Somunnan Korean Restaurant, Cerritos CA

Delicious Korean food with AYCE banchan! Everything we ordered was delicious and I’d recommend their jjambbong. The bowl was HUGE and it had so much seafood in it. I barely finished it but wow I loved the food here!

The banchan were all in the sidebar. I appreciated the reminders to only get what we need to prevent waste since I hate wasting. The banchan were all good.

Can't go wrong with this local shop. Self serve bachan (Korean side dishes) is the best

Food is good, what I tasted dolsot, prices are fair, but everything it's self serve, a lot of sitting, parking can get busy but you can park on the back

Table service? We don't need no stinking table service!

Sommunnan is a Korean restaurant known for their gamjatang (pork neck bone soup) & naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles). Here, it's all about helping yourself. Customers pay for their food & pick it up when their order number is called. Need water? Grab a cup at the water dispenser. Want soda/beer? Pay for it & get one from the fridge. AYCE banchan? Help yourself at the banchan bar. Remember to use a clean plate each time. When you've finished your meal, place your used plates in the rack.

Banchan-
Sommunnan has a wide selection of banchan, which is kept fully stocked for those that go crazy with the thought of AYCE, like me. My favorites were the fish cake, kimchi, bean sprouts, potato & macaroni salad.

Gamjatang-
Generous amounts of pork vertebrae, the gamjatang was rich, hearty & delectably stick to your ribs good. Some would be discreet about scrapping off all that meat from the bones, but I get in there with my hands, guns blazing, like a possum.

Service was good, if just being at the register. Ample seating inside, Sommunnan is located in-between Goody's Donuts & Waba Grill.

Sommunnan has become one of my favorite Korean eateries. I greatly appreciate not having to wait for busy staff to bring food & drinks to your table. I'm a self-checkout lane guy, so getting in, getting my food & getting out, is right up my alley. I'm anticipating trying their naengmyeon, the next time I stop by. Which, will be very, very soon.

Highly recommend!

Not only was this my first time here, it was my first experience with Korean food. I came away full and impressed. The woman behind the counter was super nice and patiently described all the dish options for a noob like me.

The self serve sides bar was great, especially the fish cakes. I had the Bul jjambbong as my main dish, which was really delicious. I asked for it rather spicy, as I'm a fan of such things, and they did not disappoint. The level of spiciness and the overall flavor was just right.

Great good, fair prices, and a pleasant atmosphere.

I was only passing through the area for work and I'm not sure if/when I will return but if I do, then Somunnan will definitely get my business again!

Super friendly staffs, delicious food and unlimited side dishes was excellent! I’ll definitely come back

Lunch seems like a one man show, takes orders and serves, like a fast food joint order and pickup at the counter. Bibimbap was skimpy on the meat and rice is served in separate container, but appreciate the miso soup and side dishes and self serve water. No barley tea.the noodle bowls seemed big from what I could see from the returned trays. People don't finish their food, food waste is a shame, like their posted sign reminds us of.

The bibimbap was really good. I was craving bibimbap so I was really happy with their large portion and buffet styled side dishes. The place is very self serve which I don't mind.

Probably more 4.5 stars, but will round up until I can try them again and see how consistent they are.

The good:
Service is very friendly and helpful
Self serve banchan bar - love that you don’t have to wait, but it is hard not to fill up too much as they were all very good.
Food food food!
Cold noodles - some great flavors and huge servings
Galbi jim - again, great broth and lots of lean meat
Kalbi - add as a combo and save some money. Delicious and much less fatty than many other places nearby
Purple rice!
Plenty of parking!
No language barrier - spoke perfect Korean and English. Some Spanish too from what I heard.

Needs improvement:
They ran out of the dish I went there for, which is the Jajangmyun, so that’s a bummer. Will try again.
Parts of the self serve concept. Utensil box was empty at our table and they do expect that you take your dirty dishes back to the front. The place isn’t expensive, but not cheap either. I always get confused with how much to tip in places like this. Still tipped 18%, but not going over that for self serve like i would at full service places. Not a deal breaker, but food for thought.

My friend introduced me to this place, food was very delicious. All u can eat side dishes with Gamjatang which is a pork neck soup n bulgobi. Each one was very tasty, worth the self service we had to do. I am certainly going back.

All the food was great.
Their self carry system was unfamiliar to me at first, but it was okay.
It is worth to go there!

I found this place because I was working in the area and looking for good Korean food. I was NOT disappointed! I tried their bibim naengmyeong, super flavorful! I didn’t have to add extra vinegar or mustard. Some places the cold broth is bland or flavorless but not here. They have a self serve banchan bar, highly recommend the fish cakes. Coming from Riverside County, my trip was well worth It.

I had better experience before. Today's order 우거지 갈비탕 was very disappointing. Only 1 meat on bone plus some slices of beef is NOT acceptable for given price. Soup was not exceptional at all to compensate such a small portion.

Old school neighborhood restaurant. Really refreshing naengmyeon and all you can eat banchan. Can't go wrong!

Food was good. The only bad thing is that there were lots of flies flying around and it landed on our food a couple of times

Fantastic food and banchan. It's worth mentioning that this is a self-service joint, so manage your expectations accordingly.

The only weird thing about his place is it supposedly closes at 9pm, but they told customers who came in after 8 that they had closed after the customers sat down and turned them away! This happened to 5 or 6 different parties when we had dinner there.

Great, very authentic, well-priced Korean food. My family had dolsot bibimbap, jia jiang myeon, and sundubu jingae. Only minor issue is that the mild sundubu jingae comes off as a bit spicy. Worth coming back!

This place is freaking legit! Sure it's on the pricey side, but their side dishes to their main dish are pretty damn good. I personally suggest the cold noodle for the hot summers. Overall really good Korean place.