NYC - Midtown - Woorijip

Been awhile since I went to Woorijip, so when I walked in last week, I wanted to buy up everything cos the food all looked so good! I end up getting Spicy Tuna Kimbap, Crabmeat Pancake and also Kimchi Fried Rice with Egg & Sausage which I took to work the next day. I know I am such a piggy ... OINK!

I went back again this week, had gotten the Kimchi Fried Rice with Egg & Sausage cos it was really good, some Spicy Rice Cake and Kimbap, all very shiok!

NYC - Midtown - Shanghai Mong Fusion Chinese Restaurant

On Friday, after hanging out in Chinatown then 34st, Anne and I decided to go Shanghai Mong since I kept telling her how much I enjoyed the jjajangmyeon 炸醬麵 and she's never been there before. It was very crowded but the wait wasn't that long, we were asked to go to the middle room and waited on the round chair, in less than 10 mins we were seated in the inner room which was really cosy. We both had the Noodle & Seafood with Black Bean Sauce (jjajangmyeon 炸醬麵) & Noodle Soup Seafood with hot red pepper - $8.95, the bowl had a partition so we got 2 different tastes which was so cool, not forgetting delicious too! I can't wait to go back again ... heh heh.

NYC - Midtown - Shanghai Mong Fusion Chinese Restaurant

After a disappointing and unsatisfying first try of jjajangmyeon at Hyo Dang Gak last week, I went in search of a restaurant that serves it better and came upon Shanghai Mong at K-town yesterday. They claim to be a Fusion Chinese Restaurant but they do serve Korean dishes.

Love the décor, very the ‘Old Shanghai’, gives you the comfy and cozy feeling. The menu consists of both Chinese-American and Korean food, the food pictures inside looked so good that I wanted to order almost everything … heh heh. But since my game plan was to try the jjajangmyeon, I stuck to it and got that.

The wait staffs were nice and pleasant, service was super fast, I made my order and prepped my camera to take pictures of my food, within minutes I had the bowl of hot jjajangmyeon - $5.95 (yellow wheat noodles topped with black bean gravy with potatoes, onions, some other vegetables and meat) and banchan (appetizers) in front of me … WOW! That was super fast!

The jjajangmyeon was simply delicious; it was so tasty, sooooooooooo good. The banchan which had the takuan (yellow pickles), kimchi and szechuan vegetable were nice too. Prices are definitely reasonable; I would definitely be back again soon cos I am already craving for more as I am writing this, better finish up before I drown the lappy with my drool … heh heh heh.

Shanghai Mong
30 W 32nd St
(Btwn Broadway & 5th Ave)
New York, NY 10001
212-6296450

NYC - Midtown - Hyo Dong Gak

I watch a lot of Korean dramas and was always curious about ‘Jjajangmyeon’ 炸醬麵 which is noodle with thick black bean gravy either with meat or seafood that they are always eating. After sniffing around Yelp, I found Hyo Dong Gak which had good reviews for that particular dish so off I went today with my friend, Catie.

I had jjajangmyeon 炸醬麵 - Noodles with Seafood Brown Sauce - $7.95 while Catie ordered the Noodles with Chicken & Seafood soup - $6.95, we shared a Fried Dumpling (8 pieces) - $5.95. The portions were big and as you can see the pricing very reasonable.

They have 2 different kind of menu, one consists of the regular Chinese-American dishes and the other will have Korean dishes, you would have to ask them for that. I was quite disappointed that they didn’t give us banchan which are the appetizers other Korean restaurants usually serves. Half way through our meal, I then realized that other patrons had some small dishes of kimchi and takuan (yellow pickles) so I asked the waited, ‘Do you have appetizers?’, he said ‘Yea’ and came back with an empty bowl with a pair of chopsticks … *faintz* … he probably didn’t understand what I said so Catie asked him if they have kimchi, he came backwith small dishes of kimchi and takuan (yellow pickles) + onion, does it mean if we didn’t ask, we don’t get? … sigh. Service wise was so-so, nothing to rave about.

