Mandu
Mandu is a Korean restaurant located at 1805 18th St. NW between Dupont and Adams Morgan. As far as I can tell it is the only Korean restaurant in Washington, DC. This is pretty pathetic considering how damn good Korean food is.
Cost – $$
Service – A-
The service is top-notch. The wait staff, hosts, and bartenders are all cool and friendly. Every time I have gone, I’ve become engaged in a conversation with someone who works there.
Food – C+
I hate to give this place a rating like this because I do in fact, like it quite a bit. However, when it comes to Korean food I’m picky and I simply haven’t been impressed with the dishes I’ve had at Mandu. I’ve tried the kimchi jigge, dwengjang jigge, kalbi and dak gui and I haven’t really enjoyed any of them. The kimchi jigge and dak gui were too bland, the dwengjang in the jigge tasted cheap, and the kalbi was too greasy. That being said, I have a feeling they may be tailoring the food to meet Western taste buds so keep that in mind.
Decor – B+
Its nicely decorated. Definitely a refined, contemporary feel.
Feel – A-
It is just a cool place to get dinner. They do a good job creating privacy in a relatively small space and there is just a cool vibe. When it is nice outside there isn’t anywhere better to sit outside and enjoy dinner.
What’s the Buzz:
I went back to Mandu a couple of nights ago and tried their kalbi – it was actually pretty decent (although still not as good as more traditional barbecue houses) as was the kim-chi jigge. Anyway – I definitely had a more positive experience this time around.