MYEONGDONG JA JANG — Restaurant in Pleasanton

This is a tricky one. Getting Jajangmyeon right is so tough to pull off impressing Koreans. This is like trying to get a baguette right in France. Myeongdong is situated in the Pacific Pearl plaza where almost out of no where you have this massive Asian cuisine bonanza going on in Livermore - traditionally considered Asian dessert. It was really weird to see that many legit Korean / Chinee / Taiwanese / and other food and chains all the way out there. I guess they're for outlet shoppers?

Either way, Myeongdong's Jajangmyeon was definitely on the legit side. The noodle texture was relatively good and unique. The slight fail is definitely with the sauce. Plenty of veggies and meat but no gravy. This means the Jajangmyeon turns out dry and leaves a lot of noodle without any flavor coverage. I hope the chef puts a bit more effort into the gravy and au jour, especially cause that is the cheaper part of the sauce.

Their Tangsooyook - deep fried pork - that always accompanies the Jajangmyeon was also quite good. Decent portions, decently sweet sauce. Nothing mind blowing but also not to be shy of.

Jjampong - spicy seafood noodles - the soup didn't have much soul in it. Barely passing the acceptable mark but again, not too shabby considering how far out this joint is compared to the rest of the Korean population.

Prices were appropriate. And considering how new the place is, the atmosphere was clean and bright.

These types of Korean comfort food places is all about "aging" and maturing. There's a bit of breaking in that must be done and I think as the years fold under, let's see how they either establish themselves into a destination for pilgrimage or simply wither away. As of now, I'm more on the...

I was craving some good ol jjajangmyeon during my lunch but I don't typically work in this area often so I had to do a quick search and this place popped up!

Right when you walk in you are greeted with a warm "안녕하세요!" Already knew I was going to have a great lunch.

Service was amazing with very helpful and friendly staff.

Simple menu, which I absolutely love 🫰🏼

Food comes out freshly made and very fast so if you're coming in a tad bit "hangry" you won't be disappointed with a long wait.

I was taken by surprise when the gimbap came out first because the portion was huge! Fresh and simple ingredients in the gimbap and is served with a side of kimchi.

Jjajangmyeon came out soon after and it was so good! Good amount of sauce and ingredients and plenty of noodles to fill you up. Waitress even assured me that if I needed more jjajang sauce that I could just give her a holler and she can hook it up 🤗.

Will definitely bookmark this place for one of my go-to jjajangmyeon spots in the Pleasanton area everytime I'm working...

They serve Korean Chinese cuisine. Dishes are at a decent price. It is a hidden gem in a busy square.

Update 1/14/23: I went back craving for their Liangzhangpi. This time, I also ordered a seafood pancake. The first pancake came out and looked okay, but I had a slice with NO seafood in there, just full of onions and some carrot and zucchini slices. I spoke to the waitress and showed her the 2 ajacent slices with no seafood inside as well. She then used her chopsticks to check another slice and commented that there was a tiny bit of seafood. That is the problem!! 4 out of 8 slices only have tiny bit seafood in One slice!! She was kind enough to take it back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, a new darker seafood pancake was served. Waitress said the cook measured the seafood to a specific weight for each pancake, so there was no problem with the seafood pancake.

For ~$20 seafood pancake, this is not worthy. Get seafood pancake...