Nae Go Hyang – Los Angeles, CA – September 25, 2008
Posted September 29, 2008 at 10:48 am
By: Joshua Lurie
Address:
3516 West 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Phone Number:
213 381 0022
A restaurateur tipped me off about a Korean restaurant at the corner of 8th & Oxford specializing in house-made noodles and man doo – Korean dumplings. He couldn’t remember the name, but the idea was so compelling that we couldn’t wait to find out. We discovered that 8th & Oxford is home to Oxford Center, a sprawling two-story complex with over a dozen restaurants and signs exclusively in Korean. Thankfully, a friendly Korean-American smoker pointed us toward the right place: Nae Go Hyang. The “Korean nature house” has been a mall fixture for seven years, with good reason.
Nae Go Hyang features a decorative woodcut Korean menu, plus menus printed in English. The space is relatively plain, with wood tables and Korean power ballads playing over the speakers.
Most Korean restaurants feature a parade of panchan, but Nae Go Hyang limits their freebies to two big containers of kimchi. They offered an exemplary version of fermented, chile-slathered cabbage, plus chile-flecked strands of fermented daikon radish. Both were crunchy and excellent.
Nae Go Hyang sells two styles of steamed dumplings, known as Man Doo in Korea, both with remarkably thin wrappers. We started with Boo Choo Man Doo ($7.39) – steamed leek dumplings mixed with beef, pork and vegetables. Their shape was impossible to place, but the flavor was undeniable.
Next up: Kim Chi Man Doo ($7.39), half-moon-shaped steamed dumplings mixed with kimchi, beef, pork and vegetables. The fillings’ texture and flavor weren’t quite as satisfying, and the kimchi wasn’t very distinguishable, but the craftsmanship was just as impressive.
We closed with a steaming bowl of Hae Mul Kal Guk Soo ($8.31), whole wheat flour knife-cut noodle soup with seafood: crab, shrimp, squid, clam, mussel and an impenetrable orb that the proprietress described as a “Korean scallop.” The broth was clean and clear, flavored with scallions, zucchini, onion and thin-shaved potato. The noodles themselves were similar to Japanese soba, al dente and slightly nutty tasting.
The restaurant also sells several variations of pancakes (mung bean, seafood & vegetable or leek & vegetable), plus cold noodles and Soo Jae Bee – whole wheat flour dough flake soup.
Nae Go Hyang offered high value, impressive attention to detail and clean flavors. The restaurant is a worthy addition to the Koreatown rotation.
Did you know that they make their kimchi daily? They also sell their kimchi for only $5. What a deal. Best of all, no MSG.
Went to this place on Friday — loved it! I will be going back regularly! Kong guk su is so delicious!
Sharon,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed Nae Go Hyang. Have you tried the cold noodle soup at Corner Place? If not, you might enjoy it.
http://www.foodgps.com/the-corner-place-los-angeles