Goong Korean Restaurant

Dont even think about coming to this restaurant you guys. I took my mom n sister here for dinner. The server didn’t even like care when we asked for to go boxes. She took her times, went clean up other tables. When we asked for water, it took her like 10 mins to come out with it. She bagged out boxes and spilled the food. Then, we haven’t leave the table yet, she came to actually count the tips in front of us with an unhappy face, then starting cleaning up as we didn’t even step out of the table yet. (The restaurant is not even busy for her to cleaning back to back n dont want to wait for customer to leave) I am more than disappointed at this place. I have been coming here to eat for the past 2 yrs. worst experience ever!!! Service is definitely horrible. The food is not that great!

Should really be updating my review for this place. Of the few times I went after my first review, It had gotten a lot better from what I remembered.
I tried their spicy rice cake, seafood pancake, soon tofu, and kalbi. I don’t really have anything better to say.
It’s a very comfortable family style restaurant that puts you at ease. I feel relaxed and less uptight compared with some other places.
All entrees come with 4 – 5 side dishes which aren’t a whole lot but at least not wasteful.
I enjoy their service which is again, very family style oriented but nevertheless welcoming and comfortable.

Located in an idle shopping plaza but right down the street from the Rentschler field, this place is easy to miss, somehow. Came two years ago as part of a reservation for 12, we were given our own cozy party room.
I had the bulgogi which was cooked well and tender but because I sat here for a while trying to remember what I ordered that day before I wrote this review, ultimately, my meal experience wasn’t memorable enough. I’d say the bulgogi was just average, not fantastic but not bad either.
I do recommend the:
–haemul pajuhn korean pancake
–jajangmyun black bean sauce noodles
–sahmgyupsahl thin pork belly bbq strips
–kimchi bokuem bap kimchi fried rice w. pork
–dolsut bibim bap
These were some orders from the rest of our table who were very pleased with what they got!

This place tastes much better than it looks!
The specialties are yookgaejang and jajang-​myeon and jamppong.
If you order these menu you would not go wrong.
Sweet and sour pork and kkanponggi are also good!

Whenever I am in Connecticut and craving Korean seafood pancakes and steamed dumplings, this is where I go. Their food is pretty good. Their dumplings are delicious. Never tried the fried ones but the steamed ones are soft and just right. Their service is quick incase you’re so famished and you want your food to be served quickly. The place is a decent size. They have private rooms which seemed a bit suffocating but I guess good enough for people who would want to dine in privacy. Prices are moderate. Their portions are a bit small. Perhaps skimpy. But overall, their food is yummy. I would always go and eat here to satisfy my cravings.

I love Korean food and have been here lots of times, also Seoul BBQ. I’ll compare them a bit.
Seoul is in West Hartford and near West Farm Mall. This place is in a quiet, old and kinda lack of maintenance plaza in East Hartford. Seoul is typical Korean restaurant, big with modern décor and more expensive. Here is like a family running service.
The seafood pancake here is more tasty than Seoul with a better price. Rice is better cooked than Seoul. Japchae (stir fry potato noodles) is way better than Seoul, taste and amount both (Seoul offers a small amount and put too much sugar in so it’s too sweet). As for Codfish soup, the taste is same between these two. But Seoul has crab in it and served with larger amount, but also higher price. Seoul gives more free dishes, but don’t seem like freshly made. Here gives only a few but you can ask for refill and dishes are made freshly.
I come here more often because I know they are genuine Korean and I personally like family style restaurants.

The dumplings and the kimchi alone could have sufficed for lunch, but we soldiered on, wanting to taste more of what Goong had to offer. We stuck with the more well-​known, traditional Korean dishes, ordering from the lunch special menu which offered items at a lower price but seemed to be lacking nothing else. Amy got the BulGoGhi Dup-​Bab, sweetly marinated strips of Korean barbecued beef served with steamed rice. Although she wished for more of a char on the meat, the tenderloin strips were exceptionally tender and the flavor was outstanding. We’re sure she’ll be ordering that again. Chris wanted to see if our own version of Bibimbap was as good as we thought it was and ordered Goong’s DolSoht version. It arrived in a sizzling stone hot pot filled to the brim with beef, vegetables, and rice, all seasoned with hot pepper paste and topped with a sunny-​side up egg. Ours was good, but now that we’ve discovered Goong, we probably won’t be making it again any time soon (if ever!). The hot pot crisped the rice nicely, creating a wonderful textural balance to the creamy egg yolk, cooked veggies and spicy beef. Talk about comfort food — hearty, soulful and so very satisfying.
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Even though this restuarant is in a sketchy part of east hartford, it was very good food. It was just what I needed for feeling a little sick. The spices cleared my sinuses right up. I had a lunch special that had seafood, tofu, and fried egg. It was very good!
Trying to get the bill was a bit of hassle. Not sure where they ran off to when they weren’t talking to us.

