JooMakGol

Hidden gem in Queens. Haven’t tried every item on the menu yet, but if my taste buds are correct, it is one of the few Korean restaurants that deserve such a high Unilocal rating.

Great authentic Korean a little ways from flushing station. Kimchi chigae and bibimbap are awesome.

i rarely come to queens since it’s so far out and i hate driving. since my mother wanted to have a good korean lunch, we searched on Unilocal for places nearby us at that time and this place popped up. the restaurant caught my attention after reading so many good reviews. when we got to the restaurant we were greeted right away by this adorable korean lady who offered great recommendations for my mother to try. we ended up over ordering but that was fine with us. we were more than happy to bring the leftovers back home. the ssam bap was our favorite. the meat was delicious and the vegetables was fresh. we would definitely come back to this restaurant when we’re in the area again.

The location is a bit unassuming, because the sign is all in Korean and you have to go couple steps down to the restaurant. This is a true mom & pop shop that is run by hard-​working immigrant business owners. I don’t even understand Korean, but I believe in them already!
The meal comes with 6 different ban chan. The only one that I didn’t like was the spicy jalapeño peppers, but all the rest were great! I got the only soondubu on the menu which surprisingly had a lot of seafood and diced cucumber and it came with a bowl of healthy purple rice. Unfortunately my soondubu didn’t come with a raw egg (is that normal or only happens in all the other Korean restaurants in the US?) Anyways, I don’t think I tasted one bit of MSG and they let everyone know that by printing «NO MSG» on their business cards.
The female owner (I think) is fluent in Chinese and Korean. She is very hard working — cleaning tables and serving and taking orders all at the same time. I am giving this place 5 stars because I witnessed how concerned she was when she saw an iphone left behind by her customers and immediately ran out of the door to chase them down. She couldn’t find them and urgently asked us to help (which we couldn’t, because the phone was locked). Anyways, we reassured her that the owner will most likely return to the restaurant.
Lastly, they open until 10pm, but their kitchen really closes at 9:30pm and they will turn you away if you come after 9:30pm.

I love this restaurant. My family come to this restaurant pretty often. We had Ssam bap, assorted vegetables that can be wrapped with rice and miso paste. It comes with delicious home style Korean miso soup and many side dishes of Ban chan. Their Miso soup is the one of the best and really home style. We often have it with broiled mackerel. The ban chan are so good. I heard the owner, herself is cooking. She is really good cook. This small restaurant is located in a small street and humble but the quality of the food is excellent. The one who can enjoy the home style Korean cooking will like it.

JooMakGol is one of my favorite restaurants in Flushing, Queens! This family-​owned and operated restaurant specializes in mackerel ssam bap. The mackerel Ssam Bap features expertly grilled fish and a huge variety of vegetable and seaweed greens that you use to wrap rice, ban chan, and whatever your heart desires. Korean cuisine in this small restaurant is authentic and freshly-​made every day. Would recommend for lunch or dinner with friends and family.

hole in the all restaurant that got a 2 thumbs up with my critical LA Korean chef parents. seafood stew was great! crab was delicious and special rice dish was great!

Super tasty Korean food and very friendly staff. I had the bulgogi which was delicious and their big portions will make you go home stuffed and happy.

Ssam Bop which means wrapped rice in Korean is what they do best here. You get a huge basket of assortment of greens to wrap your rice along with a choice of grilled mackerel, spicy pork, or beef along with 8 different side dishes. This order easily feeds two.

In the more forgotten part of Flushing lies Joo Mak Gol and their rustic stews and bbq. This small restaurant is surrounded by bars and warehouses quite common in the northern side of Flushing.
While lacking in English, the staff seems to be fluent in Korean and surprisingly, Chinese. Fear not, as they have an English menu upon request. Language is not an issue when pointing and repeating after the waitress gets you by.
As it was a cold night, my friends and I decided to order stews and soup. Each stew is served with a bowl of rice.
Spicy Fermented Kimchi Stew ($ 8.95) — Sets your tongue ablaze with its strong pungent acidic flavors. The bowl was generously stuffed with kimchi, firm tofu, rice cakes, and pork belly. I would recommend this if you love strong flavors and need to warm your body up. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Soft Tofu & Spicy Sea Food Soup ($ 8.95) — aka Soondubu seems to be the only soft tofu stew on the menu. As for seafood, I saw traces of clams, squid, and scallop but it was missing the egg typically served on the side. (⁸⁄₁₀)
Potato and Pork Thick Stew ($ 10.95) — This one had the richest flavor of the stews, in fact, a little on the salty side even. In the stew there is a huge chunk of potato and three pork bones to gnaw on. (⁷⁄₁₀)
Joo Mak Goo has a very homey feel to it and it’s only fitting soups and stews are their M.O. Also, when it comes to Korean food, I’ve never seen cheaper. Pair that with their no-​nonsense traditional cooking equals a restaurant that has withstood the test of time. Like an old shop in a village, the staff is welcoming and the food is warming.
For more info and pics, visit

