I had high hopes for this place after reading all of the stellar reviews, as I was really in the mood for gamjatang. There were a couple red flags I should've noticed about this place, but chose to ignore initially. Most of the clientele were enjoying Chinese style hot-pot upon entering. As a place that advertises itself as the spot for gamjatang, this was surprising. Both the banchan and entrees hinted that the cook is more familiar with Chinese cuisine, and not Korean. Starting with the banchan, the mashed potato was not koguma, but sweetened mashed potato. Cucumbers were crudely cut and marinaded. Old style kimchi sorely lacked spice and flavor. Moving to entrees, no gochujang was used whatsoever - a big red flag for what was ordered: gamjatang and cheobokkeum. The cheobokkeum was oily and spiced using Chinese peppers - pork was thinly cut (like bulgolgi ribeye style) and fatty. The gamjatang had an oversized hunk of pork in the bowl, also on the watery side and spiced with Chinese peppers. The server even brought it out by hand - not in a dolsot bowl, which always requires a tray to carry. I'm sorry to say that if you're looking for Korean, PLEASE avoid and try the seollongtang at Seoul Soulongtang down the street on Comm Ave, or even go further up Harvard Ave to Kaju Tofu and get soondobu. Would also like to add that the waitress attempted to charge us for an extra dish we did not order. I would not recommend this place - I promise you are not missing out. read more

Hanmaru is definitely one of the best Korean restaurants in Boston area. You have to try Gamjatang, their main offering. It comes with pork bones(good amount of meat on them), potatoes, tofu, and veggies. Side dishes and other menus such as Scallion Beef and Ramen are also great. read more

I'm going to have to develop my taste buds to become accustomed to spicy foods because I cannot resist the Gamja stew here! It was sooo good but PAINFUL to eat! But I wanted more! I really like the music played here too, and the environment is very nice and clean. I was with my Korean friends and watching their reactions after trying the stew...and I think they looked like they died and went to heaven. read more

The foods are always awesome here! The server is friendly. Every dish we ordered tastes amazing. Their popular dish Gamjatang is the best, that no other place can beat. This time we tried the cold noodle, it's so refreshing and perfect for the summertime. The papaya salad is also great, Chapchae is awesome as well. The portion here is also a plus. We use to go to Hanmaru often when we live in town but since we moved out to a suburban area, we couldn't go as often anymore. If you are in the Allston -brighten area this is a must restaurant to hit. Let me tell you, the foods here are worth every penny. read more

Went here for late lunch and this place was still a lot of people. We had Shrimp Papaya Salad, La Galbi, and Stir-Fried Spicy Squid. They were so good, especially Shrimp Papaya Salad and La Galbi. For salad, you need to like those Thai shrimp sauce to like this dish. We also saw a lot of people having pork bone hot pot which looks very yummy. The service was great and people were very friendly. Definitely need to go back again. read more

I was ecstatic to find an as-authentic-as-I've-known Korean place that could satisfy my ramen cravings. I went crazy and ordered quite a bit: veggie kimchi pancakes and vegetable ramen. I waited for my take out for 15-20 minutes and then headed on home (I was going to eat in but after seeing the place was so busy, it would have been a bit too lonely/awkward for my tastes. ). I got home, and unpacked six containers. Container 1: broth, Container 2: ramen + veggies, Container 3: kimchi pancakes, Container 4: kimchi, Container 5: broccoli, Container 6: soy and green onion sauce. First impression: by separating the elements out, they showed that they cared about the texture, temperature and quality of the food- even if I wasn't dining in. Second impression: wow this is a LOT of food- like, 2-3 meals. The kimchi pancakes were so good- fresh (not that reheated rubbish you find at a lot of Asian restaurants), hot, but a bit greasy. Loads of onion, a hint of spice and a fairly big portion. The veggie ramen was also super satisfying. I haven't had Korean food this good since college so I was all happy hums and grins through my meal. If you living in Allston/Brighton: GO HERE. Its perfect for the cold weather and pretty reasonably priced too. read more

WoW. bunches of dishes I haven't seen before, only heard of when my mom is lamenting the good food in korea that she's too lazy to make. They give you a big selection of banchan, little appetizer dishes. and to my surprise, sasehgi, aka, sausage, with a korean acccent, it's really just cold hot dogs or vienna wiener thingy's with chili's but they're really good for some and bring out a childish delight in me! Everything was good. I can say I liked their Galbi, Its very rare that I find a restaurants' is worth buying when I can make it at home. Everything is overly-adequately spicy, they use waaay too much gochujang on some dishes (spicy chili sauce/paste) I like this place tho. I might be a fan depending on how good the kimchi tchigae is. And remember you can always ask for more rice!! read more

