So Kong Dong Tofu House

I love Korean food, particularly jigae. The broth was robust as it often is. The spices came through in both smell and flavor and the rice was well prepared for proper mixing.
The tofu was soft and creamy but still sufficiently firm to add the hearty feel of the dish.
The other additions to the soup such as meats are of lower end quality, but still delicious.
The short ribs were sweet, tangy and well prepared as often is the case with Korean establishments of note.
I would recommend to anyone looking for Korean fare and who know what they want.

Awesome food experience.
We were greeted quickly and given a number, then seated quickly. Soon after ordering, the fun array of sides arrived — fish, noodles, rice, potatoes, Kim chi, broccoli, pickled cucumbers. As someone who doesn’t love love love pickled foods, I was glad there were only two pickled items among the sides and good variety.
Our table got the hot stone bibimbop, soup, ribs, and bulgogi. All were excellent. I can see why the soup is a Unilocal reviewer favorite. The ribs were sweet and yummy. The bulgogi added to my bibimbop hit the spot. Definitely don’t forget the red sauce in the squirt bottle on the bibimbop for added flavor.

This place is alright in terms of the quality of the food. They bring out a lot of side dishes but the customer service is terrible. What made me give this place 3 stars is that they charge for another bowl of rice! If you’ve been to Korean restaurants you’ll understand where I’m coming from… So what kind of Korean restaurant charges for another bowl of rice?!? It’s like charging people for extra bread when you go to Olive Garden to eat pasta.

This used to be my favorite spot. It’s hard to get the family out to eat tofu soup because they are not a fans so it was Mother’s Day and I took advantage of my day and requested we go here for lunch. It was super busy and we waited for about 20 minutes just to get a table. When we sat down I noticed that I didn’t see the stone rice pot that they had the last time I was there. I’m not Korean but I loved to scrape out the rice and fill the stone bowl with barley tea and just eat the remaining rice out of there. So I asked the waitress and she informed me that they no longer serve the stone rice because of health inspections. Bummer… That’s minus one star. I won’t be coming here anymore because of that. I’ll go to the other tofu house in the Duluth location or other places that still serve the stone pot even though their tofu soup isn’t as good. Other than that, the tofu soup was awesome. We ordered a seafood pancake and that was good also.

So Kong Dong Tofu House is in the Pinewood Shopping center on Buford Hwy. I gave it 5 stars because of the following:
1. Location: it is so easy and so convenient! Right on Buford Hwy next to Kung Fu Tea.
2. Parking: The shopping center has lots of tenants, but the lot is small, so it can get hectic during prime time. They need to do something about this, but it’s not something that can be controlled by the restaurant, so I’m not going to dwell too much on it. However, be sure to get there a little bit earlier before lunch or dinner to get a spot.
3. Setting: The tofu house is nice and simple with plenty of tables.
4. Service: They will greet you the minute you step into the door, even during prime time. Normally, when they’re super busy, they will ask you to take a number for a table. It keeps the crowd organized and I like that they try to accommodate everyone timely. They will seat you and give you water/​tea right away. Once you’re done looking at the menu, just press the service button on the table or wall and they will come to take your order. The servers do not speak much English, but the menu is super simple to read. They have pictures and English descriptions. Can’t get any more simple than that.
5. Price: I think the price is decent, $ 9.99 for a tofu soup and $ 15.99 for a combo.
6. Food: I love the tofu soup here. Some places can be a hit or miss at times, but this place has been consistent every single time I have gone. I love that they offer many different side dishes and a fried fish. There are some tofu places that don’t offer the fried fish.
Overall, I continue to come here because I enjoy the service and the food. Awesome spot! If only they do something about the parking situation! =/

With so many choices along Buford Hwy, it’s difficult to decide where to grab a meal. I would highly recommend So Kong Dong Tofu House. The food is authentic and delicious; the price reasonable.
I had the seafood tofu jjigae, and it was great. The taste didn’t blow me away, but I would definitely return in the future. They allow you to customize the spiciness of the dish, so it’s great for those who can’t handle spice or want extra spice.
The side dishes were relatively limited compare to many other Korean restaurants, but they compensated with fish as a side. If you like fish (like me), this is great news. If not, you might want to visit another Korean restaurant for more side dish variety.
Next time you’re driving along Buford Hwy and crave some Korean food, try So Kong Dong for a satisfying meal.

