Yu Chun Korean Restaurant

I’m really sad this place is gone. My boyfriend used to work here because his dad was the owner. I loved the tofu soup! It was even better because my boyfriend would serve me my food (:D) and I always got it for free. :(The bulgogi and kalbi was so yummy here too. :(

it’s a hot, hot, hot day here in southern california and your mouth is salivating for something fresh and cool. go here for their bi-​bim-​neng-​myun! you won’t regret it! :D
awesome service– the ajuummma was SO nice and friendly. plus lotssss of points there since that’s freaking rare at a korean place.
atmosphere is also pretty nice for a korean place. plus more points
& a bonus point for the same nice ajuummmma who gave me a zebra pen for free: DDDD i was just admiring the cute pens on her pen holder thing and she said, «you can have one if you’d like» so i went «REALLY? :D» and quickly grabbed the zebra one! hehehe

Decent service. Meager banchan.
Nangmyun was quite good – flavorful soup base and perfectly cooked noodles.
Kimchee dumplings were a miss. I’ve never been a fan of vegetarian dumplings since the texture of the filling is always lacking. Having such a bland filling didn’t help.

We returned on 7÷16÷2009 and noticed an upgrade in service and their menu. The servers were very attentive and asked on a few occasions if we needed anything else, very untypical of asian restaurants.
They have a more extensive menu with more choices if cold noodles is not your thing.

Nothing satisfies on a hot summer day like ice cold naengmyun! Yu Chun serves this ubiquitous Korean summertime delight in a gigantic stainless steel bowl.
Many, including myself, complain of large chunks of ice hindering the eating experience. As a fellow Unilocaler has mentioned, Yu Chun manages to fix this issue by «plating» the noodles in the center of the bowl ringed by a semi rigid circle of crushed ice on the sides of the bowl. The beef slices, cucumbers, radish, and egg are all placed atop the noodles. Even once mustard and vinegar are added, the ice seems to stay in place when you mix the noodles and broth.
I ordered my naengmyun as a combo with beef short-​ribs. These were definitely above average, cut thick and meaty with good marbleization. DELICIOUS!
The only complaint I had was the absence of kimchi in the banchan selection bestowed on our table. I saw other tables had it, but we didn’t. I can’t fathom how one could eat a Korean meal without kimchi… (for the record, we didn’t bother the waitstaff to get us some)

Service wise, one of the better Korean restaurants in the Rowland Heights area, although this place isn’t that packed as the others. Honestly, most of the time I come here (even on Friday nights or weekend nights), the place is empty.
Anyways, moving on — I think the food here is pretty good. I love their spicy BBQ chicken + soon tofu combo. The lady who works here is quick and doesn’t give dirty looks or stingy portions when you ask for refills of side dishes, etc. Only odd thing was I guess once I came in w/​a friend 30 minutes before they were to close and we still weren’t sure what we wanted and I asked the lady if we could have like 2 more minutes to decide, and she straight up said, «No. We are closing soon.» Kinda took me by surprise with the firm «No», but I mean… what can you do?
The restaurant is very clean — wooden tables and chairs, very roomy. The only bothering thing is the the fact that all the walls are glass, so usually if you sit to the side by the wall (at night), smokers always gather there and it’s really awkward trying to enjoy a meal when someone is peering through the window or walking back and forth with a cigarette in hand.
Overall, the place is underrated in my opinion. It’s definitely not poppin as much as Yes Plaza’s counterpart restaurants (Banana Bay, BCD Tofu House) but if the chance comes, give the place a try.

Yay, I ordered it w/​extra noodles this time and I couldn’t finish it! Still my favorite so far. Too bad I live too far from LA to try all the cold noodles out there!
After eating it again just today, I realized the reason why I liked the broth here so much more than the other places I’ve tried. Here, I can see and taste the pepper in the broth and it already tastes vinegar-​y before I even add any vinegar. Other than the noodles, there are radish and cucumber slices that do not take over the noodles because I can still avoid them if all I want in a bite is noodles. I love how the broth here isn’t sickly sweet like so many other places. And I like how the noodles still have a bite to them and aren’t all mushy.

