great food, nice staff, pretty fast service, and food came out piping hot, good portion size. strongly recommended korean food in collegetown read more

Sopoong - R6 Spicy pork with egg over rice + miso soup - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I recently tried the Jaeyook Bokeum Bap, which came with a side of miso soup, and it was absolutely delicious! The spicy pork was tender, flavorful, and had just the right amount of heat - yum! Maybe it tasted extra amazing because I was super hungry after accidentally skipping meals all day, but it really hit the spot :) My friend ordered the kimbap and was equally happy. In fact, it's probably the best spot for kimbap in Collegetown. I now prefer this place over Gangnam Station across the street. 5 stars out of 5! read more

I love this place! I usually get their kimbap which is really good and pretty cheap ($7-$8). I also like how they have every Korean dish I love (Budae stew, Dduk mandoo, Ddukboki, etc)! They have a large picture menu at the front so it's easy to know what you're getting. The lady was also really sweet! We came before opening and she served us kimbap anyways! There is a lot of seating in the restaurant as well and the interior is clean, so it's a nice place to hang and do work. They also have outdoor seating as well (probably just for the summer I presume). Also cash fyi: Credit card minimum is $10 so if you're just ordering 1 roll make sure to bring cash. In general this place is pretty cheap so it's a great option to get Korean food for lunch or on the go read more

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BEST FOOD IN ITHACA. (ALSO BEST KOREAN FOOD IN ITHACA.) If someone tells me they're visiting Ithaca and they want "the tastiest food" period, and don't care about fine dining or some specific experience, and they can only visit ONE FOOD SPOT, I'm telling them to go to Sopoong. I have never had a bad tasting dish from here. Ever. My fave things from them are their budae jigae and kimbap. Only reason I wouldn't recommend their bento is because of price reasons (better to just order full dishes) not because of the food itself (it's A1 obv) Part of me wants them to have jjamppong on the menu but their kitchen is not that big and I'm too shy to make a custom request. But I honestly think they'd make the best jjamppong if they made it. Also pay in cash when possible. And to the other reviewers who commented crap like "the ppl are rude"... they are not, they're just no-nonsense. Shut up and eat hahaha read more

Sopoong - Budae jigae (came with rice), tteokbokki with cheese. I loooove their budae jigae - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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So Poong is my favorite Korean restaurant in Collegetown!! This places serves up homey, warm, comforting dishes that'll be sure to warm you up on a cold winter's night in Ithaca. I absolutely love all their flavors of Kimbap (in particular the Beef and Spicy Pork Kimbaps). The dish is so simple and so well-executed. It's also perfect for take out/a quick snack for college students because of its convenient packaging! I also went and got their R3. Dduk Mandoo soup. Guys, this was the best dduk mandu guk I have ever had. The broth was so warm, savory, filling, and flavorful. The rice cakes were chewy, the vegetarian dumplings were also so delicious. I dream of this soup. I would definitely come back and order these dishes again!! read more

Sopoong - K2. Tuna Kimbap and R3. Dduk Mandoo Guk - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Came here craving kimbap for takeout and it definitely satisfied the craving. A bit too much rice for my liking and I like it with a bit more veggies and sesame oil, but was still tasty. The koma kimbap is just veggies and I think it's good if you want a mini snack, but I do think it's more worth it to get the regular size kimbap. My bf decided to get the chicken bibimbap which was also tasty. Very affordable and fast. Would def come back if I'm in the area again with another Korean food craving. read more

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they took a few minutes to place our order but they were clearly short staffed. we bought one coke and was given a soda of choice on the house. we also spilled our miso soup 2 times but they were so kind and cleaned the spills up. the food was delicious and was made quick. the serving sizes were an acceptable size (on the mid-smaller size) the prices were reasonable for all the food we got (and all the trouble we caused) overall i do recommend and would go there again in the future. read more

Sopoong - Spicy tteokboki and spicy squid fry - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I've always walked by this place on my way home and never thought to stop by because the exterior is so unassuming (didn't even realize it was a restaurant). When I finally did one day, I was pleasantly surprised. Ordered a great spicy tofu stew with pork! Only critique is that I wish the soup had more pork. I really appreciate the format of this restaurant too. The food comes out super fast, and you get to carry your bowl of stew back to your seat on a cute lil tray! They also have free ice water and cool stainless steel cups in case you get thirsty. The decor of the place is cute too-- bright, red interior with little figurines/toys as decoration by the window. Would recommend overall. read more

