Nam Won Gol

Was just looking for some home style Korean food. Certainly found it here. As the only Caucasian person in the joint, I knew I was in store for some authentic grub. Did not have the stew, but went for the pork Bul Go Ki. It was spicy sizzling and delicious. So amazing. Can’t wait to go back.

Chu Uh Tang. Banchan. Delicious. Inexpensive.
Know how to season.
I don’t know much about Chu Uh Tang, but a place I definitely will frequent when I get the C.U.T. urge which I know have cause of this joint.

Food & banchan are good but not for once the waitress checked/​asked if we needed Anything. There is a pot with tea on the counter, maybe we are supposed to self serve, I am not sure, but I walked there & got myself more tea anyway. Free parking

This restaurant hands down got the best Korean side dishes (banchan). All the ingredients used to make the side dishes are grown organic. Talk about awesome health food. They even ground their own garlic. The pork stir fry and squid stir fry is a must order with the fermented bean stew.

Great foods both main dishes and banchan. The free tea is the best!!! A friendly parking attendance available and parking is free.

Best place and maybe only place? to get mudfish stew. Mudfish stew is an acquired taste but it is a healthy korean stew made out of grinded mudfish and beanpaste. I know that it’s an «aquired* taste but I absolutely loved it even from the beginning. It has chockfull of veggies and it is absolutely delicious, nutritious, and wonderful. I usually get choo wuh tang (mudfish stew) or sam gae tang (chicken ginseng soup) when I am sick and I always feel better. I love their Banchans (side dishes) as well. The side dishes are perfectly selected to complement the taste of the soup.

Charged my mom double for the amount of food she paid and refused to drop the charges.
If you want to get ripped off please come to Nam Won Gol located at 3623 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90 019
Worst place ever.

This small restaurant on Pico is famous for their Choo-​Uh Tang, which is ground mudfish stew. Yes, that’s right, ground. Not my favorite, I had one in Korea and it was decent but I’m not a big fan. My mum was craving it and there is none in Vegas, so we came here for lunch.
When we got there around 12:30−1pm, it was half-​empty. Strange, I thought, maybe the B rating is turning people off? Suffice to say that my doubts were gone within ½ hour, as the place filled up and had people waiting outside for seats. So apparently I’m the only one who cringe at anything below A. The service is just okay. They put on a good face but at the end of the day they are too busy to tend to you properly and the service you do get is hurried. But most come here not for the service, but for the food. So the food…
My mum likes the mudfish stew, so I’m guessing it’s as good as advertised. I order the spicy stir-​fried squid, others in the party order bulgogi and broiled yellow corvina. The squid is very good, some say it is the best in town but I’m wondering if there is a difference after a certain point. It’s as good as any good stir-​fried squid dish I’ve had, although I can’t say it stands out above others. The bulgogi was pretty good, not great. The fish was nicely plump and meaty. The price point is a bit high, I thought, as pretty much everything is approaching $ 15. Not sure it’s worth all that.
Regardless, it was a solid meal and one of the very reliable Korean restaurant where you know you will get a good meal. Nothing wrong with that. Probably a 3.5 stars overall.
Table-​for-​1 Factor: It’s perfectly fine, but if they get busy it may be difficult to get seated.

Order No. 1 or No. 2. Enjoy just awesome fish stew and veggies. Does not get any better than this — my mom and my wife’s mom cannot make stew better than this. Banchan side dishes are kick ass.

best mudfish stew in ktown! my mom is obsessed with this soup and she said it was delicious here :)

I am not a fan of Chu Uh Tang, so how did I end up at Nam Won Gol? I was with my hungover sister & sick-​with-​the-​flu mother. They insisted that their only cure was to get a bowl of Chu Uh Tang. I denied at first, but eventually went with them since I was battling something on my own. Hunger.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, you are welcomed with the smell of Chu Uh Tang. I gotta admit. It actually smells very appetizing, but I am not fond of the taste! Aside from the mudfish’s, there aren’t many options. I opted for the squid stir-​fried (ohjinguh bokkeum) as opposed to octopus since a Unilocal review suggested to go for the squid for a more tender texture.
BEST. DECISION. EVER.
No joke. It was the best ohjinguh bokkeum I ever had. Sorry, mom! Their sauce is really something else. It has the perfect amount of spice and sweetness to it! On one scoop of rice, put octopus and veggies and top it off with their perfectly fermented kimchi. It will be heaven in your mouth.

It is a small restaurant, but food is pretty good!

The mudfish stew was definitely different! People kept warning us that it was strong, and that it was an acquired taste, but it was actually very mild. Maybe my taste buds just need to become attuned to the subtlety! Our next-​door-​table-​neighbors were there to stew themselves out of hangovers. It did have that medicinal, herby, I’m-eating-something-good-for-me aura about it.
We got our stew spices mixed for us by a very kindly waitress who later stopped by to chat about the texture of our stir-​fried octopus. While the sauce was deep red and incredibly flavorful, the octopus itself was like car tires — it may as well have been gum. There were a few pieces we physically couldn’t grind up with our wimpy hominid-​molars.
The waitress was very concerned that we were anything less than thrilled with any of our lunch, and laboriously explained in halting English that Koreans generally preferred to work hard to chew their octopus. She admitted that her American-​born daughter preferred it tender.
The mudfish stew-​nursing couple next to us gave us the tip to order the squid next time if we wanted tenderness with the same amazing sauce. However, nearly everyone in the entire restaurant had pots of stew, and the menu was fully half mudfish. Clearly mudfish is The Thing.
This is a fondly-​written three star review — we felt well-​taken care of, met some kind strangers, and enjoyed a new experience!