I’m sad to say that this place wasn’t as good as the first time I went awhile back. I was craving the bibim gooksoo, the cold noodles w/​kimchee, but was surprised at the amount of sugar in the noodles. It was way too sweet for my taste. I ended up adding vinegar to try to make it less sweet. My cousin got the nengmyun combo with the kimchee mandoo. I don’t like the black noodles (it’s just a weird visual thing), but I like how they put the slushy ice in there to keep the noodles cold. The kimchee mandoo was good. Service this time was ehh too. It wasn’t all that busy, but they took awhile each time we needed them to come by. Not good. I don’t know that I’d give it another try… maybe in awhile…

My Korean food knowledge around Rowland Heights is extremely limited, but this place deserves a look.
There is nothing particularly outstanding with this place, with the exception of the grilled mackerel — a surprising love-​tap to the palate. The food is simple, yet satisfying. It is all your standard Korean fare when it comes to the menu, with no real marquee items, but for the most part, they do it right. From noodles, to mandu (dumplings), to casseroles and bbq, Yu Chun plays it safe, and in doing so, fails to make any bold statements. However, I can appreciate the subtle focus on flavor, where other Korean restaurants will smother your face in it. I’m fond of the tofu soup which displays an understated elegance.
I’ve only been here twice, and both times it’s been rather slow, so I don’t foresee any long waits or problems in service. In the competitive world of Rowland Heights real estate, Yu Chun’s future is uncertain.
While there’s nothing exciting about this place, I’ve left both times satisfied. Yu Chun is like that meek Korean church girl who is probably just as attractive as her hoochie friends, but doesn’t bother to pick up an eye-​liner pencil, or shop at Bebe. Just don’t expect her to call you out. It’ll be up to you to discover her merits yourself.

i’ve only been here once with my friend — geraldine =)
i was the first to try the mackerel… it was delicious. i got the combo mackerel and tofu soup… i would’ve been just happy with the mackerel =)
and i also agree with geri the one thing we had trouble with was flagging down a waiter to get water. but other than that good food and reasonably priced

This is my favorite Korean place in Rowland Heights, hands down.
The grilled mackerel is the BOMB here. It is perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked. It tasted like butter. This is the one item that keeps me coming back here. The tofu soups are very delicious. The small dishes are refillable too!
The service is good. My only complaint is that their water cups are soooo small and for Korean food, most people tend to drink a lot of water. I have to constantly catch the server’s attention just to keep getting refills of my water. Recently the switched to serving tea as the default, and its perfect for a chilly day!
However the grilled mackerel is soo good that I’m willing to overlook the tiny water cups. It is definitely a must try here! Get the grilled mackerel combo with tofu soup and you’ll become a fan too!

The food here is more like 2.5 stars, but for the service and décor I’ll bump it up to 3. The full name of this restaurant is «Yu Chun BBQ Restaurant», but from the looks of other reviews this is more a nangmyun place than a BBQ joint, though they do offer everything under the sun on their menu — dengjang chigae, kimchi chigae, sullungtung, dumplings, soondubu, and more.
I was wary when I noticed the lack of patrons in this spacious restaurant — nice wooden tables, large posters, and a flat screen tv hanging on the wall. The 2^nd sign of wariness came when the panchan (side dishes) appeared and all of them tasted pretty bland (even the kimchi). We got 6 different panchans — a sliced root thing, fishcakes, cubed radish kimchi, regular kimchi, mushrooms, and bean sprouts. I’m a firm believer that you can tell the good from the bad korean restaurants simply by the quality of their side dishes.
So I wasn’t surprised when my BF’s sullungtung came out and my yukejang came out — both soups lacked that brothy, meaty flavor… yup, they were both bland, just like their side dishes. The yukejang came out in a bowl typically reserved for soondubu and kimchi chigae, which I thought was weird. Usually yukejang comes out in these big, silver metal bowls. Oh well… I was just glad that there was plenty of shredded beef and clear noodles in my soup so that was filling.
The service was pretty good and the two ladies never minded refilling our panchan. They were friendly too, which is always a plus at Asian restaurants. I think for this place to survive, they really need to step up their food quality — there is so much competition in Rowland Heights for asian food and a ton of places around that surpass Yu Chun.