Must say their food is delicious. I’ve been living in the state side for a while, so even the mediocre Korean food passes as good, but this restaurant is approved by my parents who are visiting from Korea.
So the food is good.
However, their service is not up to standards. Had to call the waiter several times before we got our side dish, and the whole staff in general were not at all accommodating.
The parking was also impossible to find. Eek.

I’ve been here twice now and I absolutely love it! You can’t go wrong with the tofu soup. My favorite kind is the
Seafood beef. The Korean short ribs are very good as well. I recommend eating here! Service is quick and friendly.

Whatever they did, the taste got better and it’s still the #1 spot for tofu soup in Atlanta. Parking and the restaurant is always packed, unless you beat the peak hours.
I grew up next to the ocean in Korea and would always eat a side of grilled fish with each meal. Love that they give you fried fish as a side here, which reminds me of my home; not to mention, we don’t cook fish in our current house, due to the long lasting fish smell that lingers in the room. Also, order the purple rice over the white rice as a healthier option.
One observation I did notice recently is that no matter what spicy level you choose, it comes out looking super hot. So, for those who cannot handle spicy very well, I would advise you to really ask the server to give extra attention to it.

A bowl of boiling, spicy, well-​seasoned tofu soup is just what life needs when on a cold day. Although pricey, they do have combination items that allow you to try different items without breaking your pocket.
Besides combination meals, they do have the same items ala cart and multiple of different Korean dishes. I always tend to stick to my comfort food of the soup and the ribs. The ribs are delicious, marinated with a sweet and salty marinade that is served on a hot plate, cut into pieces on a bed of onion.
With the tofu soup, they do have different spice levels of regular, mild, spicy, and very spicy. Very spicy definitely means what it says, very spicy; more for the adventurous or the spicy lovers.
With any Korean meal, they serve what they call ban chan which are little side dishes that comes complimentary with your meal. It ranges from kimchi (delicious!), spicy radish, cold noodles, mash potatoes, and sesame broccoli.
The establishment is small and can feel like you’re very close to your neighbor which is downside cause I hate to feel closed in. The wait staff are very friendly and do speak English.
One thing I notice and I am not sure of, is that for the Korean customers, they tend to receive purple rice with beans while the non-​Koreans receive regular rice. I am unsure if they request it or if it is automatically brought to them since it may be part of the regular diet?
All in all, I do enjoy this place; best tofu soup I’ve had since my beloved 24 hour Tofu House closed down.

I came here last weekend with a friend for my first time. The parking lot is small, so parking can be an issue if you come at a peak time, but then you can just park at a neighboring business. They were fairly busy inside when I arrived, but surprisingly the service was very good. We were seated and helped immediately and the food came out fast as well. The price for the beef soup + kalbi combo was pretty reasonable at $ 17.99. I’d definitely come back.

Whenever my mom comes into town, you can bet we’re going to So Kong Dong for authentic Korean food.
I’m partial to the kimchi pancake and the combo meal with soup and kalbi. The soup broth is perfect, comes with an egg if you’d like to crack it right away. The Kalbi is always tender, perfectly marinated — almost better than my grandma’s… almost. They also do NOT use MSG, which keeps the headaches away.
The banchan (the side dishes) are plentiful, but not overwhelming so you do not have to feel bad about wasting food. They also always bring you a bowl of rice, even if you order soup, which isn’t the case in other restaurants I’ve tried.
Overall, I come here all the time for a reason — the food is always flavorful and top quality.
Service: This place is always busy and if you’ve been to any authentic Asian restaurant, you know that they’re focusing on the service, not the food. So learn to order quick and waiving down staff members is a given. It’s the norm. With that being said, for how busy they are, they are accommodating and kind, food comes out fast and hot.

