Turn onto Broad Avenue in Palisades Park on a Saturday around noon, and the first thing you notice is the signs. Storefront names appear in English and Korean.
Palisades Park’s Korean community has deep roots. More than half the borough’s residents identified as Korean alone in the 2010 census.
The borough has come to be known as Koreatown on the Hudson. And Fort Lee, one town over, has its own long Korean stretch on Main Street.
The question is where to start. Here’s one way to spend a day.
Late morning: something sweet first
The neighborhood’s bakery history runs deep. In a 2019 profile, New Jersey Monthly described Grand Shilla Bakery at 234 Broad Avenue as Palisades Park’s first Korean bakery, with red-bean paste made from scratch for fish-shaped boong-eo-ppang. Its current operating status has not been confirmed.
If you’d rather see where Korean baking is going, walk up to D’avant Bakery (449 Broad Ave). It mixes trendy pastries with old-school breads.
Lunch: a bowl of soup
Korean lunch, for a lot of people, means soup with rice on the side.
Take a short detour off Broad to Tang Maru (500 10th St). The menu is long, but two dishes are worth knowing. Gamjatang is a stew of pork neck bones and potato, red and rich. Seolleongtang is a milky-white ox-bone soup. Check whether you’re ordering an individual soup or a hot pot to share.
Small side dishes such as kimchi and seasoned greens are called banchan. Ask what’s included and whether refills are available.
A detour to Fort Lee: the tofu that came from LA
BCD Tofu House didn’t start in New Jersey.
Hee Sook Lee opened the first BCD Tofu House in Los Angeles’ Koreatown in 1996, focusing on soondubu jjigae, soft tofu stew. She named it for Bukchang Dong, where her mother-in-law had run a restaurant. The chain’s website says her family and longtime staff carry on her recipes.
The Fort Lee BCD is at 1640 Schlosser St. The stew arrives bubbling hot. Ask about the egg and the spice levels, and start at mild.
Cho Dang House‘s website lists handmade tofu at 2151 Lemoine Avenue; call to confirm current service before going. Blue Angel Café (1640 Schlosser St, Fort Lee) is a good place to finish with cakes, pastries or bread.
Dinner: over charcoal
In Palisades Park, you can still find Korean barbecue over charcoal.
So Moon Nan Jip (238 Broad Ave) is the old guard: live coals set into the table, and a website that traces its history to 1995. In its 2019 feature, New Jersey Monthly singled out the pork jowl and hoe deopbap, a rice bowl with raw fish, greens and a sweet-spicy chili sauce. Check the current menu before ordering.
For another charcoal option, Hanam BBQ House (445 Grand Ave) has a menu running from pork and tripe to wagyu beef.
If staff offer to grill and cut the meat, let them. Grilled meat often comes with lettuce or perilla leaves. Lay a piece of meat on a leaf, add a little ssamjang (the thick red-brown paste), maybe a slice of garlic, fold it and eat it in one bite. Sesame oil with salt and pepper is a common dip for unmarinated pork belly.
The dish every Korean kid knows
Here’s a twist most visitors miss. One of the most beloved dishes in Korea isn’t strictly Korean.
Chinese immigrants began arriving in Korea in the late 1800s, and they brought their cooking with them. The result was a cuisine of its own, Korean-Chinese, and its star is jjajangmyeon: thick wheat noodles under a glossy black bean sauce with pork and onion. It’s said to have first appeared in 1905, at a Chinese-run restaurant in Incheon. Today it’s Korea’s classic takeout meal.
Te Min Quan (270 Broad Ave) is a place to try it, along with tangsuyuk, crisp sweet-and-sour pork. It’s closed on Wednesdays.
For the adventurous
In nearby Ridgefield, Bang Ga Nae (518 Broad Ave) lists Korean black goat, including suyuk, meat served over scallions, and jeongol, a spicy soup with vegetables. Call to confirm current service before making the detour.
Before you go
Parking is the hardest part of the day. Broad Avenue has metered spaces and nearby municipal lots. Check the borough’s current parking guidance and the signs before you leave the car.
Sundays are fine. Bergen County’s blue laws close many stores, but restaurants can open.
And if you want to take some of it home, H Mart has two stores in Fort Lee: one at Linwood Plaza and H Mart Fresh on 16th Street. Look for banchan, marinated galbi ready for the grill and instant noodles.
Quick answers
Where is New Jersey’s Koreatown?
Along Broad Avenue in Palisades Park, with a second busy stretch on Main Street in Fort Lee.
What should I order on a first visit?
Soondubu (soft tofu stew) at a tofu house, or galbi and pork belly at a charcoal barbecue spot. For something different, try jjajangmyeon at a Korean-Chinese restaurant.
Are the side dishes free?
Ask what banchan is included with your meal and whether refills cost extra.
Updated November 3, 2026. Restaurant details were checked against the operator and merchant sources below; older reporting is dated in the text. Current service at Grand Shilla, Cho Dang House and Bang Ga Nae has not been independently confirmed. Restaurants open, close and change, so check before you go.
Sources
Business names in the text link to operator or merchant information. Historical reporting and general food sources are listed below.
- Palisades Park population profile, 2010 Census
- Palisades Park borough planning appendices: community background
- New Jersey Monthly: In Palisades Park, Korean Food Is King (May 1, 2019)
- BCD Tofu House: founder and company history
- Korea Tourism Organization: seolleongtang
- Korea Tourism Organization: jjajangmyeon history
- Korea Tourism Organization: Korean meals and banchan
- Palisades Park: current parking guidance
- New Jersey Legislature: Sunday sales law, section 14
- H Mart: official locations
