Mokja

I am obsessed with the hot stone bipimbop. Everything is delicious though. Staff is super friendly and brought us extra of the yellow radishes which are so yummy. Excellent food!

Been here a couple of times. I really like their stone Bibimbop. Rice gets carmelized in the stone pot to a slight crunchiness like a spanish paella. Of all the bibimbops i’ve ever eaten in my life, this tops them all in my mind. It’s very fresh and it’s almost impossible to take leftovers home because you can’t stop eating it. It’s quite filling for a big guy like me. My girlfriend had the seafood noodle soup, which was really light, yet flavorful. Perfect for warming your soul on a cold day.
The second time I came here, their korean bbq $ 29 prix fixe menu was amazing. Ribeye was so tender and succulent. Their k-​fried chicken was great too (basically equivalent to Bön-​chon). We also ordered Kalbi bento box with fried mandu. It really hits the spot.
If you’re ever looking for a quick healthy meal, their bento box menu is a perfect go-​to.

I, myself, am no expert in Korean cuisine, but I think I frequent Ktown, Flushing, and Jersey enough to render some weight in my judgement of their food quality. Mokja, unfortunately gave me the wrong mojo.
Late friday night, me and the BFF decided that it would be better to not drench our pretty butts out in the beer gardens of Astoria and was instead drawn into Mokja by the beer specials that they have advertised outside the restaurant.
Drinks ⁴⁄₅
$ 5 for bottled/​can beer? Can’t beat that!
21 amend — Hell or High watermelon: wheat beer. Meh. Subtle hint of sweet however nothing special.
Kloud: Classic Korean beer, can’t go wrong with that. I consider Kloud comparable to Japanese Sapporo, or Blue Moon. Safety drink that you really can’t go wrong with.
Food ²⁄₅
BFF ordered her second dinner here. Spicy pork and kimchi with rice. Despite just stuffing our faces at Thai food next door, this girl is ready for seconds, smh. The dish tasted like Gojuchang with tons of salt. That pretty much summed it up. Pork was tender but overly salty, very limited flavor profile, I honestly could’ve squeezed Gojuchang and made this via microwave myself.
Banchan ¹⁄₅
extremely limited and weak. Never refilled through out the course of our stay.
Kimchi lacked chilli flakes and seasoning.
Beansprouts Eh.
Pickled daikon as a banchan? That’s a first
Kimchi radish (Kkakdugi) was meh
Service ³⁄₅
Water was consistently refilled, wait staff was respectful and attentive when you wave them down.
To end the night, we ran into an issue with our final bill. The entrée was charged 17.95 as oppose to 11.95, which we brought up to our server, and he was quick to change it.
Despite the courtesy of our waiter who I feel makes an effort in saving our visit, I don’t see the likelihood of returning in the near future. Menu selection was limited. Food here is very «catered» thus lacking authenticity. But who am I to judge, if their main attraction is the bottled beer then I think they served their purpose.

I’d really rather give Mokja a 3.5, but that’s not an option. Overall, the food is pretty good! But I think there are some changes that could be made. The nachos are fantastic. I could not stop eating them and the portion is very big. I had the short rib bento box. It was pretty good. The dumplings are dumplings. The salad (I know so odd!) is awesome. That salad dressing is amazing. Seriously, Mokja, could you please share the recipe with me? The meat is good, but I have a few issues. First, there’s more bone than meat. Second, it’s just a bit too sweet. And why on earth is it SO oily? There’s quite a few reviews here that note the oiliness, it seems maybe it’s time to fix that? I’ll keep trying different things because I think this place has potential so long as they fix the little issues.

The food is good. The service is mediocre. My vegetarian bim bop was served cold, I just wasn’t used to that. The flavors were good but again the cold was just unexpected. My husband was frustrated after explaining that he doesn’t eat vegetables (funny right) to the waitress when his meal was full of veggies. He then ordered spare ribs that were tasty (and expensive). The $ 5 beer is appealing regardless.
I would go back and try again.

2.5 Stars!!!
Came here on a late Sunday afternoon; place was pretty much empty. Our waitress was really nice. Food/​drinks were brought out rather quickly.
We tried their homemade sodas, pomegranate mint and mango. Both were tasty.
We ordered chicken teriyaki bento boxes. We also had miso soup, which happened to be the best thing I was served. The box included white rice, teriyaki chicken, 2 dumplings, and a salad.
The chicken was not bad but not good. I’ve had way better chicken teriyaki in other places.
The meal was overpriced for the quality. I think the box was $ 16 or so bucks!
I will not be returning here.

