Shan Dong Chinese Restaurant

Most people don’t think of Chinese food when they think of Vegas, but LV has a solid Chinatown. It’s not concentrated like it is in SF, but there are TONS of establishments that all seemed to offer legit Chinese food.
I was super skeptical of this place at first since there was NOBODY in the restaurant, but we popped by here anyway since we all have a panache for Korean-​Chinese noodles. Turned out great!
We had:
— Shan Dong Spicy Chow Mein
— Za Jiang Mian
— Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup (Chao Ma Mian)
All the noodles are made in house, which is always a treat. The chow mein was my favorite, and the seafood noodle soup was good too (it’s fairly light and not heavy with flavor, so if that’s your thing…). Just thinking of the chow mein makes me go YUM. I don’t know why I order Za Jian Mian since I don’t feel that the dish isn’t even that great to begin with, but it was ok (it’s just noodles and sauce, no cucumbers in this shop’s version).
They serve 2 banachan side dishes before serving entrees. Marinated daikon and kimchi. Good stuff, and they kept giving us more and more and more… We didn’t even ask!
Service was super friendly and helpful. Would go again. Now only if weren’t 500 miles away…

This place is decent and probably the best place in Vegas to get jjajangmyun and jjampong. Although it is under new management now the place seems to have kept the same recipes as the previous owners. It’s decent, but nowhere near the best I’ve had (I miss living in LA, easily the best Korean food there).

This place used to be ok now it’s just mehh. It’s under new management, I think the owners are from way Northern Korea so they speak both Korean & Chinese.
When we arrived at the restaurant there was only 1 other table and yet it still took a while for the server to bring us menus and water. Service was really slow and everything we ordered came out at least 5 minutes apart.
Jjajangmyun (black bean sauce noodle) way too salty, not enough meat & the portion got smaller!
Jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup) was bland.
Naengmyun (cold noodle soup) It was Chinese style which is made out of beans and tasted kind of like really bland peanut butter soup… Weird! LOL
Yaki Mandu (pan-​fried dumplings) I wouldn’t know, they never brought it out…
The noodles in all 3 dishes were way too chewy and al dente for my taste.
Hopefully their food and service improve~

I was starving and sick from a bad sinus infection… My cravings were something fried, but also wanted some spicy soup to balance the two out. My thoughts were Tang Soo Yook and Jjampong!!!
We walked in a few minutes before closing and asked the server if she was still serving… she went back to the kitchen to see if the light was still on. If the light is on, that means the Chef can still cook for us and luckily it was!!!
I enjoyed their Tang Soo Yook, which is a deep fried pork that comes with a tangy jelly-​like sauce. similar to sweet and sour that they give you on the side to pour over. This came out steamy, hot!!! Tasted fresh and love the tempura/​cornstarch batter that makes this deep fried pork so delightful to eat. The oil that was used seem new and made this dish taste light and perfectly crisp. Each bite was pipin’ hot and delicious. The sauce that completes this dish consists of sliced cucumber, carrot, napa cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, and onion. I would say, without this sauce. it would be very plain jane and definitely wouldn’t be as good. Love!
My minus one star was the Jjampong. Although it had chunks of seafood, it lacked flavor tremendously. It was like putting chunks of cayenne pepper in water and heating it up. The spices didn’t really do it for me and I felt like there were some missing ingredients that could have done wonders for this soup. That was the only thing that wasn’t so great, but I did enjoy the texture of the noodles in this soup very much.
Their side dishes is very limited to only daikon and kimchi. But their kimchi is very notable… my Father loves the kimchi here and so do I. Small bite size square cut shaped, lightly seasoned, crisp, with a solid homemade taste. If they sold this by the jar, I would definitely buy a few :) Delicious.
This restaurant is also very known for their Jjajangmyun. A thick black soybean paste sauce with diced meat (pork) and vegetables (mainly diced onion). Normally, if you ask for Jjajangmyun, the sauce is already pre-​made, but you can ask the server to cook the sauce fresh, which is called Gan Jjajang myun. If you like your vegetables cooked well, then order Jjajangmyun. If you like your vegetables semi-​raw, then you will enjoy Gan Jjajang myun. I enjoy mine cooked well and so does my Mother. My Father, on the other hand orders the semi-​raw. I don’t think anybody knows that they can order it this way, so just sharing how my Family and I order our food choices here.
The location is somewhat hidden. it’s tucked in a corner nearby 168 market. in between the Furniture Store and Nelson Barber Shop. Even the name of this restaurant is written in Chinese Characters, so don’t look for Shan Dong! Good service, great meal, and satisfies my cravings for Korean-​Chinese cuisine.

