Gom Tang E, Seul Long Tang Specialists in Several Area Locations - Annandale Branch Has Closed

[DonRocks]

When I was in high school, I was playing a pickup game of touch football at a friend's house. The guy playing quarterback was a pitcher for the baseball team, and had a good arm. One play, I cut inside to catch a pass, and right when I went for the ball, I slipped on a muddy patch, lurched forward, and the bullet spiral jammed right into my pinky.

It didn't hurt much, but it was one of those cringe-inducing dislocations, shaped like a perfect Z. All the guys were acting like little girls who'd just seen a mouse, and my friend ran inside to get his father.

His dad was a country doctor, and came outside in jeans and cowboy boots. "Let me have a look," he said.

I walked up to him, and extended my hand. He took hold of it lightly, then all of a sudden, he smashed the heel of his cowboy boot down on my foot as hard as he could.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I was yelling in pain, he apparently tugged on my finger and set it, although I didn't notice because I was too busy hopping around in a circle on one foot, screaming "OW! OW! OW!"

"WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I fixed your finger."

"YOU BROKE MY TOES!"

I stopped in for a quick breakfast this morning at Gom Tang E, a 24-hour Sul Leung Tang house in Centreville featuring about a half-dozen variations on the soup. But I opted for the Seonji Haejangkuk ($7.99) because of the description underneath:

"Seonji broths to chase a hangover."

Three types of Panchan include scissor-cut kimchi, and when the super-hot bowl of soup arrived, I immediately thought to myself, 'they're using liver in the broth.' Then I stuck my spoon in and found two Clementine-sized blobs of coagulated blood. a-HA!

Although I didn't have a hangover, I may have one now, simply because I'm not used to eating spicy, fermented paste and gobs-o-corpuscles at 10 AM. Is the cure worse than the ailment? I'm not sure, but the soup was good... all in the name of exploratative fooditude, and that type of thing.

Cheers,
Rocks.

PS - My finger has been fine ever since.

[schulju]

One word applies to both the parable and the review...."Ewwww"

[Escoffier]

Clementine-sized blobs of coagulated blood.

Just a normal hangover curing soup. It's not even sneaky, it's blatant and it's right in front of you. Imagine if you had a hangover what you'd feel...

[DanielK]

Just a normal hangover curing soup. It's not even sneaky, it's blatant and it's right in front of you. Imagine if you had a hangover what you'd feel...

Is this along the lines of how AFTER throwing up when you have a hangover, you always feel a lot better?

[deangold]

Wimps!

[grover]

I don't know how exactly the blood helps out hangover but beansprouts in the soup help neutralizing formaldehyde.

Usually hangover soup is not supposed to be spicy. Haejang means relieving intestine. Don, I don't know if you tried Haejangkuk at Gamasot but I recommend because it is really delicious.

[jparrott]

Too much pork.

Haven't heard that much on a site like this, eh?

In need of fuel for a long day of rewriting, I stopped in at 6:15am for pork spine hae-jang-guk. After scraping and fishing out the two Brobdignagian hunks of pork spine, my bowl was still chock full of shredded piggy, yummy, slightly bitter greens, and a broth very similar to a less-spicy gam-ja-tang.

I gather that this is not supposed to be as spicy a soup as G-J-T, and it wasn't. And it hit the spot. Less pork would mean better balance. But when your only other breakfast option is "Rooty-Tooty-Fresh-n-Fruity," one shouldst not complain!

[Bob Wells]

Too much pork.

Haven't heard that much on a site like this, eh?

In need of fuel for a long day of rewriting, I stopped in at 6:15am for pork spine hae-jang-guk. After scraping and fishing out the two Brobdignagian hunks of pork spine, my bowl was still chock full of shredded piggy, yummy, slightly bitter greens, and a broth very similar to a less-spicy gam-ja-tang.

I gather that this is not supposed to be as spicy a soup as G-J-T, and it wasn't. And it hit the spot. Less pork would mean better balance. But when your only other breakfast option is "Rooty-Tooty-Fresh-n-Fruity," one shouldst not complain!

500 monkeys could type at 500 keyboards for 500 years and not write anything with "Brobdignagian," "pork spine," and "rooty-tooty-fresh-n-fruity" in such close proximity. Well played.

