Gahwa - Queens

My first time trying seolleongtang! The place is packed with mostly Korean speaking patrons, and am grateful I was with my Korean speaking friends (who introduced this place to me). The place was bustling on a Sunday afternoon. The bone broth was delicious: clean, rich, and perfect for a cold, winter day. For first-timers (like me), the broth comes unseasoned, and it's meant for you to season as you please with the table salt and scallions. The rice texture was perfect, and the radish kimchi was so good (seemed better than what I usually experience in Manhattan). This is A+ comfort food, and will definitely be coming back for more. It's right around the corner from H Mart, so a perfect stop for a quick meal

A hidden gem with convenient street parking available at night. The prices are very affordable.

Often, the vegetables in this spicy rice dish can be cut into awkward lengths and sizes, making them difficult to eat. However, here, everything was thoughtfully diced into small, manageable pieces, making it much easier to enjoy each bite—this minor detail was a pleasant surprise. The only downsides were that the pot wasn’t very hot, so the rice didn’t crisp up on the bottom as much as I would have liked. Also, I missed having an egg to include, which many other places offer. Nonetheless, these small issues aside, we appreciated the speedy service and the fact that they were one of the few Korean restaurants in the area open for early birds.

However, after taking just a few bites of my food, I felt something hard in my soup. I pulled it out to discover it was a coin—a dime! It was disgusting, and I wondered if it was intentional. This completely ruined my appetite, so I stopped eating. I regretted paying for the food I barely touched, and I even tipped 18% for such poor service. I will never return, and I hope the owner takes action to train their staff better. I understand that the staff may want to leave early, but if you're open for another 30 minutes, please treat your remaining customers with respect and ensure the food is not tampered with.

Inside (if we went loud, but it is the definition of cozy. The food is what I take to be Korean comfort food because I wasn't Korean, but there was a feeling of home and warmth: The broth of soup is great, but bland, so it is good that they have fed on the table