Chung Ki Wa

Nothing that great about the food it’s pretty average. The bibimpap is not as flavorful as I’ve had in other korean restaurants in Allston. The korean bbq comes in a small portion and is pretty expensive. The avocado salad is good though and so is the scallion pancake. The customer service was so bad. First off the attitude of our waiter was rude right off the bat. She almost burned my grandma’s hand, because she just basically slid the stone pot across the table with out looking. The yogurt flavored drink they gave with the check is a nice touch though.

Love this place. The food is always good. The service is not always good though. They do ignore you a lot but the food is great and that is all you really need.

Spicy beef soup, veggie pancake and beef and pork bbq were outstanding. Went with my wife and her sister who are Korean and they were both very happy. I can understand why my sister-​in-​law is a regular here.

The food and price combined rating in my heart is 3 star.

If there’s zero star, that what I would give. We ordered the seafood pot (for 2 – 3 people, it’s a big pot with broth) but when it came out, it was the whole fish with bones, they put the whole fish in! And we saw no other type of seafood!!! It was only the fish and veggies… So we call our server and asked why there isn’t any other type of seafood, she told us this is the traditional Korean dish and we should of ask… Well, clearly my friends & I aren’t Korean so how are we supposed to know that? She made it sounds like it was our faults! If you are only going to put fish & veggies, please call it FISH POT!
I forgot the exact cost for that fish pot but it was def over $ 30… My friend asked the server three time if they could make us something else because we can’t eat fish with bones. Initially they refused so Finally the owner came and said we could.
We ordered one bibimbap to share but it wasn’t great either. We will never go back to this place! Probably the worst experience I have had in terms of services and food quality!

I had the soft tofu chigae to alleviate my korean tofu soup withdrawl after many disappointing visits to Kaju Tofu House. It hit the spot in a different way by providing more tofu and seafood and my tongue not in flames after taking a bite. I will come back here more often until the next korean restaurant that can help with my seafood tofu soup addiction.

I come here once a month or so, and only when I don’t feel like driving to Cambridge. If you want average Korean food in Medford that isn’t cheap, and can tolerate surly customer service, this is the place for you. The food doesn’t feel the freshest, but I’ve never gotten sick from eating here, and have tried everything from the BBQ to bi bim bap to soup to pig feet. My favorites are the jap chae, bi bim bap, and their soups (the spicy beef, seafood, and short rib noodle soups are all good). I have noticed the wait staff treat Korean v. non-​Korean customers differently.
I dine in and get take out; most recent visit was dining in. Waited approximately 12 minutes at the cash register waiting for a staff person to appear to seat us. Eventually a wait staff came out of the bathroom. She took our order while looking down on us like we were the worst. Service and food were average, the side dishes that come with the BBQ could’ve been better and more varied; rice was good. One time dining in the meat burned on the grill and the waitress told us she wouldn’t help us after that one time. Another time take out they forgot to give me over $ 20 in change I was due. At the end you get a free yogurt drink; I don’t usually partake because I see them on the front counter in a pool of water.
All in all, because I think this is the only Korean food in Medford, I agree with the award they have displayed at the counter — Best Korean food in Medford.

I love Korean restaurants because of bibimbap. I love the hot bowl and stirring the food. When mine was brought out in a cold bowl, with the food barely warm, I inquired to the waitress. She said it was my fault. I didn’t order correctly. Excuse me, but isn’t it the politeness of the server to point out that there are two different versions? I was disappointed. Food okay. Service not so good. I was in a place where I didn’t feel as though I was welcomed.

I ordered the soft tofu chigae — it was good but not delicious. I wanted it to be more flavorful and spicy like Kaju Tofu House in Allston. However, unlike Kaju, I did like that it had more seafood and tofu.
My boyfriend ordered the pan fried rice. The menu didn’t say it came with eggs, but when he got his order, he was on a mission to use his fork and chopsticks to get the eggs out. He wasn’t enjoying his meal. Later the waitress noticed, and re-​made his rice without eggs. Sooo much better. His newly made fried rice was not as soggy and more flavorful.
Overall food is decent. Service is excellence!

