Gom Tang E

Service is brusque in their efficiency, leading to plentiful seating in a moderately sized restaurant. The bottomless kimchi buckets set into the tables were missed, I got my annual fill of radish kimchi and them some in one sitting. The giant soup vat in the kitchen and affordable menu prices were apparently not enough to keep them open. My modeum seol leong tang was alright, great oxtail and offal cuts but a subtle milky broth; galbi tang is the way to go. Bowls of rice wine and soju: totally worth it.

So what do we have here… a huge vat of bones with delicious soup in them… I think we have a winner!
Once again I am making the rounds today in reviewing all the korean restaurants in the area that I have patroned in the past.
Gom Tang E is a great Sul lung tang place… they moved on to adding grilled items and are expanding their menu. The food here is great and I am a sucker for the sul lung tang with tripe… tripee goodness.
If you are hungover or still drunk and can hail a cab to this restaurant I would by all means eat there and grab one to go… because who doesn’t like a little meaty comfort in a bowl to nurse a bad hangover!
cheers and happy eating!

Best place in Annandale for beef bone soups & it’s open 24 hours!

This place serves awesome Korean soup dishes! That’s because they keep cooking & simmering their soup broths with ox leg bones & ribs in these HUGE pots. Each pot’s big enough to boil 3 people in there…
Sul-​lung-​tang ($ 8) — Broth Soup made from Ox Bones, brisket & other cuts of meat. This place serves the best Sul-​lung-​tang I’ve ever had because they simmer the soup with the ox bones for hours to an entire day. Therefore, making the broth excellent. The way to eat this is by adding salt, black pepper & chopped spring onions to your soup. You MUST add these or else the soup will be pretty bland.
Gal-​bi-​tang ($ 10) — Beef Short Ribs Soup. Even though they’re really known for their Sul-​lung-​tang, I actually like their Gal-​bi-​tang better. That’s probably because I like soup with more intense flavors. I highly recommend this soup!
These are dinner prizes. Lunch prizes are about $ 1-​$ 2 cheaper. Their Kimchi’s more sour than your usual served in the restaurant. So people might not like the kimchi as much. The servers speak very limited English, so don’t expect them to explain the dishes in English lol.

Why did you raise your prices? Why did you take away the «help yourself» kimchi trays? (Maybe it was the health dept shutting that down– I thought it seemed to good to be true– or maybe we just came at a weird time– but it was Sunday night around 5).
But even with the slightly higher prices and reduced access to kimchi, I still love this place! Nothing better than their soup on a cold day!

Great place to get some Korean comfort food. This is a Korean meat soup place. I’ve seen the other reviews by people that dont even know that the hell the eating complain about the food. This is one of the better places for the beef broth soup in the US. If you want better just go to Korea. This place is for koreans and those that speak korean or know what they are getting. Don’t expect the waitresses to understand english.

I think this restaurant all serves Korean hot pot soup. I could not see any rice dish in the menu. However, I think their soup is great and there are two big pot keep boiling and cooking the soup in the store. I know if you cook the soup for a long time, it is definitely good. (I know in Asia, some stores even cook their soup more than 6 hours)
Most of their dishes are spicy, but I think it is still endurable for non spicy food eater, because I don’t like spicy food either.
We had three different soups (sorry, their names are all weird, cannot remember them all) and one green bean pancake. Soups are all great but the pancake is soso.
I think the downside is the waiters /​waitresses there response your request so SLOWLY!

