Myung In Dumplings — Restaurant in Garden Grove

This restaurant was featured in Anthony Bourdain's show, Parts Unknown and that's what brought me here! Bittersweet... I was visiting Griffith Observatory yesterday but was bummed that the 4-hour traffic made it nearly impossible for me to stop in on the Olympic location because we had to make it back in time for our son's basketball game. Still thinking about dumplings; I decided to try this Garden Grove location today.

The atmosphere of the place is small and unremarkable and there was only one other table there when we arrived. I call it an hidden gem in the heart of Korean Town Garden Grove because it's located inside of HMart Supermarket.

I quickly wanted to order everything on the menu as I walked up to the counter but the friendliest cashier -her name is Phuong- told me to order a plate for each person to share so that I don't over order. I ordered some pan fried pork dumplings for my 8 years old daughter, some steamed pork dumplings for 12 years old daughter, and my husband ordered the ones that Anthony Bourdain tried on the show--huge king steamed buns filled with pork & vegetables! I also ordered some spicy pork & shrimp dumplings for my 14 years old son, who was hungry after the basketball game. The cashier assured me that it was enough food but I went ahead & added the spicy beef soup & shaomai dim sum style dumplings to satisfy my cravings.

Phuong & I exchanged a short conversation before I got seated. She said that she will bring the food out to the table for me as it's ready. I learned from her that this location has been here for 8 years. It was actually the original location. 5 years ago the Chinese Korean man that we all see on Anthony Bourdain's show sold it to this current Korean lady & he moved to open the Olympic location. Phuong has been working here for 5 years. Although she's Vietnamese; she's very fluent in Korean. The owner leaves the shop for Phuong to overlook when the owner is not there.

The pan fried pork dumplings were crispy on the outside & juicy inside. The steamed pork dumplings tasted the same but the texture were soft outside & juicy inside.

The spicy pork & shrimp dumplings looks & taste like Vietnamese dumpling. They were long rolls of rice paper wrapped around a spicy pork & shrimp mix. This one is soft on the outside & hard inside.

The king steamed buns were perfectly handmade & filled with a pork & vegetable mix behind the counter & sent to the kitchen to get steamed to perfection.

The spicy beef noodle soup was just perfectly spicy with some clear glass noodles & lots of vegetables to help wash all the dumplings down.

The shaomai dim sum dumplings are beautiful perfect Chinese inspired dumplings. It's very steaming hot coming out on an oversized dim sum tray but tastes so much better than dim sum. It's fresh, juicy & delicious! You can tell that it was never frozen.

We spent $60 for 5 people & finished everything! I actually fell into a food coma after this hefty lunch. Everything was delicious and the serving size is generous. I think most people just order to go. Customers can also order frozen dumplings to take home and heat up. Everything appears to be made on the premises. If you like dumplings, you will...

Korean dumplings and buns. Vouched for by Anthony Bourdain, and paraded over CNN. In the massive beast known as K-Town, it's almost impossible to pick out a good spot to eat if you're not around with a local. With a billion BBQ restaurants, and a bunch of others, just picking a place for lunch can be a headache. Thus, I decided to grab lunch with a couple friends on a Wednesday here, and see what all Bourdain's fuss was about.

Myung In Dumplings is literally in the heart of K-Town. From DTLA, it's about a good 15 minute local drive. Within the shopping center, there's a decent amount of parking for what they have there. During peak lunch hours, we had no problem getting a spot. Once we walked in, it was just as I had pictured. A no-frills dumpling and bun spot run by an army of Korean moms.

Between three people, we decided to order:

King Steam Dumpling with Pork and Vegetables Spicy Shrimp Dumpling Fried Dumpling with Pork and Vegetables

Each order cost between $8-9. The steamed dumplings came in a set of 4 pieces and were huge. It tasted almost exactly the same as a Chinese steamed bun, so it was actually a little underwhelming. Granted, it was huge in size, but taste-wise, it wasn't mind blowing. The spicy shrimp dumpling, if I remember correctly, came in a set of 8, as did the fried dumpling. Out of those two, the spicy shrimp dumpling was my favorite. You can never go wrong with eating 8 potstickers, but I probably could have just stayed in DTLA or gone to the 626 for that.

In the end, I was a little disappointed. That's not to say that the food here isn't solid. It's just that it wasn't enough to warrant a specific drive to K-Town and make me want to come back next time...

I tell the middle-aged Korean dude at the counter that I want one order of #2--the Kimchi Wang Mandoo. He goes to the back, fiddles with some stuff, then comes back to the front to continue reading the paper. It took about 10 minutes, and while I was waiting I noticed that it would've been better for me to park closer to the small side door next to the Shiseido shop, not the main entrance. Will remember this next time.

I rushed home with my prized bounty, eagerly anticipating some fantastic dumplings. They are indeed huge, and 2 was more than enough for me. I really should've stopped at one but they were so tasty I couldn't stop myself. Moist, fluffy bread and filling, acompanied by those addictive pickled cucumbers and radishes. I didn't think the kimchi was spicy at all, but it had a pretty good flavor. If anything, I was a tad disappointed that the flavors weren't a bit stronger, but don't get me wrong, they were very tasty. I wonder if they use MSG--I thought I detected some aftertaste, but it's not like I'm totally anti MSG or anything, just curious. I wrapped up the remaining two for later consumption--I'll have to see if they're nearly as good microwaved; will get...