Jinju Sullungtang

I went with my family to this place for dinner because it was a hot day, and although the reviews were mainly bad, I had a great experience. Right when we walked in, the lady in charge greeted us and seated us right away. While they are a hole in the wall kind of place, the food was good and service was great. They even have a complimentary coffee machine!

After sitting in traffic for 1.5 hours on my way home from work I was in dire need of a place to pick up some warm soup for the sick boyfriend. Jinju (now called Yook Ssam) was the only place that was on the way to home, so I stopped in to grab a couple items to go.
New name, but apparently the exact same item which leads me to think it is pretty much the same shit, new name. bad sign.
The menu was busy and cluttered, but I made my choices to the gom tang, and newly added gamja tang. Gamja tang was so new they didn’t even know what number it was. I had it covered though. Number 6 ahjuma!
As I picked up my food and drove home, I gave my mom a call, as I always do when I’m tired and hungry and mad at the world. Told her I picked up food from jin ju and she told me huge mistake. She too had stepped in for some food, and saw the cook in the back walk around, pick up some chunks of meat with their bare hands that had been doing God knows what seconds before, throw it into her food, walk away, and then come back to stir. I figured, how bad could it be…
Gom tang had tripe in it. Is this normal? It had all this shit in it that we could not figure out. Bf barely ate any of it, and then put it in the fridge to «eat later». I’m pretty sure it’s still sitting there just ready to be thrown out.
Gamja tang also had a whole bunch of shit I did not understand. I’m 101% positive they just used the left over remains of another soup and threw the pork neck and potatoes in a separate container to play it off as gam ja tang. That too was half eaten and thrown away.
Point of story. Moms are always right. This place sucks.

It was a hot day, and I was craving Korean cold noodle (naengmyun). Honestly it was bad… Too much msg it made my mouth so dry. I know most places sell naeng myun, they make base soup out of MSG but I think this place was the worst places out of I visited. But galbi was good but so expensive. I don’t think I will ever come to this restaurant for naeng myun. :(

I tried this place yesterday because I was at the strip mall and did not want to drive far for lunch. Their Galbi Tang was very good, but not quite like Han Yang. Even though I am not Korean, I had no difficulty getting seated and ordering my food. The staff was a bit short-​handed during the peak lunch hour, but you can see that they were working their tails off trying to serve everyone. I will be back to try their other dishes.

I’m not sure if people give this place a low rating but I really like this place. All of the food is very good. The broth of the sullung tang is superb.

We stumbled upon this place because we didn’t know the area. Can we say MSG? The server forgot our rice and the sullungtang just did not smell right. Isn’t sulluntang in the restaurant name? The bathrooms weren’t the most cleanest of bathrooms either. Something about this place just made feel the food wasn’t entirely fresh. I’m all for supporting mom and pop restaurants, but you won’t see me eating here ever again.

One of the owners is a SUPER friendly lady who totally hit it off with our son last night. That alone made the dinner much more enjoyable, but the food was really good too. It comes out piping hot, so give it a few minutes to cool down, but otherwise really good stuff. Considering they’re a new spot, they had a pretty good sized crowd in there, but it doesn’t stop you from getting a great and quick meal!
My parents LOVE this place, so it looks like we’ll be coming here for all of our meals every time we’re in the area.

ok food for very reasonable price

This place has to be the best Korean food restaurant in Cerritos. I think the flavor also beats most places in Orange County. There is a good variety of soups here. I’ve tried the bean sprout soup, sullungtang, haejanggook, dried pollack soup, mul naengmyun, hwe naengmyun, and kongguksu. All were good, and their bossam was good too. The owner was super nice and the prices weren’t bad. I liked their kimchi and kkadugi too. I’ve been here a lot for their morning specials, and they are totally worth it. Overall, if you live in the area, you will probably be coming back here pretty often~

I really feel that the shopping plaza where Jinju Sullungtang is located is surely cursed. A lot of businesses have come and gone, with the stores not really grabbing a lot of attention. I believe the previous business was a pizza parlor that had been there for years.
I think in order for Jinju Sullungtang to make it, they need to advertise themselves better. It’s basically a mom and pop shop using very basic marketing. Times are changing, so you need to adapt in order to be successful. I just don’t get that feeling here. For some reason, I always forget that this restaurant is even here and I’ve never seen the place packed.
I tried their Galbi Tang, which is beef short rib soup mixed with pepper, spices, green onions, and jujubes. It was average at best. Had some flavor, but nothing robust to make my senses tingle. With competition close by, it’s hard to crave this rendition, when Han Yang in Buena Park makes such a mean version.
I have yet to try their Sullungtang, which is beef ox tail soup. It supposed to be their signature item so I guess I’ll have to take it for a test drive one of these days. If I can just get myself to remember that this place exists. OY VEY!

