duplicate
Fabulous report.
Like I said before, never let anyone tell you that the JJM at Lee’s is anything but legit.
where’s the joint on olympic i think with the cold noodles and it’s actually ice-y in the fucking broth, just like a super frosty beer, and served with those metal chopsticks ???
or is this that fucking joint ???
it’s been a few years. my bad. i think i’m severely late to the party.
@kevin Hmm… there’s a bunch of Korean Cold Noodle places (Naengmyeon) along Olympic. These places I’m talking about don’t serve that style of noodles.
I’ll leave it to the K-Town experts to chime in on that.
did you try anthing else @ Zzamong? I live a couple of blocks away and it’s been on my list to try for ages. I heard that they do some pretty good Chinese/Korean food (but obviously not jajangmyeon).
Yu Chun, perhaps? (I’m sure there are others as well.)
i could probably tell by where it’s situated in the fucking minimall. maybe. or rather perhaps.
Another great report. Good on you for getting out there like a pro. If you’re not jajiangmyun’d-out the version at Mandarin Garden on Olympic and Vermont is pretty damn good. Just wear a shirt you hate because when your slurp goes astray (and it will) that shit will never ever come out.
@Chowseeker1999 – Thank you for including pictures; I can now say with certainty that these were NOT the same noodles I received with my Lee’s to-go order I described in the other thread. Yours look house-made, and mine certainly did not.
Great report Chowseeker1999, my apologies for setting you astray with the Zzamong rec; eager to try the other places on your list.
LAgirl, given my disastrous recommendation take it with a grain of salt… check out their Jjampong (spicy noodles)
Wonderful report! Do the black bean and yellow bean version taste any diff (maybe this is a question more for @ipsedixit)?
Couldn’t help but notice that the first restaurant has tang-su-yuk!!! Had it once at another Korean-Chinese place (now closed), and it was MIGHTY tasty. 
Yes.
They taste different but not so much because of the type or color of beans, but the method of preparation.
While generalizations are always fraught with errors, it can be said that Korean JJM (or zha jian mian, ZJM) typically uses fermented black paste, or chunjang, as the main and the primarily ingredient in the sauce (excluding things like pork, radishes, potato, etc).
Chinese (or Taiwanese) versions, by contrast, use tian mian jiang (甜面酱), which is a thick, dark brown sauce made from wheat flour, sugar, salt, and fermented yellow beans. But in addition to that there are generally other condiments added to the sauce, ranging from hoisin (or oyster) sauce, to soy sauce, to even miso. And of course things like dried shrimp or conpoy are quite common to give the sauce that extra dimension of briny umami.
Which is better? No better, just different.
Try them all. Then go and find your inner JJM (or ZJM) and then announce to the world that you have become one with the fermented bean paste
3 Likes
Dont be too hard on yourself, bro.
@Sgee no no! Thank you so much for the recommendation. It made me go out and try more places for Jajangmyeon, and gave me new perspective (been so long since I checked out places in K-Town for JJM).
And really, if you like Zzamong’s version the most that’s great. Did you get a chance to try Lee’s Noodles yet to see how it compares for yourself?