Myung Dong Kyoja

Every time I go to Korea, I have to make a stop at the OG Myong Dong Gyo Ja. I have been craving for kal gook soo badly, I decided to try this location despite the mediocre reviews.
$ 9.95 for kal gook soo. I thought the price was a bit high but the portions are big. I really wanted to give this place 4 stars but really it deserves more of a 3.4. It satisfied my craving and I can see myself coming back, but if it wasn’t for my love for kal gook soo, the food was just ok. I can’t see myself recommending this restaurant to a friend. But I will come back if I’m in the area and craving for some kal gook soo!

Whoa whoa whoa! Myungdong Kyoja?! Is this the place that I think it is?! We found this place randomly while doing a Unilocal search and we automatically knew we had to try this place out.
My boyfriend and I went to Seoul, Korea in April and one of the restaurants that we LOVED there was Myungdong Kyoja. They were famous for their dumplings and for their kalguksu. They were SO delicious and we were so excited to be able to try this location. Of course, we didn’t come here thinking that the quality/​taste were exactly the same because that would set us up for disappointment.
We ended up ordering two of their original kalguksus, an order of their pork dumplings, and my sister and her friend got one of the cold spicy noodles.
The banchan that they gave you were kimchi, and pickled napa cabbage (so a non-​spicy version of kimchi). The kimchi was FULL of garlic flavor, which is similar to the one in Korea. It wasn’t as garlic filled though. Yup! Myongdong Kyoja in Seoul, Korea — their kimchi had even MORE garlic flavor to it. to the point that it’s SPICY in your mouth! Despite all that, the kimchi here is still very very yummy. It’s actually more bearable here.
The kalguksu was surprisingly pretty good. The soup base is a little bit on the light side for flavor as the one in Korea had a more immense flavor to it. It’s less oily than the one in Korea. They give you a decent amount as well. Definitely enough to fill your tummy. Although I would recommend you eating this before eating the kimchi because the flavor of the kimchi would definitely drown out the flavor of the kalguksu.
As for their dumplings, it’s a no-​go. The flavor is minimal and it was pretty dry when I tried it. Now those were disappointing.
Overall, it was a good experience. They would come by your table to see if you need a refill on the kimchi and they refilled the waters pretty fast. I would definitely come back for their kalguksu when I can! :)

Love their noodles and dumplings but today when my family went there, there was a weird odor to the restaurant that was pretty strong, almost like a public restroom odor. Once we were there for a few minutes, it either went away or we got used to it. My daughter loves their kalkooksu and although she is only 6, she can eat the whole bowl.

Fantastic Korean food. Service was great. All you can kimchi. I had the dumpling soup. Under $ 10 and more than one person can eat. Great flavor.

Wasn’t a fan of their soup. Very bland and they give you an option to add more noodles, but I’m not sure if that helped out.
The tables were sticky and the bathroom lock doesn’t work so there is no privacy when you’re pissing away.
There was no consistency with the tea they gave out. Some were ice cold, some were room temperature and some were boiling hot. What is up with that?

Came here after my work with my friend.
I ate the cold spicy chlorella noodles with sea food in it. My friend ate the kal-​gook soo.
The chlorella noodles were very fresh, cool and delicious. There were lots of cucumber and sea food in it. My friend gave me the kal-​gook soo and it was very good and flavorful too.
I went to the myung dong gyo ja in LA near my mom’s work many times and this place is more spacious than the LA branch.
When i went, it was very empty, but i was told that is is very crowded during lunch hour.
The server was attentive and it was a nice stay.
Kimchi good as always.
Coming here brought back fond memories of the same myung dong gyo ja i had many times with good friends when i worked at LA, so i enjoyed my visit.
Thank you my friend for buying me good food today.

Bibimbab & Dumpling rice cake was delicious.
Everything is made here including kimchi.
I will be back to try other item

Came here during lunch time and it was packed. Luckily, they had a booth available for the 2 of us. We ordered kal gook soo and shrimp dumplings. The food came out fast. For the two of us, the food was plenty. The food was delicious.
Bottom Line:
IMHO, in the OC area, this probably is the best kalgooksu place.
The price is reasonable for the quality and quantity of the food served.

This is one of my favorite places to eat «Kal Gook Soo». It’s a traditional Korean dish made of flour noodles in a hot soup. It also comes with mini dumplings «mandoo» as well. It has a very «homemade» quality taste which really makes me appreciate this particular restaurant. To me the white kimchi was very whatever… but that red kimchi is so DANK. (You will have to chew some gum if you’re planning on meeting someone after because of the garlic.) But it is SOOOO good to eat together with the main dish. I wish I could just take a giant container of their kimchi everytime I eat here.

I love dumplings but I’ve never had Korean dumplings before, so I came to try some. We ordered the shrimp and pork dumplings, bibimbap in the hot stone and the dumpling noodle soup.
They only had kimchi and white kimchi for banchan, which were average. The dumplings were pretty good. They have a thin coating with lots of filling. Their bibimbap was decent, but kind of lacked flavor. Their dumpling noodle soup was bland but my friend told me we were suppose to sprinkle the spicy powder for flavor. So make sure you do that! Overall, I’d recommend the dumplings! Juicy and filling!

