Mandoo Bar

Extremely attentive service! An excellent lunch spot. The dumplings are made on site and you can see them making them while you walk in. There are starter and entree size options for the dumplings. Mandoo Bar also offers a wide variety of bibimbap. The soup will warm your soul. If you are looking for alcohol a small selection is offered. Inside little storage areas are under the seats.

So I came to this place many years ago (opened in 1999). I remember back then it was one of the vanguard of Korean restaurants starting to break out of their insular immigrant shell to join the ranks of other ethnic foods that had become actual dining destinations. The only problem was that despite all the accolades, when I went, it didn't taste good. I don't remember what I ate then but I remember leaving sorely disappointed and distrustful of all those who hyped these ethnic finds despite what I thought was a culinary failure. Fast forward to today and we were in the neighborhood and desperate for a light meal to tide us over until a dinner later that night. It was a completely different story and now the lines that went out the door seemed to all make sense to me. Although they serve food other than the eponymous mandoo - but why bother eating anything else? We tried 3: the steamed kimchee mandoo, the pan fried mandoo, and the mool mandoo. The kimchee one had the nice brightness of the kimchee to contrast the taste of the filling. The mandoo wrapper was thick enough to withstand the steaming giving it a nice chewy bite. But I found the taste of the filling to be a bit bland. The pan fried mandoo filling was very flavorful and the crispy fried wrapper gave the mandoo a nice crunchy texture. Usually the fried mandoo is my hands-down favorite, but I have to say that the mool mandoo was even better. First, the filling was very similar to the tasty filling in the fried mandoo but second, the wrapper was a thicker variety. This let it survive the boiling in water and retain a nice chewy texture. We were all very happy with our choices and in some way, this place was redeemed in my mind. Service was efficient and quick. Definitely a great place for a light meal.