Chang Hwa Dang LA(CHD) — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Chang Hwa Dang (CHD) is the new kid on the block in a part of town famous for sublime Korean food. For it to stick around, it needs to serve up something remarkable, and CHD is bringing its A-game right out of the gate, and is sure to become the number 1 source for classy dumplings in Korea Town.

CHD is apparently a new US branch of a famous Korean restaurant reknowned for their dumplings. Its decor walks the line between refined and gaudy, with hanging chandeliers, tableware with a bronzy-golden finish, and a bevy of fancy tables that run from ornate to a little kitshy. It's clearly set up as being ready for a date-night, though it works fine for families and friends, to judge from the clientele. In any case one would usually expect a longer wait for such a place so at least for now, CHD offers a good value for price in that sense.

But what of the main attraction? What of the dumplings? CHD's menu is small but versatile, and about half Korean mandu dumplings. The other half is mostly various rice bowls. Value wise, the dumplings all come in around 8 dollars making them a little steep but easily justifiable in groups. The rice bowls are a tad steeper, closer to 12 a pop. But the taste? Well, CHD won't be around for long if they couldn't stand by the taste - I expect them to be around a long while.

While you can get a sampler plate, the star dish is easily the galbi mandu - pan fried and filled with ground kalbi beef chuck. The smoky, savory, slightly sweet flavor of the meat gets as close as possible to the sensation of eating KBBQ in the form of a dumpling. The texture of the skin is the perfect mix of soft, chewy and crunchy, and complementary scissors and tongs make them incredibly easy to split if necessary. But the other dishes are also great. I got the kimchi fried rice, and the mix of textures was just sublime - smooth fried egg, filling rice, flavorful meat and crunchy fresh seaweed combine into an experience that epitomizes all the facets of a good fried rice.

And all of this isn't mentioning the service. While clearly more comfortable in Korean, they're very helpful even if English is your language and very accommodating throughout. While I arrived a bit before 8:20 and had to wait about 15 minutes due to the line (the front door says last call is at 8:30), they still made sure I was taken care of, even going through the trouble of allowing me to mix a couple different dumplings to try out more. Couldn't have asked for a more pleasant experience. Just a short note for those not in the know, parking at the Brown Derby plaza is very much not recommended due to crowdedness on weekend night (look for street parking or walk from the metro), but pretty tenable with a $3 fee for 2 hours validation during the day and one weekday nights.

As of this writing, CHD has apparently been open for about 11 days. The wait was a tenable 15 minutes on a Friday night. I don't think it's going to stay that way. CHD has all the markings of a classy Korean hot spot for gatherings of all kinds, and won't disappoint no matter what you come for. If you're looking to get in on the newest, hottest dumplings in Ktown before the rest of the city does, get yourself...

Like a chain restaurant where things seem precise, modernized. Simple and decent tasting. Great quick casual dine-in. We weren't expecting much. It's not the best. Does not come with banchon. But quick, simple, hits the spot for a not so greasy/overwhelming spot. $14.99 Mandu Sampler (10 variety pieces). I only liked the pork, and kim chi one. $13.99 Kim Chi Fried Rice. Decent. Nothing extraordinary but SO liked it a lot. $13.99 Spicy Cold Noodles. Not mild. And no way to make it less spicy. Was originally going to order the Kim chi cold noodle soup, but it's seasonal to summer only now.

Parking: A) Street meter $1 per hour. B) Parking rates: (only validation accepted) Mon-Fri 11am-2pm: 2 HOURS FREE WITH dine in of $20min purchase). Take out only from honeymee, boo's, 85degree bakery has 30min free pick up but will be $20 after. Weekend? 10am-3pm: 30min free pick up to go. 31min-2hours is $3, with additional $1.50 for each 30min more. 3pm-12am: 30min free pick up to go. 31min-3hours is $5 with additional $1.50 for every 30min more. $20 MAX/Full Day rate.

Sample plaza with other restaurants, desserts, and...

DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU HAVE A PEANUT ALLERGY

They marinade their Kalbi Mandu with peanut butter, but have ZERO mention of it on the menu at all. Peanut Butter in a meat marinade is not a new concept, but is certainly not common for foods like kalbi, which is why it is absolutely shocking to me that they would not have this mentioned in the menu under the item, or as a general warning at all. Considering that the mandu are also all fried in the same pans, the likelihood of cross-contamination between this and other food items is incredibly high, and for anyone who knows how deadly a peanut allergy is, it is simply not worth the risk.

I had to be rushed to the Emergency Room at Good Samaritan immediately after this, and when I brought this up with my server, they had mentioned that they were aware that this was an issue because it had been already been brought up to them a week prior. The fact that they already knew this would be an issue, but still didn't take any action is incredibly irresponsible. It shouldn't be that hard to print out new menus when your customer's literal lives'...