I personally like the kimchi here, which has an intense umami flavor with a kick of garlic. I’ve been here multiple times in the past and I always get the steam pork dumplings. The dumplings are like little chunky meat balls and just pair nicely with the kimchi. On the other hand, I personally don’t prefer the other dishes. I’ve gotten bim bim bap and the kalguksu — both have tasted whatever in my opinion.
On my last trip they now implement a 15% mandatory tip for parties greater than 6 or 8, which is fine. What is not fine is when my party of two is slap with a 15% tip included already in the bill and not broken down in a clear and concise way to identify it’s automatic gratuity.
I’m not cheap but I don’t like bullshit. I already put down a 15−20% cash tip, so when I asked the women who work there why is this charge on my bill, they couldn’t really answer me and insisted it’s only 15%. I don’t think they understood English well.
I told them they could be reported to the Better Business Bureau as this is consider an offense, because you can’t just charge people automatic gratitude without a disclaimer. Otherwise what the heck is stopping people from charging bullshit fees left and right? Needless to say, they didn’t take kindly to my words and practically shooed me away like I was a bothersome child.
Such a shame, though none of my friends or family really liked this place, I had liked it for the kimchi and dumplings.

A-​OK
The soups are definitely large portions. I ordered the chicken noodle soup and it was enough for two people. The menu itself is pretty limited. They have plenty of cold noodle options. We also ordered the steamed dumplings and pan fried dumplings. According to my BF, the steamed dumplings had no taste. I did try the pan fried dumplings and those were good. Typically when I visit a restaurant that serves dumplings, they always serve the dumplings with some sort of dipping sauce. When we asked our waitress if they offered any sort of dipping sauce, she completely changed her attitude with us. I’m not sure if we offended her, which was obviously not our intention, but the service wasn’t as great afterwards. She did tell us to mix the sesame oil with the soy sauce to have a sauce. My chicken soup was good and very flavorsome.
Like I said, service was good at first, but that only lasted for so long. Pretty big location, should be large enough for a large party. Parking is big as well. You could easily miss the location when you’re driving by. It’s within the same plaza as Dresden’s the furniture store.

Big, cool clean space. You’ll pull up to a pretty empty lot, thinking this must not be too good if its so empty outside. Its not extremely busy inside either, but there’s plenty of natives to the food that are dining. Usually a good sign! It’s a refreshing spot, doesn’t feel cramped or messy, it doesn’t keep you wondering what’s crawling around in the back kitchen.
We got the bibim nang myun (cold spicy glass noodles) and the dduk mandu guk (the rice ovalette soup with dumplings). Both were prepared really well, capturing the essential flavors of each dish. Neither are hard to make, but takes precision to make correctly. You’ll be treated to an assortment of ban chan, especially the kimchi. Not the very best, but still good.
Overall, wonderful experience, its good to find a Korean restaurant lingering off on its own away from Garden Grove or Diamond Bar. Lovely place, I look forward to trying it out again.

The place was packed with people, I kinda felt awkward since I was the only person who had a single table to themselves and large groups were waiting but I wanted kal guksu so whatever. Their specialty is in noodles, both hot and cold with various dumplings. Plenty of cold noodles dishes which would be great during the summer heat.
They have two banchan that came with it: a strong, garlicky kimchi and a more milder baek kimchi. Both went well with the broth of the kalguksu ($ 10) which is like a chicken noodle soup. The creamy and thick broth was well seasoned and the chewy noodles were great and fresh. They had ground chicken and sliced vegetables on top with pork dumplings in the soup as well. I had two orders of dumpling (pork dumplings $ 9.49 and shrimp and pork version $ 13.49) to-​go which were tasty, 15 pieces in each one.
They take card and have a sizable parking lot. They do add the «suggested» tip to your bill, so no need to leave one on the table. They also have a pet cat in the front of the restaurant, I would see people dropping off open cans of tuna for it.

I don’t mind coming in by myself to eat at this Korean restaurant as their waiters and waitresses are welcoming.
On a cold or weird weather day (gray skies but somewhat warm), I opt for the kalguksu — a thick chicken broth soup with noodles, dumplings, ground meat, and green onions. It’s thick broth fills me up and makes me feel all warm in the inside– perfect for this El Niño weather! It’s also perfect to have when you’re suffering from a cold. I would prefer this over the normal chicken soup. You can order extra noodles, but the amount they give you is a very generous portion.
If the weather is hot, I choose the cold noodles called Bibim Guksu. It consists of spicy cold cholera noodles with a mix of vegetables. It’s definitely a refreshing dish to have when it’s just too hot and you want something cold! This dish isn’t for everyone; if you don’t like soba, you probably won’t like Bibim Guksu. And if you can’t handle any spicy, I’m not even going to try and convince you to eat it.
Whether it’s hot or cold, their dumplings are wonderful! Their Pork Dumplings are large and juicy, filled with with the perfect amount of meat and some vegetables. I love all types of dumplings and Korean dumplings are lumped into my dumpling love. I like to dip the dumplings in a mix of soy sauce and vinegar, condiments that are already on the table.
Also, their two types of kimchi are the best in town! The regular kimchi is drenched in garlic and I don’t mind if my breath smells like this for hours — because it will! Their white kimchi is for people who don’t want something too strong; it’s light and refreshing. They also are generous with the kimchi; they’ll ask you every ten minutes if you need some more!
I work all over Orange County and when I’m in this area I end up going here. I love this place and it appears locals do too!

