Bangane – A Korean Goat Specialist And One Of The Most Exciting Restaurants In Flushing

I think I may get jaded sometimes when you go to as many restaurants as I do and it takes more for me to get excited these days than it used to. Luckily, Bangane is one of those rare finds that really got me excited.

Bangane is a Korean goat specialist restaurant located further down Northern Blvd in the sleepier part of the Korean section of Flushing. I’ve tried one of these places in LA a long time ago, but it was so long ago that I barely remember it as this point, so I was really excited to go re-introduce myself to this dish. This dish is pretty rare and even if you ask people from Korea about it you get this questioning look as it’s not common at all. I don’t know this for sure, but I’d guess this is probably country people type food.

The restaurant has a very traditional looking wood interiors and looks like an old school neighborhood restaurant in Korea. It has this sort of rustic sleepy atmosphere, which I liked. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Most don’t speak English very well, but one lady spoke English decently and was able to help us order properly.

They brought out a nice spread of panchan.

Kimchi

I read a few reviews online who said they were well known for their kimchi. However, while their kimchi wasn’t bad, I found it too sweet and I thought it was just alright. 7.25/10

Jap Chae

This was standard jap chae (glass noodles), but was made well. It wasn’t overly sweet or over sauced as a lot places make it and was a pretty decent rendition although it was pre-cooked as most panchan is. 7.75/10

Bean Sprouts And Broccoli

This was bean sprouts and broccoli cooked with sesame oil; it was fine and pretty standard. 7.75/10

Dried Squid In Spicy Sauce

This is dried squid that is covered in gochujang (Korean chili paste). While it looks spicy, it’s actually sweeter as opposed to spicy. I always love this and it was quite good here. 8/10

Boiled Greens

Standard boiled greens, nothing special. 7/10

Lotus Root

These were lotus root cooked in a sweet soy sauce. They made these excellent here as they retained their crisp without being too tough and were not overly sweet as most places make them. 8.25/10

Egg Custard

This is a simple dish made from boiling eggs, water and sugar, which results in this egg custard thing with scallions. It’s pretty hard to mess this dish up and it was good here. 8/10

Pickled Radish Soup

This is a cold spicy pickled radish soup that is tart, slightly sweet and very refreshing. I always love when they give you this. 8/10

Pan Fried Goat Liver

This was goat liver that had been covered with egg and then pan fried in oil. It turned out to be quite good, it wasn’t metallic tasting at all, wasn’t dry and had good flavor. Also, while it looked really oily, it actually wasn’t at all. 8/10

Boiled Goat Meat

They bring out a big chunk of boiled goat meat on the bone and cut up the meat table side then they put the meat on top of a steamer which has a bed of scallions which have been steaming. You let it steam for a couple minutes then you take the meat, scallions and wrap it in lettuce with the various condiments and dip it in a really great smoky tangy spicy sauce. I wasn’t sure how this would be, but really it turned out to be excellent and one of the more exciting dishes I’ve had in NY in a while. The meat was tender, flavorful and had a slight gaminess to it that I really liked. I know a lot of people shy away from goat or lamb because they don’t like the gamey flavor, but I’m telling you this is really good and I believe most people will really like it. 8.5/10

Jungol

The next course is a jungol, which is a big stew. They take the leftover goat meat, add more scallions and cook it in a spicy broth. The resulting stew was pretty good although I thought it could use a bit more flavor. However, one of the waitresses told us to put some of the spicy sauce with vinegar we used for the boiled goat into it, which was perfect as the tangy sauce gave it an extra kick of flavor that made it quite good. 8/10 (7.5/10 without the sauce)

Fried Rice

Normally when they do this, I never end up having enough room to actually enjoy it. However, this time I had enough to room to enjoy it. They take the soup pan, add rice and seawood to the leftover soup and keep cooking it until it turns into fried rice. It’s fairly light as far as fried rice goes because they don’t use any oil. Also, it’s not heavy flavored, but I liked it quite a bit particularly as a last dish. 8/10

Overall, I really enjoyed this meal and I’d highly recommend trying this place out as not only is it delicious, but quite unique in NY.

Address:
16519 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11358
Phone: (718) 762-2799