Korean cold noodles in OC?

[Earl Grey]

Hi. In a previous post, jschyun mentioned two noodles houses (Miho and Hangari noodle houses), but after searching the board and the internet, I have not been able to find any information on these places. Anyone been? Any other recs for Korean cold noodles in OC? Thanks!

[jschyun]

Wow, are you lucky I was looking for an old thread. You sent this right after I left on vacation.

Miho does not serve naengmyun, which is what i suspect you're looking for. Stretchy brown noodles in an icy, clear beef broth with slices of meat, kimchi, cuke, asian pear, and a halved egg on top? That's naengmyun, a dish of pure, chilly satisfaction.

There is a new naengmyun house that just opened up sort of across the street from Miho, but I haven't been there yet. I'll go there soon and let you know how it is.

Miho does serve great knife cut noodles in soup though. Known as "kalguksu" (knife+noodle) you can get it with all sorts of stuff in there. However, in this heat, I'd advise against their kalguksu.

Hangari Noodle House does serve naengmyun, i think both the spicy non soup version (bibimnaengmyun) and the one with soup, non spciy (mool naengmyun)

Where are you? If you are in irvine, my favorite place is Kaya. Consistently great banchan that I can demolish all by myself, and entrees are for the most part, solid. For lunch the naengmyun (kind with icy soup in it) is $5.99. I should take a pic of the naengmyun wall sign. It says something about how refreshing naengmyun is on a hot day. Actually, I've been going to kaya exclusively for a while. Thanks for reminding me that I need to start getting my butt to other places again.

Hangari Noodle House (they speak English quite well here)

9916 Garden Grove Blvd

Garden Grove, CA

714-537-0100

Miho Restaurant (no English)

9735 Garden Grove Blvd

Garden Grove 92844

714-539-5064

Kaya (sort of speak english here)

14120 Culver Dr , Irvine

949-726-9424

Here's some random pics. The other pics were junk.

Miho's chogae kalguksu (knife cut noodles with clams)

Kaya storefront

if you have room for dessert, go to the food court in Arirang Market ( 8281 Garden Gove Boulevard, Garden Grove, (714) 539-2702). They have the best pahtbingsu (shaved ice with red beans) in OC, IMHO.

--at kaya the teriyaki chicken wasn't so good though.

Edited July 16, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[jschyun]

Maison Rustique recently reminded me of a flyer we got about a new BBQ place in Irvine.

If you're in Irvine, ignore my mention of naengmyun at Kaya. It's a cute hole in the wall with certain things I really like, but you might be underwhelmed. Go to the 1 month old, very plush Korea House BBQ on University Dr. I tried their naengmyun for lunch today. Their naengmyun is pretty damn good, much better than Kaya's, and at $7.99 during lunch, not too pricey. The clear, cold beef stock was slightly on the sweet side, not as beefy tasting as I would like, but still slushy and refreshing. A little rice vinegar solves the sweetness thing. I don't usually put in mustard, though. People sometimes like to put in yellow Chinese style mustard in to keep it interesting.

When you get naengmyun, don't dawdle too much when you eat it. You don't want the noodles to have time to sit and get soft and flabby. A good place should have nice stretchy, uh kind of firm noodles. I don't know if I should say al dente.

They are primarily a barbecue house. They grill over gas though. Oh well. Koreans are flocking to this place though. Nice environs and great service. The first time I went there, the waitress asked me "How is everything?" then "How was your meal", "Would you like anything more?" She was so cheerful and bubbly that I had to check to make sure I wasn't at TGIF.

No pics today. Forgot my camera at home. Next time.

Korea House BBQ

5305 University Drive

Irvine, CA 92612

(949) 690-9963

Don't worry Maison Rustique, I'm still up for lunch anytime.

[jschyun]

Just went to Hwang Hae Do Korean BBQ in Garden Grove, and they have a $2.99 mool naengmyun special from 11am-3pm. They only do 150 bowls and that's it. Went there for lunch today and it was okay, sort of stripped down, but what do you expect for $2.99?

--hmm, it sounds as though I didn't like the place. the naengmyun i had today had good noodles and okay soup. All in all, it was definitely worth $3.23 including tax.

Edited July 29, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[Earl Grey]

Thank you jschyun! What awesome detective work you've done!

Kaya has been my Korean restaurant of choice since moving to Irvine. I like their bibimnaengmyun, but have been looking to branch out and try other Korean restaurants. I've also heard there's a good Korean BBQ place in Newport Beach. Have you been or have you heard anything about this place? Thanks!

[jschyun]

Thank you jschyun!  What awesome detective work you've done!  

Kaya has been my Korean restaurant of choice since moving to Irvine.  I like their bibimnaengmyun, but have been looking to branch out and try other Korean restaurants.  I've also heard there's a good Korean BBQ place in Newport Beach.  Have you been or have you heard anything about this place?  Thanks!

No detective work really. Also, if you're interested in a dining partner and eat your dinner late, I'm usually avail.

NB: You're talking about Yi-Cho which is right near the airport, there's no other ones in Newport Beach. It's kind older, upscale. A lot of Caucasian folk there, so obviously English is not a problem. Food's alright. I haven't had their mool (soupy) naengmyun but their bibimnaengmyun, specifically the hwe bibimnaengmyun was decent. if you don't like stringy, chewy fish bits, you might do better to order the regular bibimnaengmyun.

Since you're in Irvine, the best soft tofu restaurant is Gaju in Irvine. It's a branch of the Garden Grove store, and everyone seems to like the Garden Grove one better, but I think they're both pretty good. Another place, Irvine Soft Tofu House is more along gringo tastes, not my fave, but they're very popular. They did have pretty good galbi though, before they remodeled, haven't tried it since.

I can't think of anything else in the vicinity. Oh wait, there's a fairly new korean supermarket in Tustin, off Redhill and Walnut. I know because during the grand opening they sent out flyers with these incredible deals that my parents took full advantage of. I forget the name because I generally go to Garden Grove to shop. However, I've been there a couple times and they have a cool, very popular little food court. They even have a stall where a lady sells different kinds of dduk. pretty cool. This supermarket used to be a Ralph's and is well stocked with pretty much everything you need, except misutgaru, as I once found out.

--Oh and Hwang Hwe Do is now my favorite naengmyun. Partly due to the incredible price (they also have specials involving naengmyun+mandu and naengmyun + boiled beef), and partly because it's pretty good. Also at Hwang Hwe Do, they serve their naengmyun with shredded radish pickle. Asian radish is supposed to aid in the digestion of the buckwheat noodles or something like that. That's from Korean food science, which I'm not really that good with.

Come early during lunch hour, because it gets packed. Yum yum!

hope this is useful.

Edited August 4, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[jschyun]

FYI, Hangari Noodle House has pretty damn good neng kongguksu (noodles in cold soy milk). The soy milk is creamy and rich, with a rounded nuttiness that is better than what I've had elsewhere, except for home of course. In this dish noodles are an afterthought, and they are treated as such here. I should have taken a picture, the dish was very pretty today.

I can't believe I never tried Hangari for noodles in cold soy milk. I know you guys might think you won't like it but I think you might like Hangari's version and it sure beats the heat.