OKDONGSIK Bayside

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...

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.

Cleanest Korean soup I’ve ever had. Minimalist design, efficient service, qualify food; we loved everything! Gomgtang had clean pork broth and seafood wanja (pancake style ) was so tasty. Sellongtang had milky bone broth and had such a clean taste. Maesil Ade drink (Korean plum) had unique grape taste and delicious! It was a quick service and price was reasonable. Definitely coming back soon!

I was going to the next store for the noodle but saw this Michelin restaurant next to it. My wife and I decided to see if we can go in without reservations. It was snowing day and around 2pm so we just walked in and eat! Very lucky! This is GREAT hangover/headache food. The tastes is very light on your body and you feel warm after drinking the soup. I saw some comments that people waited for over an hour. I don’t think it’s worth an hour wait. Great service and good environment. I can eat here again within 10 minutes wait max.

the food itself was 7.5/10, it’s not extraordinary but it’s not terrible either! a lot of pork dishes so it wasn’t anything show stopping to me as someone who doesn’t eat pork often. what made the experience slightly unenjoyable was the bunch of people who were on the waitlist hovering over me as i ate. unfortunately, it’s unavoidable because of the structure and seating formation.

Overall, a pleasant experience. I dont think they take reservations, but you can add your name and number to the waitlist inside the store. It links to a website that tell you your place in line and sends you a text. Make sure you tell them you are present once you return. The dweji-gomtang broth was clean and light, more similar to a dak-gomtang level. They give you a gochuji (a kind of red pepper paste) to put on the meat which is very good. The donkatsu is crispy and juicy, would recommend if you like the thicker cut style. The kimchi mandoo was ok - it's well seasoned and the skin is thin. Overall, everything was decent.

I’m really glad they finally opened a location in Queens especially since I never got to try their manhattan location. Love the pork broth soup. It’s everything you’d want on a cold day or when it’s raining out. The broth is incredibly clean and full of depth topped with that slowcooked pork. The kimchi mandu was also really good. Each dumpling is generously filled with tangy, fermented kimchi with a nice spicy kick.The inside of the restaurant is very quiet and seating is limited, so it’s not really the kind of place to sit around and chat for too long.