Hangari Bajirak Kalgooksoo: When You Just Want a Bowl of Noodles Made by a Korean Grandmother

Sometimes you just want a simple, steaming bowl of soup noodles, in a place where you can 'come as you are' both in terms of clothing and budget.  Say, when you're feeling under the weather, or you're saving for #bucketlist meals, or when you've just come from the gym/spa and don't have the energy/will to get back into full gear, hair and makeup.

I have a recent go to spot for such occasions, and it goes by possibly the world's most difficult-to-remember-name-to-non-Koreans of Hangari Bajirak Kalgooksoo.  Their specialty is fresh-made, hand-cut noodles (I believe the two final words in the restaurant name translate to shellfish hand cut noodles).  And it's conveniently located minutes from some of my favorite spas in Ktown, and in the same strip mall as one of my favorite bakeries in the area, Paris Baguette.

In terms of decor, the place is definitely no frills, but in a very comforting way, whether or not it's actually family owned, I'm not sure - but it gives off that vibe like it's family run.

The servers are frazzled most of the time as the restaurant is constantly busy - but you get the feeling that they have a hard and sometimes spiny shell with a soft center. 

As for the food: it looks and tastes like something a Korean grandmother would make for her family - simple, fresh, and infused with TLC.  And at $8.95 for a giant bowl of noodles plus banchan (free, refillable side dishes), also an incredible deal.

Banchan, as with other Korean restaurants, are first to arrive.  They keep these simple too, just a few dishes including puffed rice, kimchi, and a miso sauce that packs an umami punch.

The star of the show is of course the fresh made hand-cut noodles: seafood is apparently the most popular version, and they also offer chicken, but given the namesake I needed to try the bajirak version (a shellfish from Asia that may translate to littleneck clams). 

I loved everything about this steaming bowl of comfort.  To borrow the Chinese way of praising soup quality: the broth here has 'clarity' and 'purity', which makes it very soothing and helps impart a feeling that it's good for your body and soul.  The noodles were structured yet impossibly tender, and also taste like they were just pulled together and cut minutes before they reached your table.

The surprising element to me was the addition of kabocha squash for a hint of sweetness, and a nice clean starchy crunch.  There were also chunks of potato to soak up the broth and become nice soft/crumbly flavor bombs, and bit of scallions and shredded seaweed for additional taste.

When you are sick, the mild flavors of the soup noodles will be just perfect - but when you are not, there are the handy side dishes of miso sauce and kimchi, which allows you to adjust for flavor according to your own personal preference (that miso sauce is so good I could eat spoonfuls of it...).

Can't wait to go back (too bad it's not open right now...I'm making myself hungry writing about this)!

On a 7 point scale:

Flavor - 5 bites  
Presentation - 4 bites
Originality - 4 bites
Ambience -  2 stars
Service - 3 stars
Overall experience - 4 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 100% 

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Hangari Bajirak Kalgooksoo

3470 W 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90020

Ph: 213.388.2326

Parking: $2 valet in attached open air lot at night

(Restaurant is a little hard to find - it's in the same strip mall as Paris Baguette.  Go to the opposite end of the mall from 7-Eleven and it's next to a bar/lounge - the one with green tables)

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Noodle Boy / Delicious Food Corner: When You're Sick and Weary...

Many, many moons ago, my family spent a few years in Canada. I remember the visual beauty of seasons: fluffy mops of maple trees burning brilliant against crisp blue skies; waking to our yard and street blanketed in pristine, glistening white - as if inside a snow globe that settled overnight. I remember tunneling through snowbanks shovelled off to the sides of our driveway, with my brother, making 'igloos', snowmen, snow angels.

What I can't remember was what it actually it felt like...those subzero temperatures. And sorry, Seasons lovers - for me that's an incredibly good thing. Having lived in California so long - being spoiled by year round comparatively great weather -  I can't imagine - no, I can't live anywhere else after this. (Well, except maybe the Maldives, if I finally win that lotto jackpot...).

Each February-ish though in LA, when temperatures do drop to the 40s and 50s, it already feels like death to me (hey, everything is relative...that's freezing compared to our otherwise endless summer). Everyone gets sick around this time, and somehow I always manage to dodge the bugs on the first few go arounds. Apparently my body likes to wait til the virus mutates and/or right before I need to travel, before I succumb to a superbug, for maximum trauma.

