Myung In Dumplings

**** Myung In has closed

** Note: Myung In Dumplings has moved to the Zion Market Food Court

Back in February, I noted that Myung In Dumplings was moving into the space formerly occupied by Voltero's. soon after they opened rather quietly. I decided to drop by and check them out. After all, it's been a while since I've had a decent Wang Mandu.

The first thing I noticed were the two women making dumplings behind the counter.

The second thing I really noticed after sitting down were the prices! Mandu, ten bucks! Then I was handed a menu with prices that had been marked down a buck. Not cheap, but a bit better.

So I placed my order and went thru the rest of the menu.

Meanwhile, the dipping sauce, and some panchan made its way to the table. The sauce was on the mild side, but it seemed to have black vinegar in it which I thought was a bit strange......I welcomed it, but it was different.

I had ordered two items, starting with the Wang (King) Mandu ($8), the pork and vegetable version.

Man, these were humongous. I only finished one. I ended giving the rest to "YZ" for her to take home to her daughter.

The actual steamed bun seemed way too "white" and reminded me of something else, but I couldn't place my finger on it. It was very fluffy and fairly nice, if lacking in the great yeastiness of a Wang (King) Mandu dough.

The filling was a bit too crumbly for me, but was moist, though a tad light in flavor.

Yeah, I know....too picky with my steamed buns and dumplings. But I can't help it.

Curious, I also ordered the Boiled Dumpling with shrimp, pork, and vegetable. I don't ever recall seeing this in any of the mandu shops I've been to. You should have seen the look on my face when this arrived.....it was jiaozhi!

These were actually ok. The dough was lacking in the slight chew, stretch, and tenderness that I like in a good dumpling. In case you're wondering where I get this from...well, here's how my MIL makes Jiaozi. Of course, this was not even close to QingDao Bread Food. The filling was also a bit too loose and on the bland side. Still, better than Dumpling Inn. To put things in perspective, below average for me, better than average for San Diego. So I gotta give this a not bad.

The woman serving me was very nice. I mentioned that the dumplings seemed very Chinese, I was told that the owner is Korean, but from China. I was really intrigued. A few days later, I mentioned the place to "Mr.S" who was shocked that a Korean place opened in San Diego without he knowing. When I mentioned the name of the place to him, he looked at me in surprise. He asked me if they had locations in LA and I didn't know. We decided to meet for lunch the very next day. Upon arriving, Mr.S assured me he had eaten at the Koreatown location of Myung In. When he spoke to our Server, who according to Mr.S spoke both Korean and Mandarin, she did confirm that the restaurant had several locations in LA. Looking at the back of the take-out menu confirmed that.

We ended up ordering a pile of food. Starting with the Pork and Kimchi Wang Mandu.

Same huge steamed buns. As for the filling, I prefer the pork and vegetable version. When I mentioned that the dough really reminded me of something else, Mr.S said, "yes, this is like Jjin Bbang...." He was totally right......by the way, they do have red bean seamed bun on the menu. 

The item we enjoyed the best was the mandu guk - the mandu soup.

For some reason, the dumplings did really well in this broth, which had enough salt and other flavor to help things along. The wrapper became almost noodle-like and this might be the way to go in the future. It was very hearty and satisfying.

The last thing we had were the spicy steamed roll dumplings. The wrapped meat rolls weren't what made this spicy...it was the accompanying chili paste. Sigh.

Kind of tough and not something I'd order again.

Our server also mentioned that the owner was originally from China and even said where, but I couldn't make it out. Anyway, the next day, I read Kirbie's post on Myung In Dumpling, where she mentions Anthony Bourdain's visit to the LA location. Call me out of touch with mainstream food media. Following the Google trail, I came to find out that the owner is of Korean ancestry, but originally from Shenyang, China. Interesting path.

As for the jiaozi, I think it's decent, better than any other alternative in San Diego. Though I think I may try other stuff....and get the mandu guk the next time. Still, if you can't wait for another trip to the SGV for your jiaozi fix.....

Myung In Dumplings
4344 Convoy St,
San Diego, CA 92111 

Comments

[kat]

glad it was decent:)

[Kirbie]

This is how I felt too. Better than anything else in SD, but not as good as my favorites in LA. There is a photo of the owner with Bourdain on the wall, which is what led me to research his visit to the LA one.

[R]

Agree with your post as well as Kirbie's - decent and has a home-cooking taste to the dumplings, but a bit too expensive, I found. I also noticed that they sell frozen dumplings too. $18 for 36, if I could remember correctly. The buns (#1 on the menu) were indeed quite large. Probably the size of my fist.

All prices on menu also included tax.

I also checked out the new Dumpling Inn last weekend. First time going ever (old or new location) - and wanted to see what the hype was able. Interesting that there was still a bit of a wait even after 2:30pm. The food took a while to come out, and the XLB's weren't even hot temperature-wise (they were just a little hotter than warm), and it lacked soup inside. It tasted alright - good enough, but I start to wonder about all the hype it's been getting...

[Kirk]

Mt too Kat!

At least we have a place to go to when we can't make it to LA Kirbie.....

Actually R - I call it Dump(ling)Inn. They used to be ok, but jumped the shark years ago.

[Carol]

I guess next time I'm in the mood for dumplings and too lazy to make them, I'll try this place out. They do look pretty good.

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - The dumplings here were surprisngly decent. Nothing to rave about, but ok overall.