I've been coming to Cho Dang for over 10 years. I don't live close by anymore, so my visits have…read morebeen a lot less frequent, but I don't think I've gone a year without visiting them at least once, even during the pandemic.
I've never tried a single entree other than their soon tofu stews. I've had their toasted mandu, as well as their various tofu appetizers, but I've never had their bento boxes or bibimbaps. That's how good their tofu stews are - I've just never been compelled to try anything else.
Your order typically comes with typical Korean side dishes - kimchi, bean sprouts, some tofu, fish tofu, etc. Your meal also typically comes with a small fried fish - I'm not sure what kind of fish this is, but I've seen it served at other Korean restaurants as well. I'm also not sure if this is served with entrees other than the tofu stews. That said, the fish tends to be on the salty side, but can be a nice appetizer for the stew ahead.
I've tried all the variations of the tofu stew that Cho Dang offers (e.g., beef, pork, dumpling, seafood, mixed, etc.). My go-to is the beef stew, for simplicity, but the others are good as well depending on your taste and preference. I've always found the stew flavourful, especially if you try not to shy away from the spice level, but I've definitely experienced times when it felt watered down - it's unfortunate that it's not perfectly consistent.
The tofu stew comes with rice cooked in a stone bowl. The rice in the stone bowl is scooped into a separate bowl for you, and the stone bowl is then filled with hot water to create kind of a roasted rice tea (sungnyung). You can choose to drink this, or not - I find that it's nice for a few sips but ultimately it's just rice water. I've grown accustomed to scraping the bits of rice off the bowl to eat with the rest of my tofu stew.
The restaurant itself is your quintessential hole in the wall. It's very nondescript, and the space isn't very big. Even in the best of times, they could seat maybe 6 tables at a time. They wouldn't be able to handle any more tables anyways - the place is run by a husband and wife pair, without any other help. As other reviews have noted, the service can be hit or miss. Over the years, the owner that manages the front of house has acted increasingly curmudgeonly. However, if you look past that, you'll see that she's simply trying to keep things moving along and to be efficient. That said, while I'm a bit intimidated by her, I still keep coming back.