The jjajangmyeon 炸醬麵 was ok, it looked good but had not much taste so I added a lot of hot pepper powder for the added spiciness which made it tastier. Catie wrote in her Yelp review that her noodle soup was good. The fried dumplings were however disappointing, even though the dish presentation was very nice, the meat filling had no taste at all, thank goodness for the sauce. At least now I know how jjajangmyeon 炸醬麵 tastes like … heh heh.

Hyo Dong Gak
51 West 35th Street
(Between 5 & 6 Avenue)
New York, NY10001
212-6957167

NYC - Midtown - Seoul Garden Korean Restaurant

Last Friday (July 28), I was at Seoul Garden with some friends from Singapore, they totally enjoyed the meal which I was very pleased to know. We had the BBQ and some other dishes which were really good.

NYC - Midtown - Mandoo Bar

Mandoo Bar is famous for their mixed steamed and pan fried dumplings. When you bypass the restaurant, you can see the people in the window making the dumplings which is interesting. We ordered the dumplings but forgot to take pics cos we were so hungry and started wolfing them down ... ha ha, we had both steamed and pan fried, filled with pork and vegetables, they came in various colors e.g. green for spinach, orange, white, etc. For the main meal, we shared the Dduk Boki which is a Korean Style Casserole with Rice-Cake, Fish Cake, Noodles, Assorted Vegetables and Special Hot Paste that serves 2 people, it's good for the cold season as it is hot and spicy, yummy! This place is packed during lunchtime and you can see a long line waiting so it's best to go off-peaked hours if you have the time.

* In Korean
Mandoo means dumpling
Dduk Boki means Korean comfort food

Mandoo Bar
2 W 32nd St (between 5th Ave & Broadway)
New York, NY 10001
Tel: 212-2793075

NYC - Midtown - Seoul Garden Korean Restaurant

Today Ira and I went to Seoul Garden in Koreantown and had a nice lunch of spicy tofu soup, kalbi and a variety of appetizers. She had the kimchi beef tofu soup and I had the kimchi pork tofu soup which was very yummy, we went for the medium cos we didn't want to have volcano lava spilling out our ears and nose ... hahaha. The kalbi was very tender and tasty too.

Seoul Garden Korean Restaurant

34 West 32nd ST. 2nd Fl.

New York, NY

(Between 5th AV. and 6th AV.)

Tel: 212-736-9002

After Singapore Day event .... dinner at Koreantown New York

Mandoo Gui - Broiled Dumplings

Yakiniku - Korean BBQ Bibimbap

Spicy Tofu Soup

After spending more than half a day at the Singapore day, we went back to the Bruce and Karen's hotel to drop off the goodie bags and then went shopping, after which we went back to the hotel again to chill out till dinner time. For dinner, Bruce (Thank you!) took us to Kang Suh Restaurant in Koreantown at 32st which was very good and yummy, the pictures tells you all ... hee hee. After filling our bellies, we made our merry way home, Bruce and Karen back to the hotel of course, duh! ... hahaha!

Kang Suh

1250 Broadway (@32st bet 5 & 6 Ave)

New York, NY10001

Tel: 212-564-6845

NYC - Midtown - Woorijip - Korean buffet

I was in the mood for korean food today and decided to go to Woorijip in Korean Town (NYC) since they have a wide selection of hot food buffet with very reasonable pricing. My plate consisted of pork belly, california roll, spicy squid, soy sauce tofu, jap chae and spicy rice cakes which was so spicy, I end up gulping down the whole bottle of green tea ... ha! The meal was good ... BURP!

Note: Woorijip means "our house." A place of Korean homestyle cooking, a place where your choices are endless, a place where price is impressive, and a place where you will come back for more.

Woorijip

12 W 32nd St (Bet 5 Ave & Broadway)

New York, NY10001

Tel: 212-244-1115