This year was no different - it hit me on third pass, and hard. Except that I've made some amazing foodie friends through this blog - who were able to steer me away from the canned soups and Jerry's Delis of the world...to sick food that truly heals body and soul, with tastes of home.

Noodle Boy, a recommendation from well travelled, super knowledgeable Hong Kong transplant miffyeats, was a no frills place in a strip mall in Rosemead, that is as authentic to a Hong Kong wonton noodle joint as you can get in LA. These places specialize in a few variations of their signature dish, and take pride in doing so.

Noodle Boy, as the name would suggest, knows noodles and they do it well. In terms of menu format, you can almost think of it as the Hong Kong-ese version of In-N-Out, with  straightforward offerings that riff on basically the same items in different combinations.

I went for the "Any 2 Combinations" Noodle Soup ($6) with Wontons and Fish Balls.  A hearty bowl with clear, soul-soothing, clean tasting broth, thin egg noodles the way I like 'em with my wontons.  It'd been a while since I had fish balls (no, not offal sea creature gonads, but more like savory 'cakes' made of ground up fish) - and Noodle Boy makes theirs with scallion and other deliciousness mixed in: very light, flavorful yet filling in large rectangular slabs versus the more traditional small spheres.  While I loved the fish balls, the wontons were the true standouts - you can definitely taste that the wrappers are fresh made, soft and pliable, with super fresh, snappy pieces of shrimp as filling - I felt better on contact with every bite and slurp of the contents of this bowl - and only wish I had stomach space for 3 more.  They also have the wider, flatter white ("fun") noodle option, as well as sides of veggies - which I may try next time, though I hear that nothing measures up to the quality of those wonton + egg noodles.

Delicious Food Corner was a recommendation from my Go To expert on all things SGV (and beyond), Sinosoul - when I heard that the Cantonese / Hong Kong-ese contingent tend to flock there for congee, I had to make a trip out to the SGV to check it out.  Yes, rice porridge is in theory an easy DIY - but when you're sick, and single, you just really don't want to have to do anything that requires any amount of work in the kitchen - and it's NOT easy to do congee RIGHT.  Really good congee takes hours to cook, and has a smooth, soothing consistency with evenly infused flavor.  Plus, I love abalone in congee, and that's not something I can easily get at markets outside of the SGV anyway. 

DFC has several different kinds of congee (including "Pig Offal" and one with pig kidney and liver, which as Cantonese/ Chinese people 'know', nourishes the corresponding organs in the eater).  I was torn between two classic favorites: Pork and Preserved Egg ($6.25) and Abalone and Chicken ($8.50).  Since it was only $2.25 more for the abalone, and I was in the mood for it anyway, I went for that one.  Loved every spoonful of this 'jook' - testament that sick food doesn't have to be bland and soul-crushingly boring.  Also, the abalone came in fairly sizeable slices, unlike some Ktown eateries that I love for its flavors but make their abalone portions barely detectable.

Aside from an extensive offering of congees, DFC also has a pretty big menu of Hong Kong style dishes including one of my favorite street foods growing up, curry fish balls!  Except that they serve it in a bowl, and you have the option of fish and/or squid balls!  Since this was a few weeks after Noodle Boy and I was just at the beginning of another bout of cold, but not yet full blown, and not spice averse - I got the combo bowl - the somewhat unfortunately translated Curry with Mixed Two Ball ($5.95).  These are more like savory cakes, as explained in the Noodle Boy report above, but in the traditional sphere shape, and dunked in curry sauce.  The balls were...for lack of better adjective...springy....But the texture of the sauce was a bit too grainy and starchy for me, and I would have liked to see the spice more pronounced - but for a nostalgic taste of home, in a generously portioned bowl, it put a smile on my face.

By the way, DFC also serves that mythical HK cold remedy: Hot Coke with lemon (and version with ginger too). No one knows how this works - I understand the bug fighting antioxidants in the lemon, and ginger's antiseptic properties, heat to soothe congestion, but the coke (coca cola)...? Not sure, maybe just to help kids drink it all down - but we always unquestioningly drank these as kids to help with colds.

The other thing I loved about these sick food places in SGV - and I may be biased / receive different treatment as a Cantonese speaker - the waitresses here sort of automatically transform into stand-in asian moms, caring enough to ask about my condition and helping me navigate the menu to find the type of congee/food that will best make me feel better, and sending me off with well wishes to get better soon.  For a transplant with my family all in other time zones / countries - it's definitely nice to experience the kindness of strangers embracing me 'family style' in the SGV.