Of course, as advertised, I went for the champong and chachangmyun. I was a little disappointed with both. The broth on the champong did not taste familiar. I’ve had this dish all over the place and this one tasted different and not in a good way. It lacked a depth of flavor. The chachangmyun was also a little on the bland side. Since they are promoting these dishes in the window, I think they should nail it.

Had to try this place because it has jjambbong, my absolute favorite! Once again, still no New York or LA :(. So far I’ve tried the one in Greenland Supermarket, Jin Mee, Elephant Snack, Beijing on S. Eastern, and 2010 (which is more like udon there, but still delicious)… nobody has a 5-​star bowl of jjajangmyun or jjambbong yet! If anybody knows of another place I should absolutely try please message me and let me know!
As for the food in general, their jjambbong is not bad. It’s right about the same ranking as Jin Mee or Elephant Snack in my book. It’s definitely better than the one in Elephant Snack. I like that you can order a small bowl of jjajangmyun on the side and enjoy the best of both worlds. I went there with a friend and he ordered the fish with black bean sauce and it was fantastic (a little salty). I asked for my usual bowl of jjambbong as spicy as humanly possible with extra noodles and a small side of jjajangmyun to share with my friend. They can be more generous with the seafood in the jjambbong as well… I think I only had one mussel and 2 pieces of shrimp.
The service is nothing special… it’s a typical Chinese Korean restaurant in Vegas. Not very friendly, but not rude, and the food comes out pretty quickly.
The bill came out to about $ 20, which is a great deal!
Honestly, I will keep coming back here until I find a place with better jjambbong. In the meantime, their price is reasonable and their food is overall decent so it gets a thumbs-​up from me.

Not the best value. Anything you order here is 1 pack of Shin Ramyun with added something, costing $ 7.99 and upwards. If you order something spicy from the menu, guess what? They just choose Shin Ramyun that has a spicy flavor packet.
The price of something like beef with broccoli, something you can get at a nearby Panda Express for $ 4.99 max, is over $ 9.99. I would recommend the Taiwanese place a couple doors to the left for an really delicious meal for a lot cheaper.

This place is a hit or miss. When it is a hit, it’s a 4 star, when it miss, it’s a 2 star…
Jjampong-​spicy is the only thing I taste. It looks great with the seafood and veggies, but that’s about it.
Jjajangmyeon-​have it the second time here and it was good. Has bitty chunks of what I look for in a nice bowl of jjangmyeon, the meat and veggies. The noodle was nice, not too chewy, not too mushy. just right. What I like is that they have 2 sizes, the small for $ 4.95, and the regular for $ 6.95. The small was more than enough for me.
Beef Noodle Soup-​The first time I had it here, I fell in love… the beef and tendon was soooo tendor along with green healthy looking baby bok choy, in a nice succulent broth, accompanied by nicely cooked noodles. The second time, the meat was not tender, and I wasn’t too happy… The third time… which is this time… was like the first time when I fell in love with it.
They serve you hot tea and side dishes (kim chi and daikon) with your food.
Service is good. They are nice ladies. Whenever I am in the mood for the beef noodle soup, I will definitely call and inquire to ensure that the beef is tender in the beef noodle soup prior to my visit.

Another weekend roaming around building up an appetite. Me and my cousin ventured to this place in the 168 Market shopping center (across the street from China Mama). I was surprised by the store front sign only being in Chinese and Korean with no English on it and headed on in. The place was not very busy but the owner greeted us warmly into a modestly decorated dining area with light green walls and several pictures of various nature type scenes. My cousin was craving Cha Chiang Mein (Jajangmyeon). He’s been inquiring all week where he could find this dish and thats what led us here. We ordered the Cha Chiang Mein ($ 6.25) Kim Che fried rice ($ 6.95), Mongolian Beef ($ 12.95) and the Fried Dumplings (8 pcs. for $ 6.95) (AKA Wor Tiep, pot-​stickers or Gyoza).
The Cha Chiang Mein (
) is nothing to look at consisting of a black bean paste (nearly-​really black) sauce over noodles with some veggies and pork but was very tasty similar to a Hoisin flavor.
Everything was very delicious and was priced reasonably, about $ 35 for the two of us. I’ll probably be back if the cousin wants the noodles again or try the other types of dumplings.
After dinner speaking to the owner they are Chinese who grew up in Korea which points to some of Korean influences and Shandong is a province near Korea as well.
Pros: Quick service, the dumplings are huge and handmade.
Cons: I want my Mongolian beef spicy hot, I’m unsure why everywhere I go now its just a sweet stir-​fry of beef.
Photo I found of the place.