Nak Won Restaurant

I came here with my girlfriend. The first thing that happened was that a bug landed on my spoon… The second thing that happened was there were ants on our table. After that… The food was good, I admit, but the whole time we were put off and paranoid because of the bugs. The side dishes are average, go next door if you want something more fresh and delicious. Overall, a partially traumatic experience…

How do you Unilocal a memory?
I have had every range of emotions at this place. I’ve laughed over galbi, I’ve wept over a seafood pancake.
Friendships have cemented here, into the late hours over cigarettes, incredible food, hite and tornados of soju. and the memories… countless memories, made this one of my most cherished restaurants.
I speak of a Nak Won I knew ten years ago. My friends and I were regulars. The food was fantastic. The service was more than friendly, the place was another home for us.
But now… The memory has been overridden by a new program. An update, if you will, that has corrupted the fundamentals. I went last night with a friend who I used to frequent the place with, we ordered galbi, pork belly bbq. There was a lone waitress, young, not from the old school. That’s fine, I thought, seasons change as do we. But she didn’t get it. She didn’t bring us the complete banchan, sadly, despite her best intentions, she didn’t cut the meat very well. We found the place was dead, lifeless. I felt at that moment as if I had foolishly unearthed a relationship with an ex that ended well. Why did I have to push for the one night stand, years later, to tarnish the memory with signs of age and resignation.
I leave three stars, like a tip on the table, for old times sake. It will be no more and no less, a down the middle of the road experience, like life.

Korean food in the city of Baltimore has always been about the two korean restaurants on 20^th st.
I normally go to Ellicott City for my fix, but I recently went here due to a couple of friends requesting it. Comparatively speaking, I think that this place isn’t too bad considering the competition in the City.
So back to the main point. The fact that they offer both BBQ and Drink Packages for large groups is such a plus its almost a no brainer when going with a group of friends. The food on the other hand is A-​OK. The meat I felt could have been better represented and the service could also have been a bit more attentive.
Overall, I would come back if I really was not in the mood to drive to ellicott city.

I also ate at this restaurant for five years, and it is one of the more convenient restaurants in Baltimore. Like Jong Kak, it has lunch special on the weekdays, and a variety of dishes beyond just barbecues. It is a little cheaper, and it has a more simple setting than it’s neighbor Nak Won.

KBBQ is expensive in Baltimore, and this place is no exception. (I say this from someone who’s used to K-​town LA prices of less than 20 bucks for AYCE.)
We got the $ 50+ BBQ for two people, a price which we tolerated. We were happy with our stove top BBQ actually: pork neck, chicken, bugolgi, and kalbi. Plus there was great service. Then we got the check: mandatory 20% tip? Jesus Christ.
Their explanation was that the international college students in town walk away without tipping. Really? You can’t explain it to them before leaving that they need to pay tip? We were satisfied with our meal, but this pretty much killed it for us. After tax and tip, we both ended up paying $ 35.
So I really enjoyed the food here, but dine in is not worth it. I wouldn’t mind ordering to-​go in the future though.

After getting food: this food is amazing I love it! I think I would just go to the place to eat next time though since the delivery is sketchy.
Waiting for food: ordered food from here tonight using order up… and hour and a half ago. still hasn’t arrived. at the hour mark we called the restaurant and asked about it. the women asked what our order was said «oh yes i remember, should be there in 15mins.» and it’s been 30mins since we called the restaurant directly… can’t rate the food yet but so far the service is horrible.

We had dinner here for the first time last night-​too it to go. The food was pretty good… The kal bi was soft and tasty. We will be going back for a eat in dinner

I go to Nak Won quite a bit, based on the KBBQ places that i have tried around that corridor i believe its the best, i may be wrong but that’s just my opinion. I have a couple of quirks about this place, first sides are never replenished, tho service is nice, its a little distant or just unavailable go figure. Also they have a strange habit of tucking on a 20−25% tip on service regardless of party size. This i feel is quite off-​putting. Anyhow, the food is good so i will just tuck tail and take it.

