Tacoma Chung Kook Jang

I was craving for hearty korean dinner and this place always fills up my needs. I ordered grilled fish combo comes with soybean soup and ordered sundae soup on top of that. To be honest soybean soup was alright but I really enjoyed the fish combo and the side dishes. It could look weird but this is how we eat fish in Korea! Bones and heads on. Outside was crispy and inside was moist, and well seasoned. Now I am thinking of buying my own fish grill at home. XD

Amazing old school, consistently delicious. Highly recommend the steamed dumplings and gamjatang. The service is great. Very sweet workers there. Homey, casual and great for kids.

Stopped here for Korean food on our way from Seattle portland. OMG, this is so hood. Ordered dumpling half and half (kimchi/meat) and it was so so good... and huge! That's my SO's fist next to it. Also had Soondae sausage filled with rice) and better then any I had in portland. And banchan ( side dishes) were plenty and flavorful... So glad o stopped by! And now I can't breath from overeating

The food was so amazing. I got the Kimchi stew and I ate every last drop. I also love the sides. I was so full and happy when I left and I'm looking forward to the next time I come back to try the other soups.

Best staffs award! All the ladies and also the guy is super friendly and gave good service every time I visited. Best service in than all those Korean restaurants that I have been to in Washington in 10 years of living here. If you love Korean soups, you will like this place

Visiting Tacoma and found this place. Good food and friendlyGood portionsReasonably priced I would go back

First, the establisment is under new ownership. I have eaten here fairly regularly for 20 years. The last visit yielded several unfortunate changes. First, they have discontinued their weekday lunch specials. No problem, I ordered off the menu. Next change, my dish was one third more expensive than at the last visit (everything was). I noticed that my banchan dishes were different than other tables around me and some were absolutely flavorless to the point I did not eat them. Some seemed stale/old. (I was the only white person in the restaurant which is not unusual.) It was not a good moment as it was obvious something was going on. I ate fish this visit. It was not drained after cooking, so there was a puddle of grease on the plate, which has never happened to me before at this or any other Korean restuarant. Also, it was not crisply fried. However, it was juicy and did have flavor, as fish stored in salt usually is.Service was nonexistant: the person took the order and brought the food, then I paid. No refill on empty tea or checking back if I needed anything more. When I asked about the banchan, the woman said "they matched it to the dish." I have been eating Korean food since I was a child and there was no matching in the past (I noted other premade banchan trays set out for ease as has always been done at this restuarant; none had the same unpalatable selections as mine.) It was a disappointment after coming to a restuarant for so many years. I will find another hangout or cook myself in the future.Sadly, I do not recommend anymore.

The portion sizes were huge! This place was really good and we felt that the dishes were really authentic. We live in the Midwest and although we have Korean restaurants there as well, the food here tasted a lot better. We always look forward for the banchan (side dishes) and each one did not disappoint! The kimchi pajeon was huge, like family style! We came in super hungry and left super full! The atmosphere felt like I was in a kdrama, very homey! I wished that our server would have checked in on us for water but regardless she was very nice and polite! Would definitely come back!!!

This was our go to soup place for many years. Recently the quality has declined significantly. Too bad, it used to be so so good.

From the moment you walk into this place, it appears the staff and owner do not look happy and will grudgingly service you. The side dishes and food is very salty and overpriced compared to other establishments close by. The atmosphere is a little drab, but they have a TV playing some loud music, making it hard to hear each other. Also to note restrooms were very unkempt and smelled dirty.One thing I observed was at another table: after the food was brought out, then 30 minutes into dining noticed they brought out an extra bowl of rice, came back out and took it back and dumped the rice back into the rice cooker. I feel bad for whoever ate rice afterwards, which also makes you wonder if any of the rice we ate was recycled.The person who took our payment at the counter was very dismissive and rude with our payment card, arguing to a point that made us wonder what was going on when we were the customer.They do not mention an 18% service charge for parties of 6 or more and then do not automatically add on a 18% service charge after ringing you up, then make a huge scene in front of everyone that you did not tip them 18% when they should have added it on themselves if it is their policy instead of leading to a situation where the customer was berated. I would spend the time to go somewhere else than experience this place again. No thank you!