The food here is really delicious! I ordered seollongtang and oxtail soup and I gotta day that it is one of the best korean soup restaurant around!

Their service is very poor. Their main food is sullungtang but the soup is so bad. Server and cook never pay attention to customer. Last time I took out the ugerjitang and I wanted one more rice when I order but they didn’t pack it even they charged for additional rice. I will never ever gonna come here again.

Whatever food spot my old man recommends, I check out. This cozy spot did not disappoint. I didn’t believe my mom when she mentioned it opened early but we got in around 10:18, which was 18 minutes too late for the morning special. It was an extra $ 3, definitely worth the extra change. The Haejang soup was great, balanced in flavor and spice, as was the seafood pancake. If it hasn’t dawned on you yet, service at a Korean joint isn’t gonna be like service at a Denny’s. Get over it. It’ll take a bit of patience and going out of your way to get what you want, but the food and side dishes are just quality. I’ll be coming back here, only thing is I’ll have to wake up in time!
Just a note: my receipt had the address as 13 349 Artesia blvd.

I drop by this spot regularly when I stop in Cerritos to visit the fam. It’s a legit spot that provides a variety of goodness, including their brisket soup and my favorite, the ox head plate that comes out sizzling with select choice of meats, green onion, enoki mushrooms and rich, buttery broth.
Having been here several times, I can contest that the quality is consistent. The service can be hit or miss at times, but when it’s on, it’s fantastic. They regularly provide refills of the banchan (the kimchi and daikon) and even provide soup if you aren’t having a dish that provides that as a mainstay.
I think some of the other Unilocalers had a bad experience but I’ve never encountered such polarizing actions to warrant this place to be as low as it is.
Overall, a solid 3.5 joint: solid food at reasonable prices with fast turnaround if you are getting to go.

I love this place for the convenience factor. It’s nearby my parent’s home and we can be in and out for a quick bite without any issues. I’d say the quality is pretty decent and the ladies who work there are always very hospitable. I usually stick with the usual brisket soup although the ox head is also good. It come served bubbling on a stone platter. Since it’s located in the same shopping center the Zion market parking is never an issue (and it makes it easy to swing by to pick up some korean munchies to take home). I’ll probably continue to come here whenever I get a craving for sullungtang but don’t feel like making the trek out to Ktown to go to my usual spot.

I had their mool neng myun (cold broth noodles) here and while it wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t very good either. I’d say average at best. It was pretty bare minimal. Couple slices of meat, a hard boiled egg and some thinly sliced pickeled daikon radish. The broth was a bit on the bland side.
I don’t think I’ll be going back here again. There are better places for sullung tang and nengmyung around the Cerritos area.

Wow EJ, I can’t believe they don’t even give you the noodles unless you ask. You really shouldn’t even have to ask at a Sullungtang place. How can you have Sullungtang without the noodles? That is unheard of. And it’s one of the best parts of Sullungtang. I personally like mine with a lot of dangmyun (the glassy noodles).
I tried this place once and am never going back. The flavor of the Sullungtang was lacking the deep rich flavor that makes a good Sullungtang. It kind of tasted watery, bland, and basically tasteless. Maybe they don’t simmer the broth long enough to achieve that deep flavor… IDK. Jinju Sullungtang is actually down the street from my home. But I’d rather drive over to La Palma to Jangmo Jip for Sullungtang. It’s about a good ten minute drive, but at least I know that I won’t be disappointed.

Tried cold noodle, Jinju Heo Naengmyeon. Yum!
My co-​workers and I went there last week and the store served Marinated Beef Rib as Grand Opening Special Gift to who ordered Cold Noodles. All 3 of us got that treat! Sweet treat! I like the store.

