Paik's Noodle / 홍콩반점 산호세 — Restaurant in Santa Clara

If you're looking for an authentic Korean-Chinese dining experience without the frills, this diner is the place to be. The atmosphere is unpretentious, focusing on what truly matters – the food.

The spot here is pretty popular, with families and groups of friends so parking may be a slight issue but I found it to be overall okay. Once there, sign your name on the waitlist. Don't be too worried about the wait, the waitlist goes quickly.

From the moment you step in, you're greeted with the comforting aroma of sizzling meats and simmering stews. The menu is fairly simply and limited, you're here for one or all of the following:

1. Jjamppong / Spicy Noodle Soup With Pork, Squid, Mussels And Vegetable

Jjamppong / Spicy Noodle Soup With Pork, Squid, Mussels And Vegetable is pretty good and it is spicy. It will be the same or comparable to Spicy Szechuan Noodle Soup or 炒馬麵 Hot Noodle Soup that you might order at a Chinese establishment.

2. Jajangmyeon / Noodles With A Savory Black Bean Sauce, Pork And Vegetable

Same/comparable to 炸醬麵 Chachiang Mein/ Zhajiangmian, a noodle dish served with fried black bean sauce with tidbits of meat and vegetables.

3. Sweet And Sour Pork / Fried Pork With Special Sweet & Sour Sauce

Sweet and Sour Pork, but the sauce is on the side. The color is more of a light brown, yellow sauce which is what it should be - authentic as heck. This is unadulterated cooking, no added Red 40 and all that other artificial coloring. Admittedly however, the texture of the batter on this threw me off but it wasn't bad. Just try it, you'll want something sweet and sour to complement the other two dishes you'll be getting - spicy and savory.

Everything else on the menu is more or less a variation of the above three: add meat, with rice instead of noodle, extra noodles, etc. I ordered the three items above. It was more than enough food for two people, barely finished it and was so full I skipped breakfast the following day. If you have more people or big appetites - size up and large everything, you get more noodles and more sauce. I caution against leftovers however, as these foods aren't best as leftovers.

TLDR: No frills Korean diner that offers hearty classics in an unpretentious manner. Get in, get your...

If you want to experience the hustle bustle in the kitchen and smell the wok hei while you eat this is the place to go. We went here for lunch. We had the immediate impression about how popular this place was as there was a line to get in. We put our name on the sign up sheet and waited for about 5 to 7 minutes before we were called up for our turn. This place has a limited menu. Our order consisted of: Gochu jjamppong: This is marked as spicy. However if you manage to evade the jalapeños you should be good. The broth itself was flavorful and delicious. One thing to note though is there are a generous amount of mussels and meagre amount of shrimps and squid to honor the seafood part. The noodles were good and they do give you a pair of scissors for easy of dining which is very thoughtful. Hardly any place does that. Jaengban Jajang: This entree consisted of both shrimp and pork. We made a special request to not make it with pork and the staff obliged immediately. It had great wok flavor and the stir fried shrimp tasted good. The taste of the noodles did not sit well with us. It was too sweet and sticky for our taste. That does not mean you should refrain from ordering it if it does suit your taste. Chili Saeu: This tated good for the first couple of bites but as we worked through it we figured it had a rather thicker coating. The chili sauce is a bit on the sweeter side as well.

Ambience: Although this is a small establishment compared to other places we've been it is well organized and kept clean. There's no fuss about seat selection. You can select a booth or a table irrespective of party size. Quantity: Good Parking:...

The Food The first time I ate at this place, Hong Kong Banjum Paik's Noodle, I thought it was a Hong Kong restaurant. But the Hong Kong here is actually the phonetic for the Korean (홍콩) and Banjum (반점). I have tried a variety of dishes from this restaurant: jjamppong (Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup) jajangmyeon (Blackbean Sauce Noodle) Jaengban-jjajang (Stir-Fried Blackbean Sauce Noodle) tangsuyuk (Sweet and Sour Pork) Gunmandu (Fried Dumpling) I quite enjoy most of their dishes, and the Gunmandu are fairly unique. The tangsuyuk is nice with a slightly crispy and mochi like crust wrapping the pork. But I enjoy their noodles the most, they are also unique when compared to other Asian restaurants. The only thing I wish is probably more meat in their dishes. They have been extending their menu so I'll return another time to try their new selection.

The Miscellaneous The restaurant is in a small plaza, which extends to a bigger plaza, so plenty of parking? The inside of the restaurant has a decent amount of seating, but lines can also get quite long. They have a semi open kitchen so you can see how they prepare some of the food. The service is pretty efficient, the server and staff are pretty sincere. Their menu is not super big, but slowly expanding. The price is quite reasonable also. If you are a noodle type of person, definitely give this...