Mike B.
Yelp
The sign reads "Oriental Noodle" on the outside, and if you look closely, you'l see the name in lights framed in the window "Myoung Dong"; be on the lookout...
Myoung Dong: a small, cafe sized, Korean hideaway; nestled in a shopping center, that time forgot, slinging some tasty and Authentic Korean dished that warrant a visit to the Beltsville Hot Spot.
I'm having an exceedingly difficult time writing this review as I am not able to find the menu online. All of the dishes are named in Korean as well... so I'll do my best to describe them to you, and it will be a game for you to figure out what they were when you go.
From my favorite to least favorite
1. Spicy Pork Dish- the pork is seasoned perfectly and comes to the table sporting a bright orange color. Vegetables are mixed in the stir fry and the entire protein portion is put over rice. A small salad is served with this dish in addition to two dumplings.
A well balanced spice and a umami level savoryness earn this dish my top accolades. Rice is cooked perfectly, and the pork is toothsome but not tough by any means.
2. Fried Chicken- A whole fried chicken comes to the table in grand presentation. Mounded golden heaps of crispy deliciousness. Put in this order first as the chicken takes 15-20 minutes to cook. The dish is well worth the wait. Battered in something very close to a tempura, the chicken is crunchy with lack of the common fried-shards. The rounded coating makes the chicken quick and easy to eat. Careful when it comes to the table, it is HOT - as in fires of Mordor hot. Paired with the kimchi, pickled daikon, or Myoung Dong Salt... it's even more delicious.
3. The Soup- We got a soup that had dumplings in it, seaweed, a few sparse pieces of of brisket and large thin pieces of a gummy noodle that was cut on the bias (they look like thing scallops). Add a little soy to this soup and maybe a little of the magic salt, and you're in for a treat.
4. Noodle in black bean sauce- The dish I ordered, equating it to a dish I'm have before called Zha Jiang Myun, was nothing of the sorts. A thick crude oil like sauce covered the noodles, an overwhleming amount of onions and green peppers. Pork throughout the dish was hard to find and identify. The sauce was just not flavorful. Once the salt was added, a bit of flavor was brought out, but just not the right flavor.
Special Mentions: The magical salt. I don't know what's mixed into this delicious seasoning salt they give each table. Looking closely you can see long crystals of some compound. The salt is tinted red and has the acidic taste of sumac. I think that there might be some benito in this b.
You can take home 24 oz containers of pickeled daikon or kimchi for 5.25. Now, that's a deal! Some salt and daikon were welcome company of a few over easy eggs this morning.