Hahm Ji Bach

Just drove by and this place is now closed. GOOD!

Can you ever have enough pork belly? I asked this pivotal question of myself the night that me and two friends dined at Hahm Ji Bach. After having terrible Korean food the week before in the city, my Queens-​friend swore to correct my sadness and took me here. We ventured off on the LIRR, our chariot to Korean BBQ heaven.
We were greeted with a smörgåsbord of ban chan side dishes (and the good ones that I like nonetheless) and friendly service. This is a new location for this place and it’s nice, clean and lots of open air which is especially important when every table is grilling something.
You must order the pork belly (Sam gyup ssal). It was amazing. Like would keep me from becoming a vegetarian ever in life amazing. For three girls we initially ordered 2 servings since we had other side dishes including really tasty soondoo boo. After we were nearing the end of our 2^nd serving, we added on another… then another. It was that good.
I left happy and wanting to schedule the next day to come visit and indulge in moderation (pork belly is not exactly the healthiest for you). Side note, I had to shower and wash my hair when I got home since I reaked of grilled meats. Did my steamy shower smell like a grill pit? Absolutely. Yum.

Empty during lunch hours
Wide selection of lunch specials.
Good sushi and sashimi bento box. The fish were pretty fresh
Ok bibimbap, not great
Ok soondubu
Good side dishes.
Won’t mind coming back here again

We arrived at Hahm Ji Bach on the suggestion of people whom have eaten here before. We were greeted outside the front door, by the letter «C», as the grade bestowed upon this establishment, bu the department of health. And while the food was not terrible by any means, the portion sizes are very small.
You are started with an obscene amount of Bön Chon on your table (I counted 16 different dishes. I chose the pork belly (san kap san) which was $ 22. When the meat came out, it was two strips of thick cut bacon. I thought this was just a starter amount, so I ate it as fast as it would cook. Imagine my surprise when after eating all of the pork, and wanting more, I was told I would have to pay another $ 22! Unacceptable. I will not be going back to this place.
Food = good
Service = good
Value for price = poor
Department of health letter grading in front window = C

Today was my brother G’s birthday and A decided to pick this place as he took the initiative to organize everything. A and his gf L arrived first and then the rest of us followed as we were running a bit late. But maybe we should have stood them up! hahaha
It wasn’t a good dinner for the following reasons:
1) mandoo, spicy tuna rolls, pajun: since A&L arrived first, they ordered them to start. It was perfect timing as the items came out once everyone else got there. The spicy tuna rolls and pajun were average, but in general it’s hard to botch them up. As for the mandoo, they totally sucked. The inside barely had any meat and it was dry without much flavor. It was just eating fried dumpling skin and not enjoyable at all
2) banchan: I’m not that high maintenance when it comes to service, but it took them a long time to bring them out. It was after we ate our appetizers… after we ordered our main course bbq items… after they brought out our bbq sauces and accompaniments… after we waited 5 minutes… after we had to ask them what’s up. You get the picture by now… IT TOOK A LONG TIME TO GET OUR BANCHAN! They were only ok. But if we’re gonna wait that long, it should have been phenomenal…
3) kalbi: what can i say?!? HAPPY BIRTHDAY G~!!! It must be a birthday dinner for us to pay $ 27 per order of kalbi because it wouldn’t happen on any ordinary day. The worst part is that it didn’t even leave us saying «hot damn this is tasty!» There are much better places in the area that charge in the low 20s per order.
4) samgyupsal: this was my first time eating it and it was whatevers. To verify my assessment, i asked BFF J who has tried it many times and she wasn’t impressed either. I was kinda surprised since people kept saying this spot is known for it.
Summary: It’s great to have a birthday dinner as it should be fun times. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the food and i wasn’t impressed at all. You might be wondering why I’m being so harsh with a 1 star rating. It’s because of all the stuff i’ve mentioned and the nail in the coffin at the end of the meal. While we were buttoning up our jackets between the front and interior doors, we just happen to see the DOH letter grade inspection posted on the latter set of doors…“C“rap~!!!

Hamjibach’s new translation may be:
House of abundant banchan.
Even for two people.

