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Han Gang Korean Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
15 reviews for Han Gang Korean Restaurant
Han Gang's interior is more upscale compare to most Korean places in Annandale, however, the service isn't any different. You still have to wait a long time for water or tea refills. The flat metal chopsticks they use at this place were slick and heavy, and proved to be a challenge to even veteran chopstick user like myself.
The food at Han Gang was pricey and the portions were not very big. We started the meal with some amuse bouche made from beans. It was like eating congee, not much flavor, but nothing offensive either.
The banchan spread is average size with a total of six dishes. I enjoyed them all except for the napa kimchi, which was presented as a perfect rectangle, but was too fermented for my taste. The cucumber kimchi and the eggplant dish were incredible. The cucumbers had a subtle addictive spiciness that catches up with you later. The radish rounds that came with the grilled meat were tasty, with a hint of citrus note.
My kalbi dolsot bibimbap needed more sizzle. The kalbi on top were marinated well and very tender. Overall, it was tasty, but kind of pricey at $14. The bulgogi was similar to the kalbi. It had a nice marinate and the meat was of high quality. Again, the portion was small for $22.
I liked the sikhye served at the end. It wasn't too sweet and had some ice slush in there for a refreshing finish to a mostly spicy meal.
It's pricey!!!!! But, the best "Seng" (Fresh/un-marinated) Kalbee I have tried in this area. The marble on the beef was just beautiful! Service was OK, the rest of ban-chan (side dishes) were OK too. Naeng Myun (cold buckwheat noodles) were not good--tasted like just water with noodles.
The restaurant makes me feel like i'm dining at an aquarium, I guess due to the blue decor. It is also dark! -- Which I find very annoying when you're trying to make lettuce wraps.
They gave us syrupy pumpkin porridge sort of like-- as an amuse bouche, but man did my teeth hurt.
Solid 3 stars from me.
A friend and I went when it had it's "Grand Opening" - she wanted to go to Yechon but the place was packed to the gills. So we drove around, saw this place, and decided to check it out. We were just ok with the food - nothing stood out as spectacular, the banchan was plentiful and was the true star of the meal.
We had interesting freebies (one thing we didn't like was this cold soup thing they offered as a dessert/palate cleanser. I THINK it was supposed to be cinnamon flavoured drink w/pine nuts. Well...it tasted sort of like redhots were dissolved into a bucket of soapy water. Not.Delicious.) They didn't float our boat, but at least we could say we tried it.
We did like the nice looking space, the ample parking, clean bathrooms and really helpful staff. But we walked away, thinking that it was a decent restaurant to take people who were not very familiar with Korean food and were not ready for the hole-in-the-wall, skeevy yet deliciously authentic experience.
On Father's Day, I took the family here for a late lunch because 1) we were a large party and 2) they know nothing about korean food outside of bbq and 3) the prices were pretty reasonable.
Same friend came along for the meal, and we were both pleasantly surprised that the food was better! Trying to keep it tame - my filipino family aren't huge fans of super spicy food - we ordered different kinds of bbq, seafood/green onion pancakes, a few soups to share, jap chae and some grilled fish.
The pancake was delicious: crisp on the outside, melting on the inside with tender squid, plump shrimp and very fresh, sharp green onions. The soups were a revelation: I ordered a beef bone soups with rice cakes that was so thickly beefy the broth was almost jelly like in the mouth. Awesome! Well played, chef dude.
The bill was VERY reasonable, the family was happy, and I think I'll keep this restaurant on my list of places to take non-adventurous guests to get their feet wet.
Location: at the corner of Little River and Ravensworth. If you're coming from 395, it'll be on your left. Keep an eye out for the CVS: it should be on the next block over.
I liked the decor. It's unusual for a Korean restaurant to have modern decor. The food was authentic, hot and spicy and the service was prompt and attentive. It's not like the rushed experience I usually have at other Korean restaurants.
Visited 1 May 2009.
Overpriced and mediocre. First the worst: hot green tea: a cheap, completely tasteless teabag; lukewarm water, $3.50(!!!!!) per person. Asked for hotter water, got the same thing back. Outrageous, and an idiotic decision by the management. I complained firmly but politely, but no modification was made to the bill.
