Chung Dai Kam

Dry fried rice… Yea, not a good experience and servers asked for a bigger tip. Negative, never again.
Just don’t.

We drove around the 10 mins trying to find this place. It’s been permanently closed

the joo moohl luk was the best here
cant find any place that can make it as good
they def use really good meat.
sad that they’re closed.
i think they’re closed
i went last night and the phone lines were cut off
there was a truck in front of the place and yeah
i think it was a little pricey but worth it (at least for the joo moohl luk)
if you didnt get to try their joo moohl luk you missed out!
cus i’ve been to a lot of places around annandale and i cant find
a place that sells fresh melts in your mouth joo moohl luk :(

Not impressed with the service, definitely not impressed with the food. The kalbi dolsot bibimbap left much to be desired, especially with the cuts of meat and the toughness of the meat. The dish had no flavor.
The yukgaejang was not up-​to-​par, either. Still searching for a place in Annandale with good yukgaejang…
Typical Korean ajumas with attitude. Sometimes I’m up for a bit of sass, but this was too much to handle.

I’ll make this short and sweet… There are SO MANY Korean BBQ joints in the area… Makes for great competition, which means we get great BBQ for the $!
So I walked in one Friday night with group of 5 people. (I was the only Korean, but there was only one newbie to Korean food) The reason why we decided to try this place was because there was a line out the door at Yechon.
The place was deserted, which made me worry… and now I know why!
When I started ordering, the lady kept insisting I didn’t order enough! I told her I would order more later if I thought it was necessary… Kinda annoyed me…
And it was enough… not only that, the galbi was fatty and the Pajun was soggy… Oh, and get this… they CHARGED for Banchan! And not only did they charge for banchan, everything was WAY over priced… The food would have been SO much better at Yechon for SO much less! We all (at least my friends that know the area) left pissed…
I shall NEVER come back to this place…

My wifey and I found our KBBQ joint in the DC metro. This establishment utilizes a combination of hardwood charcoal and gas grill, and their kalbi is marinated just right. We also tried their pork but that was weak. Service is pretty slow but at least the food was great compared to other KBBQ spots in the vicinity. Their ban chan was good too.
Like Tim L. mentioned, they give the egg casserole and soy bean paste soup when you order the meats. We’ll be going back.

I’m relying on Jeff W.‘s review from July 20, 2009. Wow, how time flies. Has it been a year since I’ve been back to the Yellow Cow? Chung Dai Kam is definitely one of those restaurants where you need to bring your own Korean translator for the best service and best food. Overall, I felt that they were very generous with the bon chon selections but I tend to agree with Donald P. that it’s awfully expensive for Korean BBQ. Would I recommend this place for Westerners? Not really, because you’re probably better off at Seoul Garden. Would I recommend this place for large parties? Yes, but be prepared for some major accounting work. [Last Visit: Apparently July 20, 2009]

Awful service, communication issues, and over priced. :(
If I ask twice for water. no problem.if I ask 4 times for water and there are only 2 other tables there with parties of less than 3. that’s a problem. Maybe they didn’t want to walk over to where I was seated, which seemed to be in the distant corner away from people who spoke korean.
I wanted to order 1 galbi and 1 pork belly, somehow 2 pork bellys got sent out, which only appeared to be equivalent to one serving. So when the pork belly came out and nothing else did, I was wondering what happened. Then I asked for the galbi and disputed the fact we ordered 2 pork bellies and it was just a massive mess. I understand galbi is expensive, but seriously… after some communication mixup of 2 portions of pork belly some discount should be valid. BOOO. $ 50+?
Would def head elsewhere next time. Like across the street to the buffet.

Proof once again that Honey Pig is overrated. This place has a real hardwood charcoal grill. The taste and experience is on a whole another level.
The selection of pan chan was higher than average. Included potato salad, potatoes, cucumber kimchi, regular kimchi, acorn jelly, bean sprouts, daikon… That’s all I can remember.
The meat actually comes with tengjang jigae and that bowl of steamed scrambled egg. I just don’t get why a certain other establishment across the street doesn’t have the complementary items that are considered standard at every other kbbq place.
The price for two orders of kalbi plus a bowl of nengmyun was under $ 50. Might seem high compared to HP but consider the fact that you get two bowls of soup with the meal.
From what I could tell, the people at Chung Dai Kim didn’t speak a lick of English. I had to get my wife to translate most of it. But really that is most Korean restaurants in Annandale.
Conclusion:
Definitely more interesting stuff on the HP menu. But for straight kbbq Chung Dai Kim is a win.

