Last Tuesday, I agreed to meet up with a friend for dinner. Little did I realize she would take me to Man Doo Rang Dumpling House, a Korean restaurant in Buena Park. Ironically, that same exact day, I got back from a ten day trip to Korea. You would think I would want anything but Korean food.
In the end, I agreed to go and I was actually excited to compare the differences and similarities of Korean food in Seoul to Korean food in California.
Here is my review of Man Doo Rang Dumpling House :
The Food
Kimchi Fried Rice – $8.99
I enjoy kimchi, but a lot of my friends aren’t big fans of it or have never even had it. If you are trying to get into kimchi, then the Kimchi Fried Rice might be a great starting point. When you mix kimchi and rice, the flavors of the kimchi are more toned down or “hidden” which helps those new to Korean food who are worried about dishes being too spicy or the flavors being too strong for their palette.
Man Doo Rang’s Kimchi Fried Rice is quite a simple dish. Lots of rice mixed with kimchi (obviously), onions, and other vegetables. Topping off the dish is an over easy egg.
I was expecting the dish to be quite spicy, but it was anything but. Luckily, you can add sriracha or red pepper flakes to give it a little kick. The kimchi adds just enough flavor that you know it’s there, but it doesn’t overwhelm the dish.
I do wish that the egg was cooked a little more runny and also that the rice was fried a little more. A little bit of crispy rice at the bottom of the dish would have added many great flavors.
Dumpling Soup with Rice Cake – $8.99
It seemed like everyone in the restaurant was ordering dumplings. I couldn’t decide on the dumplings or a soup, so I picked the next best thing, the Dumpling Soup with Rice Cake.
This filling soup contains large pork filled steamed dumplings, plenty of eggs, green onions, all of which is topped off with sliced seaweed. The soup is similar to egg drop soup in that eggs are used to thicken the broth.
The star of the soup was the dumplings. The skin of each dumpling was light and prepared perfectly. Inside was a generous amount of delicious pork. I do wish though that the soup had more than four or five dumplings.
If you love eggs, you will love the broth. It is definitely thick and flavorful. Hidden at the bottom of the bowl was a generous amount of sliced rice cakes, which are extremely filling.
Topping off the soup was seaweed and green onions which added a nice texture and crunch to each bite.
The Service
No complaints on the service. The servers were friendly and greeted each customer as they arrived and said goodbye as they left the restaurant. They also did a great job refilling drinks as I drank more glasses of water than I can remember.
Conclusion
Buena Park literally has a Korean restaurant on every corner. Man Doo Rang Dumpling House is a solid choice for those looking for a quick, casual, friendly, and moderately priced place to get their Korean fix, especially late at night. Though the food may not be as good as Korea, it sure is a lot cheaper and quicker to jump in a car and drive to Buena Park then hop on a flight to Korea.
Details
Hours
Monday-Thursday: 9:00am-1:00am
Friday-Saturday: 9:00am-2:00am
Sunday: 9:00am-midnight
Address
5458 Beach Blvd
Buena Park, CA 90621
714-670-8989
