Gobaegi

Closed… Will be missed.:(

Great food, great service. Black bean noodles («zajiao mien») is addictive.

Visited this place two times while on vacation in the area.
1. Know what is good on the menu and stick with it. (explain more below)
2. Banchan is good, fresh, but not WOW
3. Service is good, friendly. if something doesnt come out right, just send it back right after the first bite.
The GOOD:
Gamja tang: Very good, spicy, tender, pork neck bone stew with potatoes
Kkong Gook Soo: Purée soy bean brother with fresh noodle. Ice cold and refreshing (only in the summertimes)
Sam Gye Tang: Also very good, tender, good portion
The mediocre:
mool neng myun: broth was funky, more ginger taste than beef taste
tang soo yook: pork pieces were more batter than meat, and over fried.
Kam Pong Gee: theirs is the bone in style. too much batter, not enough meat, and the sauce was too sweet, not enough spicy garlic essense.
Kalbi: short ribs were not tender or marinated well (but not bad for 10 bucks)
Spicy Pork: marinade was not flavorful.
I hear the cham pong is good, but i havent tried it yet.
They have some really really good authentic dishes, and some stuff, they arent that great at… but not worth avoiding. Just know what to get.

The service is great, very friendly servers. The Gamja tang (Spicy Potato Stew) and Dak Dori Tang (Spicy Chicken Stew) are favorites. The Fried Dumplings are the best I’ve had in the area. As other Unilocalers have said, the Black Bean Noodles (ja jang myung) is also good and cant beat the price.
One thing I like about this place is that the waitress doesn’t expect you to order a Soju or any other alcoholic drink. She will ask but not expect it. I’m not saying its bad to build up a check, but they don’t turn their nose up at you if you don’t order one. I only say this because many other korean places I’ve been to will adjust their service based upon your alcohol consumption.

This place sucks. The donkatsu was paper thin and basically was only serving the breading. When we brought this up with the waitress (who literally leaned onto the table to take orders and asked for us to repeat the order 4 times) tried to explain the reason, she said, «it’s because if it’s too thick, we can’t cook it». Really… because every other restaurant ON EARTH does a fine job cooking it. Maybe your cooks in the back suck. The dak tori tang (spicy chicken stew) so was sweet it’s as if they added artificial sweeteners. Also, the chicken pieces were just pathetic. Bone, gristle and skin. very little meat if any. The neng myun (cold buckwheat noodles) was average at best and I do mean average.
Overall, the service was poor, the food was poor and the prices too high. This place sucks. Don’t go and let’s hope they shut down in a few months and bring in some good eats.

New place so we had to try it. Interior was nice. Food was so-​so. Ban-​chan (side dishes) were not that great. Waitresses were really nice. Most items were a bit more expensive than other Korean restaurants with exception of jja-​jang-​myun. Overall it was okay. Nothing special. I’d only go back to this place for cheap jja-​jang-​myun and that’s it.

I swear Korean places must have a deal worked out with dry cleaners. This place doesn’t even have the grills and my wife STILL knew I had Korean food for lunch. =) This place was pretty packed when I walked in. The place was full of Korean’s so I guess that’s a good sign. I was greeted in Korean of course. I told her I was not Korean and she said sorry. I was craving bulgoki so I ordered the lunch special.
While I was waiting for my lunch, I was brought out all the little appetizers. There were 5 in total and all tasted good. I actually finished 4 of the 5 dishes before my food came out. They did bring me more as well as some miso soup. The bulgoki itself was not too sweet, which I like, but it seemed a little dry. Also some of the pieces of meat were tender others were very hard to chew. I wish it wasn’t so dry because I liked the flavor. Not the best I had but it ranks in the middle of the pack.
The servers were all nice, even though the all thought I was Korean. When I left the place was packed. I was the only non Korean one there. So this must be a good spot right? As I was finishing up a white guy did walk in, so I feel a little better =)
Décor wise it was nothing special. Looks like most small mom and pop shops. The place looked clean, the people were nice, food was decent, and the price wasn’t too bad. My lunch cost $ 8.99 before tax and tip. That’s not bad for lunch. I’d come back again and try other dishes.

Huge portions, but no flavor.
Disappointed…

My new favorite place for Jja Jang Myun!!! It’s such a delicious flavor that I can’t describe~ Perfectly toasty, with robust flavor, and a distinct taste… Better than any other place I’ve tried in Annandale or Centreville!