I should also note for those who might be homesick / wondering where all the Cantonese people are in the SGV - at Noodle Boy / DFC both you will hear a comforting cacophony of Cantonese all around you - almost feels like you're in a neighborhood joint in HK (or warning to those who don't speak, it might be irritating).

In any case, the next time I'm feeling under the weather in LA, I have two new go-tos, that I know will help get me back to functional in no time!

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Noodle Boy
8518 E Valley Blvd Ste. #B108, Rosemead, CA 91770
Ph: 626.280.8963

Cash only

Parking: free in attached strip mall open air lot

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Delicious Food Corner
2327 S. Garfield Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754
Ph: 323.726.0788
Website: deliciousfoodcorner.com
Cash only
Parking: free in attached open air lot
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Han Bat vs Mountain Cafe: Sizing Up Korean Sick Soups

For some reason, just before I travel my body always gives way to the bug du jour - it's as if it'd been holding on to get through the stress of leaving everything in a good place at work, at home, before going on vacation - and just when all is set to go, it decides it's ok to throw in the towel on my immune system.

As I save my only international trip of the year for the holidays, I was anxious when I started feeling a cold coming on just before my trip. No time / not in the mood to cook - I went in search of foods to soothe body and soul, to fuel the fight against the virus before it gets full blown.

I remembered a Korean 'sick soup' that supposedly does wonders for hangovers and/or illness - Sul Lung Tang. And according to a quick Google search, one of the 'best' of these comes from a hole-in-the-wall in Koreatown, that specializes in nothing but this soup: Han Bat Shul Lung Tang (not sure why they spell Sul with an "h", other places do not - any Koreans out there can shed some light on the correct spelling?)

Han Bat is very much bare bones (pun intended) - a no-fuss storefront on a less trafficked side of 5th street, unglamorously located across the way from a Carl's Jr. With just a handful of tables and a short menu that fits in a photo frame on the wall - your choices are basically beef soup, or boiled beef soup - and what types of meat/offal to put into it.

Even while nursing a cold, I refuse to go for boring old 'flank' or 'brisket' beef, and I wasn't about to pay over $16 for 'boiled beef' soup - so I ended up with Sul Lung Tang with Intestine, Tripe & Spleen ($8.28).

Sul Lung Tang in general is made by slow simmering ox bones - typically 12-15 hours by most accounts. This process results in a nutrient rich broth that is said to help boost your immune system, and also is soothing to eat (in marked contrast to bold flavors of more familiar Korean foods that involve kimchee or barbecue).

I expected to love this soup - afterall, ramen broth makes me go all weak in the knees, which is another slow-simmered soup, but just made with pork bones instead of ox (and ok maybe bonito as well). And I love offal.

But despite best of intentions, I intensely disliked Sul Lung Tang. As it's the first time I'd had it, I'm not sure if it's Han Bat's preparation or the type of soup in general that I don't like the taste of. But to me the milky looking broth had a slightly gelatinous consistency (probably from the collagen in the bones) and lacked layers / depth of flavor - it basically reminded me of cloudy dishwater. That you can feel coating your throat and stomach as it goes down (which I suppose would be great for hangovers - so no use to me since I've long outgrown those days!) Even the offal didn't help - there were only a few narrow strips of tripe, and the intestines were a bit too slimy for my taste. The spleen was fine but didn't contribute a lot in taste to the soup. I do like glass noodles, so if I had to say one positive thing about this soup, I would say it's the inclusion of the noodles. Again it's my first, so perhaps I would give the soup another chance at another place, but at Han Bat I could barely finish my bowl.

The banchan (side dishes) were an entirely different story: Han Bat serves up a bowl of kimchee, a bowl of radish kimchee, and a bowl of rice (included in cost of soup). The kimchee was delicious, perfect balance of sour/spicy with a satisfying crunch. And they also set down a giant plastic bin of chopped scallions that you can add to the soup for flavor - but again nothing added to the soup helped - we just weren't compatible.

A little while later, just before my trip, knowing I was still feeling under the weather, Sophia from Burp and Slurp recommended Mountain Cafe for a dinner meet up via Marilyn from Nomlog.

I hadn't heard of the place before that night, but a quick search online and it was clear this place was indeed well known for two sick foods: Abalone Porridge, and Ginseng Chicken soup, and that both would be amazing.