We were in the neighborhood and were craving Korean food. This place looked inviting and modern. They have colorful chalkboard drawings up and rustic wooden tables. They offer traditional Korean food such as bibimbap and Army stew, as well as new items such as kimchi fries.
We tried the dolsot bimbimbap and bibimbap burger. Both were super yummy and had good flavors. I love the hot stone bowl which crisps up the rice nicely. The burger looked good, but my husband said it was a little messy to eat. The fries that came with it was sooooo crispy.
So why only 3 stars? The service needs work. There were only 2 waitresses there and they also bussed their own tables. When we first came in, there weren’t a lot of people. The waitresses were pretty attentive. As we ate, the place got crowded and a group of 8 came in. After that, it went downhill. We needed water and had to wait to get a waitresses’ attention. It was painfully slow to finish our meal. They were very friendly though. I feel like if we’re gonna come here for Korean food, it’s not worth the trek. I’ll just stick to the Korean restaurants in Flushing.

The delivery was fast which made me happy because I thought it would take an hour. I ordered Bulgogi Japchae and Shrimp Tempura in this restaurant and it’s delicious for my first time. I ordered since I don’t wanna go to the train and walk to place since it’s too cold outside, lol, so I ordered the food instead. I wasn’t so sure there was a Korean restaurant in Astoria and I found it by delivery in Unilocal,so it was a good choice to order in. Definitely going to order here again and come to the restaurant.

Korean food is my favorite, so I am happy that Mokja is in the neighborhood for our take out options. Food is fresh and tasty! I love love love the Kimchi Jjigae and the Yukgaejang. The wings are just okay and the kalbi portion is a bit small. Sometimes delivery takes a little longer than expected.
Overall it’s delicious while being a little bit on the pricey side. But it’s good for a once in a while Korean food fixing!

The service was really great and my boyfriends box lunch was good. I’m probably just not used to the chewy taste of japchae but didn’t like my meal :/​the place was also completely empty around lunch time.
I wanted kimchi fried rice but the waiter said they took that off the menu and now you have to get it as an entrée with meat. Kinda disappointed because it’s the closest Korean spot around here without actually going to the city or flushing.
Edit: just recently had the most amazing japchae at picnic garden and can say that it’s inedible there when comparing the two.

I usually order delivery cause I’m too lazy to make the trip and the delivery has always been on point. But it was date night and I wanted korean food and my girl wanted some drinks so we went for the dine-​in and it was worth the trip.
Nice looking place with good seating and plenty of drinks and a tv for me to check the scores without having to pull out my phone which was a plus.
The food:
Apps
Pork Tacos — was so good, I don’t really eat pork but my girl ordered it so I had some and man was it tender and juicy
Kimchi Fries — I ordered and still one of my fav, Kimchi, French Fries, Sauce! enough said just try it. Never gonna use ketchup again
Dinner
Kalbi (aka BBQ Beef Short Ribs) — Can’t go wrong with this still my favorite korean food and they make it right.
Hot Stone Bibimbap with bulgogi — Came out with that nice sizzzle, my only wish is that they would give me the whole egg, but no biggie. The dish was perfect all in all. Gets me my daily dose of veggies with some great flavors and a kick. + the bulgogi a nice addition
I’ve been ordering delivery and now I’ve dined in, it was definitely better having the food immediately after it was prepared but overall I’ve enjoyed both so I will continue to do both. I’ll be back for another date night.

As weird as it sounds, stick to the fusion stuff at this place.
We went for lunch as a group. For appetizers, we ordered the Bulgogi sliders, spicy pork sliders, kimchi fries, and Bulgogi nachos. The Bulgogi slider was meh, the spicy pork one was great, and I loved the kimchi fries and the nachos. The fries were super crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.
For my entrée, I had the dumpling soup since I saw here that they were special «house-​made» mandoos. It tasted okay, but it ran contrary to the reviews I saw here: it was seasoned with good — old beef flavored Dashida, which is basically MSG. The dumplings also didn’t feel house-​made, they looked and tasted like dumplings I could get at the store. If they are, indeed, made at the restaurant, I wonder if that’s necessary since they don’t taste special or have any special ingredients. I should have ordered the bibimbap burger because that’s what their delivery boy was eating and it looked interesting.
Other people at my table ordered Bulgogi stew, Bulgogi bowl, and spicy pork box meal. The spicy pork box looked great and the shrimp tempura it came with looked awesome. The Bulgogi stuff looked boring. The girl who ordered the stew said that it was way too sweet and had too much broth for what she was expecting.
The inside looked cute, this place seems more like a place where you can grab a few appetizers and cute drinks and call it a night. If you’re expecting «traditional Korean», you’ll be disappointed: this place is definitely more of a hipster fusion place. But that doesn’t make it less of a Korean restaurant, since you’ll find places like this in Seoul, too.
We had no time for dessert but they gave us free mochi ice cream. The server seemed inexperienced but she was really trying hard, checking up on us, refilling water, and apologizing for a delay on one of the dishes. I really wanted to give this place a better rating, but all things considered, this place is so-​so. I wouldn’t return on my own, as I live quite far away, but I wouldn’t have qualms about trying it again if I was in the area and someone else was treating.

