I've only been to one other private room karaoke place -- Lincoln Karaoke. Which, after going to Ding Dong Dang, I definitely prefer (even though we used a groupon at DDD). Here's why my Ding Dong experience did not live up to my expectations:
-The staff was not very friendly or helpful. They didn't even offer an explanation of how to use the karaoke system until we asked. And we had to go back a couple times with follow-up questions since their explanations were not very clear or thorough.
-The remote control buttons were in Korean...Wouldn't have been an issue if the staff was more helpful!
-Only 2 microphones, and one remote. I was expecting more since we were in a larger room!
-Spotty song selection -- There were quite a few songs they didnt have.
-Even though there is a restaurant attached to it, we couldnt bring in drinks from the bar! It was BYOB only, which was not advertised anywhere...a sign outside would have helped! :/
-They gave us a two minute warning before our time was up, to the minute. Stingy! esp since they didnt have anyone waiting for the room.
Even with all the criticism, we still had a good time. But next time, I'll be ready to BMOB, ask lots of questions to figure out all the features of the karaoke system, and have a list of backup songs ready in case they don't have my faves! :)
I truly love the concept of karaoke bars where you can belt your heart out to your favorite songs in the privacy of just you and your closest friends. ((Look up noraebang on Wikipedia)) Â However, Ding Dong Dang just didn't deliver like I had hoped it would.
First off, this little noraebang is not the easiest to find. It's in a strip mall that doesn't face Golf Road. Not to mention, the name is written in Korean with the words "karaoke restaurant" underneath in much smaller letters.
After countless drives up and down Golf Road, we finally found Ding Dong Dang. Â The actual sign "Ding Dong Dang" was inside which doesn't make sense. But, it was my friend's birthday and I was just wanted to celebrate and bring out my inner rock star. My previous experiences in a karaoke bar like this, were more than a good time to say the least, so I was hoping for the same. I guess things started off on the wrong foot with the birthday girl, since the previous reservation ran over and our reservation was pushed back 45 minutes. I suppose I question what the purpose of the reservation was for then.
Anyhow on to the nitty gritty - the good and the bad...
Good:
+ Variety of room sizes ((We had the largest, comfortably seating 15-20))
+ Average prices//packages available
+ There's a snack menu with both Korean and American dishes ((the wings and potstickers were decent))
+ Songs are available in multiple languages
+ Shades for privacy
+ Full bar
+ Comfy, plush couches/benches in the rooms
Bad:
- Weak song selection - unless you're all about pop music ((Britney Spears and the Back Street Boys gets old after a while...))
- Terrible videos playing in the background of the lyrics, most of which were depressing
- Disco ball and neon lights didn't work. We were told the bulbs "burned out". Ummm...why not replace them??
- The remote is somewhat confusing. Actually, a lot confusing.
- Difficult to find ((Please see above))
- Needs some serious remodeling. It was fairly decrepit
- The staff spoke little English, so be prepared
- Prices were inconsistent. A pitcher of Sujo for one person was 15 bucks. Thirty minutes later it somehow went up to 18...
I didn't stay until the end of the party ((which was 2am)) but apparently there was was some sort of mishap, and the staff attempted to charge the group an extra 90 bucks without any warning or notification that we went over the allotted time ((even though our party started late)). Kinda shady.
So, is it super exciting to have an awesome noraebang in the middle of the burbs? You're damn right it is. It's just too bad Ding Dang Dong isn't awesome.
I think I'll pass and head back to the city next time.
I love Korean food and this is one of my favorite place now. Ding Dong Dang is known as karaoke place but also there is a Korean restaurant right next door. I guess half is karaoke and half is a restaurant. We had beef brisket (chadol baki). It was good and not too expensive. You get the side dishes and a soup with it. And plenty of meat for two. If you want some white rice, you will need to ask. By the way, you will have to cook your own meat.
After you are done cooking and eating the meat, then waitress makes you a kimchi fried rice on the same stone grill. Yum! You should try it. And make sure to ask if they don't.
