The surge in popularity of Korean food comes with more than just KBBQ. There have been a lot more specialised Korean restaurants like Mandu Place which opened recently in Springwood. I had seen considerable posts about it online and it didn't take much convincing on Queen V's part before we decided to get some for a weekend lunch catch up.
The restaurant doesn't take reservations and we were very lucky to be able to get the last available table at lunch, so if you go at peak times there might be a slight wait for a table.
The menu was very simple and very pointed towards noodles and mandu. Prices leaned towards the more expensive end for six dumplings per serve but it has really been a while since I've had something of very good value.
Other than the food on the menu, there was a generous selection of kimchi and pickles to go with unlimited rice and some sauces that you could get on a DIY basis.
Our food came out very quickly after ordering.
The Kimchi Mandu was massive. Although it was six pieces per serve, each piece was about half the size of my palm and wouldn't fit in one mouthful, so one serve is definitely quite filling. On the topic of fillings though, although lightly orange colour, I found the kimchi flavours to be fairly light and the filling had significant potato noodles, and veggies with minimal meat. It went well with extra dipping sauce. The skin was also fairly thin and enjoyable.
Our other dish was the Gogi Mandu, being the original pork flavour. This was interestingly far more tasteful than the kimchi one with a mellow umami flavour to the filling, which was again mostly veggies and potato noodle with a bit of pork mince. I enjoyed this more than the kimchi one and it was lucky that I had companions to share this with to try more things, as one dish alone would have been a bit repetitive.
We had two noodle dishes, this was the bone stock hand torn noodle. The hand torn noodle reminded me quite a bit of the dumpling skin. There wasn't too much by way of noodle or toppings but the soup was very rich and meaty. It made for a very comforting dish, especially when combined with the dumplings.
Our other dish was far more flavoursome. The Spicy Bibim Kalguksu was a cold noodle dish with fresh vegies served in a spicy, sweet tangy sauce. Although vegetarian, it was abundant in icy tangy kimchi with some fresh chewy noodles, of the two noodle dishes, I liked this one more as the noodles had more bite to them.
Overall, we had a good time at Mandu Place, for those who love dumplings this is the place for you. I would have no hesitations coming back if any friends wanted to go, but it didnt stand out for me enough to justify wanting to seek it out again on my own initiative.
Price Range: $20 - $30pp
Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10
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