9 replies to this topic

[Daniel]

Ham Ji Bach

41-08 149th Pl
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 460-9289

This Korean Restaurant is a favorite of ours.. We have been going here for years and is our favorite Korean Spot for cooked food in Flushing.. The staff is incredibly nice.. There is no rushing or brusk treatment. The owners are usually there and if not there is also a manager who is very on top of things.

The banchan comes out in a huge array.. Things from salad and coleslaw, to tiny fish with peanuts, kimchi, 4 or 5 types of pickled vegetables ranging from spinach, to cucumbers, greens, and more, there is steaming hot homemade tofu covered in a garlicky red sauce, and a whole fried fish are just some of the things i remember.. My favorite being their in house made tofu served in a that wonderful red sauce.

Our favorite BBQ Item, and what I believe to be the most popular item is the large strips of salted pork belly (samgyeopsal). It's really delicious.. They have a few different sauces and ways of eating the pork that most places I have encountered.. Firstly, the offer two types of dipping sauce and also this really interesting bean powder they you are to coat the pork with.. You then wrap up in a radish disc and add a little fermented paste, life is good.. In addition to the BBQ, we have tried many things from the regular menu.

On our most recent trip, we tried this bean sprout with cod fish heads, sitting in a hot red sauce.. it was AMAZING... The cod head kind of melted in all it's gelatinous glory into the sauce and then onto the crisp bean sprouts... the bean sprouts now covered in this sauce took on the illusion of being noodles.. the balance between the richness and the freshness was really a wonderful thing.. the pod end of the sprouts gave a crunch similar to peanut without muddying the fish concentrate. This dish was wonderful..

I also am a big fan of their Soondooboo. A spicy broth with tofu, clams, and shrimp..

Anyway, i am sure many people on this board come here and enjoy this place.. I was surprised not to see a thread on it..

[Suzanne F]

Damn that's close to where I grew up. I wish we'd had something like it then.

[Eatmywords]

I agree. We’ve only been twice but its the best we’ve tried in Flushing or Manhattan so far.

We found the banchan had a freshness a couple notches above the comps. Maybe the volume and relatively small size of the place keeps the quality high. It seems to always be packed.

You get the classics like bean sprouts, kimchi, lotus root, crunchy minnows, pickled greens, potato salad, etc but that house tofu w/chili sauce sets them apart. A real strong point. As well the stone casserole egg soufflé and that fried whole fish which I’ve yet to see others include in the freebies.

Haven’t tried the bbq yet (due to the dish and casserole menu being so interesting and vast) but definitely plan on it next visit. Last time we had the spicy monkfish and short rib casseroles. The stocks in these were more flavorful, spicy and complex than other versions we've tried. Gotta get back there.

Valet parking (free) is a perk when you consider the challenges of that area. I believe it’s a bit far from the 7 train but the LIRR is very close.

[Suzanne F]

Q12 bus.

[Daniel]

Might as well give this place a little bump.. Wonderful meal here last night. Spicy fish cake was something I had not ordered here. It was super. panjun with octopus was cooked perfectly. Our waitress was not really giving us proper respect but, what are you going to do. She was ignoring us at first but, i got up and kind of twisted my face at her and told her to take better care of us and she came around.. But, she did stuff like try and cook the kalbi and pork at the same time. I am pretty sure, that is the equivalent of serving someone's soup in a sock. Most times, you go to a Korean Spot and they either give you a new grill when the kalbi comes out or clean it thoroughly. Anyway, we told them to wait and they did.

Everything remains delicious and the owners are super nice. It was an isolated incident which I handled quietly away from the people we were with. I wasn't being sensitive, we arrived the same time as a table next to us and they were eating with banchan, drinks and tea, before she came over to us.

Food is delicious, I would not get the kalbi from here again. It's all about the pork. If you want kalbi, go next door to Mapo.

A new spot opened between Ham Ji and Mapo.. Its called Han Joo Chik Naeng Myun & BBQ.