I used to come here with my room-​mates when we lived around North Druid area.
They have a variety of ban chan (side dishes) and a good amount of choices. I feel like every time I come here they raise their prices… Also the service here is not that great… The old ladies that work here are not that nice and impatient… There are lots of small tables around the place that fit 4 – 6 people.
It can get busy here on the weekends. Parking here can get really difficult when it’s busy here. There’s not much and it’s small tight spots…
It’s also by Kung Fu tea if you want dessert afterwards! :)

Was a patron of this place for years, but after today’s experience, never coming back.
The customer service in this place has never really been their best attribute. It seems that whenever we ask the server for something, they made sure to let it be known that this is an annoyance to them. I have experienced this treatment several times before, but after my last visit, I have had enough.
We clearly ordered mild tofu soup for my mom. When her order came, it was too spicy. I can eat fire, and I attest that the soup they gave my mom was not mild AT ALL. We informed the server who stood and argued with us for five minutes and finally, she irritably grabbed the pot from our table. She comes back later, and all they did was dump the soup and POURED WATER on it. The soup had no taste whatsoever and the egg that my mom had dropped earlier, was still there — evidence that they did not change it out at all. They served us absolute garbage.
The server refused to come by our table after that. Water refill never happened. We were going to ask from the register, but «luckily» the bus-​boy came by and he was nice enough to provide some customer service.
So yeah. We are not coming back to this place.
A message to the owner: Please, realize that NOT EVERY SINGLE DISH that you are going to put out and serve your CUSTOMERS is going to be perfect EVERY SINGLE TIME. Every now and then, there will be mishaps, and there should be a process put in place when this happen. It is very disrespectful that 1. our issue was addressed poorly by your staff, 2. the mistake was NOT CORRECTED but rather, was made worse, 3. there was absolutely no attempt to create good customer rapport.
We were not looking for a free meal or anything. We just simply wanted what we pay for, but in the end, we paid $ 10+ for a pot of boiling water and soft tofu that costs 99 cents. My mother looked forward to eating here all week, but from this point on, we, as a family along with the numerous friends we have taken here — we will all be going somewhere else. Preferably somewhere who treats their customer with some level of respect.

My new favorite tofu soup joint. No question.
I know there are a couple places off Buford, but I generally prefer the ones off Pleasant Hill. The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because of price. It is a little more pricey relative to the ones in Duluth (about $ 3 – 5 more) depending on what you get. But I think it’s worth it, especially if you’re still looking for good one within the Perimeter.
This place is just like the other joints with the option of simply ordering just tofu soup (beef, veggie, seafood) or BBQ combinations (tofu soup of your choice + Korean ribs, this is the option I recommend). They also have various cold/​hot noodle dishes among other things.
Same setup with sides like most places, which was 5 here. Two big takeaways with regard to side dishes. 1) Each person got their own fried fish. Not sure if that was the case with all the tables but my GF and I each got our own. Perhaps they saw this fat mofo next to a tiny girl and thought she wouldn’t stand a chance. If so… well played Koreans. 2) Jab chae (stir fried noodles with veggies cooked in sesame oil). ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS ON EARTH! You like noodles? THEN EAT THIS! Want to know what happiness in noodle form tastes like? Eat jab chae. I don’t recall any other joints serving this as a side dish. Heck, I know some places off Buford have jab chae as a main dish and priced like one. Rude. When I asked for more, the waitress chuckled and I thought, «this is not a laughing matter. WE NEED MORE!». But apparently everyone always asks for more and they just so happened to run out that night. Makes sense given we came in at 9PM on a Sunday. But she was very willing to get us anything else… but that lol.
Place was packed. People were still coming in even with 30 mins to close! It’s a relatively small place but I like the decorations. Made it feel like you were in Korea almost. Keep in mind it’s cramped so you can be sitting pretty close to the table next to you but no big deal.
The service was great. They were all very friendly and quick too. Not sure what others meant that they don’t speak English very well. Because I had no issues mixing it up in attempts to bamboozle them speaking in both English and Korean. As long as you don’t use hieroglyphics, I think you’re okay.
The Korean «pancakes» though a little pricey are also delicious. It’s a big size and definitely shareable with 2 – 3 people. Check out the joint for yourself! It’s hard to see off the road but it’s located in the L-​shaped plaza next to Paris Baguette, also a neat place.