Sopoong - Spicy tofu stew and spicy tuna kimbap - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Stopped by for a quick lunch. Prices appear to have gone up. The dishes ordered doesn't match the menu photo order (made us wonder if the pictures are lifted off somewhere else or the owners were too lazy to update the pictures to reflect the real dishes given). My daughter was disappointed that there were missing items and less amount of items in her bento box. She expected to get what she saw on the menu photo but said it did not have any rice cakes and there was only 1 sushi instead of 3. If they had told her it was different from picture, she probably would have ordered something else. My bibimbap is also very different from the traditional ones I've had at all other Korean restaurants, esp with the stir fry meat. Was not impressed. My hubby's Ddukboki also looked different from the menu pic shown, was overcooked (mushy), and was missing the fish cakes. Nor did it look that full as in menu pic So have to say food was meh. None of the dishes tasted like authentic original Korean dishes we've had so far. If the ingredients are hard to obtain, perhaps that's why the dishes look different. Even if that's the case, it would have been nice if owners update their pictures and description to reflect the actual dish or let customers know what they get will not look like the nice pics they advertised on their menu. read more

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The kimbap is always delicious and good value. Onigiri is okay. Don't get the ramen, it's not worth it for the price and there is better ramen in Ithaca. Service is nice, the owner is a very nice woman. read more

Second time coming here. I would say this place is okay. Location is definitely convenient and food is prepared fairly quick. Food: It's not bad. I ordered the ddukbokki without the fish cakes, but added cheese ($2 extra) and egg ($1 extra). Flavor was good, but I wasn't really a fan of their rice cakes. It felt overcooked. Some parts of the meal was lukewarm for some reason, so it was a little bit weird. Service: Average. You order food, sit down, wait for the buzzer, and then get the food. There's not much interaction with the staff other than ordering the food. There were no difficulties with ordering as they were nice about removing the fish cakes from my food. Price: It's okay. I'm not a fan of their add-ons as some things should have some form of protein for the price offered. For example, I got the Soba Noodles for my brother, but it comes without meat at $9. Adding beef or chicken is another $2. I would say some things on the menu are worth the cost while others aren't really. Ambiance: I actually like their decorations. It's not a huge space, but inside is clean and nice. Come here for the convenience, but not for the price. Food is okay. read more

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I had passed this place many times while walking in college town, and I finally decided to check it out today. It is a small place with limited seating, but it was actually pretty cozy. This restaurant was also a place where you order at the counter and go retrieve the food when it is ready. The menu was posted above the cashier and pretty easy to understand. The prices were also very reasonable and the service was very fast! Overall, the food tasted very authentic, and was very flavorful! We paid through Venmo too, which was very convenient. I would go here again, but I might do take out instead next time. read more

Sopoong - A black bowl contains Korean tteokbokki with cylindrical rice cakes, fish cakes, and vegetables in a red spicy sauce. The dish is garnished with sesame seeds and appears to be served hot. A small white bowl with a light-colored broth or soup is partially visible in the lower left corner. The setting suggests a casual dining environment, possibly at a Korean restaurant. - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Who would've thought to find a kimbap roll place in Ithaca? Not me, and neither could I have guessed the college in Ithaca is frigging Cornell! We stopped here on a recent evening about 20 minutes before closing time. In fact, we saw a staff bring out the mop when I poked my head in to make sure we could still eat in. Long story short, decent rolls, especially the tuna roll. While the odeng broth was great, odeng itself was too ripe and past its prime to be enjoyable. Another gripe of mine is that you have to pay extra for small pods of basic side dishes, and this seems odd to me, since the beauty of Korean meals is the complimentary side dishes that come with mains. All in all, the tuna roll was saving grace on this visit. I wish them well. read more

Sopoong - Odeng - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Coming from Portland, OR, the one thing I can say is the price is definitely reasonable. My review is really only applicable to what I ordered - being the Cold soba noodles, baby kimbap and chobap. Food was average but nice that it's freshly made, quick to go and the staff are very friendly. I second an earlier comment with the gripe that you have to pay for radish and kimchi or spend $10 in cash. Would come back again though for value and quickness. read more

Sopoong - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

The kimbaps here are so good! They have a perfect ratio of ingredients. We also really like the dduck mandu! It is very delicious. Their other dishes have been pretty good as well. The lady of the store is also super nice! This is a great place to have lunch or dinner in college town! read more