Does this place have anything besides the blood soup and the pork spine soup?

[jparrott]

500 monkeys could type at 500 keyboards for 500 years and not write anything with "Brobdignagian," "pork spine," and "rooty-tooty-fresh-n-fruity" in such close proximity. Well played.

Does this place have anything besides the blood soup and the pork spine soup?

It's specialty is Sul Leung Tang, the milky-white collagen-fest of a beef bone soup.

[ema]

This 24/7 sullungtang joint opened up a second shop in Annandale during the snowpocalypse of 2010. Perfect timing? Now I don't have to drive all the way to Springfield for a good bowl of hot sullungtang. Like Gamasot, you can watch huge vats of soup bubbling away, and at first, I thought it would be a good idea to sit right by the glass window, but that turned out to be a bad idea, unless you are looking to get a sauna at the same time.

[grover]

Finally Escoffier and I had a chance to eat at this place. Sul Leung Tang for him and Ox Tail Soup for me. They listed 5 different Sul Leung Tangs (combination, meat, intestine, knee cartilage and Ox Tail) like Pho. Their version of Ox Tail Soup is a just a bowl of Sul Leung Tang with 3 tail pieces, which is very different than I experienced in Seoul a long time ago: marinate tail pieces and boil them in beef broth. I wouldn't say Gom Tang E's Ox Tail Soup is bad but not as interesting as I thought. The Sul Leung Tang was very good. It was almost as good as Gamasot. Their Kimchi was good but no Bahn Chan (except Kimchi - radish and cabbage - and raw cabbage leaves in a basket)!

So far I think that this place is similar to Gamasot and Gom Ba Woo, however, I need to try them a couple of more times before I give a final verdict.

[Ericandblueboy]

I had their bo ssäm at the Centreville location. Quite a lot of rather bland and fatty pork. It being the only time I've ever had bo ssäm, I didn't know what to make of it. I have no problem eating pigskin or pig fat but I generally like them flavored. It was accompanied with a nice garlicky chili paste. Any suggestion as to where else to try bo ssäm (other than Momofuku)? No oysters though.

Hmm....a bo ssäm Tuesday (not necessarily here though)?

[grover]

I had their bo ssäm at the Centreville location. Quite a lot of rather bland and fatty pork. It being the only time I've ever had bo ssäm, I didn't know what to make of it. I have no problem eating pigskin or pig fat but I generally like them flavored. It was accompanied with a nice garlicky chili paste. Any suggestion as to where else to try bo ssäm (other than Momofuku)? No oysters though.

Pork Bossam consists of steamed pork belly, Kimchi marinade, fresh oyster and brined cabbage leaves. Korean people start Winter Kimchi making after mid October. Once the Kimchi is made, the left over brined cabbage and the marinade is used in making Bossam. This is what Pork Bossam comes from. If a Korean restaurant carries good Kimchi, then you can trust their Bossam quality because the marinade controls the flavor. You can buy small sized Bossam packages at Super H. To Sok Jib has very good Bossam but their portion is rather smaller than Gom Ba Woo's and has fewer fresh oysters. You didn't like eating oysters with it? Too sad

[Ericandblueboy]

You didn't like eating oysters with it?

They didn't come with oysters, that's what's sad

I don't think I can convince my wife to go back to To Sok Jib (she can't stand the smell) - we won't be having any more kids if we do.

[Escoffier]

They didn't come with oysters, that's what's sad

I don't think I can convince my wife to go back to To Sok Jib (she can't stand the smell) - we won't be having any more kids if we do.

If it didn't have oysters, it wasn't BoSSam. If your better half doesn't like To Sok Jib, try Gamasot or Yechon, it's worth the trip

[grover]

The smell your wife doesn't like is from Korean Natto stew. I don't like it either but To Sok Jib doesn't smell like it all the time. You just happened to be there when somebody ordered it.

[JimRice]

From Don's Dining Guide Review:

I dumped the rice in the bottom of my bowl (a sin, I know, but I do it anyway), ground some fleur de sel crystals rather than the large (suspected) MSG crystals that came with the order (the gentleman assured me that there was no MSG in the broth itself which is mild to the point of being bland), and passed on both tubs of kimchee which came gratis on the side (I just didn’t want chili sauce at 2 AM).