This is really a special place. Granted it’s not a fancy place, and they kind of look at you like «what are you doing here white boy?» but the soups are superb. I’ve had a couple different types, though nothing too adventurous just yet. I’m mean, blood sausage is about as crazy as I’m going to get, though my spicy beef soup did come with extra little «flavoring» bits of unidentifiable origin, but the end product is simply delicieux.
On the one hand, having a menu made almost exclusively of soup may not wet the appetite for all, though after a meal of kim chi and soup for $ 10 and you’re gut-​busting full, how can you complain? Though I do have a slight grievance: last time I went they gave us tubs of daikon radish and cabbage kim chi, and this time they were only little plates. Granted, the minute one of those places was empty they’d bring another plate, but it was something of a letdown not getting your own big tub of the stuff. Still, a great way to start the meal.
I’d highly recommend the spicy beef or goat soup, as those are the only two I’ve had so far. My friend ordered the short rib version, which somehow comes in a different broth every time. Regardless, a great place to check out if you’re in the area.

Soups! That’s all they do… I think. The servers don’t speak english so it’s kindda hard to communicate. But the staff are friendly
My soup didn’t have enough noodles so it wasn’t filling enough for me. The beef ribs that i had could be cooked alittle more… still alittle tough. It could be just me, but it seems that they use powder for the broth instead of cooking the meat through. I don’t care for their Kimchi much either… under marinated to me.
I’ve only been here once, but willing to give it another try. I need to figure out what the openings on the side of the tables are for…
The ambience is very traditional. Big water mill wheel as you walk in… very cute.

Their specialty is sulungtang which is really good here and you can get it for a great price. I’d give them more stars if they had other great items on the menu but the rest is just mediocre.
I like the self service of GgakDdukGee and Kimchi at the table and both are good which is a necessity for a good Korean Meal! I’ve been here twice and haven’t gotten bad service yet– I’d come again for my soup fix.

Their main soup dish is the Sulungtang. It’s written on the menu as gom tang. I had the meat only gom tang. The white clear but creamy tasting soup is made from boiling meat bones in a pot that is bigger than the size of your tub. It’s boiled for almost a whole day and then served with clear vermecilli noodles and meat. When the soup is served, you flavor the soup with salt, pepper, and green onions and then its ready to eat. This soup leaves your stomach warm and satisfied. Very filling although it may not seem like it would.
The special for the month of December is $ 3.99 per Gom Tang. Doesnt get any better than this.

Soup and the meaning of life… for breakfast, just like in Asia. I got my Galbi Tang and it was good like I remembered. In the few weeks since my last visit, the tables have been retrofitted with embedded electric cooktops. This bodes well for giant cauldrons of food kept, relatively, safely at a boil on the table, rather than perched precariously on a butane flame camper stove.
Despite the fact that, by noon, this place was completely packed, our waitstaff kindly brought us a sample bowl of the white broth. She even took the time to explain that we needed to put salt, pepper, and green onions in the broth. The aroma of beef tallow was almost off-​putting but once enough sea salt was added, the creamy broth entered the umami-​zone… finally, we understood that 42 is not the answer.

I used to live in a small town an hour south of Seoul named Cheonan (you may have heard the name in the news). There was the one place I would go to maybe three nights a week that only sold Seolleong-​tang. In the window they had massive cauldrons big enough to fit an entire cow boiling near constantly, usually with a large beef bone sticking out of the top. The soup was a little plain by itself, but with a little salt and pepper all the bone derived collagen can nearly overwhelm you, it is as if cozy had a taste.
Gom tang and Seolleong-​tang are nearly interchangeable IMO. You can argue this with me if you want, but I won’t listen. Anyway, you can get this dish just at just about any Korean restaurant, but Gom Tang E is the only place in the DMV which approaches the zenith of bone-​boiling goodness I experienced back in ‘ol Chungcheongnam-​do.
This place probably shouldn’t be your first Korean place, you really won’t get an opportunity to sample the manifold pleasures of Korean Cuisine. That being said, this is a subtle soup that shouldn’t offend even the pickiest palate, its innocuous ingredients and tolerable textures shouldn’t offend novice eaters either, so it certainly could pass for a first taste of Korean.
That being said, the soup’s subtlety belies a more complex heart. Let each sip will linger on your tongue and appreciate the pure umami of it. The soup is not thickened, but it coats the mouth with flavor. I’m sure if you let it get cold, it would be the consistency of a Jello-​jiggler. Preparing seolleong-​tang well requires a specialist. No one else has the space or time to deal with the large scale boiling. So, if you’re going to have this dish, go see the specialists.
I could probably give this place five stars, especially since they are the best at what they do in the area. Their service is a little slow, and I think I want to try them a few more times before I really go for the fifth star, but if you want Seolleong-​tang whiling staying out of range of North Korean artillery, this is your place.