This place was pretty empty when I got there around 5:30 on Sunday and around 6:00 it was packed! Place is small.
You should try this place and have some good Korean food! Yum!
I found a great deal through Groupon for Ding Dong Dang. So my cousins and I packed up and drove to Arlington Heights.
If you do not know Korean characters nor have a GPS beware, this was a tad tricky to find because the sign does not say Ding Dong Dang. It just has characters.
The place is half restaurant and half karaoke place. There's a guy at the front that escorts you to your room.
Here are my quicktakes about the karaoking experience
*They provide disposable microphone covers. I love this because when I really get into a song, my lips are all over the mike. So this made me feel a little better about slobbering over it
* Big and Small rooms have one large plasma screen.
* The five of us got the small room and two microphones. Good for duets not good for group sing-a-longs. :-
* The remote controls work! I've been to places where they don't and then you end up with Michael Bolton instead of Bieber.
* The song selection is pretty good. They have a lot of up to date songs. Â It's March of 2012 and they had Rihanna - We Found Love, Coldplay - Paradise, Jessie J - Domino. They also had some good classics like What's going on - Four Non Blondes, Cranberries, Some Adele, N Sync, Beatles, Michael Buble so quite a variety.
* The room is comfortable but not the cleanest room I've ever been in. Seats a little sticky.
* The rooms have windows where you could pull drapes down. I stress this because there are little cracks where people can see you belting out some Bohemian Rhapsody. So just be prepared.
* The groupon came with fried wings and cocktails. The cocktails were strong but the fried wings were mediocre, too much breading and not very much flavor.
I went on a Sunday night and the cost without the groupon would have been $25 an hour. I don't think the price was too shabby. I would come back here to sing some Katy Perry the next time I'm in Arlington heights la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
We never actually got to Karaoke. Â We were a bit late for our reservation so they gave it away. Â The guy at the desk told us to give him a cell phone number to reach us at and he would call when a room opened up, but it would be at least an hour. Â We figured that was fine it was our own fault for getting sidetracked at the last bar and arriving late. Â We were going to hang out in the bar at Din Dong Dang, but it was dead empty... we felt awkward hanging out there. Â So, we left to check out the other places in the strip mall.
We settled on Sake and a quick bite to eat at Nari before or upcoming debut as karaoke stars. Â We checked the phone that we gave the number to and realized that no longer than 30 minutes after we left Ding Dong Dang they had called. Â We called the number back immediately (about 5 minutes after the missed call) and they said that we once again missed our room. Â They said it would be another hour or so until we could get a room again. Â We said okay and put the ringer on higher. Â This time Ding Dong Dang never called us back. Â We left sad. Â
I understand that we were late and it was our fault too but, I think they should have stuck to the time they gave us and called us back the second time. Â Also, the employees could have been a bit friendlier.
Oh, and the inside is a bit run down and dated looking.
Ah the nights I've spent wailing my lungs out at Ding Dong Dang... Love this place!! Â I hadn't been out too many times in the past couple years, but last night I went with some friends and had a great time.
This is asian karaoke, so instead of standing up at a bar with a microphone, you get your own private room to sing in with your friends (or I guess you could come alone............). Â I love this because it doesn't matter how terribly you sing, only your friends can laugh at you (if they are super huge jerks, that is). Â Price depends on which room you are in (they fit different amounts of people) and how long you were there. Â We were in a smallish room (fit 5 or 6 people) for 3 hours, total was around $80. Â Split 5 ways this isn't too bad for 3 hours of entertainment.
Previously when I went with friends, we would get Japanese machines (which do include some English songs, but primarily Japanese of course). Â They were comprehensive up until around 2006 or 2007-ish I think, and then you get supplemental pages as they add in newer, popular songs. Â Last night we had a Korean machine that was primarily Korean songs of course, but also had a decent number of Japanese and English songs, as well as a couple others.. I think Vietnamese?? Â The downside to the book was that it was listed by song title, not by artist. Â The English catalogue was mostly comprised of old songs from the 80's and 90's and then a smattering of the 2000's (I bet the Japanese catalogue was the same way), but last night I was amazed and terribly excited to see (sing) Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Ke dollar sign ha! Â Hooray, now I don't have to feel so bad about slowly forgetting the Japanese I learned in college!! Â I still got in some m-flo though, don't worry. Â Anyway, make sure to check the back pages of the song books, where they add the supplemental pages for new songs.