Why is dumping the rice in the bowl a sin? I remember being taught to do that in Seoul back in 1989. Also, the salt on the table there at the restaurant was very coarse. That may have been what they gave you, not MSG.

Finally, for all you bargain hunters out there, currently the dine-in sollongtang is only $3.99 until the end of January With tax, $4.18. This is the cheapest lunch deal in town. Or dinner. Or breakfast. Hell, I can do this three meals a day!

[dgreen]

Any suggestion as to where else to try bo ssäm (other than Momofuku)?

Maybe Mambossam?

[Soup]

went to Gom Tang E for the first time this week and then second...

I'm not a fan of solung tang/gom tang. I actually don't know what the difference is but the I've always found the milking white soup pretty bland and un-exciting (I know you're suppose to add stuff to make it tasty). However, my parents wanted to go, yaechon had a 45 minute wait on Saturday night so I begrudingly agreed. We went to the one in Annandale. you walk in you see pretty sparse decoration but the water wheel is nice. The thing that catches your eyes are the two hot tub size culdrons on soup behind a big glass case. You can see large hunks of something swimming in milking white broth.

We all order sulung tang. I got the combination. When it arrived, I added a ton of scallon, salt, pepper and the all important kimchi juice. The kimchi is already in a container in the table and you serve yourself. two types of kimchi, no other bachan to speak of. I tasted my soup and Hello, the stuff rocked. It had flavor and great mouth feel and the noodles in the soup were just the right texture. This is great soup. In addition, they gave me free refees on noodles and soup (not sure if this was standard policy) but I easily ate one and half bowls. The best parts were all the ofals in it. It had intestines, liver, tendons, stomach, and other parts that I didn't recognize. It also had meat in it but I found the ofals really tasty and the textures were just outrageious. For 3 people I paid less then $30 with tip. Hard to find a better bargain.

2 days later, I kept thinking about the meal and had the cravings. So I went back on friday for quick early lunch. Went in around 11:30. Talk to the waitress and found out that during lunch the prices are just rediculous cheap. For seniors is was $4 and for me $5. I thought they might skimp on the meat and ofals but they did not. Had a great meal but I did smell like scallions for rest of the work day because I again put a lot of scallions into the soup.

I would recommend this place. I wonder if the gom tang e in centreville is the same?

Soup

[DonRocks]

In addition, they gave me free refees on noodles and soup (not sure if this was standard policy) but I easily ate one and half bowls.

It is.

I wonder if the gom tang e in centreville is the same?

It's the same ownership, but a different "feel" (the hot tubs of soup in Annandale are really cool).

[DonRocks]

Is the Gom Tang E in Annandale closed?

By the way, this is nasty - imagine eating a seolleongtang that, instead of long-cooked bone marrow, is made with coffee creamer as a shortcut! (Click, and do a find on "creamer")

eeeee-yuck! Remember THIS? Get it now? Huh? HUH?

[JimRice]

By the way, this is nasty - imagine eating a seolleongtang that, instead of long-cooked bone marrow, is made with coffee creamer as a shortcut! (Click, and do a find on "creamer")

eeeee-yuck! Remember THIS? Get it now? Huh? HUH?

That just ruined my lunch plans, and makes me wonder if I need to start going through the garbage cans at my favorite Korean places. Blech.

[DonRocks]

That just ruined my lunch plans, and makes me wonder if I need to start going through the garbage cans at my favorite Korean places. Blech.

I definitely did not mean to implicate Gom Tang E here - I loved their version (the one in Annandale had the largest soup pot I've ever seen) and would be shocked if it was adulterated. That said, if anyone can confirm that Annandale is closed, please let me know (and I'll move these "coffee creamer" posts out of this thread).

[Ericandblueboy]

By the way, this is nasty - imagine eating a seolleongtang that, instead of long-cooked bone marrow, is made with coffee creamer as a shortcut! (Click, and do a find on "creamer")

Much of Korean food in America is one or more of too sweet, too spicy, too salty, etc. Sweetness, in particular, is the all-encompassing evil that completely downgrades Korean food in America. Proper Korean food hardly uses any sweetening agent, but overwhelming majority of Korean restaurants in America liberally use sugar in their food...