«Less wiki-​article like. More useful food info»
[Time & Date of visit]: Multiple weekday and weekend nights.
[Party Size]: 2 – 5
[Location/​Ambiance]:
Parking — The restaurant shares a lot with Taqueria El Rey and Kung Fu tea, so parking is a bi@ bi@ sometimes on busy prime time dinner hours. Please don’t be an @$$ and NOT park within your lines.
Inside — The décor has changed a bit I think since I’ve first visited «back in the day». I believe it feels more open in the dining area. And probably has helped improve service I feel, since the servers can quickly glance at tables.
Vibe /​Ambiance — Casual dining whether for 2 or bigger groups. Not so loud, average. An enjoyable dining experience w/​o feeling rushed.
[Service]:
This has been one of the few Korean establishment spots in Atlanta that you don’t need a token Korean friend to actually get good service; if you are non-​Korean Asian. You’ll actually are welcomed for dining here. For «non-Atlantan’s» reading this; yeah this is what we have to deal with, since the longest *sigh*
Refills have been pretty spot on for most of my visits. Food has been good-​average on timing from order being placed to being brought out.
[Food Highlights]:
Dolsot Bibimbap — The meat quantity has gone down a little through the years I feel, especially compared to Cho Dang Tofu House. But the serving size itself has remained consistent. I tend to get overzealous with the hot sauce but not until the bottom of the bowl gets crispy. Pretty good, but will leave carnivores a little hungry.
Galbi — Medium sweetness and juicy cutlets. I liked how it’s cook with out being over well done. A personal favorite.
Tofu Soup — Sorry, I’m just not a fan in general for tofu soup itself. Please don’t hurt me. Eek. But everyone that I accompany with usually tears it up if that’s any indication for the quality here.
{Summary}:
One of my go to spots for consistent Korean food and service on this side of Buford Hwy with out having to drag a Korean friend out. Would recommend trying. 4 stars.

My family and I have been coming to So Kong Dong Tofu House for year. One of the best tofu house on Buford HWY for sure. Parking is limited and shared with the other stores in the shopping center, but there is parking in the back.
The atmosphere of the place is quite cute. There is a fake pagoda in the back (Just the roof portion) and the seating is all wood with random Korean crafts and artwork. There is a call button at each table to push if you need the wait staff.
Tofu Soup — I have gotten the spicy pork to seafood to just plain tofu soup. I prefer the pork tofu soup, spicy. The pork is thinly sliced with soft tofu. The broth is amazing. I love that is served piping hot so you can crack an egg into the hot stop bowl.
Seafood pancake — it a giant pancake with seafood and a green onion soy chili dipping sauce. It’s fried and then placed in a hot stone plate. The pancake is crispy on the edges and they do not skimp on the seafood.
Spicy Squid Noodles — This is a HUGE serving size. You can probably split this between two or three people without ordering anything else. Perfect al dente udon noodles with squid and veggies (onions and green onions mostly) in a red spicy chili paste sauce, served over a hot plate.
There are ton of appetizers that come with your meal for free with free refills. The only downside to this restaurant is the price. It used to be super affordable. I could order a pork tofu soup for $ 8.50 with tax and have a bit for leftovers. Now the soups are $ 9.99 and the spicy squid noodles is $ 21.99 without tax. They increased their prices from 2 to 4 bucks per item.