I’ll be honest: I love Seol Leong Tang. A lot.
It has to be one of my favorite foods… although I have to admit I have a lot of favorites.
What can I say, I love food!
So anyway, when I saw that a new place had opened, I knew I had to try.
Here’s my experience dining here.
It is in the following order:
1.Location
2.Ambience
3.Service
4.Food
5.Summary/Too Long; Didn’t Read version
Please scroll Waaaaaaay down for TL;DR.
1. Location
Great! It’s right on the corner of Artesia and Carmenita, where Woori Market is located.
There is usually parking space, although you may have to walk a bit at peak times.
A little ominous, though, is that the spot this place opened up had already seen multiple businesses come and go. The most recent one was a wannabe Japanese place that closed up shop within a matter of months because their food… well…yeah.
2. Ambience
I was surprised at how they barely made any changes, except to the mural on the wall; they painted over where the previous restaurant’s name was and put their name on it.
Over all I’d say it’s pretty good. They have TVs in two corners, and I didn’t hear music which I always like (I don’t like noise when I’m eating food. It’s distracting.)
There are pictures of menu items on the walls, which will definitely help people who aren’t familiar with the food sold here.
3. Service
When I first stepped in, I stood and waited for one of the 4 ladies standing about to say «Hi» and lead me to a seat. I was there for about 30 seconds before some older guy sitting at a table in the back corner yelled «Welcome!»
Only then did the ladies notice me and seat me.
While I was waiting after I ordered a Seol Leong Tang, the lady sitting at the table next to me was complaining that the person who had come after her had gotten her take-​out order, but she had not received her food to dine-​in.
After about 5 more minutes, she gave up and told the servers «Sorry, I have no more time, I gotta go, I’ll be back next time.»
Judging from her interaction with the servers, she was probably an acquaintance.
Soon after the lady sitting next to me left, my food came.
Before I could even dig in, the older guy went up the to counter and started scolding the ladies for various things.
Apparently he was the owner, and he was not happy at their performance.
It’s not that I wanted to eavesdrop.
He was just really loud, to the point that it was obnoxious.
It wasn’t only the noise level, it was also the delivery.
He used «C-​Pal!» which is the equivalent of the F-​Word in Korean.
He also threw various insults, using phrases like «I’m sorry, but I feel like I’m living with a bunch of retards.»
(He actually said «someone whose head is made of stone», but it’s an insult equivalent to «retard»).
This tirade went on for a good 15 minutes.
When I was almost done eating, one of the servers, probably the oldest, came to me and said, «You’re done eating, I can bring you your check, right?».
So I gave her a stunned look for a few seconds before telling her «No, I’m not done, but you can bring the check, thank you.»
After she said she’d bring my check, I waited… and waited… and waited.
So I asked someone else for it. Still no check.
I asked the first lady again for my check.
She saw the card in my hand and said «Oh, we don’t take card for under $ 20».
Considering that the Seol Leong Tang was $ 8.71 with tax, this means that any party of less than 3 should make sure to bring cash, because with two people that is still $ 17.42.
Then I had to ask twice for my receipt. Once she came to me with a receipt, showed it to me, said «See? It’s the right amount.» and took it back. Only the second time did I get it. And no one said anything as I left saying thanks.
In short, services was horrible.
4. Food
The food was just sad. The amount of side dishes was RIDICULOUS, gave me ONE radish kimchi when I asked for more. The soup was brown, when it should be milky. It could only mean that the cook did not properly get the blood out, and the marrow had not been thoroughly cooked for hours and hours. Plus, the salt was MSG salt, pepper was cheap yellow stuff, and there were only 3 containers of green onions for 14 tables.
5. Summary/TL;DR
Location’s great. Ambiences is good. Services is horrible. Food is horrible. Owner is a jerk. DO NOT GO HERE.

UPDATE: We have ordered to go twice since my original review. FYI: you have to ASK for the noodles, otherwise they won’t give it to you. Also, they won’t give you extra rice if you ask. boo-​urns. I drop this place down to 3 stars only bc my kids will eat it but we’re (the adults) not so won over anymore. the 2^nd time we ordered the broth wasn’t good but the 3^rd time it was good again. Lots of kinks for this business to figure out.
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Pleasantly surprised. Ordered it to-​go and didn’t have too high expectations. We live minutes away from JangMoJip so we know good quality sulungtang but after trying Jinju I will prolly order from here again.
The broth is not white and murky colored like «traditional» sulungtang. It is a light amber colored. I liked the soup because it tasted similar to Galbitang, which I love. Also, it didn’t come with noodles. Don’t know if they forgot or if it doesn’t come with it at this location.
So not sure if this is what you’re looking for but as far as comfort food soups, it’s pretty scrumptious. Not your typical «sulungtang» but still quite yums.