Ma Dang Gook Soo — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Extremely Disappointing Experience - Subpar Service and Mediocre Food

Let me start by addressing the service aspect. Upon entering the restaurant, we were completely ignored by the staff. No one bothered to seat us or provide menus. We tried to make ourselves comfortable by looking at the food pictures on the wall. When we finally managed to order two portions of noodles, the servers didn't even bother to bring us small bowls. As non-Korean speakers, we were practically invisible to the staff, and only with the help of a Korean-speaking couple at the neighboring table, we were able to get some attention and borrow their bowls. The lack of air conditioning made the situation worse, especially when we ordered both hot soup noodles and cold noodles. My friend eating the cold noodles ended up sweating throughout the meal.

The most absurd part was settling the bill. We had to ask the server three times to bring us the check, but it seemed like we were invisible to them. Meanwhile, other customers, who could communicate in Korean, were promptly attended to, and they had already left while we stood waiting at the checkout counter for an unreasonably long time. Adding insult to injury, they even charged us for To-Go Boxes, a ridiculous one-dollar fee per box. With these To-Go Boxes, they are practically profiting even more.

Now, let's discuss the food. We ordered Kimchi Handcut Noodle and Cold Elastic Spicy Noodle. Both dishes were disappointing. The noodles lacked any firmness and had a mushy texture, like something you'd find in cheap store-bought instant noodles. The kimchi soup was underwhelming, without any distinctive flavor. Frankly, K-Town has much better noodle shops with far superior service. Even the cold noodles were mediocre, and I've had better ones from a pack bought at H-Mart. I noticed others ordered soybean cold noodles, but considering the terrible service, I have no intentions of revisiting this place.

To sum it up, the food falls into the average category, nothing worth going out of your way for. As for the service, it was simply unacceptable. I've come across negative reviews about their service on other platforms, but I didn't take them seriously until I experienced it firsthand. If you're in the mood for an incredibly disappointing service, by all means, pay...

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for years and have always enjoyed the food—it’s good and authentic, and I usually order the spicy cold noodles. I mostly get take-out, but I’ve also dined in a few times and generally had a pleasant experience, even with a language barrier.

However, my most recent visit about a week ago was incredibly upsetting. I was dining in alone and noticed that the two women working didn’t approach my table, but they seemed busy, so I didn’t think much of it. Toward the end of my meal, I went up to the front to ask for a to-go container. The staff member asked if I also wanted the check—understandable given the potential language barrier—and since I was already up there, I agreed and paid in cash.

As I was counting my change, the staff member suddenly said, “TIP.” I asked her to repeat herself, and she began loudly repeating “TIP” over and over, growing more agitated. I calmly said I would tip but wanted to finish eating first. I motioned to indicate I was still eating, and returned to my seat.

To my shock, she followed me, took the to-go container out of my hands, and dumped the rest of my food into it herself. She continued standing over me, demanding a tip, creating a scene that drew uncomfortable attention from the other diners. She even turned to another table and, in Korean, asked them to translate that I needed to pay my tip and leave. I explained directly that I understood, but that I was still eating and drinking my tea.

I truly value small, family-owned businesses and want to be respectful of cultural and language differences. But this experience left me feeling humiliated, disrespected, and singled out—especially as the only non-Korean diner there at the time. I will not be returning...

Ordered the #1 Handcut noodles with chicken and a #2 “Feast Noodles” in Hot Anchovy Soup (Ma Dang Noodles). The menu selection has hot and cold noodles, these two are both hot noodle soups. The portions here are quite large. Meals are served with tea and two types of kimchi, a traditional red and a white. Both were distinct with the red kimchi having sweetness and light spice whereas the white kimchi was more cleansing and palate-refreshing. The #1 Handcut noodles with chicken was a delicious hearty soup with a slightly thick soup and nice chewy noodles. The shredded chicken was the right size and the greens in here brought color to the soup. For those who want to spice it up, there was a special spice oil that could be added on the side. The #2 “Feast Noodles” were a thin noodle type and also included shredded egg garnish. The anchovy soup here is flavorful and tastes great to warm up on a cold day. The noodles were the right tenderness and consistency for this soup, it’s certainly a very filling portion. They also sell packaged kimchi as well as jujube dates and sweet potatoes. Note that there is a $0.50 charge for to-go containers if you ask for them. Service was very fast-paced, a little mix of them being pressed for time in between very patient help with ordering and checking in on our meal. This restaurant gets a medium pace of foot traffic coming through the door, it’s often overshadowed by a few other major restaurants nearby. It’s part of a shared plaza so there is a large parking lot but it could get packed depending on the...