2.5 stars (–0.5 for the mosquito, story to follow…)
Tell tale sign #1 that I paid no attention to… There was practically deserted at 9 PM on a Saturday night!
Nonetheless, I was encouraged by the stories of the elusive charcoal grill to explore here. Well, I managed to get the one item that didn’t use the charcoal grill… the meat with oyster mushrooms… Actually, I loved the oyster mushrooms. The problem was, the people prepping the mushrooms didn’t cut off the bottoms, so there was actually still some «roots» attached… ewww.
I’m not saying the food was bad, it was decent, but it was not at all worth the high prices. The panchan was okay, but not excellent. The kicker was the Kimchi… not bad, but then again, tasted kinda like H mart would make. I could have gotten very similar fare (or even better) at other restaurants (with shikye at end) for much less.
However, the waitress I had was extremely attentive. I gave a -.5 star since there was a MONSTER sized mosquito trolling the restaurant and everyone just stared at it and did nothing while it stalked our table…

MMMMMMMM I am literally salivating just thinking about my dinner here. My Korean classmates recommended that we try this place, because apparently the charcoals make a difference! A group of 10 of us came here on a Friday night, and we were able to leave STUFFED for around $ 20 each, and I say that’s a bargain. We had lots of meat (kalbi and bulgogi), seafood pancake, seafood hot pot soup, stir fry octopus, and the ladies kept bringing out complimentary items like tofu soup. They ladies here were super friendly, helping us order enough food and ordering the RIGHT kinds of food because we’re not Korean.
I would totally recommend this place for people who want good Korean bbq at a decent price. The banchans were all super delish, too. Me likey.

Charcoal Grill! No, seriously, please let me know if you know another charcoal Korean BBQ place in the area. If not, then this is the place to go.
The waitresses speak minimal English but other than the ordering part, everything else is done by them anyway, so whether you really know how to speak the language or not isn’t the important part.
We ordered their galbi and bulgogi. We had plentiful banchan, an egg dish and soup. The meat was well marinated and that charcoal added more flavor to the meat, compared to other Korean BBQ we had before.
The restaurant doesn’t seem to have the yellow cow there anymore.

I just don’t think this place is worth the money. Perhaps we paid extra for the attitude. One waitress never cracked a smile while grilling our food. With her cold stare it’s no wonder they need extra hot coals.
Just like last time (and based on other people’s experience) they just assume you are going to grill (read — tacky sales push). With the higher prices you’d think they could afford to print new menus or clean the bathroom a little better. We ordered 2 portions of Kalbi and 1 neng-​myun. Even though the place was not busy we just felt rushed, everything from grilling all the meat at once, to bring out the neng-​myun out really early (read — not as fresh nor as refreshing).
Food was still good, it’s just that everything else sorta sucked.

yummy galbi and potato saladI have no idea what I ate. I think it was galbi. But when in a Korean restaurant, you let the Korean person order! Whatever it was delicious. And with our simple order of galbi (three for like 8) came piles of sides… Rice, potato salad (that was really good!), spicy cucumbers, something else that I was told «don’t eat its spicy» and all kinds of bowls of goodness. And don’t worry, when you finish one, a new one seems to appear. I love this place!
The food was excellent. Good flavor and small enough pieces for easy eating with my new trainer chopsticks. Just watch out for the seat in front of the grill… its hot!
Staff is friendly and attentive … almost a little too much sometimes. Definitely worth a repeat visit… as long as there is someone there to tell me what I’m eating

For some reason I was lured here a mere 9 hours after getting off a return flight from Seoul, but I still enjoyed my limited time here. The food was good, but nothing was unbelievable. I thought the prices were a bit high for how much food we got, and thought the galbi tasted great but was a bit tough. I didn’t think any of the banchan were particularly flavorful either.
I hate to play the snobby «this isn’t as good as Korea» card, but that was pretty much all that was going through my head the whole time. Rice was worse, kimchi was less potent, and the meats were tough. Still, I haven’t seen that many places that use wood charcoal so if you’re drawn to that this is could be a great spot for a group of friends. For two people, it’s probably a bit costly, but spread out over a group you can have a good meal. Maybe I’ve just had my benchmark altered since not but 24 hours prior I was sitting down to a similar but far superior meal in Seoul. I’ll have to return once I get Americanized once again :)

