Korean · $
1 홍반장 타판 (HONG BAN JANG Tappan)
37 NY-303 unit 14, Tappan
- Delivery
“Generous servings of delicious, authentic Korean food at a great price, efficient, attentive and friendly service, in a brightly-lit, spacious yet crowded, canteen-style venue with cheerfully chattering customers... we thought we had been transported back to Korea! We had long been aware that there are good Korean restaurants in Tappan, and now we're sorry that we didn't come sooner. Hong Ban Jang is not your run-of-the-mill Korean restaurant: its menu is expansive, its offerings unique, its portions massive and its taste inimitable. For appetizers we ordered the Fried Glass Noodle Dumplings and Seafood Scallion Pancake. The dumplings are vegetarian, full of japchae style glass noodles and veggies. The pancake was crispy fried and filled with fresh seafood, esp. chopped squid. My husband and son picked every morsel of the yummy squid bits off the plate :-). It's rare to find vegetarian cold noodles in a Korean restaurant, as the broth is invariably beef based. When I saw that Hong Ban Jang offered cold noodles in a bean broth, I decided to try them. What I received was not what I expected: the noodles were solid soy bean noodles, instead of the translucent buckwheat noodles. I was given a pot of salt to sprinkle on the noodles, as the dish itself had almost no seasonings. It was a very unusual experience for us (everyone shared some of my dish). The noodles were tasty despite lack of seasoning, the broth was thick, rich and creamy. We all loved it. My husband ordered the Spicy Seaweed Soup with Oyster and Noodles. My son ordered Spicy Beef Brisket Bibimbap. I had some of the seaweed broth to warm up my stomach. Both reported that their dishes were super nice. For a spacious dining area with no less than 20 tables, there were only 3 waitresses, but you'd think there was a platoon of them, as they possessed some kind of super power that enabled them to respond to everyone's need immediately, check on the customer's satisfaction multiple times, make recommendations, and offer solutions. Their kitchen must also be staffed with super-powered cooks, as they not only have to meet the demands of the premises, but also fill large quantities of take-out orders. In short, Hong Ban Jang far exceeded our expectations, and we will for sure come back to try out other items on their menu!”
