Daheen Wang Mandoo in a quiet moment.
Beyond table-cooked barbecue Korean cuisine sometimes seems quite mysterious. Every Korean restaurant east of Union Street in Flushing’s Murray Hill seems to be a hyperspecialist, with storefronts devoted variously to healthful porridges, soondubu, kimbap, and many other subsets of Korean cookery. So it comes as no surprise that two places specializing in wang mandoo, or king dumplings have opened recently in the neighborhood. Having never tried wang mandoo I decided to take a bite out of these majestic dumplings for this week’s Twofer Tuesday.
Time to make the mandoo at Daheen.
With its orange and white dressed workers Daheen Wang Mandoo, which opened back in November, appears to be the Krispy Kreme of Korean dumpling houses. And based on early reports of lines out the door back when it opened in November Daheen is as popular as the donut chain. It was rather calm the day I visited
Daheen’s spokeschef presents a Wang Mandoo.
At $2 a pop Daheen’s wang mandoo are bountiful, bready, and cheap. They also come in neat little orange paper sleeves adorned with a funky cartoon chef. Based on the Korean phone number, and the joint’s popularity I’m guessing Daheen also has a presence in South Korea.
Daheen’s mandoo, packed with pork, glass noodles, and green onions.
The pillowy steamed buns are filled with a mixture of ground pork, glass noodles, and green onions all seasoned with black pepper. One makes a nice snack. I also had a red bean bun ($2), which was just as puffy and stuffed with red bean paste. Not a bad deal at all for $4. I asked the guy behind the counter about a menu posted on the wall and he said all they were carrying at the time was those two steamed buns.
Da Myun Kook Su opened just a few weeks ago.
Da Myun Kook Su on the other hand serves 13 types of noodles, including three varieties of cold noodles. No doubt I’ll be back to try those noodles, but my mission the day I visited was mandoo.
Da Myun’s wobbly brainlike kimchi wangmandoo.
Kimchi wangmandoo ($8.95) come six to an order at Da Myun. The menu suggests that this serves two to three people. I am not quite sure who those people are. For the brainlike dumplings were so good I could easily have packed away a second order. Note I said dumplings not buns. At Da Myun wangmandoo are not steamed buns but rather dumplings. Delicious thin-skinned beauties stuffed with pork, veggies, and enough kimchi to pleasantly warm the palate. They are some of the strangest looking and tastiest dumplings I’ve ever had. Da Myun serves its kimchi wangmandoo with an abbreviated selection of banchan—pickled yellow daikon, a cabbage slaw, and a delectable little rice cake.
I’m hard pressed to say which mandoo spot is better. Go to Daheen for a carb fix that’s cheap, tasty, and, if you’re lucky, quick. Go to Da Myun for bizarre brain-shaped dumpling deliciousness, or if the line’s too long at Daheen.
Daheen Wang Mandoo, 152-24 Northern Blvd., Flushing, 718-321-2007
Da Myun Kook Su, 41-10 162 St., Flushing, 347-368-6557
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