The gob chang gungol hotpot stew is awesome - definitely one of the better stews I've tried in the Boston area. It tasted great and the portion is relatively large. Also ordered the seafood bibambap rice plate - tasted great. I'll be coming back here soon! read more

DELICIOUS! I had the UDON SOUP and it was absolutely fantastic! the broth! the veggies! the tempura! the EGG!? yes, an egg! I am a huge fan of kimchi now! honestly this was my first time eating korean food and it was awesome! I recommend this to anyone!!!! read more

I asked for a box to take the leftover. All the tofu, veggies and potato I had in the hot pot were missing. The only thing I have brought to home is three bones squeezed in a small box. And I paid $29+tip for that! read more

I'm really not a fan of their service. It's annoying but not nearly enough to keep my friends and me away from this place. First off, I mostly stick to the Korean food, but their thai dishes are good as well. Their Gamja tang is a must; it's really flavorful and spicy and just amazing! It's definitely my favorite dish here. Their kimchi jigae is good as is their spicy yuk gae jang. I've also had their soon dubu jigae, which I'm a fan of. However, I'd recommend going to Kaju for that, because they specialize in the tofu soup so there are more options. I started off by noting their poor service. Once a waiter spilled soup all over my friend and wasn't the least apologetic. It ruined her top and got all over her pants as well. Luckily, the manager is really nice and took 20% off our bill. Another time a waitress spilled over a glass of water. Also, the atmosphere isn't the greatest but honestly the food is so good I couldn't care less. If you're a fan of spicy food, this is your place. They will serve it truly spicy! read more

This is where I go when I'm craving Gamjatang (really spicy pork soup with potatoes). If you don't mind smelling exactly like the restaurant when you leave, it's great on a cold night. The other things are the menu are not amazing but not terrible. I do enjoy their variety of side dishes. In terms of the quality of Korean food, it's actually decent for Boston (nothing compared to any restaurant in NJ or LA), but for just pretty good Korean food, it's alright. They do NOT open on Sundays. read more

I was on a trip in Boston, and was seriously craving some soft tofu stew! The restaurant is small and doesnt have the nicest decor but its decent. I ordered the soft tofu stew. The size was pretty standard but the flavor wasnt as strong as Im used to from other korean restaurants. It was good enough to satisfy my craving, but when i think back to it, it wasnt that great. My friend (who is korean) ordered one of their other stews and i dont think he enjoyed it too much, He kept complaining that it wasnt authentic, but im not sure. Not familiar with the other korean restaurants in the area, but this place was average. read more

First of all I have to admit it, I 'm a fan of Gamjatang stew here, no doubt! But the reason I only gave three starts is because they can NOT keep the food cook consistently!!! When the boss is here or they only have few customer in the place, they cook good, but when it gets busy, the quality of food is......really bad... Up and down a lot from my opinion, I eat here at least once every two weeks, so if I'm lucky I got good food if I'm not then..... I hope the boss can see this problem and try to fix that, then I will give at least 4 starts for having a great stew here. read more

Went to Hanmaru the other day with the family to celebrate for my graduation. I was trying to figure out a venue that would be fit everyone's taste (a very difficult feat I must say) and ended up choosing this restaurant based on word-of-mouth and my handy dandy Yelp. The decoration on the exterior and inside was simple, but identifiable among all the Korean shops on the street. When we entered, we were immediately seated. As the mothers started chit-chatting, they left me with the responsibility of choosing the dishes. Fine, I'll choose, they eat. So I planned to order the seafood pancake, the spicy rice cake appetizer (ddukbokkie), two dolsot bibimbap, two B gamja tang, tonkatsu, and a pad thai for the seven of us. The waiter, however, looked over the choices and recommended that we order just one gamja tang (A) to serve us all. I was really quite happy that the server was very considerate of us and how much we could eat and even saved me some money (as I was footing the bill)! Other restaurants would most likely have let us overbuy dishes. With waters and extra bowls nicely served, we got the pancake and the ddukbokkie first. The seafood pancake was good, but not memorable and the spicy rice cake was hot, hot, hot and delicious! The rest of the dishes started filing in and everything was decent and solid except for the gamja tang. Perhaps I already had high expectations, or perhaps it was an off day, but the gamja tang did not have that much flavor and all I could taste was a slowly burning spiciness and disappointment. We ate it of course, but none of my family members liked it. In the end, however, everyone was stuffed and I was happy that everyone had a decent time. As I am a fan of Korean cuisine, I would definitely come back to have some Korean comfort food. The servers were great, the food solid, and the company amazing. read more

