I had mentioned wanting to find a Korean restaurant while still at the hotel, and with the assistance of Gary's GPS on his phone we identified this place, sight unseen and without recommendation. What a find it was!
We found a parking spot right out front which was very fortunate. My Baltimore friends may remember my neurotic, almost OCD need to know about parking before going anywhere in the city. Having to find street parking freaks me out entirely, especially when I'm alone.
But back to Mandu - which is the Korean word for 'dumpling'. I have four Korean favorites - Bipim Bap (mixed rice bowl with all sorts of goodness), Bulgoki ("barbequed" beef), Bean Sprout pancakes (more like "patties" than "pancakes") and the ubiquitous condiment, Kim Chee, made from fermented (rotten) cabbage.
We sat down in this adorable little spot which was a converted row house and although it was 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, having been greeted at the door by a friendly host/server. There were a handful of people at the bar, pretty much all the bar could accommodate, and three other tables surrounding us with people eating dinner. There was a couple to the right, speaking English but clearly they both had accents from different places. He was speaking much louder than she, maybe it was the acoustics of the window niche he was wedged into. To the left there was a group of three - two girls and a guy - who were young, maybe grad students, but obviously very cosmopolitan. Behind us was a group of 4-5 Gen X politicos discussing all manner of important issues while plying themselves with wine.
We took a look at the menu and I was slightly nervous Gary wouldn't be too keen on any of the food - but to my surprise he very quickly identified several things he'd like to try. Like we do in a lot of places, we ordered a small "buffet" of appetizers and one entree to share.
First we were presented with several small bowls of, um, either snacks or condiments, neither of us was really sure, but we picked up our chopsticks and tasted away.
There was a bit of marinated tofu, some sweet-marinated-woody-chewy root-like things, some marinated soy beans and bean sprouts, some marinated tangy cucumber chunks and the kim chee - all very tasty.
Next we were presented with a succession of appetizers - steamed pork dumplings (mandu) with a nice soy/sesame sauce... skewers of very tender beef, peppers and scallions beautifully skewered horizontally, not vertically like you'd think of a "skewer", with their own special blend of dipping sauce. Next was the mixed seafood and scallion Pa Jun (pancakes) - which were yummy with their own special sauce.
Then came the Bipimbap, which is served with its own set of "condiments" you add to your large bowl of steamed white rice, brown ground beef and a sunny side up fried egg. The condiments served to add to the bowl were: shredded, blanched carrots, sliced shiitake mushrooms, marinated cucumber, bean sprouts, very delicious and non-fishy tasting seaweed, kim chee and the spicy bean paste that pulls the whole bowl together. You mix this all up in the bowl, and it becomes a big mass of delicious, fresh, wholesome comfort food, Korean style. So frigging good.
We had water only this meal, and no dessert - they only had ice cream anyway. Incredibly the bill for all this food was only $36. Such an excellent experience!!!
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