So Kong Dong Tofu & BBQ

I love their bibimbap! I’ve tried other dishes, which were delish, but it’s my go-​to dish. Yummy meat, shitaki mushrooms, kimchis galore, egg (I request for my egg to be cooked and they always do it for me), and forgot what else, but it’s yummy! Make sure to ask for the pepper sauce if they don’t bring it out. You also must have their tofu soup! Little bites of seafood, tofu, and and a crap load of pepper. It’s amazing. You’ll pay for it later, but totally worth it! Everything and everyone is really nice, even the kpop on the TV. Just go.

It is located in an ‘Asian’ mall similar to Great Wall Mall in Kent. We wanted to avoid an AYCE Korean BBQ hoping that the quality of meat and banchan would be better. Reading previous reviews, it looks promising. Unfortunately, they are on par with any AYCE joints. It is not bad, just average. The best thing was the steamed egg.

This is one of my favorite local places, mainly because no matter what mood you are in, they have something to satisfy it. The Hot Kimchi with Tofu and pork is my go to, followed by the mackerel pike. The soups are also great. They always give you a pile of pickled veg and kimchi with your meal which is great! I haven’t tried their BBQ yet, but just having that option on top of all this good food is nice. Do yourself a favor if your like spicy food and try the hot kimchi! It will feed 2 people

I really enjoyed coming here initially. However, the portions seemed to have shrunk and the prices have gone up. I doubt I will ever come back as I cannot imagine paying $ 16 for 6 small ribs, one of which was mainly bone. Too bad. I used to enjoy it. Oh well.

I can’t speak for anyone else, only my experience here. It has been great for me every time I’ve gone, which is about 15 times. The servers are kind and food comes out pretty quickly and has always been delicious.
I order the same thing every single time I’m here, so I can’t really speak for any item other than their stone pot bibimbap. It is such an amazing meal and fun eating experience. It comes out in an extremely hot pot sizzling and cooking right there in front of you. It fulfills a serious craving for me about once a month, and I have always left satisfied.
I’m posting a picture of this one. Check out all the other little delicious items that come with it (which they will refill for free if you ask).
I recommend lots of the sauce as some cooks off in the hot pot. They will even make a tofu version for you if you ask, even though it’s not on the menu.
I hope to one day try the table grills, but you need a group of people because it is a lot of food.
5 stars in my book.

Consistently good korean food. i always come here when i come to portland for a business trip.

I’m from MS and started craving some food from home. Growing up with Korean food, I can definitely say this is authentic. The spicy flavor of the tofu soup was excellent. I had it paired with the ribs and some soju.
I wish the menu featured more items but I was pleased to see their variety of soups– including ox bone! YUM!
The staff was extremely friendly and I loved the relaxed atmosphere. The KPOP videos on the tv were a nice touch as well. The price was excellent for the value and the banchan (side dishes) were pretty good too. I would have liked to see some Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) but I’m just being hungry at this point.
Next time I pop into PDX again, I’d definitely come back. So convenient it’s right by the Asian market as well!

Food are great! Love their QQB beef The best thing about this restaurant is their service! The workers are polite and friendly. Also they work fast

This is the place when I’m craving Korean food! Definitely one of the better Korean restaurant I’ve been to in the Portland area. Most, if not all, your meals will come with side dishes (most traditional Korean restaurant do). I usually get the bibimbap or the soon tofu soups! Overall great service and food c:

This is about as authentic as it gets folks (I lived in korea for 7 years). The menu is packed with soups, bibimbabs, galbi, jeon, and all other kinds of great korean dishes at reasonable (for america) prices. Quality ingredients, banchan… this place could be on Jongro or really any neighborhood in Seoul.
Visit this place asap, if you like/​are interested in Korean cusine.
Try makkoli or soju as an additional refreshment.

Wow! Delicious food with good spices and an overall good mix that definitely is pleasing to the palate. Friend and I both had bibimbap rice bowls and a seafood pancake. Excellent taste in all of those! The Rice Bowl had good proportions of all ingredients and was scrumptiously delicious! Seafood pancake was filled with delicious and generous amounts of seafood! Free appetizers we’re also very tasty although it was disappointing not to have fish cakes. Came at lunchtime and four stars only because service was a very slow and hands off. Good location near Fubon with good atmosphere inside. Hope to return soon!

