Chew Young Roo

Best dumplings in Koreatown okay?
Located inside the Koreatown plaza. One of my favorite spots to go to when I am craving «Wang Mandoo».
I could eat dozens of these.

SHRIMP DUMPLINGS are the best! I literally crave that once in a while and will to-​go them if I don’t have enough time.
Also, their jeng-​ban-​jja-​jang! Giant portion that taste really yummy!
Overall, A+!
Only thing is that they are cash only, so make sure to carry some cash!

I ordered the Dumpling Jungshik (combo) to go. You get 1 king mandoo/​bao, 1 red bean jjinbbang/​manju, and 2 shrimp dumplings, along with a side of chili sauce and pickled daikon. No soup if you’re To-​Go, though!
For the King Dumpling – all hail! Fluffy, airy, and a delight to eat. The bun steals the show – the filling itself is just mediocre. No need to worry about what kind mystery meat it is – just some nameless protein, glass noodles, green onions, and overall fragrantly garlicky.
The shrimp dumplings are spicy! I thought they’d come in rounds, but they’re log-​shaped dumplings, and red! I liked the texture, which was firm and chewy. A little on the fishy end of the scale of shrimp taste, but still not bad.
And as for the red bean manju, I’m not the hugest fan of red bean filling, but again, this place has a way with their bread! Try it. =)
Overall, I’m really happy with my meal + dessert at $ 6.25. Cash only.
They changed their name – look for the Bao in the name!

Don’t bother wasting your money on this crap. I ate it recently bc I used to think the shrimp dumplings were ok, but HELL no. It gets worse every time.
Oh, and the owner or mgr or whoever she is… has some major issues. She yells at her employees in front of all her customers. major ackwardness.

No. Sorry…
Let me first say to any readers that I am not a Korean bun expert so this review is meant for the newbies to Korean buns, not to the experts (as you’ll find many listed reviews for them here)
Me and my gf came here based purely on the Unilocal reviews. I’m a huge Korean bbq fan, noodle fan, tofu soup fan, seafood fan, so damn, this bun place should hit the spot. Nope. My gf is from Northern China, is waaaay more pickier than me, and I thought would be more familiar with the taste and like it, but nope, not satisfied either. $ 20 altogether for some buns and rolls that we barely ate.
Here’s the lowdown:
GF is vegetarian so ordered the shrimp rolls and red bean buns. Shrimp rolls had meat in them so that pissed her off. Red bean buns were okay. I tried the shrimp rolls and they were decent. And actually as I type this, if it were based purely on the shrimp rolls, would bring my rating up to a 3, but with all the other cons listed below, plus the fact that I had high expectations, will still keep this to a 2.
Beef buns weren’t much better.
They laaaag. We were there early in the morning, around 10 to 11, were the only ones there and it took 10 to 15 min to get ready.
Lady was grumpy (but this has been disclosed by others so no surprises there)
So there’s my review. Others seem to love this place so if you know your Korean buns, this might be the best bun place in Koreatown, but to a visitor who was starving, didn’t cut it at all. Had to go somewhere else to satisfy our hunger.

i rarely give fives to a mere food stand in a food court (let alone, even rate the place…)
but DENG this place’s shrimp mandoo definitely hits the spot EVERY TIME! one of my top favorite mandoos.
so, definitely try the shrimp mandoo and the jjinbbang (the thing with red beans inside) REALLY DELICIOUS.
other things on the menu were pretty legit too.
as i aforementioned above, this place is within a food court, specifically inside korea town plaza so the overall atmosphere is expected-​really loud, lots of sitting area, etc. also, you don’t have to worry about parking and tipping.

I have been looking for fresh and authentic dumplings for a while, and this place hits it home. Dumplings are made fresh right in front of you and you can see your food being made in front of you. I like the staple dumpings: king dumplings, shrimp dumplings, and red bean. But I also like their new dumplings like kimchi dumplings. I highly recommend people to take a trip to Ktown and try this place if they have not done so yet!

except for the grumpy lady at the counter… this is a great place :)

if you like mandoo, come here! (i think they changed the name to Pao Jao dumplings??)
they are hand-​made fresh in front of you, the stuffing-​to-​skin ratio is perfect, and you get a about 8 pieces per order, with soy sauce + chili & thin slices of daikon. the skin is thin enough that you can see the stuff inside — so you don’t get stiffed on a bunch of dough. i think they all come steamed.
the shrimp mandoo rocks my world. kimchee mandoo is BIG and tasty, too. i’m definitely going to try the wang mandoo next time.
i’m definitely coming back during lunch!