3.5 stars…
I took a day off… last week and Bora mentioned Yu Chun to me awhile ago, so I decided to check it out.
The Neng Myun is chilly and good. They use some dark noodle, the broth is good and very cold with bits of ice in it. It is slightly pricier than most places, but its good so its ok. 4.35 stars… :P
My brother ordered the combo with the garlbi. The garlbi wasn’t that great… a little fatty, but hey its not a bbq place so 3 stars for that.
Also heard about the korean dumplings (mandoo) so I tried that. They only serve it steamed. I like it fried like most things LOL. The dumplings were just ok…2.5 stars.
The place wasn’t packed during lunch, it was nice and clean inside as well. If you like neng myun, you have to do yourself a favor and try it out.

Friend brought me here for some nangmyun. I had yet to find a place that served good nangmyun other than korea. This place was by far the best nangmyun i have had in the states! Their Kimchi Mandoo (Dumpling) was huge and really Yummy!!!

Good nangmyun (cold arrowroot noodle with broth) and bibimbap (rice with veggies). Service was very attentive and friendly… they automatically refilled the little appetizer dishes. The prices are average for korean food.

This is the second time my wife and I try this restaurant.
The first time was about a year ago and I was seriously underwhelmed with their noodles and how expensive they are compare with the type of food that they serve. OK, we’ll just chuck that up to them being new in the neighborhood.
This time around, the prices are still high ($ 9+) and it was a large bowl of noodles with 1, count 1!, thin slice of beef and 2 tablespoon-​ful of veggie. Hey, I am seriously underwhelmed here and we are not going back again.

I have to say that I used to absolutely love Yu Chun’s chik nengmyun but I think since they first opened and served the dish (years ago) the flavors and such have gone a little downhill.
But it’s still my favorite nengmyun jeeb. The kimchi jjeem is seriously soooooooooooooooooo delicious too. Melt in your mouth kimchi… stew. I can’t describe it. I love going for nengmyun, some wangmandoo, and kimchi jjeem to share.
And don’t forget to ask for yooksoo if they don’t already give it to you.

My friend dana can stuff a double double in EACH of her cheeks. She wanted to meet up since we haven’t hung out in a long while, so we decided on a place between Monterey Park and the middle of nowhere. We settled on Rowland Heights.
Originally, she wanted to go to life plaza. However, she was a) late — we were supposed to have lunch at 1230, she came at 115, and b) the high school kids started rolling out with their beat up, or as they call it, «souped up» hondas.
We decided to avoid the kiddie rush and left to Yu Chun instead. Dana said she heard it was good. The alternative was BCD, so I figured why the hell not.
We went in and I realized the interior was dark and quiet and very unlike the places I go in LA. We plunked down and decided to try the cheapest thing we could find — lunch specials. We both got soondubu (unremarkable compared to So Kong Dong) and the chicken bbq was just OK.
The panchan was just OK too — the best thing was that the waitresses kept on refilling us every 5 mins or so (Dana can really stuff stuff in her mouth). That and the marinated onions that I don’t think I’ve ever had before.
Anyway, after we got done, Dana proceeded to go to NOT ONE, but TWO froyo joints.
*bows down to dana*

This is the fourth Yu Chun I’ve been to and unfortunately, this one is no good. I’m a huge fan of naengmyun and the Yu Chun’s in LA are all good, but this place gives way too little broth and way too much noodle. It ends up being very bland and dry. Disgusting and disappointing. Go to the Yu Chun’s in LA.

I’ve written a review for Yu-​Chun restaurant before but that one was for the one in Palisades Park in NJ. Although I prefer the one in NJ over this one, it’s a good substitute when I’m not out East.
Their main seller is the Chilk Mool Naeng Myun which is arrowroot noodles in an icy broth with vegetables. This Yu Chun makes the broth way too icy for my taste and it’s not easy to take a sip of it while you’re eating because there’s so much ice. Also, they don’t put the spicy chili paste in it when they serve it to you. Instead it’s in a little container on your table for you to put in according to your taste.
This restaurant has a really big menu and their Beef short ribs are pretty good especially if you order it as a combo meal with the mool naeng myun. The Mandoo is pretty good too.
Service can get kinda of hectic but overall a good place to go get a refreshing meal on a hot summer day.
UPDATE: They’ve seemed to have solved the way too much ice in the broth problem.