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Chung Dai Kam, Columbia Pike in Annandale - Closed


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I would recommend Chung Dai-Gam (7215 Columbia Pike Annandale, VA 22003 703-894-0431) for BBQ because it is the only charcoal BBQ place in Annandale, VA. The taste is very good and the price is good, too.

After having had some good Korean food in LA, I was craving more BBQ. Thanks to Don's comment on the dining guide, and a very mixed set of reviews on Yelp, we decided to give Chung Dai Gam a try. I can still puzzle out some Korean from a student exchange program there over 20 years ago (!) and so I'm pretty confident when I go into unfamiliar Korean restaurants.

One thing, it's CASH ONLY. There's a sign on the door. They have several tables set up for the charcoal/gas hybrid grill, and others that aren't set up for grilling.

We ordered the seafood pancake (haemul pajun), marinated kalbi, and grilled squid (ohjingoh). The kalbi was cooked in front of us, while the squid was grilled in the kitchen.

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The panchan was varied and very tasty. The kimchee was very good, and had the tingle on the tongue from the fermentation. The bean sprouts were also good.

Barbara said that the seafood pancake was the best she has had. I think I agree; it's crispy, without being overcooked, and you could smell the fresh seafood that was in it.

The kalbi was very good, but a touch pricey at $25 for two long pieces. We did have a server cooking it for us, and considering it's done over charcoal it's probably not too expensive. They also grill a slab of onion and a couple of mushrooms. The squid was cooked in the kitchen and was a good portion of rings and tentacles.

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The second picture here has the grill after we've eaten about 1/2 of the kalbi, and some of the squid. I should have gotten a pic of the pancake, but didn't.

Also included was a bean paste stew with tofu and a steamed scrambled egg. All this plus a small bottle of soju was around $63 before tax and tip.

This is fantastic Korean BBQ. I think it's fair value, and is worth it.

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I go here a fair amount. I think they have the best korean ribs in annandale (to be fair, not had hang gang ribs yet). The last time I was there we order 8 order of the large ribs for 8 adults but it wasn't nearly enough ribs. They should really give more meat.

As far as the banchan, it is sub par to most places around annandale. They really need to a better job here. However, last time I was there (2 weeks ago) they had gaejang (pickled raw crabs) as part of the panchan. Very rarely provided. There are two versions of gae jang, soy based and one covered in spicy red sauce. This was the latter and it was fricken outstanding. The ribs (however smalll in amount) and the gae jang carried the day. Egg custard also deserves a mention. It was very smooth and light (I can never get mine to come out like that).

I would recommend this place for the beef but not if you are banchan fan.

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Has Chung Dai Kam closed? We drove by tonight, and found the restaurant locked and a sticker across the door saying that the premises had a dishwasher owned by Auto-Chlor. I called their number and it rang without answering.

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Has Chung Dai Kam closed? We drove by tonight, and found the restaurant locked and a sticker across the door saying that the premises had a dishwasher owned by Auto-Chlor. I called their number and it rang without answering.

Still waiting for some confirmation one way or the other ... it would be a real shame if this closed, because (alert, alert!) it was the BEST Korean barbecue in Annandale.

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Retired in italic. B)

This makes me really sad. It really was the best Korean BBQ in Annandale; I think it was the only place that did indoor charcoal grilling? I never understood why Honey Pig was so popular while Chung Dai Kam, which was literally a stone's throw away, was generally deserted. Chung Dai Kam had a more varied offering of banchan and much better quality meat. Plus, they provided tofu stew and steamed egg, free of charge.

Bah, what a bummer.

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This makes me really sad. It really was the best Korean BBQ in Annandale; I think it was the only place that did indoor charcoal grilling? I never understood why Honey Pig was so popular while Chung Dai Kam, which was literally a stone's throw away, was generally deserted. Chung Dai Kam had a more varied offering of banchan and much better quality meat. Plus, they provided tofu stew and steamed egg, free of charge.

Bah, what a bummer.

There may be others, but it was the only place I'm aware of that did indoor charcoal grilling.

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The place is closed. :-(. Really like the quality of the meat and the use of the charcoal.

Annandale has a lot of korean, most are very solid but it still lacks a great BBQ place (like the places in LA) , quality meat, charcoal, great banchan. Chung Dai Kam wasn't exactly it but it was closer. I'm hoping we get a great korean BBQ place soon.

Not to get off topic but I had budea chigea for lunch today. Litteral transaltion is "army stew". there are resturants dedicated to this "hybrid" dish in seoul but rarely see in around DC. It was pretty good and interesting.

Soup

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The place is closed. :-(. Really like the quality of the meat and the use of the charcoal.

Annandale has a lot of korean, most are very solid but it still lacks a great BBQ place (like the places in LA) , quality meat, charcoal, great banchan. Chung Dai Kam wasn't exactly it but it was closer. I'm hoping we get a great korean BBQ place soon.

Not to get off topic but I had budea chigea for lunch today. Litteral transaltion is "army stew". there are resturants dedicated to this "hybrid" dish in seoul but rarely see in around DC. It was pretty good and interesting.

Soup

Evergreen at the food court at Super H in Fairfax serves budea jigae (one of my favorites). I just had it a couple of weeks ago, i go back and forth between that and spicy kal-bi tang.

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Evergreen at the food court at Super H in Fairfax serves budea jigae (one of my favorites). I just had it a couple of weeks ago, i go back and forth between that and spicy kal-bi tang.

Is it made with hot dogs and spam? I think the one time I had it, that was the meat in it.

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Is it made with hot dogs and spam? I think the one time I had it, that was the meat in it.

We're going way off topic here but, a bit of history. While the Korean war was going on, there was very little meat (actually protein of any kind) in South Korea. The American's shared their rations. One of the things that was abundant was Spam (which is why it's so popular in Korea even today). The other easily purloined protein was hot dogs. The Koreans being resourceful, put everything into one bowl with ramen, rice cakes, kimchi and Spam and/or hot dogs. At first it was fed mostly to the South Korean army to help keep them going but like most things, it found its way into the civilian diet. It's still there after over 50 years. It's one of my favorite dishes because of the variety of goodies hiding in that bowl. It's also the only way I really eat Spam.

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