It was a cold night and I typed up ‘tofu soup’ and this wonderful place popped up.
Sorry guys, there’s no tofu soup here. That was my ONLY disappointed. But we were seated so I thought, oh what the hey, why not. So the food looks ‘meh’ on the menu. So my friend and I asked for suggestions. I had cold noodles while my friend had hot noodles. It was super good! U can ask for extra noodles! For not extra charge! Too bad u can’t take it to-​go. Oh not to mention it’s super affordable!
Service was excellent!
Parking was plenty!
You gotta try the cold noodle! It’s sweet and spicy! :)

Man oh man did this place disappoint. I was craving cold noodles and thought that this place was going to be my go to spot for cold korean soup noodles. It isn’t. It’s expensive and didn’t taste very good at all.
I had the cold cuttlefish noodle and at one point it got so gross I just stopped eating it. We also tried their pot stickers and while they were good, nothing to rave about. I won’t be back unless there is someone that has given it a 5-​star that knows what there is good to order for me to try again.

My new go-​to spot after Disneyland… its seriously just a few minutes drive…@@
The restaurant is located in a very unappealing strip mall with some random shops and ample parking conveniently located right outside. There are tons of tables located inside… we went around 9 pm on a weeknight and there were only approximately ²⁄₂₅ tables taken…
KIMCHEE. O.M.G!!! Their kimchee will give you the grossest kimchee breath ever, but it’s totally worth it (Just drink lots of milk, chew basil, suck on lemon wedges, and eat 100 Altoids afterwards). Not only does it have a unique garlicky kick unlike those at other restaurants, its so crunchy and addictingly fresh. It is perfect when paired with the white water kimchee. One bite of this… another bite of that…
KALGUKSOO. Hand cut noodles… chewy noodles in broth with some minced meat, dumplings, and some random veggies. Sooo the ktown location seems to make theirs tastier, but this location actually offers kids EXTRA NOODLES FREE OF CHARGE… who does that nowadays? Our gigantic bowl of noodles came out with another bowl… so it was like «buy one get half»…good deal!!! Make sure you ask for their «special sauce» as they don’t leave the jar of sauce on the table like the k-​town location. The only part I didn’t like was that the dumplings were slightly soggy?
MANDOO. Nothing like din tai fung’s, but unique in their own way. The dumplings are beautifully rounded with fluffy thin skins and not skimpy on the meat! Make sure to eat it hot and paired with soy sauce & vinegar.
Service was pretty good although they were closing soon. They also offered refills on the kimchee and extra noodles without us even having to ask. :) Our meal totaled about $ 20 and we were stuffed to the brim…
Will visit again for my comfort food~~

I was craving dumplings for a couple of days and decided to give this place a try. Its located inside a shopping plaza with many other kinds of stores. The restaurant is actually really huge, I highly recommend it for huge parties.
My bf and I were quickly seated and offered kimchi and cabbage sides while we waited for out waiter. We decided to order the shrimp and pork dumplings but they had run out for the day so I was a little disappointed about that. It was only 8:00 pm on a Friday night, you think they wouldn’t run out of food by then but maybe their shrimp and dumplings are very popular. So instead we decided on the pork dumplings and we shared one of their soups kal guk su.
The pork dumplings were really good, steamed just right and flavorful maybe next time if they have any of their other kinds of dumplings I will order more of a variety. The soup was tasty, it was different, it had a mild flavor not too strong but subtle taste. I really enjoy lots of flavor so I wasn’t really impressed with the soup but the noodles were tasty. It also didn’t have that many ingredients so it was mostly broth and I think that’s what filled me up.
I really wished they had more of a variety of dumplings but they didn’t now I know for next time. But if you are craving noodles soups they have a lot more options for you to choose from.

Hole in the wall authentic korean place! There is a waiting list you sign to get seated, but you get seated pretty fast. The restaurant is big and has a lot of space. The sides they give you are kimchi and water kimchi (non-​spicy kimchi). They’re both really good and crunchy and it goes great with your entrée.
I got the kalguksu (chicken dumpling noodle soup). I thought I would try it because they are known for it! It definitely did not disappoint!!! The noodle was cooked perfectly, the soup was tasty and there were also little minced pork on top. The chicken dumpling was good, but I didn’t really like the dumpling skin. It’s different than your average chinese dumpling. The skin is a little less chewy, but it was still really good! My bf got the Hwe Bibimguksu (Raw skate noodles). It’s a cold noodle dish and its pretty good. It was my first time trying a cold noodle dish & skate and I thought it was good. Theres also bits of kimchi in it. The noodles they use is chlorella which can be used to detox your body!
Overall this is a great place to get korean food!!! I will be coming back for the hot stone bibimbap!