Dowon Restaurant

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  Another authentic Korean hidden gem. I only got carry out from here, but will have to dine here sometime.  
  
  The banchan is the real deal. It even impressed my grandma, who only eats her own homemade Korean food! Even with carry out, there were about 5-6 banchans that came with the meal including: kong namul (bean sprouts), keem moochim (seaweed), aburagie (I don't know what this is in english), garlic soy marinated bamboo shoots and others I don't recall. We had the jung bok jook, which is a seafood rice porridge.  It was deeelicious!
  
  I'll be back to try the rest of their menu.

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  Posted on 01.21.08 Caroline A.

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  This place is amazing.
  
  I stumbled upon this place while driving around aimlessly, and had been craving some home cookin. I was offered hot boricha (barley tea) while I waited for my take-out. I thought my one dish was a bit pricey ($11 not including tip), when I arrived at home I realized that not only was my Chap chae pouring out of the box, but they included the sides AND extra rice!! WAY worth the price, as it fed me and my friend for lunch AND dinner.
  
  I definitely recommend this place, as the food is really authentic. Probably one of the best Korean restaurants I've visited. There is, however, a language barrier.. if you do not speak Korean or at the very least know how to sound out Hangul, you may want to have a Korean friend with you or already know what you want to order. Also, probably not so vegetarian friendly.. as most Korean dishes have either some sort of fish paste or animal stock in them, if you do not speak Korean it would be very difficult to discern which dishes you could order without meat.
  
  05/18/2008: Went in tonight and was again thoroughly impressed with their food and service. Tonight our waitress spoke English more comfortably than staff I'd previously spoken with. She understood that we had vegetarians at our table and was very accommodating. The banchan we had covered like 2/3 of the table and everyone left rosy-cheeked and stuffed to the gills with delicious Korean goodness.

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  Posted on 12.06.07 Rachel M.

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  I was beginning to bitch like a baby about having only the same 4 Korean restaurants from which to choose when my BF discovered, during his commute home, a little Korean restaurant on Lincoln Avenue, just north of Bryn Mawr and before you hit California.   It's called Do Won Restaurant (or Shin Do Won), and it is a gem.  Dontcha love it when you find a little unknown place that turns out to be a great find?
  
  When we first walked in, I was a little hesitant because we were the only ones there and it was a Friday night.  There was only one server, and she was watching a Korean soap opera on the television.  I thought, "Ooh, bad sign."   Happily, I was proven wrong.
  
  The hostess/server who was very nice could barely speak English, but through her broken English and my broken Korean, we managed to order our dinner:  Goon mandoo, dolsot bibimbab, and dukmandooguk.    A couple of notes:  they didn't have diet coke, only regular coke, and even though the bibimbab and dukmandooguk were on the lunch menu, the restaurant does offer it for a little more.
  
  The banchan (little side dishes) - she brought out approximately 8 dishes.  Aside from the kimchee, there were shiitake mushrooms, squash/mushroom mix, kongnamul (bean sprouts), seasoned mung beans, jalapeno peppers with red pepper sauce, anchovies with green leaves mixture, and 2 other dishes I cannot remember.  I was disappointed no kkaktugi, but oh well.  Although my favorite banchan was not offered, I was still impressed that Do Won offered unusual banchan.  The kimchee was perfect and was at just the right level of ripeness.
  
  The goon mandoo was very tasty.  She brought out a plate of 6 fried pot stickers and they were great.  Not too greasy.
  
  The dolsot bibimbab was terrific!  They give you a big portion in that nice big sizzling bowl - it tasted wonderful.  The dukmandooguk was probably one of the best I've ever eaten.  Not only did the cook throw in duk (rice cakes) and mandoo and egg, but also added cellophane noodles, and very fresh vegetables like red pepper and green onions.   It was a very big bowl of dukmandooguk, too.
  
  Other menu items that Do Won offers include your usual BBQ items (bulgogi, kalbi, sogogi, etc.).  They also have hot pots, soups, etc.  I was surprised to see that they even offer su-jae-bee, something you don't usually find in a Korean restaurant.  We opted not to do barbecue,  but there are 4 tables for bbq'ing, but I did not see a vent over those tables.  There are also about  a couple of  tatami-mat tables behind a wall, which would be great, as well as a larger table for a bigger group.  Pricing -- I thought was very reasonable.  $8.99 for bibimbab or dukmandooguk, $14.99 for kalbi or bulgogi, etc.  
  
  Although a rather small place, it was definitely one of the cleaner and nicer looking interiors that I've seen with nice hardwood floors, bamboo-type wood stylings and Japanese screens.  
  
  Finally, parking is on the side of the restaurant, you kinda just pull up to the side in a slanted space.
  
  I definitely plan to return to try the BBQ menu items.

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  Posted on 07.02.07 Suz C.

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