I really dislike when restaurants try to serve both Korean and Japanese dishes. I cannot think of a pair more opposite in flavoring than Korean and Japanese food. That little pet peeve aside, I tried Hanmaru's kimchi jjigae, while my boyfriend got their soondubu. The banchan (little side dishes) was a little sparse, and while tasty, I wasn't that excited about them. Our food was good and hit the spot, but nothing to write home about. I wish I had tried their gamjatang. Some tables nearby ordered it and it looked fantastic. Most of the Korean places on Harvard Ave specialize in a certain dish, and Hanmaru is definitely known for the gamjatang. read more

The place was just Eh! so so. Kitchen appeared kinda dirty and unorganized. GF loved the Gamjatang stew but I wasnt a fan since the meat was all bones and tendon. I ordered the Dolsot Beef Bibimbap, Clay pot was not hot enough, didn't even sizzle or crisp the rice. hardly any beef, the rice was wet and overcooked. Wouldn't reccomend it. read more

Really great food. We decided to try it on a whim, and we absolutely loved the all the food. We went to eat on a weeknight and it was packed, but the waitstaff was extremely attentive. The customers are almost all Korean and Japanese -- a great sign if you're looking for tasty authentic food. We had a beef stew and the tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour fried pork). The most popular dish seemed to be this bubbling spicy brew of potatoes and pork (gamja stew). If we only knew... Everyone in the tables around us ordered it. We can't wait to go back and try it ourselves. read more

My boyfriend and I came here because of the good reviews here on Yelp. We both ordered stews - I had the beef stew with rice cakes and dumplings, and he had the Korean Miso, tofu, and vegetable stew. Several bites in, I realized that I could have been drinking water and not known the difference. The broth was totally bland. The dumplings were overcooked to the point where they were literally falling apart in the broth. The rice cakes had no flavor, and there were maybe two paper-thin slices of beef in the whole stew. BF's was a pretty red color, but...totally lacked any flavor at all. It's as if they completely forgot to season our meals. We asked for soy sauce to brighten up the meal... they brought out something LIKE soy, but it definitely wasn't straight soy sauce (it almost tasted like ponzu)... and it was so watered down that it did nothing to help flavor the meal at all. All in all, we were both totally underwhelmed and unsatisfied with our dinners. We won't be back. Honestly, the only good thing about the whole meal was the Thai Iced Tea... but that's pretty hard to f up. read more

The steamed pork feet is a must order!!!! So tender and chewy! It tastes better than the other spicy stir fried pork feet I think. The complimentary side dishes was just below average compared to other Korean restaurants in Allston. As for the pork bone soup, don't get the one person order, it's super tiny and there is only one pork bone, one chunk of potato and several pieces of tofu. And you can't add mushroom or vegs. I am only giving three star is because of the side dishes. Hope they can serve better side dishes tho I know it's complimentaryz read more

Sooo good. I'm Korean and would say that usually a restaurant is good for either chicken or their soups, but this place hits the spot with both. I love their sulungtang (ox bone soup) and soondooboo (soft tofu stew). Their chicken is amazing with tons of extra sauce. The price is very affordable for the amount you get. Whenever I order their food lasts me days. So so yummy! read more

love the stuff there, too bad they still havent gave out a set date for reopening, anyone have any idea?? Kam Ja Tang is amazing, all of you should try it. read more

Despite my longing to like this lovely Korean restaurant, I always leave feeling slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong -- the food is leaves me full and is quite tasty, and the wait staff are the nicest in Allston. I think my disappointment stems from two perhaps subjective reasons. First, I probably wouldn't order half the things on the menu I'm Chinese-Thai so I'm used to eating all sorts of stuff (fish belly, chicken feet, goose wings), but the main stew at Hanmaru is made of pork spine. Really? For some reason, spinal tissue + meat around spinal bone is just a little too much for me. Other than the gross factor, they serve Pad Thai. Really? You get 2-3 of the best Thai food places in Boston just blocks away. Choice is not always a good thing; specialization usually signals commitment. I rule out things like ramen (instant ramen, really?) and teriyaki chicken (please). So, that leaves typical korean dishes which are done ok. The one dish I wanted to try was the chicken stew which they no longer carry. Secondly, the prices just leave me feeling jibbed despite being full. Today, I paid $30 for a pot of spicy soup with.... instant noodles, sliced hot dogs, sliced ham, sliced turkey luncheon meat, egg, spring onion, and onions. Really? The cost of the dish is probably $1.25 + spicy soup base. Ok, add the rice and the side dishes, maybe $5 max + soup base. To be honest, the soup was really tasty but overly salty. Why is this dish the same price as the pork spinal bone stew? So, unfortunately, I'm going to have to go with 3 stars with this neighborhood restaurant which I want to love but can't. read more