One of my family’s favorite restaurants on Buford hwy. Great food and reasonable prices. We usually order a couple of combination — bibimbap with kalbi or soondubu (tofu soup) with kalbi. We also always order their seafood pancake. It’s one of the better ones we’ve had from different Korean restaurants in and around the area. It’s always so crispy.
Their banchan is limited but it’s good and they always give you a fried fish (yellow croaker) with your order.
Kids: our boys love the kalbi and the free yellow croaker.

Admittedly, the only reason I’ve visited this spot and bookmarked it on Unilocal was thanks to many other Atlanta Unilocal friends frequenting this spot. I don’t even consider myself a fan of tofu, in fact, i used to hate tofu only a couple years ago. Boy have things changed and this restaurant was the moment where it hit me.
— VEGETABLE DUMPLING SOUP was awesome. The soup dumplings are just so delicious and you have to make sure that you break the raw egg directly into the soup. It pretty much cooks within the first few minutes of dropping it in.
— AMBIANCE WISE, «ITS JUST KIND OF THERE.» It’s probably less run down looking than most delicious spots on Buford, but still nothing to rave about. Very cheap and basic (not the menu is not cheap though)
— A BIT PRICEY FOR WHAT IT IS — so per person with tip you come out at around $ 20 for a decent size meal, although if you are really hungry, that may not fill you up. Given that all the ingredients used are on the low cost end, I would say that could give you much bigger portions for what you pay. A Buford strip mall is not a place where I want to drop $ 30 for a filling meal.

First time in ATL for work so I decided to check out a Korean restauarnt. Came in around 7pm with my coworker and waited about 5 min to get a seat. Place looked pretty packed so that’s always a good sign.
I ordered the tofu soup and Korean short rib combo ($ 18) which isn’t too bad as I came here wanting soup and short ribs.
Ordered a seafood pancake and it was pretty good too. My only complaint is that the short ribs are really thin. Other than that, the food is food and restauarnt is very spacious.
Oh yeah, a good thing about this place is that it cooks all the food in the kitchen so your clothes don’t real when you come out :)

Location: Tucked behind the Kung Fu Tea on Buford Highway
Parking: There are spots in the front of the restaurant but if it gets full the restaurant says there’s parking behind the building.
Food: On the menu, they have a page of combos and subsequent pages list the items individually. The banchan served include: fried fish, broccoli, potato, pickled radish, kimchi, and vermicelli.
— Cold Noodles/​BBQ ribs combo: This combination is really delicious and really hits the spot in the summertime. I got the non-​spicy noodles. Eating the ribs with the cold noodles has a great taste. My only complaint about my dish is getting the meat off the bones with just chopsticks and a spoon so I could eat it with the noodles.
— Seafood Tofu Soup/​BBQ ribs combo: My friend seemed to like her dish. Her only complaint was the head and skin of the shrimp were not removed, but I feel that is pretty standard for Asian food. If you don’t enjoy your shrimp in this way be mentally prepared!
Service: Our server was very friendly and checked up on his a couple times before it got really busy. They can’t do separate checks at your table, but you can pay at the register separately.
Sidebar: The reason I didn’t give more stars despite enjoying the food and service was because I encountered a cockroach in the women’s bathroom and it didn’t seem scared of humans either. I don’t know if this was a random happening or it came in through the back door which is adjacent to the bathrooms, but it made me lose my appetite.

I’m suprised I haven’t wrote a review on this place since I frequent it! The tofu soup here is to die for! And don’t get me started on those juicy galbi ribs!
Let’s start with the exterior, this little restaurant shares a extremely tiny parking lot with many other popular restaurants and businesses as well. so sometimes you’re going to have to park on the other side of Kung fu tea.
Interior is also fairly small and all the tables are very close to one another, so if you like your personal space… You’re gonna have to suck it up cause the food here is worth it!
During summer they serve everyone cold water and during the winter you’re delighted with hot tea. They have various Korean dishes on their menu. We’ve always ordered the same thing the tofu soup combo with the galbi ribs, spicy squid noodles, bibimbap (cold/​hot). All of which are very good! And all that I recommend!
Warning: !!! Spicy is very spicy !!!
Order at your own risk. Haha