Don't keep mum, or the fried noodles and duck sauce will be trotted out.
Rather, make your dining intentions known: You'll be ordering from the Korean bill of fare, not the Chinese. Quickly you'll be presented with minimalist panchan (onion, daikon, cabbage kimchi) typical of joints that feature jja jang myon and jjam ppong. These two noodle dishes — Korean-Chinese hybrids, to be sure — appear on the menu in numerous permutations. Others are surely possible for those who speak the lingo; my "extra spicy, extra seafood" jjam ppong ($9.50) can't possibly be the hottest on offer. There's no denying, however, that the wheat noodles were well-freighted with shrimp, a scallop or two, a single mussel, and several pale brown slabs of slippery whelk.
Hand model and culinary tipster: Peter Cherches (Word of Mouth).
Hyo Dong Gak
41 West 35th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.)
212-695-7167
I like their jja jang myon a lot; I always have to wave off the Chinese-American menu that gets foisted onto non-Asians.
Posted by: Stephanie | February 16, 2011 at 02:47 PM