Damn good soup…
Doesn’t matter which one you get…
The ox bone soup (spelled variously in English as «sul-​lung-​tang» or «seollongtang») was wonderous. How could this soup, which is the restaurant’s signature soup, be anything else?
They simmer their broth for an exceedingly long time (which they can do since they are open 24 hrs. and never close). I asked the waitress how long it takes to make the broth, and she said, «at least 24 hours…,» which means at least a day (but, usually, longer).
It is this commitment of time that allows the base water and the beefy stock bones in the liquid (such as ox tails, knee bones, neck bones, hooves, and hard tendons) to coalesce into a chemical mixture of protein, collagen, and dissintegrating marrow that becomes an alchemist’s dream.
The mixture simply simmers until it turns creamy and beige (with its constituent parts becoming one with each other – literally, until the broth has become the beef bones; and, the beef bones have become the broth).
To this broth, at some point in the cooking process, they add pieces of liver, tripe, and strips of beef filet meat (which are served in the broth as part of the finished product).
To their credit, they do not add much in the way of seasonings to the broth, which is so utterly pure, other than what nature and chemistry themselves provide during the protracted extraction of flavors as the broth simmers away.
At the table, diners have little dishes of sea salt, pepper, and a wooden bowl full of cut scallions that they can use to augment the seolleongtang as they see fit.
Admittedly, a bit of salt is needed since there is very little constituent sodium in the broth itself. However, as the sea salt that they provide is made up of large crystals and so robust, it can be very easy to over-​salt the soup (if people treat the sea salt like ordinary table salt).
The other soups at our table, which I also ate liberally from, were, as you can guess, amazingly good too.
The spicy galbi tang (short rib soup) featured a reddish broth, tender galbi ribs, and a flowering sprig of enoki mushrooms and a couple of large Chinese dried dates as garnish.
The soup was spicy and very hot (temperture wise) as it was probably at a boil just before being served. It was hearty, bold, engrossing, and borderline addictive. With a few sprinkles of sea salt, the ribs themselves were utterly delicious (with the meat, rib tendon, and the few fatty parts allowing for a truly captivating bite each time).
The final soup at our table was the «pork neckbone soup with vegetable» (which featured green root leaves of some sort that I could not identify absolutely). Of the three soups, this one looked the richest and was the fullest. It was a darker color than the galbi tang (a more fuller red with hues of brown and mahogony). The earthenware bowl itself was filled completely with vegetables, bones, and meat and was literally a heaping mass of steaming goodness.
The pork neckbones had been cooked perfectly to the point where the clinging meat was fall-​of-​the-​bone tender (and not overcooked to the point of becoming mushy or stringy). Each spoonful was a wedding of spicy, chili inflected broth, bits of neckbone meat, grains of pepper and other seasonings, and strands of the constituent vegetable. Wow… did it hit the spot.
The accompanying banchan of kim chi, which was crisp and saucy rather than limp and watery, was some of the best kim chi I had ever tasted; and, the kkakdugi radishes also were excellent… slightly sweet, earnestly sour, and refreshingly good. Even the lettuce leaves (which were served to us in a small woven basket before the soups came out) were very good as we dipped them in a little dish of doenjang (fermented bean paste). Of course, they had become an afterthought by the end of our meal.
Really, by the end of the night, we were all stuffed and happy.
The restaurant itself is decorated in wooden tones or with actual wood (as the tables, chairs, and floors are all made from various kinds of lightly shaded wood). What wasn’t «wooden» was made from stone (or something artificial that was meant to mimic its appearance).
The overall effect, which was only enhanced by a mill wheel that was spinning water at the entrance, was that of eating in a rural environment somewhere… somewhere in Korea, perhaps long ago in time, near or on a farm where ox bones are readily available and where simmering hearty, natural broths are commonplace and part of an ancient tradition that goes back thousands of years.
Once outside, I felt a jolt… stumbled to the car and fought the cool night air as it came against me. But, alas, I felt invincible as the warm contents of my stomach protected me from the chill and grasp of the wind… invincible, until I drove home and the warmth of my amazing meal slowly, ever so slowly, faded away.