[erha2]

Might as well give this place a little bump.. Wonderful meal here last night. Spicy fish cake was something I had not ordered here. It was super. panjun with octopus was cooked perfectly. Our waitress was not really giving us proper respect but, what are you going to do. She was ignoring us at first but, i got up and kind of twisted my face at her and told her to take better care of us and she came around.. But, she did stuff like try and cook the kalbi and pork at the same time. I am pretty sure, that is the equivalent of serving someone's soup in a sock. Most times, you go to a Korean Spot and they either give you a new grill when the kalbi comes out or clean it thoroughly. Anyway, we told them to wait and they did.

Everything remains delicious and the owners are super nice. It was an isolated incident which I handled quietly away from the people we were with. I wasn't being sensitive, we arrived the same time as a table next to us and they were eating with banchan, drinks and tea, before she came over to us.

Food is delicious, I would not get the kalbi from here again. It's all about the pork. If you want kalbi, go next door to Mapo.

A new spot opened between Ham Ji and Mapo.. Its called Han Joo Chik Naeng Myun & BBQ.

Han Joo has been open for at least the past 5 years (could be a lot longer than that) and is great for the pork bbq too. I prefer it to Hahm Ji Bach but both are great.

[Daniel]

Very cool.. I have my blinders on when I go there. I will have to hit that place up for certain.. Have you been to Mapo, how do they compare?

[Eatmywords]

Might as well give this place a little bump.. Wonderful meal here last night. Spicy fish cake was something I had not ordered here. It was super. panjun with octopus was cooked perfectly. Our waitress was not really giving us proper respect but, what are you going to do. She was ignoring us at first but, i got up and kind of twisted my face at her and told her to take better care of us and she came around.. But, she did stuff like try and cook the kalbi and pork at the same time. I am pretty sure, that is the equivalent of serving someone's soup in a sock. Most times, you go to a Korean Spot and they either give you a new grill when the kalbi comes out or clean it thoroughly. Anyway, we told them to wait and they did.

Everything remains delicious and the owners are super nice. It was an isolated incident which I handled quietly away from the people we were with. I wasn't being sensitive, we arrived the same time as a table next to us and they were eating with banchan, drinks and tea, before she came over to us.

Food is delicious, I would not get the kalbi from here again. It's all about the pork. If you want kalbi, go next door to Mapo.

A new spot opened between Ham Ji and Mapo.. Its called Han Joo Chik Naeng Myun & BBQ.

We had a similar experience a few months ago. Icy waitresses tried to up sell and got pissed when we didn’t bite. Left out some banchans and those we did get were very tame. We got caucasioned for sure. The mains were disappointing too. I can forgive the food but not the treatment (by more than one person). A shame considering past experiences. I don’t think I’ll be back considering the other 10 places just in that square block area I want to try like Han Joo Chik, Cho Won Gal Bi, Kum Sung Chik, Su Ra Chung, Chinese House (Korean-Chinese) to name a few.

Speaking of Mapo, we did go back a couple weeks ago and the kalbi was ridiculously well seasoned and tender again. It’s not cheap at $30 an order but worth every dime and their banchans are stellar esp the squid with spinach, sardines, grilled corn and black mushrooms. And the staff too made what seemed to be obvious effort to make us foreign natls feel welcome.

Btw, when I mentioned Hahm Ji the waitress said they were more known for pork rather than galbi. (I haven't tried it)

[erha2]

Very cool.. I have my blinders on when I go there. I will have to hit that place up for certain.. Have you been to Mapo, how do they compare?

I go to Mapo to order kalbi on their charcoal grills while I go to Han Joo to order their sam gyup sal (pork belly) which is cooked on a crystal slab over a gas grill. I suppose you could order pork at Mapo but I generally will stick with what the restaurant does best.

[Eatmywords]

We tried the pork belly on our first visit along with the short rib. It was very good, by all means worth ordering if you're looking to sample, but not nearly as special as the galbi.