Don’t waste your time. This place was terrible for those who’ve eaten very good high quality Korean.

Sure it’s in a pretty gross strip mall but the food is solid. The price is a little high for us but justified by the mostly authentic taste. We had the jaeyookbokeum (spicy pork) and soondooboo (soft tofu stew). The spicy pork was very good but the soondooboo wasn’t great. Lived in Seoul for 5 years and was on par with middle of the road joints there in Seoul. The staff was super friendly and free refills on side dishes (Korea standard!) We’ll surely be back.

I am torn whether I should give it 3 or 4 stars.
Too bad there isn’t a 3.5 stars on Unilocal so I will around it up to 4 right now
I have came here several times it had been kind of inconsistent lately. Previous visits are great. Last two visits during lunch was slightly lacking.
Compared to Ichiban and Seoul BBQ, this place is cheap. And the portions of its dishes tends to be fulfilling for most diners, which is a plus for me.
Like most Korean restaurants, this place also serve free appetizers (mostly small veggie dishes). Standard stuff. The lack of variety could be concerning but the willingness to refill, unlike some other places, is good.
My gf loved their spicy rice cake (tobokey (?)). And I personally enjoyed their beef ribs soup.
But since they have a short menu compared to most Korean restaurants, it’s worth visiting once in a while.

this place has good jajang myun ($ 8.99) and jjampohng ($ 10.99). both were really good as was the tangsu yook ($ 15.99). we wanted the small one but since it was saturday they only served the large one.
the side dishes were a little tasteless but overall not bad. the service was friendly but the lady who i think may be the owner. the place is a good size as well.
i would recommend this place.

Delicious Korean comfort food in the creepiest most neglected shopping plaza Ive ever seen.
They serve a nice banchan spread including a really good kimchi as well as a couple kinds of namul, fishcake, mushroom bokkeum, egg/​omelette cubes with corn on the top and others. One of them was delicious spicy potato that was notable. The steamed mandoos were delicious. They have two sizes of orders which is great when you’re with a group. The bulgoki beef was delicious. The strength of the marinade was just right and the portion is a good size. It comes served on a sizzling cast iron dish.
The menu is extensive with a ton of traditional Korean offerings. The have the usual staples like bibimbap, soondubu jigae, teokbokki etc but they also offer many things that you don’t see on menus often. I can’t wait to go back.
The service is culturally typical. The don’t kiss your ass but they dont throw dishes at you either. It’s curt and efficient.
The location is hilarious. The occupied buildings seem kept up however the parking lot has not seen maintenance since the 1980s. The lot and entrance have the look of abandonment … like a dead mall. It’s weird and creepy however don’t let that deter you from eating at Goong!

Goong Korean Restaurant has by far one of the most awful service possible. I am not going to sit here and say there were rude or disrespectful. Actually, they are very nice people. The problem is how slow it is to get anything. I came in last friday for a meal with some friends. They were quick to sit us down but that is where it starts to go downhill. It took about a half hour for them to take our order and another half hour for the food to come out. Once we finished, it took them almost 45 minutes, let me repeat that 45 minutes to bring us our check. We
On a positive note, the food was great! Highly recommend if you have the patience to sit and wait all day.

Bibimbap was pretty tasty but overall, Korean food (more like what I’ve had of it) just isn’t my thing. I definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to come back.
Still, service was good but the dining room was pretty empty at the peak of lunch time. Even though the dishes were meh, I appreciated that the meal started with a series of small complimentary starter plates (kimchi, sprouts, an egg dish, etc) which my boyfriend polished off with relish. Stinky fermented cabbage does absolutely nothing for me.

