Son Ja Jang

Not a very well kept secret; this is the best game in town for hand-​pulled jiajangmyun and Korean-​Chinese style sweet and sour pork/​chicken/​beef. Crisp and well defined sauce compositions. A delight.

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.

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.

So the last time I was here, this place was decent (4 years ago?) From my experience two weeks ago, I brought a group of friends to showcase their noodles and tangsooyook.
I was surprised how the food was pretty bland and watered down. I probably will be taking my expert taste buds somewhere else to get jja jja myun and other food.

The dumplings were good, and tang soo yook was okay, food was super fast, and customer service was good. But! The main jja jang myun was very flavorless. After eating dumplings with soy sauce, it was as if i was eating flour noodles.

The food is decent. The price is excellent it’s pretty cheap overall especially the lunch specials.

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!!!

Great job on the food. Authentic taste, quick but not fast and filled with flavor. Alcohol is a bit on the expensive side but otherwise reasonable price, good value.

/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.

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.

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.

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 ½ 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.

So I really didn’t get to eat much of what I ordered but my parents did. With a gluten allergy, anything more than 2 bites of wheat flour pasta will cause hell on my skin.
My rents usually don’t frequent bunshik type Korean restaurants, but I suggested it so that I could have a taste of their black bean sauce (with rice). I did try a bite of the jajangmyun and OMG, the noodles are BOMBBBBB!!! SOOO delicious. Everything else was meh, but their jajangmyun is going to turn up in my dreams often enough for me to feel a pain when I drive by this place.
The service was attentive. It’s not really on the second floor– if you come in street side, it’s the far door to the right. Look up– there’s a small sign of the restaurant above its door.
If you’re feeling jajangmyun– don’t go to mandarin or teminguan– this is the best place in this neighborhood, hands down!

If you are looking for a freshly made, hand pulled noodle, korean style… this is the place to go.
It is literally a hole in the wall, very minimal seating…
Great food, clean and friendly service…
It’s pretty awesome that they also take major credit cards.

This place is literally a hole in the wall with no windows and natural light but it is a hidden gem. Their specialty is the ja jang myun with hand pulled noodles. The thick black soybean sauce with onions was quite tasty and satisfying and the homemade noodles were perfectly cooked, not too al dente.
Another notable dish is their fried pork with sweet and sour sauce. Small chunks of pork are fried in a batter similar to tempura and then smothered with the thick sweet and sour sauce, which also has peppers, carrots and onions. The crispiness of the pork goes away after sitting in the sauce so next time I will ask for the sauce on the side. The sauce had nice flavor but a bit heavy on the cornstarch.
As far as service, it is quick and efficient. There are a few tables but because there are no windows and the place is a bit tight, I could get claustrophobic if I stayed too long. The prices are very reasonable.
Overall a great little eatery for cheap Korean/​Chinese eats.

Hand made noodles — literally right before your eyes. We were seated across a window into the kitchen, so we were able to watch as they literally slapped the noodle dough around (which results in a loud bang every so often). You can totally tell that the noodles are hand made even without that — the texture is just so obviously hand made.
That said, we got the jjamja combo (half jjambong, half jajjangmyun), and the winner was clearly the jjambong. There was tons of filler seafood — even imitation crab, which I’ve never seen in a stew before but absolutely loved. The jajjangmyun sauce itself was a little bland for me, but filled with onions and meat. Very filling, and very cheap. It’s a hole in a wall in terms of interior decorating — very sparse and not the most aesthetic restaurant at all — but the food is definitely worth coming back for.

My go-​to place for jjamppong in Jersey. There is simply no place better. It’s a real shame that the Son Ja Jang in K-​town in manhattan is pretty awful. I wonder why it can’t match up to this one? Hopefully someone higher up on the ladder will read this and make the necessary changes to the Son Ja Jang in NYC so that it can be just as good as this one (cough cough).
I can honestly say this place ties with Dong Chun Hong in NYC in having the best jjamppong and jjajangmyun around. Also, their lajogi (my all-​time favorite spicy fried chicken dish) is phenomenal. A combination of all three of these dishes is truly the ideal meal. My sister almost always orders the jjamjjamyun (a dish with both jjamppong and jjajangmyun in the same divided bowl) so that she can enjoy best of both worlds, and because we both share our obsession with lajogi, we almost always get that for the table as well.
It is very apparent that their ingredients are fresh and food quality is high. Many Chinese Korean places do not implement the best ingredients and it is easily noted by a jjamppong maniac such as myself. I have never been disappointed with the food here.
Prices are very reasonable and the portions are generous!
When you place an order for pick-​up or delivery, they’re super quick! Your food can be ready so fast. Make sure you order when you’re ready to eat because if you assume it’ll be 45 min to an hour, you’re dead wrong.
Finally, the service is always on point. I am impressed by how friendly their workers are and how welcoming the vibe is. It is a pleasantly clean and casual environment to dine in.

I came here with my Boo Boo and her younger brother for a meal around 4pm. I guess it was Linner. We needed to kill time because my doctor place needed an hour to replace my lens on my glasses. The place is through the hallway towards the back of the building.
I saw the guy making the noodles by smashing the big dough on the table.
We got the sweet and sour beef to share and I got the regular ja ja mein (noodles with black bean sauce). My Boo Boo got the half JJM and half spicy seafood soup. And the little bro got the seafood JJM.
The food came out pretty hot and fast. I would come back for more. Free small yogurt drink with the bill. Credit cards accepted here.

Bf wanted hand pulled noodle so we came here after reading the Unilocal reviews.
Delicious noodles with just enough toothiness and the sauce is delicious! Perfect blend of saltiness with slight sweetness from the onions. I am always pleasantly surprised by the meaty chunks of meat even tho the menu says it’s noodles with bean paste sauce. I got the fried dumplings (5) and noodle combo for $ 9.99.
The first time I had gone to the restaurant, I had gotten the spicy seafood soup with noodle. I got the most spicy level and it burned so much that I barely ate any of it and had to get it to go so I can add water and veggies to dilute the soup. Be warned of the heat! (the waiter warned me but I didn’t listen) The dish had lots of seafood tho so definitely worth the $ 8.99 but don’t ask for the most spicy even if you like spicy food like me.
This is going to become one of my ‘craving’ spots. It is that good.