NangMan Cafe

This was/​is my go-​to with my friends when I want to have some soju and good food.
There was 1 year that we came here about 3 – 4 times a week and would eat and drink just because the food was good and affordable.
I would recommend this place with are with your group of friends and want to hang out while eating and drinking. Don’t come here if you are looking to meet new people since korean bars like this attract a MUCH older crowd!

My go-​to bar in Fullerton. It’s a very chill vibe, and I’d recommend this place if you’re not feeling DTF’s turn up scene during the weekends.
NanGman Café is just a bunch of old Korean people getting their drink on, and it’s just my type of place to go to relax, talk, and have a beer.
I always end up walking out trashed from the giant OB Lager bottles– I can’t seem to find them in any other bar but here!
The service is also really great, and the servers will usually give you «service» (free condiments/​snacks).
The only bad side is that their food is simply just not good. I wouldn’t bother ordering anything here, as Korean bar food is ridiculously expensive.
Oh, I’d also recommend going with a Korean since Koreans tend to be nicer with better communication.

I had decided to return here after a long absence from coming a couple of months ago. And shamefully I didn’t review this place at the time I had the opportunity to.
My problem:
They used to serve a decent Kimchi stew, that I enjoyed a few times after my first visit. It was still on the menu, and so I tried to order it. Turns out they no longer serve the stew, and it had been 86ed a long time ago since people weren’t ordering it. Why didn’t you change the menu then?
My boyfriend got the fried chicken he always likes and I ordered some unmemorable soup as a replacement for my Kimchi stew. Our server was slow and took his sweet time, and he never refilled our waters. He was also genuinely unfriendly and uninterested in serving us.
The atmosphere is still pretty nice and the booths are fairly comfortable. Just an overall disappointing experience, and it’s likely I wont be back.

Very noticeable decline of service and quality of food.

Great place for groups! Here’s why:
— Relaxed vibe with plenty of booths/​seating
— Service is friendly and attentive
— Servings are huge! And meant to be shared.
— My friend and I ordered the Spicy Rice Cakes with Noodles and the Leek Pancakes (which also has squid in it, yum!) and that would be plenty of food for 3 people.
— The Spicy Rice Cakes with Noodles is more of a noodles in spicy sauce type deal, not a broth, like I was expecting but I thought it was delicious, just enough spice.
— The leek pancakes are not spicy at all, but dip it with the sesame oil sauce that cones with it, or I used the sauce from the Spice Rice Cakes and that was suuch a good idea!
**Note: We asked for water, but got a pitcher of Barley Tea instead, which was a-​okay with us. But I guess they don’t have plain ice water?

Came here spontaneously with a friend and after looking through the menu, we decided to get boodae jjigae. It was the best choice ever, because i’ve never tasted a boodae jjigae this good before. It had a lot of ingredients (spam, sausages, even some samgyupsal pieces, kimchi, ramen noodles, etc.) The soup wasn’t TOO spicy like some boodae jjigaes so it was perfect for me. Both my friend and I agreed that this was the best boodae jjigae we’ve ever had! Even better than the ones actually from Korea. and the guy who served us was super nice too
Overall was a great experience :)

Steamed egg $ 3
Spicy rice cakes w/​ramen $ 13
Delicious. Big portions. Good service. Open late. Easy parking. What’s not to like?

Foods mediocre but the crowd is just a bit old (as in 40 to 50’s). Not really for teenagers. But if you’re looking for a quiet place, this is the place to go to~

Delicious food and excellent service!
We were craving for good Korean food, specifically «ton-​dak» which is also known as fried chicken. Was in the area with my father and decided to check this place out.
The restaurant was nicely decorated with lights on the outside and inside was decorated with lanterns. Place was clean and neat — and without funky smells (can’t stand mildew smells on tables and seats)! Bathroom has cute décor with a few side tables (and again — without funky smells)! Smiles all around!!!
We met with the owner as she came by our table and chatted with us. Apparently the place reopened two months ago in October with NEW Chef and staff (some have stayed — which I think shows good integrity on those individuals).
Great place to meet family, old friends, and bring new friends for dinner!
We tried their Seafood Pancake, Fried Chicken, and «bogae jjigae» also known as Army Base Soup. They were all full of flavored and cooked perfectly! For the soup, you can have it extra spicy too — just ask!
We couldn’t eat all of it, but definitely took the rest of the food to-​go! Lol.
Hope you’ll enjoy! =)

Horrible service, lady waitress never came to check on me. Couldn’t understand a word she said when I first arrived, want to give them a try since I live walking distance but will keep walking pass. Don’t go here unless your Korean

There are usually a couple of things I expect when I come to a typical korean drinking place. Good korean comfort food, semi-​cheap soju and most importantly, kpop music videos. I guess two out of three is not bad.
The food here was really good. We got the spicy octopus and the portion was huge. It was super spicy and the flavor was on point, like something you would get at a real restaurant. They also have all the requisite drinking snacks like fried chicken, kimchi tofu, and squid. The experience we had tho was not quite what I expected. It felt more like a regular korean restaurant that had some soju combos, than an actual drinking hole. The interior was dark, but it didn’t have much character compared to places like past memories or even jang toh.
Also, they’re not kidding when they say that the crowd is «older.» That’s not a bad thing, just don’t come here expecting to check out a group of young people of the opposite sex. I even saw some little kids running around while their parents were drinking. So even tho the atmosphere was a lot more chill than I expected, it still turned out to be a cool place to eat some good food and have a few drinks with your friends. And that’s all that really matters I guess. But honestly, would it kill you to play some SNSD?