Sopoong - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I have been here several times and never felt the need to review their place because the experience was fairly pleasant, but my most recent interaction with who I believe is the owner has driven me to write this review. I called ahead to order two dishes and went into the store to pay for it and I was met with a barrage of yelling and attitude from the shop owner. He demanded that my boyfriend should pay with venmo when every time before then there was no issue with using a debit card. When my boyfriend declined he started to mockingly ask him why he doesn't he have an account and venmo is the only option. When we offered to pay with cash that's when he stopped his aggressive attitude and allowed us to pay. We then decided to eat in the restaurant instead of taking out so he yelled at us to take back our dishes and reprimanded us for not letting him know beforehand. This was overall a very poor experience and since we were both loyal customers for several years we are extremely disappointed with this level of service and we will not be back. read more

Great food at very reasonable prices. The 6 of us ordered a variety of dishes and all were delicious and well presented, even though it was only on paper bowls and plates. The food itself should get 5 stars. Some downsides: 1. lack of ventilation. It was only 80 the day we visited, but the portable AC unit was having a hard time keeping the place at a comfortable temperature. So, you'll definitely end up sweating and smelling like the kitchen. 2. It was a 1 man show. The chef took orders and cooked. So, we had to wait until he finished cooking for the last customer before he could take our order. And he can only cook so fast in his little kitchen, by himself. 3. Poor communication. Chef spoke little English and was getting frustrated with communicating in English. Everybody basically got yelled at and talked to like some kid. But, once things slowed down he was more amenable. Overall, delicious and affordable. read more

This review is specifically for the tteokbokki. BEST tteokbokki in the Ithaca area. The rice cakes are cooked perfectly and are soft and chewy. The sauce is perfect, red, thick, and sticks well to the rice cakes. Add cheese and ramen for extra! Makes the dish better! Warning: def eat ASAP! Not the best for takeout or delivery because the ramen and rice cakes start sticky to each other and absorbing the sauce. read more

Sopoong - Tteokbokki (cheese and ramen for extra) - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

great location in collegetown with a hole in the wall vibe. food is pretty good for ithaca standards, but like the rest of collegetown, prices are inflated. the kimbap is decent and the jja jang udon is tasty but the sauce wasn't mixed in. from my other experiences here, the service has been great and have not been disappointed yet. best korean food you can get in collegetown, for what it's worth. read more

Sopoong - Spicy Tuna Kimbap and Jja Jang Udon - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Great and amazing service! The workers made sure we were well taken care of! Best service I've received so far in Ithaca. read more

Sopoong - Ramen & Sam Gak Kimbap - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Korean fried chicken special is top notch! Ordered the 6pc wings (also have 12pc and whole chicken) for $9, definitely worth the price. The chicken was super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised by the size and amount of meat on each wing. They definitely don't skimp out like at other places. They also offer yangnyeom chicken which are fried chicken wings in sweet and sour sauce. These are also very good and similar to the fried chicken wings, just covered in sauce. read more

I'll be the first to admit I'm not an expert in Korean food, though I like to think I'm an expert in food and eateries. I came upon SoPoong completely by accident, and I've been really happy on two visits! From what I can see, and have heard from others, this is "authentic Korean street food," and I have no reason to doubt it other than having trouble imagining THIS MUCH variety coming from a street cart or a small market stall. Still, it's a compact kitchen with a small seating area, and they put out a lot of tasty food in a reasonable amount of time. They even apologized that I had to wait for my food when they had a restaurant full of customers, but since they are making every person's meal from scratch, I didn't feel I was being kept waiting. On my first visit, I got a spicy tuna kimbap roll, basically Korea's version of sushi. It was just $6, and it was a more than satisfying snack. While I waited for it, I spotted the poster for the "summer special," a cold spicy soba noodle bowl! That's what I got on my second visit for a weekend lunch. I added pork for $1.50 to the $7 bowl, and had a nice filling early afternoon meal. They do take credit cards (with a reasonable minimum charge) but have a clever way of encouraging cash payments. If you pay $10 or more in cash, you get a free drink, and if you pay $20 or more in cash, you get two free drinks. They have a nice selection of Coke and Sprite and the like, plus several flavored seltzers. I got a free can of cherry pomegranate seltzer by rounding up my purchase to $10 including tax. Soda is cheap at the store, so this is a smart way for them to reduce those pesky credit card fees and keep more of the money they earn. This isn't fancy. There isn't lots of seating. There's no table service. It's a simple, quick, reasonably priced option for food in a student-heavy neighborhood, and I bet it will do really well. read more