The controllers are very easy to use; just put in the song number and hit the Reserve button... ask the guy at the front desk if you have never done it before, though. Â Also, when you first get in, tell the guy what language you primarily want. Â Happy singing!!
What I think some people don't realize is that this is a Korean karaoke spot, not American. Â While it's tries to cater to everyone, their primary target clientele is Korean and Japanese and their primary systems are Korean. Â Not to say if you're not Asian you won't enjoy this place but keep an open mind when coming here if you don't normally hit up Korean karaoke bars.
With that being said...
Their karaoke systems are the same you'll find in any Korean karaoke place in Chicago (Taijin/UKara), and they update their song selection  fairly often so it's kind of nice.  The downside of using Taijin/UKara is that while their Korean selection is nice, their Japanese and English selection can be spotty (which I guess can't be helped).  Still has the cheesy MIDI background music which we've gotten used to.
The prices for drinks is rather steep, but if you need to get liquor'd up, I encourage a pre-game. Â $4-5 for a regular beer is a bit much.
We've become regulars at Courtil in Chicago, and when the owners saw us at Ding Dong Dang, they recognized us which was great. Â They're always courteous to us and encourage to come when the room rates are lower.
Overall, it's a typical Korean karaoke joint, a lot cleaner than Courtil with working systems, although sometimes takes a while to load songs. Â We don't have problems with their service (although usually we go to the counter for service rather than ring them in) and the owners are always great to us. Â Prices for rooms are a bit steep if you go on a peak night, but go with friends and it helps the cost.
I love Ding Dong Dang! Just like the ad says: Half off rooms from Sunday thru Thursday, 5:00PM - 12:00AM! Now that's really a fantastic deal! Korean places never have discounts like that!
When the ahjeema is working she will sometimes check purses & bags to make sure nobody is sneaking any kind of drinks in to take away business. lol.
They have a good song selection...seriously better then some of the other nohraebangs!
Soju prices aren't bad here, other drink prices like beers are average. And their big rooms are some of my favorite nohraebang (karaoke rooms) in the burbs! This is the closest nohraebang I know of to the Schaumburg area. So for us northwest 'burbs people it's a bit closer then driving over to the million nohraebangs in the Niles area. Also, it's much more low key then Woori, Chang Jang Dong, or any other karaoke...very chill and each group is very secluded.
This is the first Chicago area karaoke joint I've hit up, but it seemed like a larger version of the ones I'm used to
We took one of the large rooms which was great, tons of seating... except for the one seat in the corner which collapsed when my friend sat down.
Decent selection of music, my friends all raved about how they had everything they wanted, but I didn't have the same luck. No "Your Love" by The Outfield? No "Amie" by Pure Prairie League? For shame.
We also had some issues with the remotes, in that we had to enter each song about five times before it began to play.
However, you don't go to a place like that expecting perfection; as long as you have a good group of friends and a few stupid-cliche songs to sing (I'm looking at you, Bohemian Rhapsody), you won't even notice that you fell right through the seat cushion.
Typical korean-owned karaoke joint. Â You get a private room for your group... the room sizes vary according to your group size. Â I'm not sure what time they close because we've been there til the wee hours of the morning... and they stayed open for us.
They keep their song selection pretty up-to-date... I think better than other places. Â In fact, they have a HUGE song selection (in English, Japanese, Korean, and Tagalog). Before, the song books were only sorted by song name first... but last time I went there, they have some books sorted by artist as well - making it easier to find the songs you want.
You can buy beer & soju there as well. Â It's a little pricey though. Â Since I live in the suburbs, this is where I go to get my karaoke fix.
I'm sure you've read the other reviews and that info box above, so I won't repeat info.