We were craving some Korean food and didn’t wanna trek all the way to Flushing, and just earlier in the day, I discovered a new Korean spot in Astoria so we decided to give it a try.
From the outside, you can’t tell it’s a Korean restaurant. When you walk in, they have lots of alcohol promo/​menu so you’d think it’s a bar but with a 11pm closing time, that seems unlikely.
For people who are unfamiliar with Korean food, and are from Astoria, this place is worth trying although you’ll get a better experience in Flushing. If you know Korean food, you’re likely to get disappointed.
Mokja is catered for to an American crowd. We ordered the hot stone pot bibimbap and while it was flavorful, it didn’t have the kick it’s supposed to have. We also ordered the spicy pork and squid hot plate. They should honest rename it the squid and onion plate because I barely saw any pork in there, amongst a mound of onions. Even though Korean restaurants can skimp out on meat quantity, this was a bit disappointing considering it was our first time. Being Korean didn’t help either, heh.
Overall, We won’t be returning unless we’re really fiending Korean and we feel lazy.

I ordered delivery from Mokja one evening and my food was here within 20 mins! It was still hot when it got here.
I got the japchae with beef and a side of fries. The japchae was a little clumpy. The noodles were all stuck together, but there was a abundance of veggies and beef and the flavor was good. Slightly sweet, which is how I remember japchae should be. The fries were a pleasant surprise and at first I debated whether I should order them because fries often get soggy by the time you get them via delivery. But these were so crispy, like they were taken right out of the deep fryer. These fries weren’t your typical fries either. They had some sort of coating on them that made them extra crispy (see picture). Also served with chipotle mayo, great for dipping. They also included some pickled radish and kimchi on the side which went really well with my japchae. The portions were generous and lasted me two meals.

Mokja is a gem. If you are looking for traditional Korean look elsewhere. But if you are looking for high-​quality, Korean fusion flavor overload this is your spot. I can’t think of any other spot in NYC that offers what they do: namely Korean styled food without all the preservatives. I couldn’t find such a place in K-​town nor in Flushing.
My CantoneseGF usually prods me to dine at Korean; she loves Korean. But she becomes asthmatic when the food is laden with preservatives like monosodium glutamate (MSG) – as much Asian food tends to be; this hasn’t happened at Mokja. Anecdotally, MSG laden food make me very thirsty very fast. This hasn’t happened to me at Mokja.
I very much enjoyed all that I ordered (from the Korean BBQ to the hot stone spicy pork. The dumplings appetizer were excellent as was the spicy pork with lettuce wrap. All was brought in a reasonable amount of time by very good wait staff. This is my new favorite Asian spot in Astoria.

This place is really cute and the location is great, but I probably won’t be back.
We went for lunch on a Saturday and the place was empty. We were the only table in there. It took forever to get water and when we ordered, the food took even longer! A couple tables have come in since we ordered and they got food before us. What is going on?
I ordered the fried chicken with a side of the kimchi fried rice. I prefer the KFC from BonChon, but the kimchi fried rice and the banchan were pretty decent. The KFC was pretty bland and not that crispy. I tried both flavors and neither were good enough to write home about. I also tried the mandoo that my cousin ordered and it was good.
She had fish tacos, which wouldn’t be my first choice at a Korean restaurant, but she really enjoyed them and raved about how good they were. They did look pretty appetizing.
It was an hour after my meal that worried me. It literally went right through me. Not sure what was wrong with the food, but it was very unsettling and the service was very slow in the kitchen and in the front of the house. I had to get up and pour my own water as the hostess just stood at the bar staring at the wall.

Scary fast delivery, piping hot soups and stews — perfect for a night in paired with wine and Netflix, for comfort food while sick, and any and all nights when you realize you don’t have the time or patience to make any of this Korean fare yourself.
Sadly, the quality, plumpness, and general tastiness of the mandoos (a dumpling, by any other name, should be just as yum) has decreased since I first ordered several months ago. Alas, one cannot have it all.
That said, I’ll still be ordering from them, as my options are limited, I am partial to the shredded beef soup, and thus far no one else has been able to top the 10 minute delivery time.