This place is terrific. Not only is the food delicious, but the service is unmatched, especially for a Korean restaurant. We were there a few weeks ago and ordered a dish with tofu. We thought that the tofu smelled and tasted a bit funny. Before we could do anything, several waiters, as well as the owner ajumma and her son ran over to ask what was wrong. When we told them what we thought, there was no protest; they simply apologized, brought out a new dish, and then brought out a complementary dish.
This is definitely the best korean restaurant in the NY/​NJ area.

Okay, went back there a couple of weeks ago and WOW does the service suck now. The food there sucks now and the food portions minimized by a good 423 492 308 094 801 112 203 264% and I would never ever go back again.
Sorry, Hahm Ji Bach– you guys suck now

Disappointing experience.
Full review: for Hahm Ji Bach, it was so disappointing! Ordering anything aside from the sam gyup sal (pork belly) just. isn’t worth going to this place for. The portions are so small, the service is dismissive (if you’re not with Korean adults) and. generally bleh.
I can’t shake the feeling that New Jersey does Korean SO MUCH BETTER than nyc and queens. They aren’t pretentious, genuinely want to serve you, feed you and have you walk out satisfied.

Korean BBQ is somewhat fungible in my opinion. It’s exceedingly hard to eff up a slab of raw pork belly. Casually slap piggy onto a hot grill, stand back, and salivate. The devil is in the details, and on multiple visits, i’ve noticed annoying defects at Hahm Ji Bach.
On most occasions, the lettuce, a central part of constructing a ssam (lettuce wrap) with the cooked pork belly, was languishing on the verge of wilting. Bokkeumbap, the heavily seasoned rice that’s slathered onto the pork fat glossed cooking service at the end of the meal, was insipid and seriously lacking salt and flavor. The service was inept, forgetful, and at times, dangerous — they accidentally set our grill temp too high, spattering nuclear hot bits of pork drippings onto bare skin and expensive handbags.
There’s a Korean proverb, «wonsung-​ido namueseo tteol-​eojinda» translated to, «Even monkeys fall from trees», meaning that sometimes even experts make mistakes. Unfortunately, Hahm Ji Bach, the anointed samgyeopsal experts, have fallen out of the tree too many times for a return visit.

I swear, if I lived in this area, I’d be so much heavier because I’d probably eat here once a week.
First, I love their Banchan. It’s plentiful and there’s variety. I have no idea what they are and what they are made of but I like them all. There’s a minimum of two orders if you will go for the BBQ. I thought it was too much food for us but we did it– just my husband and I. The kids had Jap Chae and left barely anything on their plates. We were served red rice as opposed to white, which we are used to. But, the red paired up well with the BBQs.
Be prepared to smell like barbecue afterwards though.

This place has amazing Korean food. For serious. Legit Korean BBQ at its finest. I’ve only been here twice, and I am already convinced of the quality and deliciousness of the food.
The service is great and the banchan (side dishes) are plentiful. They always fill your table up with banchan and bring out a few special ones like steamed egg, mackerel and spicy stew. The beef tongue here is very good and they don’t skimp out either. The pieces are big and they give you a big portion. Much better than the other Korean BBQ places in Flushing. The samgyupsal is also yummy. Watching the wait staff cook that thick piece of Korean bacon makes my mouth water in anticipation. It goes so well with some rice, wrapped up in lettuce. Their kimchi jigae is the best I’ve ever had in New York City and I can’t wait to try the rest of their jigaes. And whatever you do, please please please order the jaeyook kimchi bokkum. It is amazing. Definitely the best I’ve ever had. I couldn’t stop eating it. I had to force myself to stop though; my food baby was getting a bit out of control. It hurt a little bit to breathe, but I didn’t care. It was in muh belly and that’s all that mattered.
What are you waiting for? GO GO GO!

I came here with my boyfriend’s family for Mother’s Day. It was cute that they gave every women a rose for the occasion. Maybe it was busy that’s why I felt like the service wasn’t that great. They took a long time to come over to our table to take our order and also we ordered rice but took forever to get it to us. We had to remind them a few times. I wanted the purple rice since the beginning but because we had to remind them so many times they told me that they didn’t have anymore.
The meat was marinated really well. They had a waitress cook the meat for us but it took her forever to come back and take it off the grill so we had to take it off ourselves. There’s alot of side dishes but I felt like if you’re not Korean the side dishes are not as fanciful. The other tables got a large place of japchae and scallions and other larger plates of side dishes but we didn’t. Overall experience was ok it would be great if service was better and if they didn’t give us the vibe of favortism.