The restaurant's atmosphere isn't as modern or relaxing as many of the other Korean restaurant's in the Harvard area, and there isn't much space to accommodate a party of perhaps 6-7 people. I was quite impressed about the wide variety of Asian cuisine they served there such as Korean, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. However, because of the variety of cuisines, aside from Korean dishes, the menu was quite limited with about 4-6 entree's per cuisine. I ordered a Kimchi Chigae, it was very tasty and spicy. The portion was quite large and it contained a lot of beef and Kimchi for about $9.50. However, a friend got Kampungki off of the Chinese menu and the chicken was over breaded and the taste was not very good either, not to mention the plate did not come with rice. The restaurant is not bad at all, however, if you would like Korean food or Thai food particularly, there are better restaurants around the area. I suggest this place if going for a restaurant that suits a group who have different taste preferences. read more

They are between a 3 and 4 stars - pending on what you order. If you want something soupy, go the hanmaru. Everything else on the menu (basically non-korean and asian fusion) was just okay. My favorite from hanmaru, which is difficult to find elsewhere and that's why I keep coming back is gamjatang. I like to add udon to mine as well and it's super delicious. The broth is flavorful and has a nice kick to it! Dubokki was pretty flavorful and good here as well. So when it's rainy or cold - give their gamjatang a try.. you'll thank me! So you're welcome! :) read more

Unfortunately, this place is very inconsistent. I went for the kimchi jigae and the first time I went, it was pretty good -- A solid 9 out of 10. The second time I went, it was unbelievably bad. There were somewhere between fifteen and twenty fishcakes in my single order, and my girlfriend's had quite a few as well. There were several times more fishcakes than kimchi, and the kimchi that was there was completely waterlogged and mushy. Even the bites without fishcakes didn't even taste anything like kimchi jigae, but more like some weird, thick, fishcake stew. Suffice to say that I'm very disappointed in the quality of my latest visit and think that they need to get some quality control on their kimchi stew at a minimum. I highly recommend Koreana in Cambridge for a consistently good kimchi jigae. read more

It's okay. Really not anything that special. At least my chicken dish (which I cannot remember the name of) was fairly subpar. Some of the other people in our party seemed to really enjoy the other food though. Our server was incredibly friendly, but as she was the only one in the full restaurant, she was less than attentive. Also, and this is not reflected in my rating but more of an FYI kind thing, they do not serve alcohol here. read more

Sometimes it's hard being a vegetarian - but not if you eat at Hanmaru (and you're the kind of vegetarian that eats eggs!). I ordered the Nabeyaki udon soup with no meat - but asked them to keep the egg. They even added big tasty pieces of tofu for me. The broth was amazing. This is my favorite cold weather meal and I've returned a couple times for it. It does get busy around dinner time - so be prepared to wait for a table! read more

I love gamja tung. And L.A galbi.. It's so good... read more

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Love love love!!! Always wanted to try this place out. It was my first time here! The service was ok, the food came out pretty fast. I loveeeeeeeeee the soft tofu "hot pot" that I ordered. It was huge considering the price. My friend and I were able to finish it though because we were really hungry! It's def a hot pot for 4-6 people if you want to try out other food as well. WILL DEFINITELY COME BACK read more

Hanmaru - Korean Near Me - Allston, Massachusetts

Tried their Indonesian fried rice and bento box (spicy beef). They were both solid. I will try other places nearby before going back here. read more

Gamjatang B was more than enough to feed two people. Their broth is redder than traditional gamjatang but it still tasted good. Fairly priced. Service was friendly and prompt. read more

Hanmaru has good item! Kamjatang is my favorite food but their kamjatang is mediocre at best...but this place is only where I can get kamjatang except my home. I can make better at home.. no offense. I think they need to cook with lower fire until the meat absorbs the spicy soup. I'm sure it will be better tastes if you cook more! Anyway, I love the pork neck soup the most. Adding Pork neck is pretty pricey comparing to portion.. I will come to try again because I love the Kamjatang! Service was not bad!!! read more

Like this place, must try their hot pot. There is a free public parking on the other side of the road. Too many resturants there so u better be there earlier. read more

The soup is amazing with 3-4 people!!! Would definitely recommend!!! Others are good too.