Sopoong - Simple spicy tuna kimbap roll, just $6. - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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some of the best korean food i eva had. the best gift to oneself after some hard studying, and NOT EXPENSIVE. Get the spicy pork kimbap. YOU WILL NOT REGRET. or the spicy pork bulgogi. yummm. genuinely the most mouth watering, melting, delicious pork bulgogi. makes me want to fly to ithaca just for this place. and heads up dont go to kung fu tea. its not that good read more

6 Got tteokboki with egg and cheese. Pretty good, beat my expectation. wouldn't pay extra for the egg. Japchae was decent. read more

Ive been wanting to try this place for a couple years now, but I've been out of the area due to Covid for the past year and never had the chance. As soon as I got back to Ithaca I decided to try it and OMG IS IT DELICIOUS!!! I got the beef bento box so I could try a bit of everything and it's all fenomenal. It also came with miso soup and a seaweed snack on the side. I wish I tried this place sooner!! I can't wait to go back read more

Sopoong - Beef bento box - The bento box features sliced beef with vegetables such as cucumber and carrots, two sushi rolls with rice, seaweed, and vegetables, a baked dish topped with melted cheese and garnished with herbs, and a portion of sweet and sour chicken in sauce. The meal is arranged in a black plastic container on a table with a patterned placemat and a napkin nearby. - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

First and last time to this place. The owner tries to scam you. They told us that the sodas are free if we pay using cash or venmo. We paid using venmo, but after we did we noticed he still charged us for the sodas anyways. When we brought this up he just said he never agreed to that. Spend your money somewhere else. read more

The squid special is honestly the best thing in ctown!! I also get the spicy pork over rice meal, they're all really filling and really delicious. One awesome thing is that they allow you to bring your own container to pack the food in. It's a real godsend for environmentally minded people :) read more

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Authentic Korean cuisine in Ithaca that adds a welcome diversity to the area. Had the pork tonkatsu, ddubolki, and spicy tuna Kim so. Liked the ddubolki the most and then the kimbop. Wish the tonkatsu had a better crispier coating but still good. Recommend. read more

Never get the Sopoong membership card.... Spent over $100 to get the membership card; however, none of the employees know how to use it. So, they end up forcing customers pay with cash or credit instead of allowing customers to use the membership card you pay for. Probably wasted over $80 on the membership card. read more

Sopoong - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Raman was not what ramen is supposed to be. They also forgot to put meat I asked for in the soup. Not recommended.

Yummy korean school food!! Try the kim bab, dduk bboki, udon noodles. Don't forget to get the side yellow radish and kimchi. read more

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Good food, but there's only one person in charge of the entire restaurant. Ordering takes forever since you have to wait for him to cook someone else's food. Tables never get cleaned. Also the guy is pretty rude. Maybe we caught him on a bad day though. read more

Sopoong - The soup is literally in a cup. - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Yummy food (dumplings are particularly good) and fun people watching from their window front bar area. Will come again soon!

I have not tried yet, but I don't like the Yelp pictures. Looks yummy. Yum. Will try once bowels calm down. For now, only green beans.

My first time trying Korean food, the owner was so friendly and I mistakenly added the soup to the bibimbap not knowing it was to be separate, she kindly made me another so I could get the real taste. She also made me a few other authentic Korean foods for free and gave them to me to try, while explaining what they were. Sooo sweet, she even helped me with my Korean pronunciation. Absolutely delicious like wow! Out of this world flavors. The food was prepared super fast and the price was good for my meal . I will definitely be back again:) come here if you want some amazing Korean food:) read more

Love sopoong! So glad to find a place that makes kimbap- a perfect light meal that pairs well with odeng, kimchi, and danmuji

As far as ctown food goes this place is really solid. Images of food are a bit deceiving (as it is with many restaurants), but food is nice nonetheless. read more

Love this adorable Korean place. Cold summer udon noodle and spicy pork kimbap are amazing. Highly recommend for those who can handle the spice. read more

Sopoong - Cold summer udon noodle - Korean Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I tried the ddeokboki, variety of kimbob and udon. All were very good with my calibrated Korean food palate. Not too salty, not too sweet neither too spicy. Overall the restaurant has clean environment, workers are friendly, and prices are right! I look forward to getting more SoPoong food! read more

I got 2 kimbab rolls here: the beef (bulgogi) kimbap and the spicy pork kimbap. I was hesitant to eat here because it looks a bit raggity from both the outside and inside. But the food was actually pretty good! I wish they added some sides to the kimbap, like some additional daikon, which is also known as DanMuJi. Also, for those of you who are sensitive to spicy foods, don't get the spicy pork kimbap! It's pretty spicy even for me, and I'd consider myself to be okay with spicy foods. read more