Other Korean karaoke places only offer one machine with many choices. Â It's unique that they have two remotes, one is used to input Korean songs and the other is for American, etc. Â I hear they have one Romanian song available and some other languages, but I've never seen it. Â Being that this place is now owned by the same owners of "Gutie" or "karaoke restaurant" in Chicago, I'm sure they would try to offer as many languages as possible. Â
The food is alright, nothing special, but still a better quality than what's found at a typical Korean noodle house (boon shik). Â Food charges are too high, not equivalent to the serving. Â Don't go there hungry, otherwise you'll leave penny-less. Â It's common knowledge that no rae bang's(karaokes) are expensive. Â Don't be a cheap ass and not bring money to chip in. Â I've seen it done many times. Â People start drinking too much Soju and then they skip out on sharing the bill. Â Since the store associate usually has a minimal knowledge of English, I would advise my fellow Americans to get the pricing right before you start singing. Â
That little bottle of Soju at the store is about $6 dollars. Â At karaoke its double that plus some more. Â Be watchful. Â Also be outgoing enough to try different flavors, straight up Soju isn't appealing for all. Â
You're waiting to find out how I feel about their Thukk bokki ? Â It's always just alright. Â I think their thukkbokki runs that fine line between overcooked and needs just a bit more. Â (Thukk bokki is Korean rice cake bathing in a spicy sweet orange colored sauce with fish cake. Ignore the words fish cake and just eat it, it's good.)
And for those that have never been to a karaoke place like this..  think mirrored walls, your own room, soft leather couches (vaguely remember), some rooms have a glitter ball, your own TV with  sound system and privacy to sing terrible.  They have bigger rooms for large groups. Â
I keep thinking of that song "More than a feeling" by Boston.. Â I've got to go sing..
Pretty low key nourebang. Â Great song selection, with a separate Japanese and Korean machine, giving you double the selection!
Mildly indifferent service and somewhat high prices, but clean rooms, decent food, and no long-assed wait or crazy atmosphere like Lincoln Karaoke can get like.
A nice place to go if you're out here, but I'll stick to the city for my karaokeing.
So, what's not to like?
1. The screens mostly show just text to sing along with.
2. Doesn't have the "party" atmosphere as say Lincoln Or Court Hill karaoke.
BUT, take note, this place has THE BEST song selection out the karaoke places in town. I went there a week ago and got Feist and Arcade Fire in my set.
pretty standard 'noh-rae-bang' (song room. Â aka korean/japanese style karaoke). Â i believe that the owner of the place used to own gootti as well (i think its listed on yelp as 'karaoke restaurant'?) so if you've been there, u know basically what to expect. Â an individual room for your party, where room size is dependent, and you get a big song book of english, korean, japanese, chinese, and i hear they have tagalog songs (not sure though).
i do have to say, its a bit cleaner here, and parking is much easier in the strip mall here as opposed to gootti, but i think liquor is more expensive. Â im usually loaded by the time i get there so i cant say for sure though.
Ding Dong Ditch This Place!! Â Â Â Â Â Â ** Karaoke Bar **
aka
For $150.00 You Could... and Should... Get a Magic Mic on eBay
AMBIANCE
Located in a decent looking strip mall. The signage is cute. But it looks like that is where they stopped spending money. Inside, the decor is shabby and worn, the rooms need to be remodeled.... machinery was mediocre.
Good thing everyone showered because  a group of 10 people that became 15 later, in a 15 x 12 room for 3 hours... it got warm fast, and the AC was a trickle of non-existent tepid air. For $50 per hour and $5 bottles of beer, you think they could buy a ventilation system?! Cheap rat bastards!
SERVICE
The host did not bother to explain much or to tune the speakers and microphones, and the song books are albums with no real organization... you waste a lot of time trying to find songs.
Anywhoo... for those nutty enough to go...
SUGGESTIONS:
1) Get an agreement that overage will be rounded to 15 min
2) Do not sign an erroneous credit slip. Make them fix it.
3) Bring in your own drinks in a flask.
4) Do Not Tip for Poor Service
5) Demand a room with adequate ventilation.
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