Naegohyang Restaurant

Pros:
+ As far as I know, this is the ONLY restaurant in K-​town that does not put a ton of MSG and salt in their food.
+ They say that they don’t put any MSG in their food; and I tend to believe them.
+ No MSG and low sodium means I can actually enjoy the flavors of the food, and do not have to worry about MSG effects — thirst, headaches, bloating, puffiness, fatigue, etc.
+ Reasonable price.
Cons:
None that I can think of.
Others thoughts:
I have been here a number of times for lunch and tried many different dishes; I like them all.
I am very sensitive to MSG; and, dislike highly salted food.
This is a Korean restaurant for Korean patrons serving authentic Korean food. No Americanized Korean food here.

The reviews for this restaurant were very misleading. I ordered the seafood pancake and the anchovie kargooksoo. The seafood pancake was 90% flour, 5% veggies and 5% seafood… pretty much a pancake with seafood that had mistakenly fallen in. the kargooksoo was bland… tasted like all the ingredients were thrown in some hot water with zero seasoning. I’d recommend going elsewhere to get your kargooksoo fix. However the kimchi was on point.

A K-​TOWN GEM…
I really love this little place!
This place is so freaking delicious! I can’t believe they’ve been open for over 10 years!!!
Order their soba, kalgooksu and their dumplings! If you love kimchi as much as I do, this place will make you fall in love…

I honestly wished I had a hangover because I am assuming this would hit the spot.
I accidentally ran into this place while looking for another restaurant. I had already ordered when I realized I was at the wrong place, so I decided to stay. The restaurant in managed by middle aged Korean ladies, and you know it’s legit when you hear Korean gossip as you walk into the restaurant.
I had the kimchi kalgooksoo and got the mandoo to go.
The noodles are whole wheat and home made: it was chewy (the good type) and delicious. The broth was soooooooooooooooooooooo (I mean every «o»)good!
The mandoo is mostly vegetable, so I don’t know how it would go for most people, but I loved it!
I think next time I’ll just ask to put some mandoo in the kalgooksoo instead of ordering a separate batch. The order is 30% off if you get it before 930 (I ordered at 935), so if you want some good breakfast, this is the place to try. Underrated for sure.

(My hometown)
By far one of the best Korean restaurants that I’ve been to. The service and food were both great and if it’s your first time eating Korean food then this is a good start and it’s also vegan friendly :) That being said, my friend and I started our meal with a (maemiljeon) appetizer which is basically a big buckwheat griddle pancake with kimchi.
After that my vegan friend ordered (jjolmyeon) spicy yam noodles with vegetables which are served cold but are still really yummy especially when wrapping a piece of that buckwheat pancake around some of the noodles and a piece of kimchi ;) As for me, I opted for (jogae kalgooksu) knife cut noodles in clam soup which is a good choice if you aren’t feeling in the mood for anything spicy. It also tastes really good with that buckwheat «taco» I mentioned before. Oh and to top it all off, we were given some (gutjuli) non fermented kimchi which was homemade and also some (ggattugi) radish kimchi to try and both were great but I would have to say that their homemade kimchi was bomb!

I think Myung Dong Koja may have met its match. I came to NGH this past weekend after having it on my bookmarks forever. When my party of two came around noon for lunch, there weren’t any other patrons dining there.
I got the spicy beef bugolgi rice, and my friend and I split the steamed leek dumplings. He ordered the seafood sujaebi, which is cut up sheets of wheat dough that have been boiled in the soup.
My spicy beef bugolgi was pretty standard. I liked the fact that the rice it came with was purple rice, and the steamed leek dumplings were very good. You could taste the fact that they were likely homemade, with little to no preservatives, and they give you a ton of leek — in other words, they pack those dumplings full. My only minor complaint about them is that they could’ve had a bit more pork — it was clearly ground and probably about 10−20% of the batter.
I really liked the sujaebi, which just sounds a lot better than anything translated. The soup tasted light but flavorful, too, so that was good. The wheat wasn’t tough or chewy, and it would be nice on a cold day or just if you wanted a lighter meal. The sujaebi here tasted better than Mapo on Sixth, in my opinion.
On a future visit, I’d definitely get one of the pancakes. Our neighbors’ looked so good!
Service: The waitress was very nice, even though we didn’t speak a drop of Korean. She was also good about refilling water and bringing out our food in a timely manner.
Bottom line: I wish I’d discovered this Koreatown gem earlier!