This is always a solid choice by the Johns Hopkins campus. I usually go for one of the combos and have tried other items including the seafood pancake. Combo B comes with a spicy stir fry chicken and rice cake that is delicious. I enjoy the marinade of the meats and the steamed egg is always heavenly. It’s a bit pricey though and there is an automatic 20% tabletop service charge for barbecue. Overall can’t complain but the location may be a bit sketchy sometimes.

Delicious! Nice to find a good, casual, no fuss Korean BBQ place in the city instead of driving to honey pig in EC, especially with how crowded that place gets! This place is perfect for a casual dinner with friends. Food was on point and staff friendlier than HP. Will be back!

Not very impressed with this place. We used Orderup and had Bimbap delivered and the kimchi pancake. It took over 90 mins to arrive. The Bimbap had minuscule amount of meat. The pancake was not authentic at all… It was covered in cheese and tasted like bad pizza.

I loved this place. I can’t say for sure but this place was crazy authentic Korean in an area of town that should be called «Little Korea» or «Korea Town» by Baltimoreans. The restaurant is in the heart of Station north. There are several (at least 4) Korean places in just a block. It is not fancy, run by a nice family and has a huge menus they do big Korean BBQ at the table, warm hot pots, soups, and noodles and dumplings.
I got something called the Kong Biji dish… hot spicy stew red with ground up beans, kimchi and a fatty piece of bone in the middle… incredible!!! It is incredible on a cold day, tasty, filling and only $ 8.99. It came with all the Korean sides like fish cake, Kim chi, bean sprouts and some I just didn’t know. Put rice in the bowl and delish!

At first, I love Nak Won. My bibimbap was hot, fresh and delicious. The Kamja tang was great, and so was the seafood pancake. They even served us shikae at the end as a dessert (sometimes.depending on your server).
However there were other times where my bibimbap was cold (in the stone bowl…), the service would be horrendous, and the food was be tasteless (usually late at night) especially the jajangmyun.
I do recommend the dukguk here.
It’s a hit or miss depending on your visit but recently I’ve been getting a lot of misses.

Delivery of food REQUIRES a tip and the driver will not leave unless one is given to you!!!
The food is excellent HOWEVER!!! If you get it delivered and don’t give a tip they will demand one from you!!!

I’ve been going to Nakwon frequently during my 4 years of college in Baltimore. In general, I’m satisfied with Nakwon overall. The Korean cuisine is authentic — there are traditional Korean dishes and barbeque.
They also serve many Korean alcoholic drinks such as Soju and rice wine.
They serve many complimentary small dishes prior to each meal, and give sweet rice soup (shikae) after the meal.
Overall, it is a good place to get Korean food in Baltimore.

Don’t judge the book by its cover…
You can’t see much from the outside of the restaurant. Once you open the door, you STILL cannot see much… because they tend to seat people in the back room!
Lots of selections and reasonably priced. Good quality food. They also has delivery and free ride service (very interesting).

Food was decent, friendly staff as well. The prices are a little high for what you get but I guess that is expected for kbbq. We had the combo B with a seafood pancake which was almost enough for the 6 of us. All meats were good.

I believe the food here is pretty authentic. The fried chicken with hot and sweet sauce was tasty. The Seafood Pancake was amazing and I think it’s the best one I’ve had. I really enjoyed the Banchan and have gotten take out from this place a few times. The service was pretty fast despite what some reviews said, maybe I was just lucky. I found the prices to be very reasonable. I would definitely come back again and I recommend you give it a try.

Yum! Another great Korean food place hidden in Baltimore. You’ve got to come for the lunch special — everything is so cheap :).
I had no problems with the service at all (but that might be because we had a Korean speaking person with us so. I assume some bias). They were attentive and totally filled up all our side dishes — cause I love bean sprouts.
My friend had the bibimbap and it looked delicious. I got some sort of soup and — the portions were huge. I couldn’t even finish all of the tasty broth ;(. At the end of the meal they also give you complimentary dessert (some sweet rice soup).

I’ve always been a Nam Kang guy, but recently hit this place twice. I usually get the kim chi jigae at both places. Nak Won’s is better by far. The bon chon is good and the dishes that my co-​workers have ordered look great. The galbi tang was a favorite.
Service can be spotty and is the reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 4. My mom is Korean, so I speak the language fluently and that helps. Overall, I think it’s the best Korean food in Baltimore.