dresese

Naeng Myun

A recent article in the New York Times called my attention to Naeng Myun, Korean cold noodles. Not just room-temperature noodles, but noodles in which the broth actually has ice in it. A group of coworkers and myself went to try it out. We went to You-Chun on 36tht St., a Chowhound recommendation.

We started out with a seafood pancake, which I've never had before at a Korean restaurant. It was a little greasy, but fantastic. The crunchiness of the crust of the pancake was a great contrast to the soft creamy inside & chewy seafood.

I got the soup, which they had several varieties of. I had the simple version with the ice. They also had varieties without ice but with hot sauce. When the soup arrived, it was monstrous, a giant metal chilled bowl filled with a sort of slushy broth with buckwheat noodles. The noodles were very good, firm and chewy. On the side they served a white-colored hot beef broth. The whole experience was less strange than I had initially envisioned, and drinking icy broth on a hot day felt very natural.

This was a lot of food, by the way. I would recommend splitting a noodle soup with a friend, if that is possible.

I would recommend this place, the soup was very good. Also, it is open 24 hours, although the place may be much more karaoke oriented late at night. Even at lunch we sat next to a giant TV showing Korean performances, in this case a guy playing classical to a sort of a house beat, while dancers dressed as cats performed. But, hey, they make good noodles.