I just checked my receipts and credit card statements, and this restaurant charged my card $ 20 when I had signed for $ 19. One dollar is no big deal, but being shady is. If I made a mistake and wrote $ 20 on their receipt and $ 19 on mine, I’d like to see that original copy.
The food itself was OK. Natalie K. and I ordered the pork and leek dumplings, anchovy noodle soup and seafood pancake. I was not a fan of the soup; I found it bland and the noodles were very soft. The other two items were fine, but did not stand out to me above other restaurants. I would have given this place 3 stars overall. It’s not a restaurant I was going to go back to anyways… Enjoy my dollar.

Naegohyang is slightly less known that its competitors (Olympic ajummas I still love you and your chicken kalgooksu!)
Keep in mind that naegoyang’s style is a bit different. Unlike the cloudy, starchy sinfully delicious broth that most traditional restaurants have, this restaurant serves their noodles in a lighter and clearer broth. Although I love thick and doughy noodles, naegoyang’s flatter whole wheat noodles are another great alternative when you don’t want to feel like a giant expanding whale after eating.
I usually get the clam kalgooksu which comes in a steaming silver pot with whole clam shells and thin zucchini and potato slices. The seafood one comes with crab leg and other ocean goodness. The broth is well seasoned and clam meat perfectly chewy. Chive (boochoo) dumplings are also delicious. They have other items on the menu but really this or the sujehbee is what I come for because… homemade doughhh :)~
It’s a small restaurant but their food really hits the spot when you want some wholesome comfort food.

This place was exactly what we hoped it would be. Delicious home-​made food and excellent kimchi! I think it’s the best kimchi I’ve had at a restaurant in a long time.
We had Yukgaejang and mung bean pancakes. T he soup had a spicy kick. Not so much that you can’t handle it, but just enough where it makes you sweat. The mung bean pancakes had a nice crispness to them. They seemed to be batter seemed to be a mung bean and flour mixture. Still tasty, though I prefer it to be 100% mung bean instead.
The perfect amount for two ladies. We were stuffed and ended up taking some leftovers.
This is def one of my go-​to places now.

L.A. Times article

Super great food. High quality food for a reasonable price.
The place is super clean and the food tastes like homemade, it’s not overly sauced and it seems to have been put with a lot of care.
It’s a great place to have some Korean food. High recommended.

The food and service was excellent. I feel full but good! I love the fact they do not us MSG and only use non refined flour. The food tasted delicious and healthy. I found a new favorite place!

1) Leek Dumplings
2) Kimchi Noodles
3) Bean Curd Pancakes
I do not know what to say besides that this place is legit. The ingredient quality here is A+ and I can tell you with confidence because I am super sensitive when it comes to MSG poor quality ingredients.
The taste is just very clean, light and real. Food that tastes like home cooked food, not overly sauced, not salty.
Kimchi is great as well! Very clean and light. The noodles they use whole wheat noodles as well.
I am craving their dumplings as I am writing this.
Will definitely return again!
Thank you for the great tasting and high quality food.

Let me start by saying I don’t know anything about Korean food and I came here alone based on Unilocal reviews after shopping at another store in the same strip mall.
I was intimidated because I didn’t think I would understand anything on the menu and was worried the staff wouldn’t speak English because most of the signage in that strip mall is only Korean. But, my fears were put to rest.
After a woman showed me to a table in this bare-​bones strip mall joint, a younger man came out who I think is American. He was very friendly and nice about answering my questions. I’m vegetarian so I was asking which things had fish broth.
I ordered a mung bean pancake which he said he could specially make vegetarian and also a noodle dish (I can’t remember the name.) The pancake was huge for one person and ended up lasting me a few days. Also, it was delicious. The noodles– I ordered one of the healthier, vegetarian options, were kind of boring. But my favorite part was the complimentary Korean fixin’s they bring out at the beginning. Big bowls of Kim chi, and radish– I could have just eaten that radish for the entire meal, it was so good. Overall, the meal was really affordable and delicious.
A LOT of the menu items have fish broth in them (and it doesn’t say on the menu, you have to ask) but there are definitely several vegetarian options. I hope to go back to have more complimentary radish!

