Jump to content

Joongmi (Lunchtime), Korean-Chinese Lunch On Little River Turnpike and Hummer Road - Koreatown in Annandale


Recommended Posts

'DonRocks said:

Did it look anything like this?

If so, it's called ja jang myun and can be found at Choong Hwa Won restaurant in Annandale (the only other place I know of that's serving this - incidentally, this would be a great choice for a Twenty-Dollar Tuesday). The dish looks sickeningly rich, but is surprisingly mild, and quite good. The key is not to splatter any on your shirt while you're slurping the noodles - a challenge because the sauce is so viscous, and the unpredictably shaped noodles can sometimes go into a whipping motion as they're being sucked upward. Above all, do not wear a tie to this meal unless you long for a perma-stain.

Cheers,

Rocks.

there's another place in Annandale that serves these also. It's called Lunchtime and it's in the basement of an office building next to a McDonalds. One of my Korean friends say's this place serves the best noodles in Annandale. They also have great panfried dumplings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dean, You are correct. It is called Kaktugi but it is Korean radish not daikon radish. Daikon radish is too soft for kaktugi. I am glad that you enjoyed the experience. Jajang Myun is one of my soul food. The hand-made Jajang Myun noodle is very rare to taste because not many chef has the skills. Not in VA but 1 or 2 places in MD. Chung-Hwa Won has very good Jajang Myun as Don said but they don't use hand-made noodle. China Express in DC has also hand-made noodle but it is not beaten so the texture is different. I went to the place Antonio mentioned because I heard that they served the hand-made noodle but the chef moved to another place, I don't know where. A&J serve Jajang Myun, too but the sauce tasted slightly different and it is too greasy to me. Yang-Jang-Pee is known as expensive and high class food in Korea because it uses all the best ingredients. I haven't had a chance to enjoy it. For 8 people or family gathering, I suggest ordering 2 pan-fried dumplings as an appetizer, 4 Jajang Myun (4 bowls of Jajang Myun and 4 empty bowls for sharing) and sweet and sour pork(make sure no ketchup in the sauce) / Kung pao shrimp as Entree. It will make them full.

On the topic of Jung Mi (Lunch Time), the chef/owner who made the hand pulled noodles sold his business to his employees and has sinced moved on to a restaurant/grocery in Prince George's County. I haven't tried the new restaurant/grocery, because I can't find it. For what it's worth, the food at Lunch Time has changed. The noodles are ordinary now, but the ja jang sauce that covers it is still quite good. I had always preferred Jung Mi over Choong Hwa Won, but now it's more because the sweet and sour pork and the fried chicken wings are better at Jung Mi than Choong Hwa Won. There are other places to get Korean-Chinese food in Annandale and Centreville, but these are probably the best two examples I can think of right now.

I have also been to Da Rae Won, and find the hand pulled noodles there slightly disappointing. Not chewy enough for my tastes, but I haven't been there in a while. Jung Mi at its prime was the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had lunch there today (just realized the coupon was expiring)-it was OK, not bad, but not great. The dumplings were good, & nicely-fried, but didn't taste like much of anything. I should have tried the jjampong (if I were to go again, I'd get the split bowl of dumplings & jjampong), but my stomach was a little sensitive this morning, so I got bulgogi. It was a large portion, but I'd give the edge on that (& banchan) to my local Korean restaurant, Kimchi house. The miso soup that came with it was very salty. My friend, who is not an adventurous eater, got chicken & broccoli, said it wasn't very good, but enjoyed my bulgogi.

So, worth it for a coupon deal (inexpensive) & if you were in the area, but not worth a special trip. They're running another specialicious deal now, but I probably won't repurchase, because I can get better Korean food, closer to where I live. But it was clean, well- lit, service was good (but slow), an odd location in the basement of an office building, there was one other diner there while we were there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...