Thursday lunch — Jajangmyeon noodles with BB ($24.20)!
Korean jajangmyeon date — two bowls of thick wheat noodles topped with dark fermented black bean sauce and shredded cucumber, side banchan of pickled radish and kimchi. $24.20.
Thursday lunch — jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) date with BB at a Korean restaurant. $24.20 for two bowls + banchan. The classic Korean Chinese-fusion dish. 😋
What was on the table ($24.20 total):
- Two large white bowls of 짜장면 (jajangmyeon) — thick wheat noodles topped with a generous slick of dark fermented black bean sauce (chunjang) loaded with diced pork and onion, finished with a fan of fresh julienned cucumber for cool contrast.
- Two small white cups of boricha (roasted barley tea) in the traditional Korean ceramic teacups.
- A side dish of pickled yellow daikon (danmuji) — bright yellow, sliced thin, the tangy palate cleanser.
- A small dish of fresh kimchi — that signature red-tinted napa cabbage in the spicy fermented paste.
Jajangmyeon ritual: mix vigorously to coat every strand of noodle in the black bean sauce. Skip the cucumber strands at first to keep them crunchy and add them in stages as you eat. Sip boricha between bites.
The sauce was the proper Korean-Chinese style — chunjang has a distinctive smoky-sweet umami that’s different from Chinese black bean (douchi); thicker, more chocolate-tinted, with the pork diced finer to integrate into the sauce.
Total: $24.20 for both bowls + banchan.
Overall: 4.5 / 5. Sauce had real depth (some Korean restaurants water down the chunjang; not here), noodles were the right chewy thickness. Banchan was generous. Solid jajangmyeon. Will be back. 😍👍🏼