My go-​to Korean place in Portland because I’ve never tried any other place. I’ve come here for KBBQ and I’ve had their bibimbap and they were both very tasty! We ordered one of the combos for bbq and it came with a lot of meat, soup, and steamed egg. Omg the steamed egg was really impressive because I’ve never had eggs like that! So fluffy and comes out to you steaming hot. The spicy tofu soup is also really yummy and they give you an egg to crack into the boiling soup. I’ll always come back!

I will give this place 5 stars, I really liked atmosphere, service was super fast, little pricey but worth every penny) Beef short ribs was very very delicious, Hot tea very tasty and Potato noodles as a appetizer very delicious, will come back again

The main entrees are good (BBQ short ribs, Beef Bulgogi, and Rice cake stir fry). The ban chan (side dishes) were okay. The tofu soup (I was mainly wanting) was just ok, it didn’t have any flavors in it that stood out compared to the tofu soup I had at Ara Restaurant (they have the best tofu soup).
Service was ok, water and tea did not get refilled. I guess that’s why they have a remote button on each table if you need attention or service to come to your table. I was so caught up in conversation that I keep forgetting to ask for refills. I’ve been spoiled with lots of good Korean restaurants in Beaverton. So I guess this place is good for the east side of town, considering there’s not too many.

Already stopped there for several times. For food, good. We probably got what we would get from a normal restaurant in Korea, in a positive way. For service, it depended on if the owner’s there, a nice middle aged man, or maybe a little bit elder than middle aged. We could easily tell the difference by the atmosphere in the store and the quantity of the service, especially if the owner showed up later than we. I have to say, it’s funny, in some way.

Can’t decide between KBBQ, SoonDubu, or Bibimbap for dinner? No Problem. So Kong Dong has all three and plenty of other Korean favorites.
We popped in for some soul-​warming soon tofu and three Korean classics.
* Ban Chan (Side Dishes)
Small assortment including Kimchi, Bean Sprouts, Seaweed, and Turnips (3 stars)
* Extra Spicy Kimchi Sundubu Jjigae (Soon Tofu)
Not very spicy, but still great for rainy days (3 stars)
* No Spice Squid Sundubu Jjigae (Soon Tofu)
The lack of spice wasn’t my style, but my in-​laws liked it (3.5 stars)
* Both came with warm stone bowls of White Rice
One of my favorite ways to eat plain old rice (4 stars)
* Pajeon (Seafood Pancake)
Slightly overcooked on half and kind of average (3 stars)
* Tteokbokki (Stir-​fried Rice Cake)
Our most popular and filling choice. (4 stars)
* Japchae (Stir-​fried Sweet Potato Noodles)
Needed a bit more zip, but totally fine (3 stars)
There is no doubt I’ll be back to So Kong Dong Tofu & BBQ because it is convenient in East Portland and I’ll never have to choose if I want just KBBQ, SoonDubu, or Bibimbap. e

Brought a bunch of the biggest guys i know here for my friends birthday meal. We had a great time. I was expecting shitty service based on the other reviews but we had a great time. We ordered a combo plate for 6 (with 4ppl lol) and the boys ate it alllll. This was a great way to chill out and interact while eating. We left STUFFED for a decent price. Definitely recommend.

Pretty good eats. A little pricey for the quality, and especially for the décor. Usually I don’t really care about the surroundings; it’s really the food that’s important, right? Well, this was something else…
First of all, when we arrived it was raining pretty hard and cold out. There was no door. Okay, it was being fixed at the moment, not their fault. But as soon as we got in the doorway we were slipping all over the floor, which was tiled with some strange kind of teflon apparently, very slippery when wet – and this is Oregon, it’s always wet. Anyway, when we managed to get to our table without breaking anything, we sat down to realize there were two flatscreen displays blaring some kind of awkward Christmas service of stock photography slideshows paired with horrible commercial jingle muzak that nobody should have to hear.
Anyway, the food was good; not great, but good – and the people were nice too. But the ambiance was astoundingly bad.

I’ve been here a couple of times, when I’ve been hankering for Korean. I’ve had the spicy pork, kalbi ribs, kimchee soon tofu, japchae and mandu and everything was excellent. They have banchan for lunch and dinner, which is a bonus.
Everything I’ve ordered was excellent. The place might not be something to look at, but I don’t know about you, I am here for the food. The service is hit or miss, and not necessarily warm. I am not sure about the bbq, I’ve never really been a fan of cooking at a restaurant, when I can do that at home. This review is solely on prepared dishes, and I like this place. It’s great that I don’t have to drive all the way to Beaverton to find a Korean restaurant.