I have been going to this spot since 2005. Never been disappointed and most importantly never did I find a place that offers this powder for the meat and additional sauce along with the salad slices and sliced radishes… those things make a world of difference to me. The kalbi meat is really good quality and the waiters are always attentive. My all time fave k-​bbq joint. I go back as much as I can.

I love their bacon pork on the grill! *Chanting* #1 #1 #1!
Also love that fried fish thing that is seasonal and the Kimchi marinated beef soup that comes with the complimentary appetizers.
This is my favorite Korean restaurant. The prices are a bit more expensive here than in Flushing but what the quality of meat is also better.
Don’t forget to dip the bacon pork into the brown powder and sauce dipping platter they offer! It’s the best! I don’t know what that powder is but it makes the pork taste so much better.

Best Galbi east of Flushing. AND Servings of Galbi are relatively LARGE. i.e. 2-​person serving will get you the equivalent of a 3-​person serving elsewhere.
Servings elsewhere small. Me Angry. Me want meat.
GOOD banchan.
Service is whatever.
If i am wrong, please tell me where there is better Galbi east of Flushing, so that i, too, may benefit from that knowledge.

MJ’s Star: 3.5
Price: Lunch $ 10~$ 12 (except tip & tax)

Ate here a few weeks ago, and it was good… but nothing special.
I had the marinated spicy pork, and it was good, however, after eating a few bites, the taste just becomes bland in my mouth. The side dishes were very good and plentyful! My BF had some sort of fish, I cant remember what, but it was just OK. The place was filled with Koreans and/​or Korean Americans… so its decent, but really, probably would not come back :(

At the 2004 Scripps National Spelling Bee*, the 1^st place runner up was stumped by the name of this restaurant:
prepubescent contestant: Uh, can I get the etymology?
indifferent judge: Korean.
prepubescent contestant: Uh, can I get that in a sentence?
smiling judge: I ate dinner at _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​.
prepubescent contestant: …
Ham Ji Bak?
Ham Jee Bak?
Ham Ji Back?
Ham Ji Bach?
The correct spelling is Hahm Ji Bach.**
If you have religious obligations or dislike the swine, then I am sorry… you will never enjoy this place. Don’t read any further.
«Sam gyup sal» (pork belly) is cooked in front of you on a stone slab (see photos). Because of the fat content, the stone is tilted and dabbed with napkins. It’s similar to a George Foreman grill, where the fat drips to the bottom. The napkins prevent a grease fire. You have dipping sauces for the pork and wraps. It is delicious.
Meat wise, I wouldn’t order anything else, dodo bird. Feel free to add on appetizers and stews. Kimchi and Soondooboo jigaes are good.
Do ask for «Godoong Uh» fried mackerel (if they don’t bring it out… free and tasty).
What I like this one over the original HJB (
):
1) It’s bigger. More tables means I don’t have to wait or hear the management sob story.
2) Ok that’s it… same great food and great service.
There is valet parking available, but first turn on 211^th Street; you may find a spot.
It’s a shame I can’t appreciate regular soju. It’s like sipping on rubbing alcohol with meat. I know, I’ll get sh-​t from my people.
Hahm Ji Bach is one of my favorite*** Korean restaurants in NY.
* This was merely a hyperbole to get my creative juices flowing.
** The spelling of this restaurant (both locations in Queens) is debated. I looked at my receipt for the judges’ ruling.
*** This was not a paid for advertisement. Pedro approved this Unilocal message. He ate here so many times, it’s official.
IFHTP 3+

THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!!
This place does not go cheap with the sidedishes (banchan). They literally fill your entire table with an assortment of sidedishes before your primary meal comes out.
The best part is the bean powder and the special sauce to dip your kalbai, sseng kalbi, and samgyupsal in!!! Plus, they always give you a «service» dish of dwen jang jjigae with whatever you order…
This place is a MUST if you’re in Queens.