I was super excited about getting myself a bowl of some sulungtang, seeing as it was getting cold and I wanted to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However, when we walked in, the waitstaff was eating and didn’t notice us for a while. We finally got seated, got our boricha (barley tea) and a cold water for my friend, and ordered.
I got the salgogee (lean meat) sulungtang, and my friend got the yukgaejang. I was not all that impressed by mine or my friend’s dishes. It’s probably not fair to say this, but the broth just didn’t compare to what you’d get in S. Korea. Of course the kimchi and the kkakdugee were delish (albeit the kkakdugee was just a tad bit too salty), although we started running out of kkakdugee halfway through, and no one came to refill.
I’m used to sub-​par service at Korean restaurants, but the waitstaff was so busy eating themselves that they only walked by once during out whole meal and that was to get some other table’s check.
Pretty disappointed in the food and the service. Will try other places that are hopefully better at both.

Thank you Donald P for organizing KK4 and allowing on us to feast on hearty broth goodness, clear our sinuses, and excrete every toxins in our body prior to consuming bottles and bottles of soju.
As usual, it took about 30 minutes for the group to form and decide on menu items. It took especially longer, I think, because of the novelty of menu items to most attendants. Not being able to assauge our hunger, we dove into the vats of kimchi. Not so good idea. We ended up finishing the vats of kimchi and not able to finish our savory soups.
The baechu kimchi (aka napa cabbage kimchi) is slathered generously with thick kimchi sauce, the type of sauce that doesn’t ooze excess liquid, and is left uncut to maintain the integrity the kimchi. It is so addictive and delicious, all in its own. It’s like that perfect wine that you can either drink alone or pair with food. The radish kimchi is a bit sweet so it’s actually better paired off with the broth.
I ordered the Korean blood sausage soup, soondaegook, because of my love affair and nostalgia with soondae. Korean blood sausage lacks meat. It is simply intestines stuffed with vermicelli noodles and blood. It is served in the same broth as the pork neck soup with plenty of perilla leave seeds and innards such as liver, pork ears, etc. It is accompanied by salty pickled shrimp and «dadegi» which is a mixture of fine and coarse pepper flakes, broth, salt, garlic, and usually some type of lard to enhance and add some spice to the soup if desired.
The homemade Korean blood sasuage was decent. I think I would rather have the junky, fast food quality soondae due to nostalgia than antyhing else. The soup was savory and warm and appeared to almost have healing powers to my aching neck, shoulders, and sinuses.
It’s the perfect meal for a rainy day, cold winter day, hot summer day, or any other day to nurture oneself.
Oh, and thank you to Mikkela and Antonio’s wife who were gracious enough to save me the galbi bones from their galbi jim as well as the galbi broth for my lovely canines. They happily feasted on it.