This hole-in-the-wall was much different - it's a much smaller space, with maybe 5 tables max, squeezed in around the open kitchen, where two mom/grandma figures toiled to bust out bowl after bowl of steaming deliciousness. The menu offers wider range and diversity than Han Bat, but because of the open kitchen set in a tiny space, and personal service from the staff of three, it feels a bit more like you're getting a home-cooked meal.

Sophia ended up not being able to join us, so Marilyn and I grabbed a 2-top and excitedly checked out the menu. I knew we were probably going to go with the signature soups, but it was fun looking through their other menu offerings (the translations are also pretty amusing - like the "soup made from the bones of the four legs of an ox". Would it taste 'off' if you only put in 3 legs? And why, whatever would they mean by "good for your stamina"?).

Though Abalone Chowder is their top seller, I'm fairly used to 'jook' or rice porridge from Chinese cuisine, and it's fairly simple to make - so I opted for the richer sounding Ginseng Chicken Soup ($10.65) - made with a whole chicken, ginseng, garlic, jujube, ginger and sweet rice.

It was love at first bite - the giant stoneware bowl came steaming hot, and you could smell the gingery goodness from 10 feet away. Where most people would say blander foods are better when you are sick (taking it easy on the digestive system), that is exactly the stuff of foodie nightmares, and exactly why I hate being sick. Viruses harm my body, but bland foods kill my soul. Ginseng Chicken Soup thankfully rails against convention - it's full of amazing, unabashed layers of rich flavor, yet still packed with soothing effects that are immediate - one spoonful and it warms you to the core, nourishing and coaxing your body (and soul) back to health on impact.

I loved the interplay of flavors and textures here - delicious chicken broth is elevated with subtle sweetness from jujube (dates), bit of heat from the ginger, slight bitterness from ginseng, held together by fragrant but not overwhelming garlic; tender chicken meat is offset by crunchy scallions, with sweet rice adding textural interest. AND you get an entire chicken in the soup, so it makes for a filling meal!

THIS is chicken soup for the soul.


As if the amazing soup were not enough on its own, the ladies also bring out four dishes of AYCE banchan: kimchee, radish kimchee, some sort of sesame/soy/sugar marinated cabbage, and beef stewed in soy-based sauce with shishito peppers. All four were tasty, and loved that you can get unlimited refills of each.

The beef in particular tasted great when mixed in with the Abalone Chowder ($7.85) - Marilyn was a sport and got this so we could try their other signture dish.

This turned out to be one of the best rice porridges I have ever tasted - not so much for innovative ingredients (there are others that serve up more creative combinations, and in larger volumes), but for flavor and consistency.

It's easy to make congee / jook / rice porridge way too bland - so bland you get more sick from eating it (in my view - perpetuating the cycle of sickness through deathly boring soup for the uninspired soul).

Mountain Cafe's abalone chowder, though small in number and pieces of abalone (to be expected, given the price!) delivers on big flavor. And though the addition of raw egg is not a new concept, for some reason the way that Mountain Cafe prepares their chowder and egg, once you break the yolk and spread it throughout the porridge, it becomes very creamy and smooth, and tastes like luxury.

My initial reservations about getting this since you can make it at home fairly easily (in theory)? Gone after tasting. Plus, who wants to cook while sick anyways?

Of the two at Mountain Cafe, I will say Ginseng Chicken Soup is my favorite for its complexity and value (whole chicken / meal in a bowl for just over $10!)

In the match-up of Han Bat vs. Mountain Cafe - Mountain Cafe wins with a K.O. quickly seized in round 1 (both of the cold/flu bug and of its heavier weight competitor - in concept and popularity anyway - of ox bone soup).

Now, already on the trip I had been so looking forward to, and eating my way through the culinary heaven of Hong Kong - I still can taste that Ginseng Chicken Soup in my mind, and crave it. Will definitely be back to Mountain Cafe when I return to LA, whether or not I am sick.

Thanks, ladies of Mountain Cafe, for getting me better in time to enjoy my trip! (And thanks Sophia for the rec, and Marilyn for another fun dinner adventure!)

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience - 5.5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$$ (3 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%
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Han Bat Shul Lung Tang
4163 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Ph: 213.388.9499




Mountain Cafe
3064 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90005
Ph: 213.487.7615


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