Mandoo Bar
2 West 32nd Street, New York, NY 10003
(212)279-3075
When I’m not eating Korean food in Northern New Jersey, where we have a huge selection of Korean restaurants to choose from, I’m eating it on 32nd street, in Manhattan’s Little Korea. One of the things I really like about Little Korea is everything is packed into one long block, and on a nice day you can visit all the cool shops and restaurants, and choose from various different food specialists as opposed to general Korean restaurants that serve things like Kalbi and Bulgogi.
One specialist place which I have been wanting to go check out for quite a while is Mandoo Bar, a small eatery specializing in Mandoo, or Korean dumplings. Similar to the Chinese dumpling (Jiaozi) or Japanese Gyoza, these are made fresh right in the store window and are either boiled or fried, depending on the type you order. What this results in is almost kind of a Dim Sum, quick serve concept restaurant if you stick to that part of the menu, although there are other (very good) Korean dishes you can order as well.
Mandoo Bar storefront on 32nd Street.
Ready for dumplings of the highest order? Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
The different kinds of Mandoo are prepared fresh right in front.
Freshly rolled and cut Mandoo wrappers
Vegetable and Seafood Mandoo ready to be boiled
Mandoo close up
Goon Mandoo (Pork/Scallion) ready for the boil
Boiling up Mandoo
Because the Mandoo Bar concept is so easy to grok, it gets quite a bit of business from Americans as well.
And of course Koreans!
Complimentary radish Kimchi appetizer (banchan)
Fried Goon Mandoo (Pork and Scallion)
Goon Mandoo Closeup
Assorted Mandoo plate
Seafood Mandoo
Vegetable Mandoo
Jap Chae, Korean-style stir fried glass noodles with beef and vegetables
Dolsot (Stone Bowl) Bibimbap, a popular Korean rice dish.
The vegetables and meat are mixed up in the bowl, which comes out absolutely burn your hands off hot. This fries up the meat and veggies and the rice gets crunchy/burned in some parts, which is exactly what you want. A spicy sauce is then mixed in.
February 23, 2007 at 8:50 pm
[...] Perlow (eGullet, Linux Magazine) has posted an enticing droolscape of Mandoo Bar in Manhattan’s Little Korea on his food blog Off the Broiler. This entry was posted on [...]
February 24, 2007 at 5:25 pm
[...] a garlic and chile laden Korean barbecue meal, or perhaps that its directly across the street from Mandoo Bar, making it and the very excellent dumpling restaurant a natural destination pairing, but call me a [...]
March 9, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I have never been to Mandoo Bar and I would live to go there, but I just have to say overall there is nothing like Korean food. Ever since my first bite of kimchi, I have never gone back to eating Chinese or Japanese. Korean food isnt as greasy as Chinese while at the same time is much more flavorful than Japanese. Any group of people who can come up with japchae, kimchi jjigae and most of all SOJU deserves all the praise in the world. I too am from Bergen County NJ, so I am blessed to have this large Korean diaspora near my presence.
April 16, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Loved it! We really liked everything we ordered and the service was good. I enjoyed watching the ladies make the dumplings in the glass storefront. Thanks for finding this gem on a great street.
April 24, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Best place EVER for dumplings. It’s fast and it’s good and the portions/price are perfect. A friend of mine and I stumbled upon it after touring the handbag district and it really hit the spot!
April 30, 2007 at 3:50 am
Jason, which types of mandoo did you like best? I’ve been to Mandoo Bar once and thought what I had was just OK (I tend to go to Han Bat when I want a cheap meal in Koreatown), but I was by myself and tried nowhere near as much food as you did.
June 14, 2007 at 12:23 am
[...] few months ago, when I heard that a New Jersey outpost of the 32nd Street/Koreatown restaurant Mandoo Bar (click for previous post) was going to be opening in Palisades Park, I was overjoyed. While there are numerous Korean [...]
November 24, 2007 at 1:31 pm
[...] Post at Off the Broiler [...]