Seafood pancake is not bad, kind of bland. Good service and atmosphere. Not sure why other Unilocalers complaint about other customer’s age. Nice place to go for Korean food.

I like this place a lot! Great for groups, big or small. Plenty of parking and really nice servers! Food is also pretty good!
Great place to just lounge, drink, eat, and hang out. If you like Korean bars/​cafés, you’ll like this place. :)

The (Korean) sweet potato fries and spicy chicken always make it on our menu. The sweet potato fries are very thinly sliced and lightly dusted with sugar. The spicy chicken is divine! The spice level is perfect as well as the portion! So yummy! I can’t wait to go back for more!

NangMan Café: Episode 5 — The Tofu Kimchee Strikes Back
With the increased popularity of this restaurant slash drinking spot in Fullerton, it was packed this past Friday night. This time, I felt a tad bit out of place since it was taken over literally by the older crowd, meaning one to two generations above me. LOL.
This caused us to take the last remaining table with uneven seats that slightly rocked back and forth. My friend Yumi was getting annoyed, but even our attempts to move to another table that opened up, lead to no avail. Sometimes, you just gotta suck it up and deal with it. Service was also slow as a snail and I felt bad for our usual waitress, that seemed rather overwhelmed working the floor and the kitchen. This lead to repeated requests for table settings, refills, and the check.
TOFU KIMCHEE
I wasn’t in the mood for something greasy or too fattening, so I went with the OG Dooboo Kimchee. Tofu, sautéed kimchee with pork, onions, hot bean paste, and vegetables. Wasn’t too bad, just not flavorful enough. I’m getting the impression that as the place gets busier, there’s a reduction in food quality. Just a hunch.
ICING
No, it’s not the infraction from ice hockey. It’s the newest alcoholic beverage — Grapefruit Makkoli. Mix a bottle of soju and 2 cans of the iCing to form the newest buzz at any Korean pub. Carafe not included.
Here’s an excerpt that describes what iCing tastes like from Brew Day (
).
«Makgeolli is brand new to me since it’s native to Korea. It’s made from a mixture of wheat and rice, which gives its milky, off-​white color. The interwebs say it’s made by fermenting a mixture of boiled rice, wheat and water, and is about 6−8% alcohol by volume, which is great info to have since I couldn’t read much of anything on the can. Something like an alcoholic Squirt, this sparkling makgeolli has a fantastic blend of citrus, sweet, and sour. The body is similar to that of a slightly milky and under-​carbonated soda; which sounds horrible, but pulls off an incredibly smooth finish. There’s a slight sourness up front that lingers long after the punchy sweet and citrus are gone.»
With my increased expectations and decreased results, it’s time to move on from Nangman Café and find that next chapter in the quest for the ultimate Korean bar.

Crowd is def older there. It looked a lot of Korean parents come to get a drink or eat after golfing.
It was only my third or fourth time there. My friends felt uncomfortable because waitresses were treating our table as «babies» And we’re nearly 30… The server lady literally called us «babies» in Korean.
A friend tried to order second bottle of soju and waitress did not bring for good ten minutes or more when it was not busy. Friend got upset and wanted to leave. So we left to another Korean bar.
Before the incident we shared Budajjigae (Army base soup) —
I liked the fact they served brown rice (It was purple actually) and instead of tap water they served iced tea (Boleecha)
The soup itself was whatever, nothing remarkable– If anything I thought the soup almost didn’t taste like how its suppose to.
I have not tried other things and is uncertain if I will go back there… but no hard feelings from me =)

This is totally not the «café» I was thinking of…
after the movie at Brea… I gave my friend 3 options.
Night owl café
Eden Café (Taiwanese café)
and NangMan Café
she picked NangMan… so we drove passing dark roads and finally arrived at this plaza… and we both wondering where the heck is this place… but we decided to walk in with some courage…(yeah surrounding by all Koreans kind make me nervous: xD)
we were seated after 10 mins wait… and ordered the Hite right away…
it came with popcorn? we were like… ohhh nnooooo we already had so much popcorn in the movie theater!!!
Then we ordered the seafood pancake right away… it is my all time favorite but since Kaju tofu in GG took that off their menu… I haven’t had it for years…
it came out super good… exactly the way I like it… I don’t like it soggy… I like to feel every piece of ingredient and there are lot of ingredient in it… love it…
the MENU… there’s a problem
the Korean was written in BOLD BLACK (14pt) letters while English was written in small green letters.(probably like 8pt?) we need to use cell phone as flashlight to see the menu… it was just funny that I was almost wondering about my eyesight…
I called out for HELP but since their menu just translated Korean into plain English like grilled pork/​stew… the famous army base soup is actually named: Assorted sausage stew… so I still have no idea what to order… but I want soup
so I pointed the pic from Unilocal telling the waitress i want that… ended it is the Army based soup… I wasn’t like it at first cuz i am not big on hotdog? at least it looks like… but the soup was so good even the nxt day.
two waitress working there were really nice especially the one with short blonde hair… she has such a nice smile:)
I like this café. even they do not sell coffee: xD

