Jin Jja Roo

got their JiangJiang Myun once.
Noodles were oddly squishy and the sauce wasn’t super thick. For how little a price difference there, I recommend Shanghai Mong for lunch for this dish instead.

Ate here 30x over 4 years, my experience is very lengthy & it’s been so consistent & value-​filled for so long through so many phases of my life. Booth #6 in the Food Gallery 32 entry floor, its Korean solid staples & favorites always lure me in. My go-​to is #32 jia-​jiang myung (half black ink noodles, half spicy seafood soup) which is perfect in winter & summer both.

Best naeng meon (cold noodle) in k-​town and probably the cheapest too (under $ 10). I’ve tried a lot of restaurants in k-​town and surprisingly this food court naeng meon is the best so far. Saves me a trip to new jersey as I always used to go there for decent naeng meon.

Im writing this review as im actually eating.
Their tabgsooyook came out as not done or completedly cook i feel.
I smelled uncook pork from tangsooyook and as jja jang myun came out also the same way as tang aoo yook
They were rushing and i got my food within 5 mins after i ordered suring lunch hour. That explains everything
Will not come back. Im afraid ill get a stomache later today.
Horrible food

Jin-​Ja-​Roo, which should sound more like «chinch-​roo» when you say it, is a stall in the amazingly wonderful Food Gallery 32 Food Court located on Koreatown Street (32^nd Street) in midtown Manhattan. I love coming to Food Gallery 32 for lunch between my market appointments. It is only a couple blocks to walk there, and the service is cheap, fast, and casual. The entire experience is just like the food courts I have visited in South Korea.
I like coming to Jin-​cha-​roo, because they have great Korean-​Chinese food in a smaller, sampler portion size for cheap. I like to get the split bowl of JaJangMyun (black bean sauce noodles) and Gangpunggi (spicy fries chicken). The words are split to call this dish Gan ppong ja! It comes with a soup and a side of dan-​moo-​ji (sweet yellow color daikon), kimchi, and odeng broth. Eating jajangmyun is never elegant looking, so I try to hide somewhere in a corner.
There are very few restaurants in the area that will serve a split bowl dish like this for under $ 10. This is the fastest, since it is counter service you don’t have to deal with all of the usual dine-​in restaurant drama.

This place has a good variety of tiny restaurants, and it’s located inside the trendy looking Cafeteria 32.
What I ordered was tasty and inexpensive, and the service was very friendly.
Unfortunately my stomach was horribly bloated and was in extreme pain for a day following the meal, and that is an indicator of something wrong…
Note: This entire cafeteria was shut down by the health department for around 1 – 2 weeks recently. Probably should have avoided a visit.

Decisions decisions. I was undecided with the stall (w/​fried cutlets) or Jin jja roo. I decided to go with jin jja roo and tried number 7. I got the spicy stir fried seafood noodle. The total price w/​tax came out to $ 9.79.
I’ve posted up a pic for #7 to show the portion size. It was delicious. I’m a huge fan of spicy food and for this dish it was a level 7 for spiciness. So for those that can’t handle spicy should reconsider. The spicy sauce was delicious not only with noodle but also with rice. The dish was composed of two mussels, peeled shrimps, squid, onions, fish cake, noodle– that looked like Lo mein.
For price and portion and taste it is a 4.5. I don’t want to add another .5 because I’m cheap and wished the price was lower. I would definitely recommend this dish!

Jamjjamyun and kanpoonghi were awesome! Fair price yummy food! Can’t beat that in nyc!

I didn’t know what i wanted from Gallery 32. I was sold as soon as I saw the split bowls at Jin Jja Roo.
Ja jang myeung and seafood noodle soup? At the same time? Why not?!
Both were equally delicious. A fair amount of sauce and seafood. I was itching for cold noodles but maybe the next time. I like the nifty buzzers so that we can go sit down and retrieve the order when it is ready.

I wanted to try Japchae noodles and this was the only kiosk that sold it (that I could see). It said it came with veggie or meat, but it only comes with pork.
Friendly service. Good presentation.

I ordered the #8 (half spicy seafood noodle — half jja jang myun (black bean noodles)). The soup in the spicy seafood noodle portion was pretty good, but the noodles in both dishes seemed to be too overcooked. Way too soft/​mushy.

It was not my idea to go here. Jin Jja Roo is located in the K-​town food court and is slightly obscured, by the stairs. I think that’s why I subconsciously avoided it. So, I would like to take this time to personally thank, Robert Sietsema. Who wrote the beckoning Village Voice article, «5 Best Things To Eat at Food Gallery 32», which brought me here.
Dear Mr. Sietsema,
Thank you, for bringing these soft tasty noodles into my life. If it wasn’t for you, I never would have ordered, Jja Jang Myun. I would have never discovered the simplistic joy of: smoky sauce, onions, eggplant and pork, with warm creamy noodles.
I also would never have looked it up to find out about the rich history of this dish. It’s a national dish of Korea. Jja Jang Myun which literally translates to, «fried sauce noodles», is actually the most popular delivery dish in Korea. Who knew? Not me Robert … not me.
Thanks Again,
Lou

Jjajangmyun + Jjampong = Jjamjiamyon! Why settle for one when you can get both? One of my favorite Korean dishes
served on a special bowl that holds Jjajangmyun on one side and Jjampong on the other.
1. Jjajangmyun (black bean sauce over noodles) the sauce, love it, the noodles, tender. Later I realized it was missing shreds of cucumber garnish that adds a bit of crunch.
2. Jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup) soup, not as tasty or has as many ingredients compared to Shanghai Mong across the street. I would stay at Jin Jja Roo for the Jjamjiamyon and prices are slightly cheaper.

Order at the cashiers by the front entrance, take a buzzer and wait. Expect to wait about 15 – 20 minutes during the lunch rush. As you wait you can peruse the each vendor and satiate your eyes on the LCD screens that display the menu and show photos of the different dishes being offered. After you get your food, there are two levels of seating, shared with the several other Korean vendors located in the food gallery. There are free water dispenses on each floor offering both hot and cold water.
I ordered Jjam Ppong ($ 6.99 + tax = $ 7.61), noodles served with seafood and vegetables in spicy sauce, and took it to go. The broth was stored in a plastic container, and the noodles were in a large aluminum tray. It can be a bit messy pouring the broth into the aluminum tray, so I’d recommend eating this dish at the gallery rather than taking it to go. The noodles were served al dente and were fairly bland when tasting it alone, but once you pour the spicy seafood broth in, wait a couple minutes, and the noodles will do a great job absorbing the flavors of the broth. The broth has a nice spiciness from the Korean chili flakes/​paste with a very subtle sourness. Included in the broth are green veggies (similar to baby bok choy), onions, carrots, cloud ear fungus, canned mushrooms, scallion, 1 mussel, ~10 pieces of squid/​octopus, and 3 baby shrimp with tail still intact. The seafood was fresh and not overcooked, the octopus and shrimp still maintained a firmness to it with a slight crunch. The mussel was a bit of a disappointment, as I found it to be a little sandy/​gritty.
Also included was a small container of what I believe to be their Jja Jang myun sauce, a black bean sauce, which I found to be a bit salty. Another container included 4 pieces of yellow pickled turnip, and yet another container included 3 – 4 pieces of their kimchi which only had a subtle note of sourness signifying it wasn’t fermented long enough.
The Jjam Ppong is not a takeout meal as pouring the broth into the aluminum tray can be bothersome and messy. Overall, the Jjam Ppong was tasty but the seafood was scarce making me wish I just got the Jja Jang Myun.