Thanks to Donald P’s continous effort to organize Korean Krawls, I had the privilege of combing through multiple Korean restaurants and bars with signs that were in korean characters, totally foreign to me.
Gom Tang E was one of those places where 99% clientele was Korean with a love for soup made from simmering down a vat of bones from ox/​pork/​cow etc called Sul-​lung-​tang. It’s not a new concept in Asian cooking, slow simmering of bones for stock created the umami flavor so tasty it would fulfill a hungry tummy quite satisfactorily. The restaurant, modestly decorated with wood as the main element like with most traditional Korean restaurants. From the dining area, you could view the two large vats of bones simmering into super rich stock.
The menu was a simple two-​page booklet in both English and Korean — most individual dishes were modestly priced. If you were not into organ meats and pork bloods of sorts, you would experience extreme difficulty in making a decision on what to eat. I was one of those. However, our friendly waitress was great, she helped me find something that was just meat. There were about 12 of us, between showing up to actually eating, it took a while especially in making a decision on what to order. Hats off Gom Tang E for allowing individual checks. While waiting for the entrees to arrive, we poked into the little metal containers loaded with Kimchi and Spicy radishes. It totally answered the mystery when I first sat down, I asked if everyone like me, sensed the «mushroom» smell. It turned out it was the kimchi! We were feasting on the generous amounts of kimchi and radishes while waiting before we knew it the containers were empty.
The earthen pots and metal bowls of yummy broth and meats started arriving. For each dish, there were different sort of garnish accompaniments. There was a long silence when everyone digged into their food. I ordered the short ribs in broth with added spiciness. The broth was just amazing — rich, spicy and tasty! The meat was falling apart and the clear noodles absorbed the flavor of the rich broth. I emptied the bowl sucking down every drop of the broth.
If not for Don, I would never have found out such a place even existed in the DC-​metropolitan area. You can certainly find some unqiue restaurants in Annandale.

— — — — - 12/​28/​2010 update — — — — -
I think we’ve been here too many times now. Each time we appreciate this place less and less. Their holiday special ($ 3.99 sullungtang) was a great deal, but their service was terrible. Annandale is much closer drive for us, but Gamasot in Springfield is a much better experience and still a great value.
The last few times we were there for holiday special, this place has appeared to be severely understaffed. Waiting at the entrance to be seated, waiting to get water and menu, waiting to have our order taken, waiting for our food, waiting to grab someone’s attention to get more water or kimchi, and waiting for the bill. You see a pattern here.
We took our parents (visiting from out of town) to have dinner here, and my dad was so upset at the service, he refused to leave a tip. We had to leave the tip on the table after my dad left the table.
I’m so tempted to drop this down to 3 stars, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. We’ll be back after the holidays to see if this place is any different.
— — — — - 7÷2÷2010 review — — — — -
We’ve come here several times now and each time is good. I definitely like this place more than the other location in Centreville. We just went there last night and each time we are pretty satisfied. Sul-​lung-​tang is delicious as always.
I just wish they had a baby changing station inside the bathrooms. There’s more than enough space for it.

Got the craving for a good bowl of hot comforting seolleongtang, but don’t feel like driving to Springfield? Gom Tang E to the rescue. They are having a grand opening special on seolleongtang right now. The soup is all you can eat, so are the cabbage and radish kimchi. The soup was so savory, gelatinous, and rich. You season it with the salt, scallions, and black peppers provided at the tables. The all you can eat kimchi along with tongs and scissors were situated at two wells at the end of the table.
I don’t think I will be back here much in the future because husband isn’t much of a soup person, but if you love soup, this place is great. Like Gamasot, you can watch huge vats of soup bubbling away, and at first, I thought it would be a great idea to sit right by the glass window, but that turned out to be a bad idea, unless you are looking to get a sauna at the same time.

I went to eat here with Don and Cathy on a whim since I was hankering for some neck bone soup. This place is almost identical to its Centreville location with the only difference being that it’s larger and can accommodate more customers.
The food was par for the course — no real difference from the other location from what I can tell. The wooguhji haejangkook () broth was nice and strong — my only complaint was that unlike in Korea, you can’t order extra neck bones () for a few extra bucks. Even with an attempt to spread a little charm, I was unsuccessful and had to limit my meat consumption for the night.
Overall not a bad experience — I at least know where I can go closer to home now instead of having to drive all the way back out to Centreville. On a side note, it almost seems like Annandale is having a resurgence as a Korea town after the housing market crash and recession. Interesting.