Back in 1996, BCD Tofu House opened their first restaurant. Fast forward to 2018 and over 20-years later, BCD now has 13 branches.
BCD House began with Hee Sook Lee, a first generation Korean immigrant who loved to cook. Her mother-in-law owned a restaurant in Bukchang Dong (a city in Korea), which would eventually inspire the name BCD.
When Hee Sook Lee moved to America, she wanted to focus on Soon Tofu (soft tofu) and other Korean foods and eventually, BCD Tofu House was born.
While the majority of the restaurants are in Southern California, BCD House has restaurants in Fort Lee, New Jersey, New York City and in Bayside, New York.
When you go to BCD House, one thing you will notice is the staff are fast-pace.
By the time you are seated, you are quickly asked what you are going to eat and drink and soon after, your banchan (side-dishes served before the main meal such as kimchi, broccoli, fish and more) has arrived.
But the first thing you want to do once the waiter comes is to make your order and I went for an entree combo which comes with a meal plus an assorted Soon Tofu.
I went for the Bulgogi Combo and then you choose your Soon Tofu, which I chose seafood. They will ask you to choose your spiciness level from plain, mild, medium, spicy and danger.
An employee then will come and give you steel bowls which they fill with rice.
And while you eat your banchan, in no time, you receive your food. Because of high volume at these restaurants, they tend to expect a lot of people coming to their restaurants, so food doesn’t take too long to prepare.
The place is clean and the staff are quick to clean the tables once a customer leaves.
As BCD Tofu House is quite popular and those looking for a restaurant open late to early mornings can expect a BCD House to be open as it’s one of the few restaurants that are open 24-hours.
If there is one thing that will be a challenge at times is finding parking because it’s always packed, finding parking will take a bit of patience. Just keep circling in the parking lot and a car is sure to be leaving (just hope that you are in the position closer to the car leaving, as other cars are circling and looking for parking as well).
Overall, if it’s late and you are in the mood for Korean food, BCD Tofu House is a cool Korean comfort food restaurant worth dining at!
