Hangari Kalguku is a popular Korean noodle spot in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.
As you might infer from the picture, the wait can be a bit crazy (definitely not as crazy as waiting 2 hours for a burger at Kuma’s Corner though. Be sure to check out my entry on Chicago’s metal, burgers, beer, and whiskey spot HERE). Though, at most, I feel like you might have to wait for about 45 minutes. Parking is a huge pain though, so don’t drive if you don’t have to.
Kalguksu (as I learned) are Korean hand-cut noodle, and if you love noodles as much as I do, you are in for a treat.
You can’t really go wrong with any of the noodles dishes here. I thoroughly enjoyed their seafood kalguksu which is brimming with a mix of clams, muscles,and shrimp, steeping in a light seafood broth.
The highlight of the meal was their chicken noodle soup. It is absolutely phenomenal. Drinking it almost has this rejuvenating and almost cathartic feeling. It was amazingly consistent all the way through and didn’t feel fatty or oily at all. It was like the perfect pick-me-up chicken soup that you would want if you were recovering from a cold.
I have gone back a couple more time since then, and I can still taste those noodles enriched by the savory and silky broth. This is the most addictive dish I have had in years and I was easily able to finish drinking all that broth.