Woo Jung Oak

The absolute best braised pork potato soup. called (gahm jah tang). This is the only place that makes it right.

Take it from me, I’m an authentic Korean, and this place is about as authentic as can be. Well, at least for Oregon that is.
I have always said that a good way to gauge a restaurants authenticity is to look around you and see if the patrons are actually of that ethnic background. In this case, yes, Woo Jung Oak had all Korean diners. Now that’s always a good sign because all too often, food reviews/​blogs are written by people who have no clue as to how authentic food should taste like. Case in point — a certain Korean restaurant (I won’t name and names *cough* NakWon *cough*) in Beaverton gets awesome reviews and is always crowded with non-​Korean peeps. People rave about this place but quite frankly, it’s MEDIOCRE. How it passes off as being Korean food is beyond me. Just because it’s Korean owned and operated, does not mean that the food is authentic. Bleh.
Woo Jung Oak takes me back to my early childhood when grandma would whip up dishes from scratch. She would even spend an entire day with 3 cases of won bok cabbage and end up with 15+ gallon jars of kimchee to be given away and the remaining to be stored in the outside kimchee fridge (yes, Koreans have a seperate fridge dedicated just for kimchee!). And just like grandma’s kimchee, Woo Jung Oak’s is homemade and tastes great! It has that really spicy, pasty chili pepper flavor and not that commerical taste that’s found in the supermarket jars. The dwaeji bulgogi (spicy pork) tastes EXACTLY the way my grandma and mom would make it. The dol sot bibim bap could’ve been better if they used the right stone pot, a mistake that EVERY single k-​restaurant in Oregon makes. How or why they can’t get dolsot right is beyond me?! But the jigae’s are good, especailly on a cold winter night.
I also want to note that ajumma that runs the front is very friendly. She’s very attentive and very nice. Prices are reasonable considering good k-​restaurants in Oregon seem to be a rarity. Woo Jung Oak won my heart over. The food is down-​home cookin’ at it’s best, well, at least for Oregon. Do not hesitate to give WJO a try, you won’t regret it. And this is coming from a Korean person.

Woo Jung Oak, where have you been all my life? Yes, I admit, your décor isn’t the greatest piece of art and it keeps changing. I understand you may be having an identity crisis, but I don’t care because you’re still fairly new and the food is delish.
My favorite thing to get here is the Mandu Guk (Dumpling soup). I do believe that I have tried mandu guk at every restaurant in Portland and this place is my favorite. Something about their deep beefy broth has me coming back for more. Their Gam-​ja tang (potato stew) is also on my fave list. There’s a review on here saying it’s not good but I have to disagree.
The only downside to this place is the hidden location, which is why I think that this place isn’t as booming as it should be. Make sure to visit and give this restaurant the type of hype it deserves.

This place wasn’t sanitary. Going to the bathroom, the raw meats were sitting in tubs in the hallway right in front of the bathroom and family or friends of the owners were washing their puppy’s paws in the single stall bathroom right before my husband went in to use it. The seafood pancake was ok, not nearly as good as Nakwon’s. Food was not bad, small portions, side dishes were mediocre. But couldn’t get my mind off of how unsanitary the place was… bathroom was dingy, didn’t look like anybody cleans it.

Outside looks the same inside. Very depressing and not many people. My husband and I wanted to try this place since we live so close. We were hoping it would be a good hole in the wall place. The food was pretty good but the price was so expensive. I couldn’t believe we spent $ 40 there! Service was minimal and portions were decent. But definitely not worth the price. They need to change fast before they run out of business!

Pleasantly surprised to find authentic Korean food here

I think I could die happy eating their banchan. Slightly sweet, chili-​laden cabbage. Bright, spicy pickled daikon. Bits of crunchy green seaweed. Little fishies. Sesame. Soy. This is healthy food. Fun food. Satisfying food.
And then, the big plates. So far I’ve had the seafood pancake, homemade noodle soup with clams, and the soft tofu stew with seafood. All have managed to seem both delicate and hearty. The soft tofu was a pick-​me-​up on a sleepy, grey day. The pancake made a delicious room temp midnight snack later that day.
The space is plain but pleasant, and the service is quite attentive without being intrusive. The two times I’ve been here it’s been almost empty. Two people can leave happy for about $ 20, although dish prices vary considerably.
If you want quality comfort food in a low-​key setting, get thee to Beaverton.

After a tip from a local friend and reviews here we tried this place out. My husband and I went in on a Saturday night and ordered two meals to go: the marinated beef with a seafood tofu soup and a chicken entrée. The two menu items came to 30.00 dollars, whoa.
Also the food was not good. meat dishes were dry and served on beds of raw onion (?).
I lived in Hawaii for a few years and ate Korean BBQ regularly which was awesome, this was nothing close to what I’ve had before. Too bad we were looking for a new local take out place.
We ate there in mid January 2011. At the time there menu was not posted on thier website. Appears they recently raised thier prices quit a bit.
When we went in I found the restaurant space depressing and not very clean. On Saturday night there were only two other groups eating.

I’m going to cut right to the chase: right now, this gets my ranking for Overall Best Korean Restaurant in Portland!
A friend was told about this place by an ajuma (
). If there’s anything I’ve learned during my time on this planet, it’s to take as gospel the infallible word of the ajuma when it comes to food.
The «banchan» (side dishes,
) was exceptional; usually, the first sign of decline in a Korean restaurant is the falling quality of the banchan. The ajuma that recommended this place noted that everything was made from scratch. This crucial point should be appreciated: banchan is labor-​intensive and time consuming to make, and some restaurants resort to purchasing it from commercial sources. One cannot underestimate the nuance of a correctly made banchan, especially in that poorly made banchan (e.g., kimchee) is frequently too salty or otherwise relatively boring in flavor.
The potato pancake was also delicious, and unlike anything I’ve ever eaten: perfectly browned and delightfully flavored with various vegetables. I’m sure the version with seafood – «haemul” – would also be good.
If you really must have Korean BBQ, I’d recommend New Seoul Garden (SW Canyon) or So Kong Dong (SE 82^nd). However, I think this little gem is worth a visit, if anything, just to taste the banchan.

Not much to look at on the outside, but it’s what on the inside that matters! I’m not a connoisseur of Korean cuisine, but I can tell you this place is awesome! I stopped here for lunch recently and had the BBQ spareribs… delicious! The kim chee is fantastic and it looks like they’re remodeling with a conveyor ‘sushi’ style bar but with Korean ‘small plates’. This is definitely worth the visit and I will be back soon!

In the middle of a dismal strip mall, behind a bland exterior, you’ll find this rather decent hole-​in-​the-​wall Korean restaurant. I’m fond of their bulgogi (BBQ beef). I’m still searching for their perfect soup. Their tofu soup wasn’t for me and the rice cake soup was on the glutinous, starchy side. Maybe their dumpling soup with beef-​pork dumplings will be more to my liking next time.
I’ve had one amazing meal and one competent meal, so the cooking’s a little unpredictable. The service is unpredictable too but that’s common in the smaller family places. Either way, they’re really quite nice, so I’ll happily put up with the rough edges.
I’ll be back.

This is a good family-​run Korean restaurant with good choices of Korean soups and some BBQ. The steam boat seems popular there. Prices are very reasonable and the dishes turn out great with good complementary kim chi options.