Myung Dong KyoJa

Don’t expect any special focus on customer service from the waitstaff here. They will respond to your needs efficiently and that’s all you should expect of them. You are there to enjoy their fresh hand cut green chlorella(green algae) noodles in chicken soup with pork gyoza or Kyoja, spicy noodles with or without skate wings, noodles in the whitest cold bean broth. The chlorella is like adding spinach to pasta.

The restaurant is big with pictures on white walls and rows of wooden tables and chairs usually full of diners slurping their noodles. It feels almost like eating at a canteen and just as loud except it’s nicer with big picture windows so you can see non-Koreans glancing in curiously to see what people are eating.

They also have steamed pork mandoo(dumpling), raw crabs, but some dishes are written up on the wall in Korean. It will be easier for everyone if there is a Korean speaker in the group but the menus are in English as well so you can point and order.

You may wish to go to eat there even if you have to order with your fingers if you love chewy fresh medium sized noodles in different dishes and red chilli and garlic laden spicy fresh kimchee. These are not fermented but crispy like kimjang kimchee(new and freshly spiced in fall). The steamed mandoo goes very well with the spiced dishes. Always make the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, vinegar, and chilli powder otherwise the mandoo is a little bland but the sauce will lift it to a different level.

The cold bean broth is almost milkshake thick and white from the pureed soybeans. Delicious and cool in summer but may be an acquired taste. They also have another cold soup in sort of fizzy cold meat broth.

This is a branch of a restaurant that is very popular in downtown Seoul.