The food: good presentation. Haemul Pajeon (seafood and scallion pancake, $15) was adequate, similar to that you can get in better Korean markets, but not an appropriate choice for a somewhat expensive restaurant. Junbok Song-yi Bokkum (stir-fried abalone and mushrooms, $25) was very bland, but at least that let the subtle abalone flavor come through somewhat--not recommended. Hwae Moochim (appetizer, raw fish and vegetables tossed in spicy seasonings, $15) was very nice, and is the only thing I'd consider going back for (if I wasn't so annoyed about the tea). As others have said, the banchan was mostly adequate, except for the PATHETIC kimchi. The service was polite, annoying frantic (they apologized several times, though we hadn't complained), and largely ineffectual (had to ask twice for water, for example).
Conclusion: this restaurant is not needed.
I was here last weekend for a rehearsal dinner. There were probably close to 60 people filling up the private room and an entire row of tables at the back of the restaurant. The private room was treated to some less Korean appetizers that looked pretty fancy, though I didn't get to try them. But everyone said that they were delicious and they were gone before I knew it.
Other than that, ban-chans were passed around, and they were pretty good. I'd give them a 7/10 for tastiness and variety. We were also given a choice of dduk mandoo gook, galbi tang or yookkeh jang. I ordered the galbi tang, and it was pretty good.
The service was pretty good. If we needed something, someone was always around to help us out. And not only did they bring us what we needed, but they brought it with a smile. Even amid all the chaos and confusion of all of those people, the staff managed to bring out everyone's food and have a great attitude at the same time.
So as it goes for large groups, Han Gang did pretty well. Nothing really jumped out at me as being particularly awesome--this restaurant is alright.
I took a mid-sized group there, and everyone enjoyed the food. The service was great, and the place is neat, including the restrooms (men's, at least). Earlier this month I also had take-out kalbi (galbi) and it was perfect.
Agree with the other reviews that say the panchan is okay, but nothing special. Standard stuff.
The table next to ours was having a blast, and was louder with every round. They were speaking Korean, but I'd have to say they liked what they were eating & drinking (soju & beer).
Staff was super-attentive, in a nice way.
Please don't go...
Everything looks pleasing to the eye but the seasoning is off:
Naeng Myun---not enough salt
Daegu MAEUNG TANG __WAY TOO MUCH RED PEPPER
Pah Jun---no flavor
Please avoid this please. There are many more tasty Korean places to go.
From talking to the waitress... you come here for only two reasons. Nang Myung and Gal Bi. The service is excellent. They come by often to refill your ban chan if anything is empty. And all of it is pretty good too. They have some shi gum chi mook which is unique.
But as for the Gal Bi... I won't really necessarily recommend the Hang Gang Gal bi. (It's a relatively new way of marinating the meat right before they grill it) so... it's kind of on the blander size. Secondly, the portion is small. The waitress said it would be. The reason being it is USDA choice grade beef. So if you'd like to eat I'll go with the other style of Gal bi.
Han Gang is where the old H.I. Ribsters used to be in Annandale. You may not even see Han Gang because you're so busy looking for the Ribsters sign.
One of my biggest regrets in life is never having dined there. I chose to eat lunch at Han Gang partly to deal with my guilt, and partly because I like upscale Korean restaurants.
The only upscale Korean restaurant in this area is Woo Lae Oak. I love their food, but I love competition more.
Unfortunately, Han Gang is a poor competitor.
The best way to put it is, they charge Woo Lae Oak prices for lesser quality food.
The restaurant is decorated in the style of most Korean restaurants (heavily laqured wood, random ancient art) with a bit of black and shine to make it seem just a little bit upscale. Excessively clean.
We ordered the Kalbi, both on and off ribs.The ribless Kalbi was extremely mild, to the point of tasting like unmarinated steak. The Kalbi on ribs tasted better, but it wasn't mouth-watering.
We also ordered the Hae-Mul-Pa-Jun as appetizer. It was crispy, and full of vegetables and seafood, so it went down fast.
The Ban-Chan was nothing special.
I did not have their lunch specials. I went there exclusively for their Kalbi. So I don't know if their soups or stews are any good, but my hunch says no.
Now, I will say that the service was great. They were training a new waitress on us, so maybe that was it. But we were pretty much attended to during the whole time we were there.
I don't think I'd go back to Han Gang. It's not because I hated the food, but it's mostly because if I want to pay $30/person for lunch, I want the meal to taste like it's worth $30. I wish I had gone to H.I. Ribsters though. I'm going to miss that sign. :-(
This place just opened last week (Dec. 10, 2008)
Perhaps we were expecting too much but we were somewhat unimpressed with the food given the Grand Opening occassion.
All the food seemed to be a tad bit off.
The complimentary small bowl of squash soup tasted watery.