Decided to check this place out since it was next to the really awesome jook house (Bön Juk).
I went in at around 7:30pm (they’re open from 5pm to 2am daily) and was seated right away. Immediately I can tell that this place was for those older Korean folks. The lighting inside is dark with only a single light hanging above each table for that «mood». I think you’d have to go here with at least one other person because it’s too dark to read anything, the TV volume is all the way down with no closed captioning and you will burn your eyes out trying to read from your iPhone the whole time (plus you look like a loser). And since I went alone, and didn’t prepare to entertain myself with anything, I ordered a bottle of soju. Not a good idea considering it was only Monday so please don’t judge me as an alcoholic.
I ordered the Spicy Fried Chicken (tong dak) and kind of wished I had ordered the non-​spicy, non-​sauced fried chicken. The sauce was really greasy and didn’t add any flavor and it wasn’t spicy at all. If you want spicy fried chicken, go to BBQ Chicken on Beach and Malvern. That shit will burn you a new asshole while tasting great at the same time.
They did give me a huge amount of food though, which I appreciated and I couldn’t finish it all by myself.
The waitress was really friendly and nice but the overall service was a little slow. I had asked for napkins and it took over 5 mins to get them to me. And there were only 3 other tables that had customers.
I’ll definitely come back though, despite the things I was disappointed in because they’re open late (this is Orange County, nothing stays open past 9 or 10) and it’s literally less than 3 mins away. And I want to try the other dishes. If the other dishes taste better, then I’ll revisit this review, otherwise, ³⁄₅.
Parking: Plenty
Price: $ 6-​$ 13 per person (add $ 4-​$ 11 more for alcohol)
Wait: Sit right away, 15 mins for food

Low key where an older and mellow crowd kicks it. Whenever I’m in the mood for good Korean food and drinks I come here. I actually think that the food here taste pretty good and taste even better when you wash it down with a pitcher of Hite or OB. I like how it’s low key and I can drink in peace without having to hear obnoxious wanna be gangstas being belligerent. The servers there are also very sweet and polite. It’s one of my favorite hidden places I like to go drink and relax at.

VWAHHT no reviews?
I came here not too long ago with a few coworkers after work… I didn’t even know this place existed! But then again once I walked in I was like «ooh…this is where all my mom’s friends come for drinks» haha :) more of a mid 40s place to be haha!
Sorry no pictures but the FOOD IS GREAT HERE! If only golmok gil had food like this… :(haha
We ordered
chicken wings with spicy sauce on the side: it was REALLY good the sauce wasn’t y favorite but definitely the chicken was AWESOME. I LOVE chicken wings that are über crispy and this one was! The chickens are good sized they didn’t use STARVING chickens they used the chubby chickens haha :)
The sauce definitely had HEAVY chili flakes «go chu garu» but if you’re korean I’m sure it won’t bother much but if you’re new to the whole chili flakes then I’d advise you to get the sauce on the side and experiment!
kimchi soup/​stew… It was restaurant quality food! :D I guess it IS a restaurant but for them to be opened until 2 and serve AWESOME food this place is amazing! haha the soup wasn’t too spicy but it was savory and they weren’t stingy with the meat in the soup. (I’m not a fan of pork but my coworkers are) but I loved how they had ENOUGH tofu for all of us to pick at!
They also give you side dishes like kimchi, some veges and more veges. haha
The service was AWESOME and they have a deal too! When you order two items that are «BAR FOOD» then you get your sojus for $ 5.99…I though it was SO DAMN awesome but if you don’t order food and you order soju it’s$ 11.99 or somethin like that. that’s a HUGE difference.
back to service, the lady was very polite and very nice. We all speak korean so I wasn’t sure if she knew english or not but she was awesome.
The crowd inside were much older… MUCH older haha but I see why they kept this place on the down low haha the food is great the atmosphere… is quiet and they bump some…70s sex jams… I believe haha once younger generations start coming here it’ll be TOTALLY different haha.
I loved the food and the place but I’m giving them 4 because the crowd just wasn’t me… I did not enjoy old men and women that looked like my mom/​dad drinking RIGHT next to us. …yeah. no… haha but I’d definitely go back to drink quietly with my friends and eat good food :)