In the Shan Xi Magic Kitchen post, I mentioned that Myung In Dumplings had moved to the Zion Market Food Court. The reason I knew this is because I went in looking for a quick lunch, and there it was, almost sharing space with Spotted Cow.
I was quite surprised since I had just been there a few weeks before. I thought why not have some Mandu Guk, since in my opinion, that was the best item I'd had at Myung In. Strangely, it wasn't on the menu. Neither was any kind of mandu or dumplings! What the heck? ?I even asked and was told they are not currently making those dishes, but perhaps in the future?
Anyway, it's either a stir-fry, fried rice, or seafood soup.......
I went with the japchae, which was fairly reasonable at $7.99 and strangely, at least for me, came with rice.
In terms of being straight-up food court food, it registered as decent. The soup was insipid and the baechu kimchi and takuan were obviously bought form the market. The rice was on the dry side. The japchae itself was okay, the chicken was dry and chewy, though the dish as a whole had a decent soy-sesame oil flavor. I really didn't appreciate all the inedible dried chilies on the dish, though.
You know; I'm not sure it's still the same owners. Man, from being the "chain made famous by being on Anthony Bourdain's show" to the Zion Foodcourt, without serving your namesake dishes in one year!
**** Myung In Dumplings is no more
Myung In Dumplings (in the Zion Market Food Court)
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111
A couple of weeks after returning from Seoul, I was wondering how Gala Chicken was doing. I decided to drop by and grab some chicken. I got the extra crispy, which is still priced at $7.99.
I was glad to see that unlike my previous two visits, that chicken hadn't been cut into during the cooking process. It did taste a bit off, sort of in a rancid oil kind of way, though the chicken was very moist. This time around, the coating was more like my first visit, really crumbly, than crisp like my second visit.
I can see the potential here and the guy working here is very nice, but the place just can't seem to get all the planets lined up. Though I don't get the grumbling from some folks I know about having to wait 15-20 minutes for the chicken. Hey, at least they are making it fresh and to order......
Gala Chicken
7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd (Inside of Zion Market)
San Diego, CA 92111
Doh! Rancid oil doesn't inspire me to visit...
Posted by: Soo @ hungryones | Monday, 16 May 2016 at 09:38 AM
No dumplings. Interesting. I thought the fillings were a little bland but the wrappers made up for it.
Posted by: Junichi | Monday, 16 May 2016 at 11:13 AM
Hi Soo - Might just be on this day....I'd still go ahead and try them out.
Really strange Junichi. I did like their mandu guk......
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 16 May 2016 at 12:01 PM
:(
Posted by: kat | Monday, 16 May 2016 at 04:54 PM
Can you imagine no dumplings at a dumpling shop Kat?
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 16 May 2016 at 07:17 PM
So strange Kirk. I usually went there for the mandu guk too as well as the fried mandu. I hope it reappears.
Posted by: jack | Tuesday, 17 May 2016 at 07:12 AM
I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing as well Jack.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 17 May 2016 at 07:18 AM
About Myung-in, the deal is, these are the folks that ran "Happy Family" at the old Zion/U-Mart location on Mercury. Seems like they bought the rights to the name only. Rumor is that they are not allowed to sell Korean-Chinese noodle dishes like HK--hence the lack of "jjamppong" and "jajangmyeon" on the menu, and "hot and spicy pork" rather than "sweet and sour." They do have one dumpling dish on the menu, the same fried dumplings they sold at Happy Family.
Posted by: JKP | Tuesday, 17 May 2016 at 02:53 PM
Hi JKP - Thanks for the clarification. Not sure why they didn't keep the Happy Family name.....the current situation makes things more confusing. Plus, it really messes up the Myung In brand, but I guess they don't really care. Strange, I didn't see fried mandu among the 8 dishes offered when I visited. Glad for the Happy Family folks though; they were always very nice.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 18 May 2016 at 06:56 AM
We saw them at the Zion food court this weekend but I didn't look closely at the menu, so I had no idea they no longer have dumplings. That seems like a very strange decision on their part.
Posted by: Kirbie | Friday, 20 May 2016 at 01:57 PM
Hi Kirbie - Same here.....
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 29 May 2016 at 11:48 AM