Best hang over soup!

ground-​up mudfish stew? yuck. what in the world is mudfish? warning: don’t google it before eating here. it is not a pretty sight.
NONETHELESS…
this place is such a hidden gem! located on the outskirts of k-​town on pico, it is far enough away to avoid the craze of wilshire and western but still embodies the delicious taste of homestyle korean food. we ordered the mudfish stew, kimchi jjigae, and sam gae tang (chicken soup with sticky rice), and all three dishes were FABULOUS. it really felt like i was eating a traditional home-​cooked meal prepared by the oldest cutest korean grandma ever. also, they served one of the best tasting kimchi i’ve ever had. we even asked if we could buy some to take home, but sadly they said no.
portions are pretty big, and the prices are cheap. I think our total came out to roughly $ 29. and we had leftovers. SO worth it. yum, i’ll be back.

I come here for the mudfish stew and the mudfish stew only. My peoples believe it’s good for the body, as far as a cure all for all kinds of medical maladies… or something along those lines. I don’t know about all that, but it is indeed quite tasty.
The place is usually frequented by the older generations, looking for something to up their vitality and energy points. (insert super geek video game reference here).
If you don’t feel like sitting around a bunch of older Korean ladies and gents silently judging you as you eat, you can always call in your order.

It’s called Chu Uh Tang (mudfish stew) and it is one of my all-​time favorite Korean dishes. Right before I have to go back to SD for school, I love to grab either a bowl of soondae gook or chu uh tang. Today, I was craving chu uh tang.
This place has the best mudfish stew in all of LA. Absolutely delicious! Mudfish stew is made by grinding up the whole mudfish, bones and all, so I look for a certain consistency and Nam Won Gol’s is perfect. This stew is chock full of calcium from the fish bones as well as protein and good fats (unsaturated) from the fish. In addition there is tons of vegetables and health benefits from the fermented bean paste as well. My parents always tell me this stew is supposed to make you strong. Popeye had spinach, Koreans have Chu Uh Tang.
The flavor of the stew is mild and does not fall into the «spicy» category as is typical of most Korean dishes. On its own the stew is nice, but I highly recommend adjusting it with some minced garlic, jalapeño, ground sesame seeds, and a special spice blend called san cho. San cho has a very earthy/​floral scent and gives the stew a lovely undertone of a similar flavor profile. I like to add in a lot, but if this is your first time, I would say start with a small amount since you can always add more as san cho can be overpowering. The ground sesame seeds add a nice nutty flavor which balances out with everything else going on in the bowl just beautifully. The mudfish stew is served with rice and the portions here are spot on (see pic).
The side dishes here are delicious as well. They serve kimchi, beansprouts, marinated crab, and another one of my favorites dotori muk (Korean acorn jelly) salad. The food here is very authentic and my idea of real comfort food. If you want to expand your knowledge of Korean cuisine or your taste buds are longing for something flavorful and satisfying I highly recommend a bowl of Chu Uh Tang from Nam Won Gol. Priced at $ 8.99 it is what I consider to be a perfect meal.

Winning…
It’s not a common Korean soup-​dish, but it’s very popular. It’s a slightly pungent salty soup made with herbs, daengjang, and loaches (skinny freshwater slippery fish). In Korea it is known as «stamina food» with properties similar to eating dog meat. It is one of my favorite dishes to eat in a cold weather.

CHU-​UH TANG = mudfish stew LOLOLOL
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MUDFISH?!
I, for one, have not! At least not until my coworker was like. they’re cute! *shows me picture, I scream because it’s so slimy* Well, no matter, we still go to eat it. It tastes JUST LIKE YUHM-​SO TANG = goat stew, except without meat. It was pretty good though, and apparently it’s good for your health. My coworker claims that it gives you renewed energy and you don’t get food coma… and he was right! I didn’t get food coma! CRAYCRAY!
Anyway, they also serve this nifty sidedish called «honguh» which is seasoned skate wing. It’s like. sweet pickled skate wing and radish. I used to eat it all the time like 10 yrs ago, but I almost forgot what it was. It was really good though.
I just told my dad that I had this for lunch, and he’s like. Wow! Now you are a true Korean (in Korean, duh haha)!

their kimchi is DELICIOUS!!!
i don’t think i’ve had chu-​uh tang before so i have nothing to compare it to. but it was quite good. the stew literally looks like the mud they are from.
i don’t think this stew is for everyone. it’s not spicy at all.
their squid OHJINGUH bokkeum (spicy-​ish sauteed w onions and jalapeño) is pretty good.
the food here is pretty good, so i may come back to try the rest.
they close at 9pm which is kinda early but it’s because the area isn’t that great.