Their freshly-made kimchi came in a ceramic pot, with a generous portion inside. Due to it being made that morning, the garlic is quite strong, and can sometimes veer into the unpleasant territory.
The large shabu shabu pot came stuffed with vegetables, rice cakes, mandu, and topped with some slices of beef. Noodles or rice are included with this item, and they usually offer it after you have finished the pot, so you can mix it in with the remaining soup.
If the king-sized dumplings ($10.99) are what attracts you to Myungdong Kalkuksu Noodle and Shabu Shabu, they're worth a try but don’t get too excited. For me, there's a reason the dumplings didn't make it into the restaurant's name (after all, they're highlighting "noodles" and "shabu shabu"); sure the gigantic tennis ball sized look impressive, but they merely taste passable.
The pork filling is combined with a filler, which could be egg white, so there's a crumbly texture to the dumpling with little actual meat flavour. What stands out the most is the chives peppered throughout creating a rather bland dumpling that really requires kimchi, hot sauce, or ponzu for flavour. Moreover, what I love most about dumplings is the juices that collect within the wrapper… at Myungdong Kalkuksu there is none.
Luckily, you’ll get plenty of kimchi and having heard the compliments from reviewers about this complimentary side dish, I can see why it’s so well regarded. The cabbage is fresh and crispy and the spicy sauce spiked with tons of garlic for an aromatic heat. Our table of two almost finished the entire jar.
Their shabu shabu ($15.99 a person for a minimum of 2 people) is a fair size, especially if you add on dumplings, and has a sufficient amount of thinly
Despite being a restaurant that advertises Noodles & Shabu Shabu in their name, interestingly enough, it's their myeongdong dumplings that keep me coming back for more. The dumplings are gigantic and really yummy! They have the perfect combination of thin wrapper, lots of tasty meat and veggies and they've trapped all this flavourful soup inside when they're steamed. The restaurant gets super busy, so be prepared to wait in line (even though the service is usually pretty fast).
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