OMG the gal named Olivia and the guy named Vu are so so nice! Been a regular here and now I feel I can do a review!
Anytime I am off work late I know they are closing in an hour I preorder over the phone. When I get there my table is all set and food is ready! 5 stars for sure for service! Also good food. Lots of variety all the typical korean dishes and they have table top BBQ. Recommend a try here for sure
Also late hours of service till 10 pm 7 days a week!!! Great hours!

After going to the Portland Nursery we thought it would be fun to go out for lunch. We stumbled into this place and figured that we would try it out.
The ambience was definitely lacking. I ordered the BBQ short ribs with tofu soup and my husband ordered the chicken bulgogi plate. I thought the ribs were pretty good but the soup was absolutely awful. It tasted like a bowl of cock sauce and it had a thick layer of tofu that was unsettling. It came with weird sides that were not explained to us. My husband did not like his dish because it was drowning in too much burning spice.
The meal was really expensive ($ 40 for lunch) and unsatisfying.

Praaaise for soondubu in Portland! I recently moved here and was starting to think Portland only had Korean fusion places. Glad I was wrong.
I ordered the spicy kimchi soondubu. My friend ordered dumpling soondubu. The ban chan was pretty good and they refilled them quickly for us when we ran out. The soup was hot and spicy and yummy. Not quite salty enough for my taste, but that was easily fixed with table salt. My friend didn’t have a problem with her salt level so maybe it’s just me. The rice was in a stone pot, which I love because then I can scrape off the toasted rice. We left very full and happy!
The real reason why I’m reviewing: service was pretty slow, since the restaurant was completely booked on a Saturday night. The one exception was a waiter named Vil. We had several waiters throughout the meal but he was fast, professional, and found time to joke with us and answer my random questions. Thanks for the great service Vil!

Love their lunch combo. The tofu soup combined with Korean barbecue short ribs is a must try. The staff are friendly. Came here many times.

The struggle is real when it comes to Korean restaurants. This is by far the best one in town. The rest is too far away. Its become part of my tradition to come here every week and order their delicious short rib combination with the spicy tofu soup. The servers are attentive most of the time, but they also have buttons on the tables to call out for extra attention.

Cooler weather had me craving some soon du bu, so we wandered over this way.
The location is in the Fubonn shopping center. It’s a longer, narrower space with a row of tables on each side. They’ve got a mix of tables for Korean BBQ as well as standard tables. We were seated all the way in the back. Clientele seemed to be mainly Korean, which I took as a good omen. I did notice that our table had one of the buzzer’s that you’ll see in some Korean restaurants, though I didn’t notice one on the table next to ours, which seemed odd. Maybe only the BBQ tables, and our table that was all the way in the back?
I ordered the combo kalbi and soon du bu, while the GF had just a soon du bu. Solid tofu stew, and the kalbi was good too. Banchan was pretty standard — some kimchi, mung bean jelly, seaweed salad, fish cake, shredded radish, etc.
The GF ordered hers medium, and I ordered mine spicy. Looks like there was a mistake as the two definitely came out switched. Not a big deal for us, but I could see this being a deal breaker for some people. They do provide raw eggs to put into the boiling bowls, which is something I always appreciate.
The stews came with stone pots of rice, but we weren’t given any hot water or tea to put in there. I probably wouldn’t have noticed this as this isn’t generally something I like doing (though my parents love that crispy rice/​porridge like concoction), but the table next to us was given a carafe of hot water when their food was brought out. Not sure if they asked for it specifically, if we seemed too Westernized (I’m a long haired Korean American, and my GF is white), or something else?
Service was definitely a bit disjointed — in addition to the mixed orders and no hot water, there were some longish delays, we weren’t checked on, and our kalbi came out when we were basically both finished with our stews. Not unusual for many immigrant restaurants where the emphasis isn’t on service, and not something that really detracted from our experience.
While I’m not Korean enough to be yelling out for service (and this place seems too big and Westernized for that not to seem a bit weird), we did end up using the buzzer on the table after we had waited a bit for our check. The ajumma who came over to help us was a little confused too, thinking it was the table next to ours (with the Korean couple) who had used the buzzer. Yay for stereotyping?
In any case, food was good, though the service was a bit disjointed.

