Son Ja Jang
“You can get a half & half dish (combination of either jja jang myun, jjang bong, tang soo yook) – how can you NOT like that?”
“I love their jajjang-myun(black bean noodle) and Tang-su- yuk(sweet&sour pork).”
“We got the sweet and sour beef to share and I got the regular ja ja mein (noodles with black bean sauce).”
Son Ja Jang
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Hand-made noodles are considered a mark of true scholars of the Korean noodle world. In order for jjajangmyun & jjamppong to be truly great, it must have hand-made noodles. And so with great expectations we head to this place on the second floor of a building. It took us a while to find it because there is no storefront, just a sign that wasn't small but somehow was easy to miss.
The owner couple(?) are SUPER nice, and deserve a full 1/2 star upgrade for what is otherwise a 3.5 star experience. Very pleasant, and truly will try to accommodate your requests to the best of their abilities. I mean, really really nice.
One great thing about the menu is that you can order half jjajangmyun & half sweet & sour pork, or half jjamppong & sweet & sour pork. We got one of each.
Tang soo yook (sweet & sour pork) – Good sauce, liked the sufficient crispiness of the breading, but I wish I had the sauce on the side. Personal preference. The big surprise is that the meat is beef, not pork, as a standard. You can ask for pork instead, but we didn't know. As it was, good quality beef and I was fine with it. Want to try the pork though.
Jjajangmyun – This was possibly the best jjajangmyun I've had in the U.S. The sauce is what I remember from Korea, and the noodles were perfect – tender on the outside, firm inside. This dish was spot on.
Jjamppong – This is where it went wrong, sort of. The soup is very good, and they don't skimp on the ingredients. The only issue was the noodles. Unlike the jjajangmyun, the noodles turned soggy and too soft. But not in a chewy-soft way. So I think the characteristics of the hand-made noodles were such that it does not mix well when sitting in hot broth for an extended period.
Nevertheless, it is still the place to go if you're in the mood for some black bean sauce noodles and sweet & sour pork (or beef). Just keep in mind how the noodles react in jjamppong. If you like that consistency, you'll like it better than I did.
Table-for-1 Factor: As with most K-C noodle places, it's fine to go here alone for a quick meal.
The definition of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, just like everyone says you need to keep your GoogleMaps open and your eyes peeled to make sure you don't miss this gem. Their handmade noodles are delightfully chewy and fresh– there is even a convenient window from the seating area into the kitchen where you can see them hand-pulling the noodles!
They're generous in portion size, and delightful in flavor. It's pretty classic, wonderful jjajjamyun. I've definitely found my go-to spot now! I recommend all noodle enthusiasts come visit at least once.
Someone call the wahmbulance bc the jjambbong here took a nose dive into some serious ASS! Damn. Broth tasted like it needed to cook at least an hour longer; it didn't deserve to be ladled over freshly made noodles.
If the spicy jjajang & ggan poong gi weren't so good, I would've tossed this spot into the Never Return Bin (its a real place, obvs). This is also the only place that has combos, which is its saving grace.
Step up your jjambbong game!!!!!!!
Service was very friendly and food came out promptly.
We ordered a combo-tangsooyook&jajangmyun (tangjamyun) and a regular jajangmyun. You actually get a pretty good amount of tangsooyook! Major props to them. However, it didn't taste too good….. It was crispy but the batter was oddly somewhat soggy/bread-like.
The jajangmyun on the other hand was really good! I enjoyed the unevenness of the handmade noodles, and the sauce was pretty good!
However, the pounding sounds from the guy making the noodles were really annoying. Initially, it was really cool observing how our food was made, but it got old fast… You can feel each thud. BUT…you get over it and the food makes up for it.
This is our favorite jjajang myun spot in Bergen County (we've tried them all). Beef tangsooyook is also very good. They're consistently good, service is acceptable, and prices are fair.
My Korean friend took me here yesterday and introduced me to the whole new concept of food: Korean Chinese food. To me, food here is a just a tiny bit Korean than Chinese.
I got hand-made noodles and black bean sauce and spicy seafood noodle soup combo. That's was way to much noodles for me but both of them were so good that I ended up finish most of it. My friend loves the fried beef so she got that in a combo with black been noodles. She liked her food a lot !!!
This is one hole in the wall worth going to. It is strangly located in the middle of an office building and you have to navigate a labyrinth to find the restuarant. Once inside you find a quaint little shop. The service was quick and efficient and the food was delicious. I live in the Philly area and this was one of the best JaJangMyun's I've had in a while. The noodles are hand drawn and you can see them make the noodles through a glass window. The noodles were nicely jolgit-jolgit (chewy) and the sauce was delicious as well. I was initial disappointed that they didn't have GanJaJang but their regular JaJang is delicious enough that you don't need GanJaJang.
/TL;DR Get anything with noodles. They're hand-made. You can feel the ground shake as they make it.
/ATMOSPHERE Atmosphere? What atmosphere? This place is entirely word-of-mouth traffic because the only sign you'll see is a tiny, little thing on a door in between other restaurants. Once you go through the door, you walk to the back. Thankfully my brother knew all about this place. No frills here.
/FOOD Had an order of jjajangmyeon and fried dumplings. Man, that hit the spot. The hand-pulled noodles aren't machine pressed so they have varying texture and thickness. So lovely. Drooling thinking about it. The sauce is pretty good too but not the best I've had.
/SERVICE Decent and decent pricing, too.
HOW TO READ MY REVIEWS:
1 Star – Does not approach edible. Enter at your own risk.
2 Stars – If I'm in the area, I'd pick something else.
3 Stars – I would stop by if I happen to be in the area.
4 Stars – I would pick this place out of other places nearby.
5 Stars – I would go out of my way to dine here.