Jumong

Went here on a Friday hungry night. Cool atmosphere.
Trusted my friend to order whatever looked good since I didn’t understand the menu (only in Korean). It was rather cold outside and the heat was blasting on my face, but when you shut it off it got super cold so that was sort of annoying.
The food however was real good. We got some sort of noodles with pork belly and seafood. What’s the name you ask? It remains a mistery but it was so good! We also ordered the seafood scallion pancakes, so greasy, full of seafood and just makes you forget your problems! Top it off with some soju and now you are talking!
They give you a complimentary instant noodles packet to get you going at the beginning of the meal, leaving you craving for more salty addictions and more soju! Clever clever!
Will def be back!

THIS PLACE TAMPERS WITH YOUR TIP AND OVERALL BILL.
The waiter by the name Jin Soo first pushed us to tip him generously, then tampered with the tip once my party left the restaurant. When I checked my bank statement a few weeks later, Jin Soo took it upon himself to add $ 20 more onto the bill.
When I called the manager to straighten things out, he tried to brush past everything and told me he would send me a check for reimbursement. After waiting three weeks and not receiving anything in the mail, I tried calling again but I was repeatedly hung up on. Needless to say I never got my money back.
Although $ 20 is a small amount of cash, it goes to show that Jumong’s staff is shady and disrespectful to its customers.
DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I had no idea there was another bordering town south of Ridgefield Park called «Fairview». I’ve always thought anything beyond Super H-​Mart was North Bergen. But anyhow, Jumong is a great place to drink and eat. Its semi open-​air space gave me a bit of that beer garden feels, so I’m definitely visiting back in the summer when the weather is nicer. Food was great, and the service was pretty quick. The only drawback is the fact that they don’t have an English menu, so make sure you take someone who reads Korean :)

This place has some of the best Korean food in these stretch of towns. The subdivided semi-​outdoor spaces are great way to enjoy your meal, and have drinks with friends. Make sure someone is fluent in Korean, because the menu is all in Korean.

Foods are great and tables are divided so you can have some private. I recommend buldak and spicy jjam ppong!

If you haven’t been here before, it’s definitely worth checking out. From my past experiences, I think its best to stop by Jumong on a breezy summer night or during the fall, right before it gets too cold. Jumong isn’t your average restaurant/​bar… There’s a couple of different sections to this place. There’s one part of Jumong that’s separated into intimate, traditional Korean rooms that are isolated from the main areas and another section that consists of just your average/​standard restaurant-​sit down area. In between these sections, there is an open area where customers can also be seated but this section is preferred during warmer seasons. Also, in the middle of Jumong there is a designated smoking area where the roof is open for your convenience. Aside from all that, Jumong does not serve pitchers. If you want beer, you gotta order a bottle.
Although, Jumong is a little bit more on the pricier side, it doesn’t stop me from stopping by time to time. They are generous with their portions and if you’re lucky, they may even give you some service! On my last visit, my friends and I shared a Korean styled Seafood/​Kimchi Pancake, Kimchi Tofu, Chicken topped with scallions and a Jampong Tang with Nuroongji which was more than enough for 6 girls!

Like other reviewers have said, it is straight up Korean– but it’s the totally ghetto Korean styled restaurant. I honestly questioned how sanitary this place is. It’s super dark inside with cheap lighting decoration placed throughout on the wall paintings. The coolest part about this place is for smokers: there’s an open area with benches for smoking in the dead center of the restaurant. The food was meh. Maximum dose of MSG isn’t my ideal dinner, so even though we ordered a combo platter, we barely touched it. In fact, I had a small piece of the ddukboki and it was so meh. The soondae, according to SO, tasted gross. The o-​deng looked so meh, I didn’t even touch that. BUT I did have close to 3 bottles of soju — left a happy camper. The bathroom is shared with the other restaurant. The entrance is bit confusing, and even though this is actually my second visit (I don’t recall much of my first), I accidentally went through the other connected restaurant.
It’s nice for an extremely casual night with friends or significant others, but you’re not impressing any first dates here. Go here for drinks and some meh anju, but I’m never going for a full blown meal here– just good enough for snacking on finger food.

shows the difference between a real restaurant VS a place that just serves food with soju
Service here is absolutely crap. After a miscommunication with our order, we didn’t even receive an apology just a lot of excuses. Also, don’t carry bowls of rice in your front apron pocket… seriously? But really, please train your staff. The food is actually good, but not enough to make up for the terrible waitstaff.

Tasty anju shit but all things made of cheap meats. Cheap interior style but i loved the patio smoking spot in the middle of the store. But this place is so hood

I love their outside seating area! It is always fun to drink outside and it reminds me of Korea.
Food is okay but not quiet amazing. Just there are not many cool places to hang out with friends so I will come back again when I go out with my friends in town.

Great place to drink with your good friend and pontificate/​bs on life’s troubles. On a warm summer night, the open air of this place makes you feel relaxed. With the assistance of liquid courage, you’ll talk and share without restraint. So drink your somec (soju&beer) and confide away at this place.