It is particularly notable that most well-off Korean Americans in America did not start out well-off -- they arrived poor, but became middle class through hard work... it would be ludicrous to claim that those Korean Americans arrived at America with highly sophisticated culinary aesthetics. (Because rare is the case that a group of wealthy people immigrate to America, the Korean would think that similar trend may hold with other ethnic cuisines.)...

The presence of young Korean Americans, second generation and beyond, drives this trend to a much deeper nadir. The second generation Korean Americans grew up without ever exploring the ceiling of what Korean food could be, or establishing the floor of what Korean food, at a minimum, should be. Yet, by virtue of their minority status, they become false representatives of authenticity to mainstream America, which is never all that good at appreciating finer differences within a given ethnic group."...

By my count, the New York metro area (Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey) only has three or four good Korean restaurants. (Please note that this is "good" in the scale of "great-good-tolerable-inedible.") Northern Virginia has one that could be considered good.

I've never been a huge fan of Korean BBQ, which as stated in this essay is the bread and butter of Korean-American restaurants, mostly because it's usually sickly sweet. I tend to make a meal out of banchans and seafood at Korean joints. Anyone have a clue as to which one Korean restaurant in the area is really good?

[JimRice]

Is the Gom Tang E in Annandale closed?

It's gone, replaced by some kind of churrascuria place.

[DonRocks]

It's gone, replaced by some kind of churrascuria place.

Interesting - I wonder if this is some variant of Korean BBQ.

[JimRice]

It's "Parrillas del Sur", "Bolivian Argentinean Grill", "Churrasqueria Steak House". I didn't have my camera I used to take a picture of the front when I wrote earlier.

[Soup]

I've never been a huge fan of Korean BBQ, which as stated in this essay is the bread and butter of Korean-American restaurants, mostly because it's usually sickly sweet. I tend to make a meal out of banchans and seafood at Korean joints. Anyone have a clue as to which one Korean restaurant in the area is really good?

Where can I find the whole article?

I agree with many of these points, althought I don't know that I agree with only one good korean place. I think korean food quality could definetly improve. Best korean meals I've had lately (aside from home cooking) has been from actually not resturants but caterers. Pretty decent...We just did a catering thing from both Nakwon (best Dukk) and rainbow and they were pretty good.

I've been dissappointed with both Yeachon and sorak. I need to take a break. My parents recommended a hole in the wall in springfield. I'm going to give it a try.

[Ericandblueboy]

Where can I find the whole article?

In Don's post - the coffee creamer link.

[DonRocks]

I've known the Annandale branch has been closed for awhile now, yet I forgot to move it from the Multiple Locations Dining Guide into Centreville, and was cursing myself for being negligent. However, as I was in the process, I found out that a branch opened in Beltsville a little over a year ago, so it belongs there after all; just with a slightly different subtext.

[DonRocks]

Gom Tang E is opening in Eden Center.

[tobychun]

Gom Tang E is opening in Eden Center.

N-nani?

[DonRocks]

N-nani?

Wo dee fo kee dees?

[tobychun]

Wo dee fo kee dees?

Sorry, that was my anime alter-ego talking.

(translated from Japanese)  w-what?

[tobychun]

BTW, any sense for when Gom Tang E will open in Eden Center?

[DonRocks]

BTW, any sense for when Gom Tang E will open in Eden Center?

No, there's just a sign up - I'll look more closely next time I go by (which is fairly often).

[Toogs]

So this is confusing--no place of this name exists in Beltsville, but there is a newish place called Seoulia and Gom Tang E is mentioned in some of the yelp reviews as if they are the same place.

Someone tell me exactly what to order, I am not familiar with this dish.

[cheezepowder]

BTW, any sense for when Gom Tang E will open in Eden Center?

Based on the Eden Center's Oct. 21st tweet and Oct. 29th web post, sounds like Gom Tang E opened sometime in Oct. in Eden Center.

[DonRocks]

The Gom Tang E in Annandale has been replaced by Parillas del Sur, a Bolivean-Argentine Churrascaria steak house.