The banchan (side dishes) were okay. Kimchee was fresh yet tasted bland. Cucumber kimchee wasn't pickled enough. Potato salad was good.
Hwae-dap-bap was good with a generous portion of raw fish (sashimi) cut into big cubes. Seemed like every bite had a piece of fish. The hot sauce however was sweet, yet a little bit sour which sorta throws off the taste.
Kimchee Jigae was sour but still within the range of acceptable. Came out in the typical sized clay pot.
Shrimp Twee-gim (aka tempura) was one of the better dishes, because it tasted exactly the way it was supposed. The shrimp was even peeled right down to the tail so you get all the meat. It came with an assortment of battered vegetables too. Presentation of this dish was nice.
Service was good. Nothing to complain about there. The interior is nice and classy similar to that of Woo Rae Oak.
HOWEVER....for the price there are so many other great options in Annandale, and so I can comfortably say this is probably a place I won't be visiting again. Be sure to check out the pictures.
For the appetizer, we started out with the Jorangye Thuck Bokkum which was very tasty and spicy. I know it as "tteokbokki". Usually the tteok is rice cake cylinders, but these were more "peanut-shaped"...kinda neat. I'm used to it being a bit sweeter and a tad less spicy (since that's how my mom made it).
The banchan is fairly ordinary. Nothing special.
For the entrees, we ordered Seafood Dolsot Bibimbap and Hangang Galbi. The Seafood Dolsot Bibimbap should have been served in a much hotter (sizzling) stone bowl. I like the rice to be slightly crunchy at the bottom...that's the best part. But, the flavors were fine and there was enough seafood too. The Hangang Galbi was pricy but tasty. We had them serve it cooked since I'm not a big fan of grilling it at the table. I prefer not to end up smelling like smoke. :) They don't have fans above the table grills. It's served with thinly sliced radish instead of lettuce and it was yummy!
Is it better than my mom's cooking? No. Would I go back, yeah. And being Korean, I admit that I'm pretty finicky about my Korean food.
I went to this restaurant on Jan. 10, 2009 to celebrate my dad's birthday with family which included 6 adults, a toddler, and a preschooler. First of all, the place was not kid-friendly at all. The aisles were narrow and no place to put a high chair. The tables were equipped for tabletop grilling, but no ventilation system to accommodate such dining experience.
Each adult ordered an entree, including a serving of Gal-bee. We also ordered a medium size Sashimi Platter ($70) in addition to the entrees.
Soft Tofu Casserole (aka. soon-tofu jigae) was the worst I have tasted around the area. I order this dish at almost every Korean restaurant we visit because of my kids.
$70 Sashimi Platter had neither quantity or quality. I would give 2 star for presentation. It was filled mostly with salmon and tuna. A $70 Sashimi Platter at other Korean restaurants we visit has A LOT more to offer.
A serving of Gal-bee (supposed to be for 1 person) is priced at $27. We ordered the one without bones which amounts to roughly 15 bite-size pieces of meat. 1 piece of meat measuring less than 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch in size. That's $1.80 per piece! The meat wasn't even high quality - too fatty for my taste.
Now the side dishes. No outstanding remarks here. Average to mediocre. Their kimchee is definitely mediocre as you could still taste the raw greens as a result of not being salted enough during the initial preparation.
Had my preschool son not slept through the dinner, we wouldn't have had enough food to go around. We couldn't even save some food for him later since there was barely enough food for the adults. My 13-month-old girl had some rice porridge which was offered as an appetizer.
After paying $180, we left the restaurant feeling bitter and vowing never to come back. What a way to end a birthday dinner!
To be fair, I will always eat at the restaurant twice before giving my two thumbs down, but this restaurant has to be four thumbs down since I went twice. The food... so, so. The price... too high for Korean restaurant. Service... way to inexperienced, I don't look for good service at Korean restaurant, but they were just terrible. In all fairness, they were at least polite.
I ate here after a co-worker recommended this place. He told me it just opened a couple weeks ago. The place is pretty fancy compared to other places in annandale and the prices of the entrees were a bit more expensive. The menu is more traditional korean menu, not much japanese/chinese influence. I went for dinner with my family. The side dishes were not that good. The kimchee was sour, not my taste. The dish i liked was the potato salad which looked like ice cream ^^. The service was kinda slow for a place that wasnt crowded that night. The dinner entrees were pretty standard- kimchee jigae, soon do bu, bi bim bap etc. Overall it was okay, but i prefer yechon.