First and most important thing to know from our late night dinner here (back in ¹²⁄₂₀₁₄) — THEY DO NOT HAVE MENUS IN ENGLISH!
So if you come here and do not read or speak Korean, or come with a friend that does the former/​latter, ordering is going to be super difficult! If this has changed since I was here a few months ago, then awesome. If not, hope they do look to incorporate an English menu!
Second thing: Jumong and Lighthouse are connected so you could also do a Unilocal search for Lighthouse for more reviews. As far as space, this «connection» gives both of them an interesting dining area layout. Lighthouse is the smaller enclosed area that sits about 8 groups of 4 – 6 comfortably, and then Jumong is larger, with separate «rooms» and with an open/​outdoor dining area in the middle.
I’ve dined/​drank in both and they serve the same superb Korean food. They provide tabletop stoves for keeping soups/​stews constantly warm and cooking. With the Clam soup, the clams did become a bit chewy, but the soup came with rice cakes that thickened the broth after prolonged cooking.
Other solid choices are the spicy squid casserole and the scallion chicken. The squid dish consists of incredibly spicy gochujang sauce and comes with udon noodles.
The chicken comes as boneless fried nuggets. Meat inside was juicy and tender, and the breading was very flavorful. Comes topped with a heaping amount of shredded scallions and with a thousand island type of dressing. Portions are huge and best shared family style.
And of course I gotta mention the booze to be had! The above tastes even better when combined with bottles of Chamisul Soju and beer. (bottled beer only, no pitchers)

This place is a great place to go to with a group of friends for after work drinks or a casual night drinking on a weekend. The place is really interesting in that it has these huts directly adjacent to an exterior space that acts as an atrium that patrons can smoke in. The food is plentiful and rich in flavor and the perfect bar food! The atmosphere is active with rich and vibrant tones that enliven each individual table. The tables are adorned with sunken heat wells for your food to simmer in. We order the dduknoki, soondae, odeng combo along with a bunch of other plates and devoured everything! I would definitely recommend this place!

This place is great. Awesome atmosphere definitely feels like you’re in Korea and not in NJ. Food I’ve had is really good. haven’t had anything bad yet. The service however at times is a little blah. Seems like some of the servers have NO idea what they’re doing. Their menu is actually pretty impressive with some seafood items you don’t normally see. One complaint i have is that they don’t have a happy hour!

It felt like being in Korea. We went with a large group and got to try a variety of different dishes.
The fish cake soup is highly recommended. We called it the crack-​soup, we couldn’t stop drinking it. Just the right amount of salt, sweetness and spice.
The octopus dish was also very good. I wish they gave us more noodles.
The chicken with scallions and the pork skin were not my favorite and I wouldn’t get them again.
It takes a while to get service. We never got extra bowls.

Even though I give this place three stars, I’d come back. Just first? Learn some server etiquette. Just because I don’t speak Korean? Don’t write me off as a customer. I’ll let you have it come tip!!! Second, when YOU spill MY water AND THEN DONT EVEN APOLOGIZE NOR REFILL MY WATER because of your lack of YOUR coordination skills? Cop an attitude like that again and see what happens…
Besides that one angry, miss frowns a lot of a back server, everyone else was nice. Our ACTUAL server was decent, but a little on the slow side but can’t fault someone for dealing with me and my guest and two parties of over 10 people. Love the food. But the service seriously needs improvements if they want to earn 20% (used to be a a server myself so I know)…will go back for the food and the environment. It’s kinda cool outside so I’d like to try for outdoor seating if possible…

Jumong– menu is not in English
Waiter couldn’t even give us suggestions for first timers. He kept saying «uh I don’t know» Spilled while serving. Told us chicken fingers and come to find out he meant chicken feet! Poor communication. A bunch of young people who worked there had friends there who smoke outside your little dining section, ruined our experience. Food we ended up eating was okay, however only good part is the cute theme of the place! Worse staff ever! Don’t go unless you are actually Korean/​speak Korean. They aren’t used to Americans or other cultures interested in trying new places that’s for sure!

This is a review for Jumong (outdoor restaurant next to Lighthouse) and the quality it provides in terms of atmosphere and food. There’s probably nothing like it anywhere in this town. I have been to Jurang in Queens which also has outdoor seating but it does not compare. I have been to other pocha restaurants nearby and it is all still just indoor setup.
Great food, atmosphere and friendly staff in my opinion. Best part is their frozen soJU! When it pours with slush ice to your shot glass… wow… no words. just pure pleasure.

Great ambiance, extremely cozy and unique décor and interior. Ingenious implementation of food menu since the restaurant shares the building.

Food is okay. Service is great. Menu is only in korean with very few english speaking servers. There is no english menu.
The spicy chicken with cheese was good, but it’s impossible to order from there otherwise.
The seafood pancake, you can get kimchi, seafood, or half and half. That was pretty good too.
The location is pretty cool, you sit outside in little wooden huts and it’s probably ideal for drinking or bbq… if you happen to be korean or have one with you, otherwise avoid at all costs unless you know exactly what you want and are able to describe it.