Hanmaru

Got the jokbal and the gamjatang. I think i would only get these two here since ive heard the other options arent as good.

On a Wednesday evening, a group of 6 (including myself), went to Hanmaru for dinner. Since we had a reservation at 715, we received seating immediately. The entire table ended up ordering family style, getting corn cheese ($12), a seafood pancake ($14), the Hanmaru Signature Gamtajang ($43, large size), tofu kimchi ($17), and a dolsot bimbimbap (which I didn't get to try).The table received rice and banchan w/in 5 minutes, and plates streamed in over the next 10 minutes.The corn cheese tastes exactly as one would expect. Arriving on a hot plate proved a nice touch. It did seem overpriced, however.The seafood pancake seemed lackluster. It did not have much seafood, tasting more like a too-lightly salted scallion pancake. Also, its form factor, precut squares, gave the illusion of small portion size. Perhaps an optical illusion, but it proved visually unsatisfying.The Gamjatang, a pork neck bone stew and Hanmaru's signature dish, arrived on a large sukiyaki-like bowl placed in the center of the table, which had a burner to keep the stew hot. The stack of vegetables and spices could not effectively hide that the stew only had 6 pieces of pork neck bone. The soup itself, while flavorful, seemed low in volume. I would have much liked having double that amount to get some decent bowls of stew in.The tofu kimchi proved delicious and savory. It's essentially a spicy pork, kimchi, and rice cake stir fry topped with tofu.

This is the only place in Boston I've had gamjatang and I LOVEE IT. It's not too big of a place but I never had to wait. The service is great; we get plenty of side dishes as well and refills too. Their signature gamjatang is my go-to. The broth is flavorful! Definitely a place to go if you wanna have a family style meal.

I have wanted to go to this local spot in Allston to try the jokbal(pig feets) for the first time. It feels very homey inside like your moms about to cook for you with a small menu of classic korean comfort foods. They have apps, meat and even hot pot on the menu. I really enjoyed the jokbal which reminded me of the texture of pork belly and was very flavorful. We got the spicy version but it honestly was like a 1-2 spiciness. Galbi was rich in flavor as well, just a little bit of a tug or war in regards to the chewiness. Our waiter was helpful with letting us know about the jokbal options and re-checking what my friend could have because she had a seafood allergy. They also listed on the menu allergies icons for seafood, pork, beef, etc which was nice. Korean food is always a little pricey but I always forget about that as our bill was almost $70 for two entrees that don't come with rice. But, you can ask for it free of charge. Good portions and good taste would go here on a monday night for a relaxing dinner.FoodJokbal bokumLA GalbiPrices $$Food 7Atmosphere 5Service 8

This is definitely a gem in the neighborhood! Feels like having home cooked meal at Hanmaru. Decent price, good portion, flavorful food and friendly staff. What more can you ask for?! The kalbi is a must order. The hotpot was great especially on a cold rainy day. Jap Chae with seafood is another option if you're not into rice. This is not a fancy restaurant but it's clean and cozy. Will come back for sure!

Overall 3.5/5. It depends on what you get! The spicy squid and bibimbap were pretty good but my friends got tofu stew and katsu ... which were not that good. Katsu was too salty and tofu stew didn't have much flavor.

Hanmaru does not have a really large menu, so I only come here when I feel like having gamjatang. I ordered the Gamjatang B to share with my friends. They also served us banchan that included about four different dishes. I did enjoy how they gave me a bucket for the bones alongside gloves and utensils to help scoop different ingredients from the pot. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the lack of soup present. The pot is quite big, but the soup is only filled to the halfway point, so you are left with some ingredients not even soaked in the soup. Most of the bones did not have much meat clinging to them. I also wish there was a bit more of each ingredient. The potatoes were especially scarce, and even if they were present, they were only about half the size of my palm. I also felt that the flavoring of the soup was not that prominent nor rich, which made it less impactful. Service was fine as they left you alone until you needed them. Once you wave them down, they are responsive and fast at meeting your needs. Overall, this experience felt a bit lackluster, so I am not inclined to come back when there are other Korean restaurants in the area.

I absolutely LOVE this place! You must come here. It is located in Allston-Brighton near the CVS. They work like machines in the back truly! It's quite incredible. A very small holes in the wall place with BIG flavors! They're super attentive Korean place that consistently stays busy! It's a must! I got the personal bowl that includes rice, bone, potatoe and tofu! I added veggies and it comes with sides of rice, macaroni, kimchi and so much more!

Came by with a friend around 1pm on a Saturday - the place is not that big and was pretty busy but thankfully there was a table open for us! Ordering was also smooth as well - there's an option to order and pay online directly via the menu link, but they can also take your order in person too.We ordered the yuk gae jang, corn cheese, dolsot bibimbap, and stir-fried spicy pork. Yuk gae jang was not bad! Shredded beef was super tasty but the broth was a bit too oily, and I personally would have preferred some more noodles for the portion size. Corn cheese was a bit flat - it tasted much like a bowl of creamed corn with some melted mozzarella on top; not bad in an absolute sense, but not really what I expected from corn cheese.Stir-fried spicy pork was fantastic - pork was tender, veggies were well-cooked, and portion size was great. And, it was nice that everything was really spicy (as we wanted!). Lastly the bibimbap was pretty good too - beef had a good juicy flavour and the fresh veggies, gochujang, and egg paired really nicely with the large portion of rice for a very filling bowl overall.Price point was not the lowest, but the portion sizes were very large (e.g. if we had come with a few more people it would definitely have been very worth it to share amongst more people). They seem to specialise in the gamjatang which we didn't get this time, but I'd love to try it out on my next visit. Looking forward to it!

It was a good experience to summarize it but the only downside was our server was not paying attention and he almost forgot one of our orders and we had to flag him down. They were busy eating in the back and didn't even ask if we need some water or anything else. They also didn't have the order of soup that we wanted originally which was a little disappointing. But it's fine the soup we got was pretty good too. We went later in the night for dinner, and it was a good pick! The area inside was not that spacious but I feel like they have authentic taste for korean food. the service was so so, sometimes you have to find a way to grab their attention for you to get what you want to ask.Celebrated my friends birthday there and I think we made the right choice.