A Christmas Story

Yup, I've been on a bit of a posting frenzy. 3 in a row, that's pretty good.

I apologize beforehand for my pictures, which were taken with my phone, so the quality isn't that great. I went to L.A. in the morning to visit my grandparents for Christmas. After a short exchange of presents, I went out with my sister, cousin, and grandpa to go eat at this Korean Chinese place he likes, but as the place was packed, we decided to head over to Myung Dong Gyoja. It's a famous kalgooksu (meaning knife cut noodles) place in Korea, and gyoja means dumplings. The place was packed as well, but we were seated within 10-15 minutes. It was a bit of a cold and windy day, and I guess people just wanted some warm soup!


The only banchan is two types of kimchi, but trust me, that's all you need when you're eating kalgooksu. This one isn't too spicy, but packs a serious garlic punch. There is a LOT of garlic in this. I would advise against eating this if you're taking a lunch break and have to go back to work, if you have a date, etc. But if you don't care, eat away. The staff patrol around the place with small buckets of kimchi andwill gladly refill your plate as many times as you'd like. I loved this garlicky kimchi (and probably because of msg), and have to get a lot each time I come here.


The prettier sister seen here is mild, calm, and washes away all your worries. This white cabbage and radish kimchi is sweet with a bit of tang from vinegar.


You have to order at least one order of the mandoo(dumplings). I think my grandpa was sad because he wanted an order for himself. Korean dumplings taste a bit diffferent from Chinese ones. These were a good size, and you dip them in a little soy sauce and vinegar.


Kalguksoo. My guess is that this broth is made from beef and anchovies. You get some little dumplings here too along with some vegetables and ground beef. The noodles are chewy and cooked well. I'm not sure if they make their own noodles. You add a soy sauce/oil mix that has some green onions into this as your salt. Hot pepper too.


My sister got the bibim gooksu (cold spicy noodles). I didn't try it, but she said it was okay.

Like many places, Myungdong is probably no exception to the fact that MSG was used (liberally) in both soup and kimchi. So if you're sensitive to it, you might want to stay away. But for me, MSG be damned, this is probably my favorite place to get kalgooksu around the area.

Mandoo and noodle soups were each around 8 bucks, and the soup is a good portion, so you definitely will get your money's worth. Holla!

Myungdong Gyoja
3630 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90010

End note: http://kogibbq.com/
I read about this in a blog a while back. Korean taco truck? omgwtfkbbq. I will definitely try this soon and sees if it lives up to the hype.

Long live Cedric Diggory!