Monterey Peninsula: Shin La Korean Restaurant

Welcome to mmm-yoso - a little foodblog hosted by Kirk, who sometimes lets his friends post here. Like today, for example, when ed (from Yuma) writes about some things he ate on his summer vacation.

Although I have not lived in the Monterey area since 1997, I am fortunate to still have friends on the peninsula.  And fortunately for me, many of those friends are almost as food obsessed as I am.  With their help, I am able to eat in restaurants far from the beaten paths, places with no tourists in sight (well, except for me, I guess).

Last summer, Jack, Sarah, Lance, Tina, and I descended upon one such place, Shin La Korean restaurant.:
This small restaurant is located in a little strip mall on Carmel Ave, a few blocks east of Del Monte Blvd in Marina, California.  In fact, if one wanted to hide a restaurant in a location where almost nobody could possibly find it -- this'd be the place.  The neighborhood is mostly residential and Carmel Ave is such a secondary street that there is no stoplight for it on Del Monte Blvd.

Previously, this space and been occupied by Shinra Korean restaurant, which served me a couple excellent meals before it went downhill.  I have no idea when the new owner took it over.

In some respects, this incarnation is not as good as its predecessor.  In particular, the ban chan currently lacks tremendous variety and outstanding quality. At Shin La, the ban chan were pretty ordinary - though properly prepared: 

On the other hand, our first dish, fried mandu ($10.99), was first rate:
Each of these giant ravioli was stuffed with lightly spiced ground beef and had been nicely grilled like a good potsticker.  The spicy dipping sauce was a nice complement.

We also loved the gal bi ($17.99):
Although the short ribs were cross cut, they were tender and pleasantly marinated.

We also were impressed by the cold noodles ($9.99):
Although the basic ingredients were just typical, the noodles had a nice pull to them and the broth (does anyone know what is in the broth for Korean cold noodles??) was very good. We were also impressed by the accompanying stoneground mustard seed:
The highlight of the meal was probably the Black goat soup ($29.99), which was served in a metal bowl placed on a heating element to keep the soup warm:
All of us were impressed by the soup itself.  As you can see by this picture, numerous slices of goat meat were combined with a lot of cabbage in a rich and spicy miso broth:
The five of us ate until we were stuffed like dumplings and agreed that the food overall was pretty darned good.  The next time you're in the Monterey Peninsula area, stop at Shin La for a meal and say some friends recommended the place.

Shin La Korean Restaurant, 265 Carmel Ave, Marina CA (831) 384-8956

Comments

[Dennis]

The mandu looks hand made here. Very nice. I still haven't made the jump from lamb to goat but my mother would've loved the stew for sure. :)

[Chris]

Hi. Those noodles look good- looks to me like "naeng myun" and it is made with beef broth. (using just the bones/meat and water- maybe a touch of soy sauce and garlic)it looks clear because unlike French based broth Koreans don't roast the bones or use carrot, celery, onion. Hope that helps

[Carol]

Happy New Year, Ed! Looks like another great meal. I'll have a double order of the short ribs, please! :-p

[ed (from Yuma)]

Happy New Year to one and all! Thanks for the good wishes Carol. I could use another plate of those ribs right now myself.

I'm sure, Dennis, that the mandu are hand made, and this goat was pretty tame. Not sure why it is always "black goat" - wouldn't striped goat taste the same?

Thanks for the info about the broth, Chris, but at Shin La it seemed more subtle/complex than just a beef broth.

[Shannon]

Great post, I have been craving Korean BBQ! I do have a question though...I know you frequent Buga, what is the sauce called that is served with the Hyuh Mit Gui? Its like sesame oil with salt and pepper and what is the daikon and seaweed soup called? I think I might make some Hyuh Mit Gui tonight.

[bill]

Was back in OC during the holidays and boy did I miss me some kbbq went to this joint in LA and boy did they have the best bibimbap perfectly crisped up rice and the sauce is pretty much perfect to me.
Genwa Korean Bbq is the joint if you're curious. You make me miss it and Ca too;-)

[ed (from yuma)]

Shannon - I passed your question on to Kirk, who probably knows the answer. I know the sauce you mean, but I have no recollection of its name.

bill - I miss kbbq a lot also. Out here, I can get some good kim chi, but Hawaiian bbq is as close to Korean as we have here.

[matt]

To add my two cents- I know much of the naengmyeon I've had is in an Asian pear sort of broth.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Yeh, Matt, there are slices of Asian pear in the soup, so some pear flavor certainly seems to be there. I just get puzzled because I can't identify flavors, but I love the broth.