Service was very bad. avoid this place if you dont like the service. I know it was our fault and assumed to have the «self service sizzle grill» when we order 1 dish instead of 2. But maybe the waitress did mention if we order 1 entry order it will cook inside the kitchen instead of the «self serivce sizzle Grill» Which is fine, since it was our fault. We requested to order our second dish which she will bring the raw dish out.
She came in with our raw meats. then she poured the whole things in the sizzle grill, instead for us to put it ourself. This was really pissed me and my friend off. Really? Shame! Also she didnt bring our bowl of white rice? Yeah she forgot about it.
We asked for more lettuce. and it never come until 10mins later. When we asked for our check. she just add 15% tips into our check. She probably know my friend is mad. She even charged the credit card within 15% tips. lol
Service was awful.

The service was okay, they came by a lot and took whatever empty dishes were on the table. Refilled tea, the shorter lady was more smiley than the other one and they are the older Korean ladies. The bolgogi and Kali wasn’t anything special which was disappointing since we are paying so much and usually when we eat Korean bbq outside its very juicy and delicious. I probably won’t return but it’s always good to try. Our lady even tried to pack my food for me… That was a nice touch lol
Also the side dishes were delicious and good amounts.

Come in last night to eat, left at 10.30 and forgot my phone there. I checked on FindMyPhone app and it shows Medford location, so I knew I left it at the restaurant because I only went to Chung Ki Wa to eat that night (I live in Waltham). The next morning I call and even come back to check, but they say they do not see any phone. The restaurant was closing soon and no new guests were coming in (there was not many guests that night either). Therefore, I assume someone works here stole it when they cleaned the table. I reported to the police but I dont think I will see it anymore. Secure your things when you go eat here!!!

When i read the reviews fron internet it says that it is the best bbq in Boston area, and so i decided to come and try it out. When i first enter the restaurant, it looks pretty nice, warm dining area. So, we ordered a kalbi beef and a seafood pancake. It didn’t take long to bring out the food, and I’m ready to have my nice dinner. I waited for 10 minutes and wondering where the waiter is until i got pretty fed up and ask for a water. The waiter didn’t give me my water, and i have to cook my food myself. Ok, nevermind. After that, my seafood pancake came out. It looks nice and tasty, but when i started cutting my pancake, i found out that the pancake was not fully cooked! I tell my server and she quickly change a new one for me. Wow, still the same! Still undone! My grill were totally black, and they didn’t even want to change a new grill for me. that’s fine, and im kinda upset my kalbi beef taste like normal and the marinade sause were not that good. I ask for a spoon to drink my soup, and i have to take it myself because the server didn’t even want to serve me. After 45 minutes, my server came and ask if everything is ok, and i ask for a water. I didn’t even finish my word and she left. What kind of service is this? 5 minutes later, this lady (guessing its the restaurant manager or the owner) came over and ask us to turn off my grill because its to smokey. Hello! Im having korean bbw here, its your problem when the restaurant is too smokey and i didn’t even finish my food yet (the kalbi beef were still cooking). I can’t stay there and im so upset with all the service. I decided to pack everything home. It takes 10 minutes to pack my food. I ask for my bill, and i the lady automatically add up the gratuity i should give. Under MA law you cannot charge the gratuity when theres 1 person having food. Wow. Epic. Not going there again until they have new management.

The service is not fast, we have to wait for waitress to come and order. The food is yummy

I’ve had Korean BBQ countless times! This place is the worst I have ever seen! Party of 3 we ordered 2 BBQ items and a noodle dish. One item was supposed to be beef tenderloin and what came to the table was rolled up frozen brown sirloin! Sent it back lady argues that we were supposed to dip it to make it taste ok. Sweet… «have our rotten meat but dip it so it tastes ok»…
Left a dollar tip and told the server that it was the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. The owner comes out to the street saying we are stealing!

The bbq is great. I loved the pork belly and beef, the sides to go along with them were plentiful and flavorful. The staff was friendly. I haven’t had anything else there, but really, I don’t plan on choosing anything else in the future except the bbq. The amount of meat was more than enough for 2 people. A great choice if in Medford. The place appeared clean.

The best Korean BBQ in Boston.
Why?
Their portions for the meat are the most of all restaurants in Boston.
Quality of meat?
Not upto par with NY or NJ Korean BBQ, but not bad.
We usually get the Kalbi for two. They usually give you a complementary Dwengjang Jjigae with it.
This is enough to fill my wife and I to the limit, but once in a while we share a Cold Nengmyun.
For Bibim Nengmyun we always go to another place called New Jangsu BBQ.
Sometimes if we order Samgyupsal instead of Kalbi, we order the Dwengjang Jjigae.
I like their Dwengjang Jjigae.
Also they open on Tuesday evenings now.
Hope they continue to do well.
Until proven otherwise we will continue our patronage of this BBQ place.

