In my last post on Woomiok, “FOY” Mar mentioned checking out the recently opened Chodang Tofu & BBQ in the Hmart Food Court. Now, what little I do know is that Chodang is an area of Gangneung that is famous for….well, their soondubu, At the time of the posting and comment, the weather was a bit too warm for that dish. But turn the page and a few weeks later, with the rain…well, things have become rather chilly…at least by San Diego terms. So, the Missus and I thought we’d go and check out Chodang.
Chodang opens at 1030 and the always busy food court in HMart was pretty mellow at a few minutes after 11.
We walked on over and took a look at the menu….and whoa; I think the prices at Chodang is the highest of any of the stands in the food court!
The prices look pretty much in line with places like Woomiok, Yuk Dae Jang, and Prime Grill….like $32 for bulgogi!
I got the Soondubu with Beef Short Rib ($21.99), the Missus was craving some Samgyetang, the Chicken Ginseng Soup ($23.99). I placed our order then we grabbed a seat. The eating area filled up pretty quickly.
After a short wait, the buzzer thingy went off and we went to get our trays.
The Samgyetang was a whole small chicken. The panchan was not good; the baechu kimchi was more pickled than fermented, the cucumber kimchi was definitely of the quick-pickle variety and was on the sweet side. There was a generous portion of rice, which was on the mushy side. The best item was the little portion of pajun…the fried pancake.
As for the Samgyetang…..well, I warned the Missus that I don’t think this would be close to what we had in Seoul….but to be honest; this was not even in the same ballpark. First off, the chicken was super tough and chewy, totally lacking in flavor.
The broth was very thin and bland, lacking in the savory-herbal-chicken flavor. This really needed the salt and pepper that was provided….but it still wasn’t enough. Where was the earthy-herbaceous-bitterness of ginseng?
The best thing about the dish was the glutinous rice that was stuffed in the chicken.
It seemed to have leeched at the poultry flavor from the dish.
As for my Soondubu….well…pretty much the same result.
That fried fish was gummy, it needed some crispness.
Two nice beef ribs; which seemed to have had all the beefiness sucked out of it, so bland! On the chewy side as well. The tofu was very soft and “buttery”, but lacking in the nice “beaniness” we enjoy in dubu.
The soup….I dare not call this thin – watery broth a “stew”, was truly lacking in rich-savory tones. I got it spicy; but that was on the mild side as well.
The egg was a travesty…..boiled to death and seemed like it had been “smushed”.
I’ll quit there…… for fifty bucks without tip…this was very disappointing.
Chodang was founded in the US (in Cerritos – though I recall seeing one of the stands in Irvine), and is rapidly expanding across the US, so it must be pretty popular, but this was not a meal the Missus and I enjoyed. Needless to say; I don’t see us returning.
Chodang Tofu & BBQ (in the Hmart Food Court)
7725 Balboa Ave.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Daily 1030am – 8pm