extremely small & busy side parking lot. The restaurant was very busy!!! There are approximately 10-12 tables for eating in. The line to order was out the door, and remained that way, with only 1 counter person taking orders, which was frustrating during Grand Opening days. The food orders go through a kitchen window and there is someone expediting the orders out. I don't think it's a great system, fairly chaotic, and once online orders get rolling, and possibly delivery services, I cannot imagine it working efficiently. We ordered a bunch of things to try. The Udon Noodle Soup wasn't great. The broth looked like soy sauce and the noodles didn't have a pleasant flavor. Beef bulgogi was excellent. Great flavor, the meat was tender. Pork belly fried rice was mediocre. Some of the rice was in sticky clumps and still white. The wings (we had soy garlic sauce) were excellent. Delicious crunch and decent sized wings. The Boneless Wings (we had Korean BBQ sauce) were also very good. Again, a nice crunch, and a nice meaty piece of chicken. The sauce was very spicy. Lastly, we had the pork pot stickers. They were excellent, with a nice outside crunch, but tender inside. We thought the portions were small, (between pint and quart sized portions,) and it was quite pricey. Customer service was good amid the craziness and still clearly learning, which...

I work out here in Long Island (from Queens) so I know how the BonChon "should taste." (This isn't it.) -Chicken with bone: It was nice and crispy and it definitely looked good but the flavor is just off. The soy garlic didn't taste like soy garlic. The spicy is kind of spicy but no flavor. It's weird. I thought the food items were shipped in from NYC and all they do is deep fry and slather on the sauce but I guess not. These were really juicy and FATTY pieces of chicken. It seemed a bit undercooked because I couldn't pull the meat off the bone. I had to remove the fat. It was just too much. Seemed extra hormone-y. -Radish: The pickled radish isn't pickled. It's just wet. There's no flavor. Where's the vinegar, salt and sugar? I guess they bland it down for the neighborhood? I think the locals would be terrified if the radish smelled the way they were supposed to be pickled. If this is a franchise, then there's something missing from their flavor profile. Needs improvement. Doesn't take much but they need to step...