My review of this place is 3.5 stars (Why doesn’t Unilocal allow half stars?)
In a pinch, this is one of the closest places I can get a quick korean tastebud fix. I’ve ordered a wide variety of items and will give some brief notes for those wondering how good they are here:
Yuk gae jang — ⁸⁄₁₀. This is probably my go-​to soup here. Flavors are pretty solid and remind me of my mom’s a bit (not as good, but close enough). No complaints about this one.
Fried Fish Appetizer (Seng sun jeon) — 6.5÷10. It really is a shame that they drop frozen cod into this, the fish itself is incredibly dry and the hint of freezer taste to it. If they were not lazy and used fresh cod for this, I would bring this up to a ⁹⁄₁₀.
Sundubu Jjigae — (Soft tofu stew) — ⁵⁄₁₀. I’m probably spoiled by some of the best when it comes to this dish, and growing up around Palisades Park where some of the best korean restaurants on the east coast exist, this soup falls completely flat. The signature broth taste with a hint of seafood to it is non existent here. Sometimes this soup comes out way too oily, and other times just way too watery. I’ve yet to find a truly authentic and good sundubu jjigae in Boston though.
Bulgogi — Beef — ⁷⁄₁₀. It’s really hard to mess up marinated strip steak. This is your typical run of the mill bulgogi. Decent, would order if I craved it.
Tangsuyuk — (Sweet/​sour, crispy pork) — ³⁄₁₀. Definitely not ordering again. This was drenched in the sweet/​sour sauce, there was absolutely no crisp to it (I like my tangsuyuk to be crispy). I’d go as far as to say this was a sweet/​sour sauce stew with tangsuyuk swimming at the bottom.
Kalbi — (Short ribs) — ⁵⁄₁₀. Again, probably spoiled by better kalbi found in Pal Park NJ, the kalbi here is pretty mediocre. It’s extremely tough, chewy, and you don’t get a large enough portion for the amount of money you’re paying.
Kimchi Bokum — (Kimchi stir fry) — ⁷⁄₁₀. Another really hard one to mess up. The kimchi isn’t sour so all is golden and good. Love it.
Overall like I said, being korean, I come here when I’m in a pinch and just craving some korean food. It’s not TERRIBLE. It’s just average. If you don’t know much about korean food, it’s worth the venture and worth the taste.
I haven’t left any comments about service because what some people consider rude, others will consider «no bullshit, in-​and-​out service» of just getting it done and getting it done quickly. There’s no personal sleight there.

it’s been quite some time since i’ve been here mainly b/​c i hated the rude service but they got some great employees. a hispanic young lady was our waitress and the young hispanic male bus boy was also very friendly and quick with the water refills. oddly, the koreans just stood on the side but since i didn’t have to deal with them i’m happy.
the yookgae jang ($ 12.95) was very good and hearty. it had lots of meat and veggies. the junbok juk ($ 12.95) was very good as well. it had a creamy texture. it came out skimpy on the junbok as i expected though. the seafood scallion pancake ($ 11.95) was large and good, not burnt like some places.
overall, i would re-​recommend this place so long as the service doesn’t take a nose dive with the older korean servers.

They’ve seen better times. Maybe the place is ok for bbq, but the cooked entrees have gone downhill (I’ve been coming to this place for many years). Everything’s just plain salty and badly put together now. Very sad to say because this used to be one of my favorite korean places.

This place sucked! Bf and I came here and we sat ourselves down at a table. The waitress kept on asking whether we were ready to order even though it was obvious we weren’t. When we said we weren’t ready she rolled her eyes. Honestly just typical Korean food. Nothing special. She even calculated the tips for us… -.-

This place is a lot of fun to go to and the food is pretty great.
Always full of asians which is a great sign.
I always end up getting a bulgogi BBQ dish and they are super flavorful and fun to eat. I’ve had better kopdol bibim bap but it’s still good. Seaweed salad is excellent as well.
Service is mediocre and I wish they had a better beverage list, but it’s always a fun place to go.

Fifth review of this place. Compiled my list of favorite must try dishes. See my pictures and read past reviews if you like. But these are my favorite dishes.
Appetizer
Korean Beef Tarta
Mung Bean Pancake
Entrée
Kimchi-​Chigae
Broiled Eel
Kopdol Bibim-​Bab
Sweet and sour pork
*Summer time favorite: Cold soba noodle
For BBQ
Kalbi
Beef Bulgogi