Short Story: I came here for a friend’s birthday party and we had awesome food with great service.
Long Story: We came here on a Friday night and the place was in a big shopping complex. We got a table for about 8 people and all ordered a la carte. The food came out a bit later than expected even though they were not too busy at the time. The service was pretty good during the beginning but kinda of trailed off in the end. The ambiance was kinda standard… lively with many people but can be a bit dead if you’re the only ones there.
The décor was alright too… I can’t give too much of an opinion as I don’t live in Portland so I can’t compare it to other Korean restaurants. But compared to San Francisco (bay area) it’s about in line for what you pay for. The prices were definitely cheaper than SF and that’s always a plus!
Verdict: I’ll come back if I’m in the area.

Finally, the search for good and inexpensive soondubu in Portland is over! Luckily it’s also the closest Korean restaurant to me so I no longer have to drive all the way to Beaverton to get my soondubu fix.
I’ve been spoiled by the abundance of authentic Korean restaurants in LA. After moving to Portland, I definitely have had to adjust to the lack of choices when it comes to good Korean or Japanese food. You can imagine how excited I was when I decided to give this place a try. The soondubu was full of flavor and was of the right consistency. I got the extra spicy seafood beef, which is sort of my usual, and the level of spiciness was perfect. The banchan selection was good and flavorful, and the galbi also did not disappoint. Service was not spectacular but certainly pleasant. I’m not one to be nitpicky about service unless it’s really bad. And when the food is great? Pshh, just get me some refills and hand me the check.
Speaking of the check, the soondubu prices here are comparable to Korean restaurants in LA. Big thumbs up!

I was going to write a 4 star review until I used their bathroom. When you ask yourself «what kind of bathroom reduces a rating by 2 stars», the right answer has mystery detritus on the floor in a puddle o’ urinal leakage, which urinal, coincidentally, is 6″ off the floor, and not a floor style urinal, and has urine splashes on top. The only fouler restaurant bathrooms I’ve seen are in developing countries.
The food was good; not the best Korean food I’ve had, but adequate. The waitress was extremely rude to everyone. Not going back until the memory of the toilet fades.

The food here is generally pretty good… especially the spicy pork. My last visit, I ordered the beef stone pot bibimbap, because it’s usually one of my favorite Korean dishes. They really skimped on the beef, which made me regret my choice.
Another negative was the service. Our server was inattentive. She didn’t return after dropping off the food until we waved her over for the check. I’m not one that likes my server to be at my table constantly, but my water was empty almost the whole time (and I had gone a little wild with the chili sauce). If the place had been busy that’s understandable, but it was a fairly slow night.

Been here 6 or 7 times. It’s really the only good KBBQ on the Eastside, so it’s really the only place to go. It’s a bit expensive for KBBQ, but it’s good and authentic! The ahjussi and ahjumma that run that place are friendly, and will help you learn korean if you ask! Very accommodating, especially if they see you take interest in in their culture.
Ddukbeokki there is soooo good. And I always order Makolli to drink, because it’s the best there is to drink, and also because paired with Korean food is a must.
Also a warning, whether good or bad, there’s constantly KPop streaming on those TV’s, so you’ll get those few snippets of Lee Min Ho and Suzy on there. I’m in to all that, if you couldn’t tell.

One of the best Korean places that have the spicy seafood tofu soup. Their lunch/​combo dinners are very good as well– reasonably priced for the portion and side dishes.

Korean food is hard to make. Most dishes contain a lot of ingredients and the prep process is laborious, so Korean food is usually kind of expensive. I get that and I’m OK with it — as long as it’s tasty. and it is good. Oh yes, it is good. My favorite Korean restaurant in a 20 miles radius. The service can be slow (and usually is) and the wait can be long if you come at the wrong time, but I usually don’t mind because it’s worth it.

Nothing but 5 stars! Olivia the server has been here the longest and she is the best! I don’t have much to say but awesome! I love their kimchee chigae its my favorite here nice and thick soup!
They have BBQ of all kinds of meat it’s nice and fresh! They open until 10 pm seven days a week so that is a plus for sure!
Other places close too early!
They have awesome service and always meets my standards for customer service! You gotta have awesome Service if your spending an average of 60.00 a dinner!
For sure portland’s best Korean
Place to eat if your in the Portland area and not wanting to go all the way to BEAVERTON!