So after tennis class I was driving home 10 E from Santa Monica.
I was getting ready to exit on the National/​Overland exit when I saw a HUGE line of cars waiting to do the same thing.
The one thing I hate most in life is wasting time. Waiting in line is a part of that. So I decide to drive on to exit at Robertson, pick up some In-​N-​Out because I was really hungry, and go home.
But for some reason I started craving red bean buns… so I decided to drive on to Western.
Since I didn’t want to eat red bean buns for lunch (it’s dessert!) I got a bibimba elsewhere and bought the red bean buns to go to enjoy at home.
LOVE the red bean buns here. I had the green ones last time with my mom. This time, since mom wasn’t paying, I went cheap and got the white ones. It still tastes good.
I love how big they are and fills up your mouth with red bean goodness. YUM! The red bean is sweet enough but not too sweet.
The buns have a TINY HINT of flavor that compliments the red bean.
I also tried their king dumplings but it’s not my cup of tea.
Someone said that their service sucked but I thought it was okay.
They told me to wait 7 minutes when I ordered.
I waited more since I was busy eating the bibimba, so I was worried my buns would be all soggy when I went back to go get it.
Actually, they waited for me to come to pack it, which I thought was thoughtful of them.
It’s best to eat the buns there, right when they give it to you, but if you have to take it home I suggest taking it out of the styrofoam immediately (even though there are poked holes in the styrofoam, it still gets watery in there) and place a paper towel on the bottom or something. Warm it up for 15 – 30 seconds (depending on how strong your microwave is) and enjoy.
I think I will have to buy some every time I visit this plaza.

K-​town plaza food corner (inside the mall) dumpling counter
wang mandoo — excellent, esp. with the dipping sauce, pickled radish
like a great bao
also you can find chlorella here, kind of a fad at one time.

Fresh, delicious, and very flavorful. Gigantic Bao that I can call a meal. 4 is too much for just the 2 of us, so next time we will get a combo to try out their shrimp dumplings and such. The bread is soft and fluffy, and the innards are juicy and tender. Dip it in the special sauce and layer some picked radish on top, you got yourself a little perfection in your hands. We always crave for this place whenever we are shopping in the Plaza Market place.

Korean buns. Not flat, like you’d think, but big and round, and packed with flava.
Chew Young Roo, in the Koreatown Plaza foodcourt has scrumptious dumplings, that they make right in front of you. The servers actually wear those tall white bakers hats which I find a bit amusing. I usually get the Dumpling w/​Soup combo meal which includes one huge wang mandoo (or «king dumpling»), which is basically pork and trimmings stuffed in a white soft and fluffy shell, 2 shrimp rolls (my ultimate fav), one nice-​sized red bean bun (also fluffy, that i usually save for later), and a miso soup. I think of it as appetizer, main course, and dessert all for a very good price of about 6 bucks! How lovely!
Overall, Ktown plaza leaves something for the imagination in terms of décor (as they have bad lighting, and an outdated look) but does have the best korean food as foodcourt food goes. Parking is free for 3 hrs as long as you get your parking ticket stamped by the restaurant. Enjoy!

Not your regular meal, best example of a *bao* (bun, mandoo, etc), oddly not by the Chinese but by Koreans.
First, this is a place in the food court of a Korean mall, so don’t look for a street side shop. Second, most people probably can’t consider this a meal, luckily, it shares a food court with many many other wonderous foods. Onto the review:
Food: Buns and buns and buns. I’ve only been here once, but already am having to fight off cravings. We got the basic King Dumpling pack, that is, 4 of the giant pork buns. Like already stated above, super flavorful and fluffy, the singular best giant bun food item I’ve ever had. That’s saying something since I’m of chinese descent from the San Dong province, where noodles and buns rule the culinary landscape.
Service: Bad English and bad attitude. It’s a counter in a food court what can you expect? They do have pictures that you can simply point to.
Price: 4 giant buns for $ 6. That’s more than 2 meals worth. How awesome is that?
The Rest: Errr… usually free mall parking, but nothing much to say for ambiance. They make the buns fresh (awesome) which means you have a while to wait.
Conclusion: Not a fine dining experience, but one of those amazing taste bud experiences all open minded foodies should try.
Explanation: Why am I writing a review now after months or years? Because the recent economic downturn have threatened many fine dining establishments, and I’m out to inform folks on which joints are worth patronizing and which are not. Thank you for reading~

Chew Young Roo is located in the food court of Koreatown Plaza, and it is the only reason I ever go to KTP. This is not you-get-it-cause-you’re-shopping-and-it’s-there type food. This is the main event.
If you like wang mandoo («king dumpling,» those big white bao-​like dumplings stuffed with meat and garlic and whatever else that you really should never eat if you’re going to be hanging out with non-​Koreans in the next 24 hours because you’ll smell and God help you if you burp), it doesn’t get better than this. They make it right there in front of you so you know it’s fresh. The bun is soft and fluffy and the inside is juicy and flavorful. Definitely eat when it’s piping hot, with a little bit of the sauce they give you (close to soy sauce, but with a little extra, maybe some pepper and vinegar). After the first bite, you can just spoon the sauce inside the bun to avoid a mess.
The shrimp mandoo are also pretty amazing. They come in translucent sticky mandoo skin and they’re kind of shaped like spring rolls, but they’re bigger and lumpier. They’re spicy, and you can really taste the shrimp. Delicious and the texture is great.
The mandoo combo is one of the best meals around for the price — it’s something like six or seven bucks for a wang mandoo and two shrimp mandoos plus an an bbang (red bean paste in a smooth white fluffy bun, yum) and a bowl of soup. The service isn’t exactly friendly, but it’s fast and, well, it is a food court. Chew Young Roo is a must-​try. Every bite is delicious, and you will leave feeling stuffed and satisfied.

I’m a big fan of this place. I had a king dumpling a while ago while I was passing through the mall and craved it ever since. This is one of the few places where I would recommend everything I bought. My favorite dumpling is their king dumpling but I also definitely like their shrimp one. The kimchi is good but is spicy so most people will want a soda or something to drink it down with.