Despite the pleasant decor, genuinely friendly owner, and a sweet and attentive waitress, my bento lunch box just wasn't very good. And this makes me sad because I really wanted to like this place since everyone here made me feel welcomed and comfortable - no easy feat. My bento box ($8.35) consisted of rice, spicy pork, 3 fried gyozas in tonkatsu sauce, 2 mini pieces of pickles, salad, and 4 cubes of canned pineapple. The side dishes which preceded the meal were excellent in variety (5) and taste but the main course was disappointing. The spicy pork suffered from "stewed pork" syndrome. It was neither "spicy" or sweet but plain salty. The canned cubes of pineapple looked so pathetic that I didn't even bother to try one (see pic). They used honey mustard on their salad, which I found unacceptable since they're a Korean restaurant and should have their own sesame/ ginger vinaigrette. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to return and try their special stews since everyone here was just so nice. read more

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The kamjatang is seriously one of the best I've ever had. But damn, how can you have a Korean restaurant with this bomb ass spicy stew and not serve any soju. :( read more

I cannot believe that this restaurant is so highly reviewed. I went when Yelp was offering their $25 for $50 worth of food and drinks coupon and will never come back considering that their food was a HUGE disappointment for the price and the service we had to deal with regarding our bill was atrocious. I barely touched the noodles I ordered and they automatically billed us with their 18% gratuity guideline included and only asked for our signature. My boyfriend and I ordered kimchi scallion pancake, rice cake mandu stew, LA galbi, and neng myun ("spicy cold noodles" from their specials) The kimchi pancake was decent, a bit oily but had good flavor. The mandu stew was also okay but the dumplings had a very off flavor to them. Perhaps it was the seasoning but the dumpling filling did not seem fresh. The real disappointment was the galbi and neng myun. The LA galbi was $18. When I ordered it, I expected a plate full of galbi to match its expensive price. However, the plate we were served had no more than 8 tiny pieces (half the size of normal kalbi pieces) that barely covered the serving dish. What a rip off. The neng myun was even more disappointing. I ordered it because it was on their Hanmaru specials menu so I expected it to be one of their more popular dishes. I received the saddest bowl of soup I have ever seen in my life. The bowl simply had noodles with 3 pieces of beef, 4 floating pieces of carrots, a few measly shredded pieces of daikon, and several ice cubes. When I braced myself to try the noodles since that was basically the only thing in the bowl, I found the noodles incredibly slimy and just left the entire bowl untouched. I have ordered neng myun from restaurants like color and super 88 and those were far better in terms of presentation, taste, and cost (which is pretty sad if you think about it considering super 88 is fast asian food). At the end of our meal, we waited over 10 minutes for our check (despite this being a monday evening so their restaurant was not busy at all) because they gave our check to a different table. I had to finally ask them where our credit card was. After they realized that they had given it to the wrong table, they had the audacity of charging an 18% gratuity despite it being a "guideline," writing out our total on our receipt for us, and asking us for only our signature. We went $2 over the $50 coupon and only needed to pay $5 something after tax and before tip. However, they automatically charged our credit card with $11.32 (I have no idea where this amount came from) and wrote our total to be $15.32 ($5 for meal+ tax + $10 for their suggested 18% gratuity) on our receipt without taking into consideration how much we would actually want to tip considering how unhappy we were with our food and service. While I understand that 18% gratuity is typically included in larger parties, we were a party of 2. When I went back demanding that we define our own tip and that they actually bill us for our meal and tax like a normal restaurant, they apologized and treated us kindly until we left. I have to give them credit for that but next time I want asian food, I will be visiting the restaurant Color right next door. read more

Hanmaru is a small Korean restaurant that's an enjoyable place to eat. The stew here is alright, has better plates such as the bulgogi. The Thai tea is exceptional though, very good. Service is fair especially since there's only a couple people working in the front. Lines aren't completely long for this place though. read more

The best gangjatang ever!!! The meat is cooked very tender and full of flavor. Mashed potato in the side dishes goes so well with the soup. Their seafood and kimchi pancakes are both really good-very thin and not floury. The Japanese cold noodles are so worth trying as well!! Very addicting place! read more