I went to this place with some friends this past weekend and would definitely go back. It’s an assuming restaurant in a shopping center in Koreantown — a bit hard to find at first.
The restaurant itself is no-​thrills and very casual, but big enough where our party of 10 was easily accommodated. The service was great. Our server was very nice and patient as most of us were Korean food noobs and had a million questions. She also gave honest recommendations about what she liked best, what we should avoid, etc. all of which was much appreciated.
As far as the food itself, I was lucky to have a big group so I was able to try many dishes. We ordered the seafood pancakes, the spicy noodle salad, the cold buckwheat noodles, the chilled bean paste noodles, a special that was cucumber chilled spicy noodles and dumplings. I enjoyed everything but the seafood pancakes and spicy noodle salad were definitely highlights. The portions here were massive! I was able to take the second half of my dish for a whole other meal on its own. Given the price, the value here is definitely excellent.
I will definitely be coming back. Not only was the food great, but it is one of the first places in K-​town I’ve been where I’m not waiting for an absurd amount of time for a table. Bonus was there is a giant free parking lot.

Ordered 2 servings of the seafood soo-​jae-​bee, and a mung bean pancake.
The food was just overall underwhelming.

Looking to try Korean food besides just the typical Korean BBQ? Well, this is your place! In addition, there are healthier choices options! I cannot wait to come back and try the spicy cold noodles.
Recommend:
— seafood pancake
— spicy squid
— spicy noodle salad
Not Recommend:
— kong gook soo: too healthy for my taste, it was bland and clears my taste buds, I could not swallow this dish down
— mandu: another dish that was too healthy for me
Tips:
For the seafood pancake, remind the waitress to get you the spiced green onions. It’s divine when added to the soysauce and used as a dipping sauce for the seafood pancake.
Valet for $ 1 in the lot or free parking on the small street

I came on a Sunday around 3 or 4pm or so.
The Service —
Our server was super sweet. Very friendly. It took a while to get water but, after that, everything went very smoothly.
The Food —
I had the Spicy Noodles which was was really good. It’s deceiving because the dish is cold but it’s still super spicy! The Beef Dumpling soup was really good as well. Perfect amount of heat and the flavor was spot on. I wasn’t a fan of the kimchi noodles. Didn’t like the flavor, it kind of tasted watered down. I like that they give you big bowls of pickled radish and kimchi on the side. The last thing we tried was the Leek and Pork Dumplings. They’re handmade. We actually saw them sitting at a table making the dumplings which was pretty cool. The dumplings were good. I wouldn’t say I was super impressed but they were pretty good.
The Prices —
All of the dishes are around $ 8. The portions are huge so it’s a pretty darn good deal.
Overall, I really liked this place. Definitely try the Beef Dumpling Soup and the Spicy Noodles! I will be back!

Came here with my mom after she was told they had amazing Mung Bean Pancakes. It’s downstairs in the corner of a plaza. Parking is huge so that’s a plus.
We were so hungry we ordered a few things.
Mung Bean Pancakes, were something different for me. I usually eat the regular korean pancakes with flour so that its made with mung bean made me feel healthier and of course texture was a bit different but it was still good. I recommend eating it with their sweet radish kimchi.
Steamed Leek Dumplings were AMAZING! it seemed like it was also their popular since lots of people order it. Every bite is so juicy and filled with leek I just eat the whole thing in one bite: D
Mandoo Gook (dumpling soup) was just what we needed for the cold weather. The Dumplings itself were perfect size, so juicy and just so moist. The soup was seasoned perfectly. No need to add salt or pepper it was right on.
I love how they bring out 2 pots with kimchi. The kimchi is good with the soup and the sweet thin cut kimchi I recommend for the mung bean pancakes.
This post is based on those 3 items listed above. I would come her just for the leek dumplings and soup

Ok, where’s my Kimchee?
We originally had our hearts set on KBBQ but as indecisive females, our collective fickleness lead us here instead. I’m accustomed to having tons of different kimchee as appetizer but this place had none. Prices are also higher than most places in Ktown.
We enjoyed all the noodle dishes: not too soft, just the right amount of stiffness. Unlike certain things in life, too stiff is not a desirable quality for noodles. The soup stock was flavorless unfortunately, and overly slushy. Seafood pancake was decent, although I’ve had better at another place down the street.
Overall, a decent meal but nothing really stood out.