Are my fantasies becoming reality? If this parking lot in Koreadale developing into a pedestrian-​friendly be-​gated (like the famous one in Seoul) area with outdoor seating and elevated drinking platforms (like the ones of yore on the Korean seashore)… I might possible faint with joy! Unspeakable joy!
Nope, just my dreams. Although the cute little doll’s house restaurant is what began to foment my dreams.
Instead, I’ll just enjoy the American pastime of DRIVING from one side of the parking lot to the other to get some sweet bulgogi and friendly service. My non-​meat eating companion also enjoyed the food but probably wished that I spoke Korean so that I could make sure she got the dish involving the sizzling rice at the bottom of the earthenware bowl.

Very good kalbi indeed, although it was on the pricey side. I think this might be the only place that uses charcoal and I especially like the extra touches such as a cup of oiled garlic for the grill, steamed egg custard, and fermented soy bean soup. They have a huge bbq menu with different meats and different cuts. The servers don’t speak much English since this place caters to Koreans. We had to point and make sign languages. Come here if you want delicious grilled meat and you already know what you want, but for the novice, its better to bring a Korean friend to order for you.

Like a moth to a flame, like a secret beacon flashing in the night, the yellow cow beckoned to me like the bat signal P.C. described.
A friend of mine and I were celebrating his birthday and New Year’s Eve, and when I asked him what he’d like to eat, it was Korean BBQ that he craved. I knew just the place.
We were coming from the 395, so if you’re on Little River Turnpike driving towards Columbia Pike, you will actually see it on the right side just before you hit Backlick Road. It’s in the same shopping center where Giant is located. The first thing I saw was the yellow cow, and I shouted to my friend, «There it is!!! There it is!!!». I think he wet his pants.
We go in and were immediately greeted in Korean, which was what I expected. Our server was incredibly nice; she asked if we had had Korean food before and I pointed right to the jelly belly and said oh yeah.
We started with banchan and barley tea. I was impressed with all of the different small plates we had; there may have been more variety than we get at OGG, but I won’t swear to it.
I ordered the hwang jae kalbi (meat on the bone – there I go with meat and bones *again*) and my friend ordered the bulgogi. Once they were brought to us (we didn’t order anything that we could cook at the table), our waitress cut up all the meat for me into bite size pieces. My kalbi was good; only a couple of pieces were fatty, but the rest were tender. The bulgogi was very good and my friend inhaled that entire plate. With 2 bowls of rice. Very little to no rice for me, thank you. As a carnie, I can’t waste space in the tummy with the filler!
As our meal was winding down, a few folks sat at the table behind us. They ordered stuff to cook at their table, and I saw a guy bring some pieces of wood to put in their grill. This is where the smoke can either make you or break you. I already knew that you do not wear your good clothes when you do KBB. However, I think this is the first time I’ve been somewhere where wood was used, and while I think it would add a tremendous amount of flavor, I realized that you will take that smoke with you everywhere you go once you leave the place. A true carnie wears that smokiness like a badge of honor. I personally puffed my chest out when I got home from the memory of a good meal.
My dinner was enough to fill me up, but you know I had to leave a little room for red bean bing soo at Napolean, since it was literally a short drive (would have walked had it not been so windy and FREEZING that night).
Service was excellent and parking was not a problem at all.
Go here!!!

Galbi. Galbi. GALBIIIIIIII!!!
Just follow the sign with the Korean letters and the big outline of a cow, the Carnie Crew Bat Signal.

There’s no sign outside that say Chung Dai Kam. The sign is in Korean and has a BIG YELLOW COW on it and it says Korean BBQ. (It’s in the parking lot facing Giant).
Thanks to our Korean representative, Cindy! We had a kick ass Korean BBQ dinner (not buffet) that my tummy is gonna popped from the yumminess.
I dunno all the Korean names of the dishes we ordered. But the Galbi was delish, it’s like eating butter!!! Pork belly looking stuff was great (I packed the leftover for lunch tomorrow!). We also got some kimchi pancake and the seafood pancake. They were okay for me, the seafood pancake definitely gets a kick to it, since it has sliced jalapeño. (Watch out!)
They have more side dishes compare to other Korean BBQ place. And they just give us more as we finished our plates. At one point, we have no room on our table to fit any more dishes.
Toward the end, we got some more spicy soup and steamed eggs. Too much too much. I am going to burst!!!
Good food for about $ 30 a person.