OKDONGSIK Bayside

“Came here on a cold winter night. The server was very nice. Very helpful also giving his recommendations on the menu. We ordered almost everything haha. The soup was delicious. Not a super strong tasting soup but it tasted so clean. The meat was delicious. We got the katsu and it was crispy and juicy. The kimchi dumplings were good. Spicy for me but delicious. It definitely lived up to its popularity.”

“Overall I think the flavor was very comforting like homecooking meal. It's a nice bowl of soup in warm weather. But I don't think it's worth the wait in the line for too long. I do like their drink. The pork and mondu were ok. Overall the price was reasonable and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed you can come by yourself to enjoy a quiet meal. I would say not as much flavor as I expected. It's good but it's not impressive.”

“I'm sure many are here because of the 2025 Netflix Culinary Class Wars Season 2, although OKDONGSIK opened in Seoul 2017 and achieved Michelin status since 2018. The food is light and refreshing, focusing less on seasoning and more on original taste of ingredients and preparation (the pork soup is clear and has fat filtered out) The original Korean version uses beef but OKDONGSIK uses pork. The kimchi was mild, the kimchi mandu was well-balanced, the dwaeji gomtang was light but heartwarming, and the extra order of pork collar bone was the most tender and definitely the best. The lemonade was also fun and worth ordering. The waiting list system caused some stress, however. Now if they are listening, my suggestion for the waiting list system is to only take 1 or 2 or 3 people (bigger groups can split up). That way, they can seat in order, which is fairer to customers. Experienced customers entered 1 or 2 in order to jump the line of parties with 3 or 4 or more. Also, if possible, have people wait outside (in their cars) so that customers can enjoy a good eating environment. Call customers to come in and checkin and wait when there are 2-3 parties before them. This will make the waitlist system much better, and make the restaurant seem more high class, I feel. Just my 2 cents...”