Goong is located in what my boyfriend and I like to call K-​Town. The little plaza is nearly dedicated to multiple Korean establishments. It’s quaint for being in a mostly deserted plaza.
Location aside, the service is always very polite and helpful (I ask for help on pronunciation for the Korean names — you know, if I go to Korea I need to know these things!). They only had 2 waitstaff working at any time I’ve been there (including Friday nights) so service can get a little slow, but I’m usually too into my food to care. The menu is quite extensive and delicious. Specifically, I love their bi bim bap, haemol pajuhn (seafood pancake), and silky tofu casserole. I also like the fact that they serve both makgeolli and soju (Korean liquors) for a goooooood time. =D I think the number of banchan is just right and they’re always willing to refill them as needed. I like that their kim chi isn’t fermented as long as other places which gives it a nice crispness.
One negative comment that I’ve only recently discovered… The food is a little bit inconsistent. It’s usually the same flavors and tastiness, but there have been a couple times when it has been overly salty.
Overall, it’s a great restaurant that I consider my go-​to Korean restaurant.

I want this place to do well.
Food great, portions just enough though. You might snack later on.
Service needs some improvement in terms of promptness and attentiveness.
Good alternative to Ichiban when looking for a closer Korean spot.

Honestly, I was just happy to find a Korean place around Hartford that wasn’t «fast food.»
— We were the only ones in the place, so the service was good.
— The food was not bad. It wasn’t the best Korean food I’ve had (as a non-​Korean speaker, even when I ordered the SoonduBu spicy, it came at «meh» level), but for being the only game in town, it was solid.
It’s hard to mess up a stone pot Bi BIm Bop, but they were accommodating for vegetarians, which was nice.
— The prices were just ok as well. Again, there is not much to judge it against here.
I don’t think I’ll be a regular customer, since it really isn’t worth the drive. But, if I’m in the area and jonsing, I would go back.

The other day we had our first exposure to CT Korean food. We chose this place because they have beer and the other Korean place I found on Unilocal in the area apparently doesn’t which I find bizarre. I need my OB or Hite mek ju!
I really liked the overall feel of the place. The service was normal for a Korean place. Pleasant, not overbearing. They only had small beers not the usual big bottles.
But now to the food selection and characteristics which really are driving the 2 star rating. I’m used to getting 10 – 15 banchan. We got 7, one of which was iceberg lettuce with Italian dressing! The kimchi was good, so was the oi kimchi. I also enjoyed one new for me: two hard-​boiled egg halves with boiled garlic cloves and a fw small chunks of boiled beef. But I missed my favorite kkakdugi. I also would have liked the julienned daikon in the sweet vinegar sauce.
They do not have my favorite yuk hwe and as a result no yuk hwe bibimbap. We settled for the regular one. Not only was it composed of a very limited number of ingredients, there was no cooked beef at all. There also was no mul naengmyeon.
Our second usual dish is daeji bulgogi. Usually it comes out sizzling in long strips which are then cut with a pair of kitchen shears accompanied by lettuce for wrapping with some other condiments. What we received were tiny pieces of meat which had a nice flavor but had more the consistency of boiled meat.
Now perhaps I should consider where we are. But I actually have had fantastic Korean food 20 – 30 years ago in places such as Atlanta, GA and Calgary, AB. Despite all of my bitching we’ll most likely go back since we’ll be here for a while.

Came here for lunch recently after having visited the restaurant of owner’s brother — Pick & Mix.
I look forward to coming back. A really solid place. Hard to get a grasp of everything in just one visit, but here were the postiives.
Great deal for lunch at 9.95. You get a little salad, soup, lots of kimchee and a big portion of a dish. We went «safe» with the BiBimBop and the Bulgolgi. Both had fresh vegetables and rice and some beef.
The service was friendly and helpful and explained everything in perfect English.
From the outside, this place looks like a hole in the wall, but its actually pretty spacious on the interior and clean.
I wasn’t wowed with the food — after getting Korean food in Annandale, VA it’s hard to go back. But considering the lack of good Korean places around here, it’s a great way to get introduced to the cuisine.
Overall, if you’re looking for solid Korean food, this is a good place to start.