I heard this place has good bo ssam and that was reason enough for me to come here. Though my wife and I went during peak dinner time on a weekend, other than a handful of middle aged Korean men taking up a couple of tables the place was pretty empty.
The sign saying «no! msg. never~!!» made me chuckle. Never you say eh? In any case. we got the steamed pork, oysters with preserved kimchi and the dried pollock with bean sprouts soup.
Overall, I thought the food was different and good. Different in the sense that who would ever think of having oysters and pork belly together? It’s like the Korean version of surf n turf. Just add the condiments to your requirements, wrap them in a lettuce leaf and you are good to go. I liked their spicy bean paste a lot. The pork belly and oyster combo seemed a little strange at first but then I really started enjoying them. If that’s not your thing, you can just eat them separately — I think most people do. The dried pollock with bean sprouts soup was good too.
Thankfully Joo Mak Gol is only a few minutes walk from the Main St. station which is good news for a perennial subway rider like me. I’ll definitely be going back.

Classic Korean civilian restaurant, but it still much more special than other Korean restaurants, because they will provide raw vegetable leaves for bundling the sauteed vegetable, entrée, rice, and their special bean cube sauce together. It is an ancient Korean diet habit, Moreover, the food is pretty good, the only problem is a little bit too salty.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT*
food taste different. very blend with no taste.

This place was great. The lady knew some Mandarin. Got bulgogi and a tofu soup. Both were delicious. Came with bean rice and the small dishes. Free dessert a mochi type rolled in a dried cooked red bean. Not sweet but interesting. They weren’t the most attentive but nice family run place overall. Give em a try.

This review has been long overdue. I came here over 6 months ago and I still remember how delicious the mackerel ssam bap is. This place is located on the basement level. The décor is old and not the best. Kind of feels like the Korean countryside. The staff barely speaks English, however, this place is a must try.
I ordered the mackerel ssam bap and the grilled pork belly. My friend and I do not speak Korean, and the staff don’t speak English; however, we were able to order by pointing. There are pictures in the menu and some pictures on the walls. Or you can point to what the other customers have on their tables. Even though there’s an English menu, it is very inaccurate and not much help.
The ssam bap comes with rice and a basketful of assorted leafy vegetables. Ssam bap is basically wrapped rice. Please squirt lemon on the mackerel, your taste buds will thank you. Pick a piece of leafy vegetable, then grab a piece of mackerel, some rice, wrap and enjoy. This is the best dish here.
The pork belly is a bit bland, but still very good and fresh. They do not have kalbi here the last time I came. If they did then I think it would be even better. The ban chans are also very good.

Great little korean joint! The food was superb. The price was affordable. We were a little disappointed about the crab. They haven’t had much in stock throughout the year (said waiter).
Everything was flavorful and fresh. We ordered the veggie soup, bibimbap, beef bowl and roasted pork with spicy sauce. Your meal comes with 6 ban chans, and a big basket of leafy greens to wrap your meat with.
We had an early dinner so we had the place almost to ourselves, but I can imagine how this place can get packed during peak nights. We will definitely return. What a great gem.

This place is so yummy and not pricey. For those craving korean meals, you should definitely come here.
I tried the go dueng uh ssambap (fried mackeral). Ssam bap is basically lettuce, cabbage, those sorts of vegetables (not sure what they are called in english) you wrap over rice, ssamjang, and the fried mackeral). Yum, it’s really good.
Although it is a small space, it gets busy during weekend nights!
Luckily, when I went, there was a parking space for me. But in this neighborhood, it is difficult to find a parking space.
I can’t wait to go again!

Do not judge a book by it’s cover, and do not ever judge a restaurant by its appearance. The restaurant is at a basement, decoration is not the finest, but the food was SO delicious! We ordered their combo which included soup, pork, and vegetables (for wraps), and also kimichi soup. Everything was so yummmy! And cheap!

Wow, great place with some very unique menu options. The soy sauce crab was simultaneously sweet, salty, and only slightly fishy. Loved the pink rice too.
One downside is that there are basically no vegetarian options on the menu. My wife ordered the «mixed vegetable soup» which came with slices of beef in it. Luckily, they gave us plenty of free banchan plus a complimentary, smaller bowl of veggie soup which apparently is called soondubu. They also give you free iced tea.
Overall it was a great experience and everything was delicious, despite the soup debacle!

I was tiny bit disappointed that the marinated crab wasn’t available, but the waiter told me it wasn’t in season for them to marinate it.
It’s actually in a sub-​basement, and I doubt it’d be easy for anyone who can’t read Korean to find this place, since the sign was only available in Korean, and so were any of the signs to menus within the restaurant.
There’s a limited number of tables that only sits 6 people each table, but it wasn’t crowded at all. The wait staff was prompt and accommodating.
As far as rest of the dishes go, we had hae-​jang gook and ssambab jung shik. I was surprised by how clean the food tasted, and it had none of that corn syrup smashed with MSG flavor often found in 32^nd St. K-​Town.
The place looks like it could use a bit of make over, but as far as food goes, five stars for sure. Possibly the best Korean food I ever had in NYC.