Nestled in the corner of the Golden Triangle Plaza, otherwise known as Lotte Plaza, is a Korean-Chinese restaurant that serving up some amazing food. Korean-Chinese? Yeah I didn’t know it was a thing either until my Korean-American buddy and resident Korean food expert took me there one day for dinner. Tian was visited by How Chow several years ago and I finally decided to give it a try. The “Chinese” aspect as my buddy explained to me was basically just how “Chinese” food is served back in Korea, it’s not actually Chinese food.
Tian is very inviting and not at all intimidating to go to, once we sat down I let my buddy run the show since he knows what he’s doing. He started off with Jajangmyeon, 자장면 for the both of us, which was once described to me by one of my Korean friends as one of the staple foods back home in Korea. Everyone eats it.
Per My Korean Kitchen, “officially the first known Jajangmyeon is from a restaurant called Gonghwachun (공화춘) in Chinatown of Incheon, Korea back in 1905. It was introduced by Chinese merchants but the flavor evolved to suit Korean’s taste buds over time.”
Basically it’s salty black bean paste mixed with an array of meats, some broth and served over fresh noodles. At Tian the noodles are made right there in house and you can really taste the difference. This is Korean comfort food at its finest, (also lots of carbs) the salty savory flavor of the black bean sauce goes perfectly with the heaping bowl of fresh noodles. This whole bowl of noodles cost less than 10 dollars! It’s a steal and a must have if you’re craving some Korean comfort food.
Next we moved on to some unreal house made fried meat mandu style dumplings, these things were HUGE and so satisfying. I could literally eat a whole plate of these (I basically did). They don’t have the vermicelli noodles inside which is actually a plus in my opinion, they get create a texture inside the dumpling that can at times be less appetizing.
We finished the feast with fried crispy beef which was a gigantic serving of deep fried beef strips with a sweet and savory sauce.
Overall, Tian serves up delicious Korean-Chinese fare at a very reasonable price. The service is friendly and the menu is numbered with pictures so if you can’t read Korean or don’t have a Korean chaperone you can still get a good meal.
Final Grade: B+