We finally had a chance to come back to Mokja after our experience on their first day! They seemed to have really come into their own, the service was great and the food was excellent!
I have no idea how they have such a huge menu — but the various items we ordered were delicious! We came in around 2pm on a Thursday, so we were able to order from their lunch menu.
My husband had their spicy pork belly lunch box, and I ordered the army stew (budaejjigae). I also ordered apps from their regular menu — a small order of kimchi pajun, and their Korean fried chicken.
Kimchi pajun was perfect for sharing, and delicious! My husband who normally doesn’t eat pajun really enjoyed this. It was crispy on the outside and really flavorful. The Korean fried chicken was SO GOOD! I had only meant to eat a few and get the rest wrapped up (I had a jjigae coming), but I couldn’t stop! We ordered the medium — 12 pieces of the soy garlic, and I devoured most of the order. It tasted like my childhood — visiting my relatives in Korea and eating as much of the pickled radishes as I could!
The army stew was excellent as usual — I really love that there’s plenty of hot dogs and ramen noodles in there, my favorite parts! My husband also really enjoyed his spicy pork bulgogi — the marinade was delicious!
We wish they delivered to our part of Astoria! We would order from here ALL THE TIME!

Yep, as one Unilocaler said, this place is def. asian fusion: kimchi fries? kimchi nachos? I was a bit worried. But I wanted a nearby gluten-​free place for a calm Sunday night dinner and finally decided to try Mokja out. There were only 2 other tables when I got there around 7pm, but about 6 or 7 tables more when I left at 8:30pm. Maybe when the shops on Steinway close, visitors eat then? It did seem like a lot of the diners were first-​time diners. All non-​Korean, FYI.
I was pretty happy with my mild flavored, but peppery towards the bottom of the bowl, Dduk Mandoo Guk. The sliced rice cakes were soft and chewy, cooked well– no hard pieces, the pork dumplings were loaded with tasty scallions (highly recommend the dumplings) – yes I discarded the wheat wrapper (just trying to limit the gluten), there was a little bit of shredded beef, AND at the bottom, some surprised yam noodles! At first the broth tasted too mild and had a slight offal funk, but MIX IT! All the pepper and scallions slowly sink to the bottom. What’s even tastier is eating bites of kimchi inbetween the neutral chewy rice cakes. (and probably helps with digesting that glutonious flour). Or add the kimchi to the soup to make it spicy.
I thought the kimchi was really fresh and good, and I think the yellow pickled banchan was daikon maybe? was very good as well. (compared to banchan’s I’ve had in Sunnyside and on 32^nd St.)
Wanted to write this review because I thought this place was a very good alternative for gluten-​free folks. The rice cakes, yam noodles, white rice & meat & veggies dishes, stews (compared to say, Thai broad rice noodles in the area, which actually have wheat starch in them). Korean food doesn’t seem to use as much soy sauce in their marinades either (maybe a little in the bulgogi, galbi, japchae sauce, and stir fries). But all their red-​sauced red miso stuff doesn’t. Yay!
I think korean-​style chicken wings may have a wheat batter though, and not sure about those fries or nachos for cross-​contamination. Although– why eat Amercian fried product when you can eat fresh bibimbap & rice!
Kind of sad that many of the diners were ordering the bento-​style boxes of chicken teryaki, spicy pork stir fry, and not sure what else. Korean food is all about the family-​style sharing. I hope this restaurant doesn’t cater too much to the American-​style palate or dining experience. I feel many Astorians would be up for learning and trying out a more authentic experience… Or maybe not– maybe the owners know which dishes will keep the restaurant afloat.
Cute bathrooms, K-​pop on the large TV screen. Staff was friendly, but am not sure if it’s the language barrier with the one waitress, originally I thought they had a cold buckwheat noodle dish & it took some time for her to help me with the menu. They seem to have a liquor license now.

I came here with my boyfriend for a second dinner after being disappointed at nearby Gastroteca. Since we had already kind of eaten, we only ordered the Army Stew (kimchi stew with hot dogs, cheese, ramen, tofu, and spam) and spicy fried chicken wings.
The Army Stew was new to me but my boyfriend highly recommended it! It reminded me of Chinese 泡饭 which I love. It was super hot and tasty and definitely hit the spot.
The spicy Korean chicken wings were AMAZING. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I could really taste the flavor. Some places do the wings too spicy, but Mokja really nailed it. I’m sad I moved from Astoria, I wish this could be my regular spot!
I will definitely be back, and with friends.