Restaurant: Yup Dduk LA
Location: 3603 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 263-2355
Date: June 6, 2018
Cuisine: Korean Ddukbokki
Rating: Spicy!
I had just spent 2 hours at the China Consulate waiting in line when I saw this sign:
How could I resist? What kind of lover of spice would I be?
This little KTown hole-in-the-wall had a line of about 30 “kids” (18-25 maybe) waiting for a seat.
The interior is new but minimal and judging from my 1 hour visit the cliental consists 95% of young Korean American women on their cel phones (later it was packed with more of same and hordes of them outside).
The menu is very simple. Basically one dish (see below) with a variety of add-ins and a couple of carby sides.
And here it is: Original Ddukbokki with Ramen Noodles and Yup Dduk Fries. This dish is basically a giant bowl of carbs (with a bit of sausage) drowned in gochujang sauce — that’s the red stuff in case you were wondering. And it’s topped with gooey mozzarella.
Eating down a bit you can see the main contents: the fried carbs, noodles, chewy bean curd, chewy fish cakes, and really chewy cylindrical rice cakes. It’s carbs and spice. I got “original” level in the middle of the spice scale and I’m glad I did because despite my “skillz” at Szechuan, super hot Indian, and mega-hot Thai this sauce was oppressively hot. Both spice level and temperature. Even pulling the contents out and attempting to cool them down, I was left with a badly seared mouth. The volume and the very insulated bowl kept it near boiling for 45 minutes!
I should also point out that these dishes are big enough for 2-4 people and there is no small size. I couldn’t even finish half of it. I didn’t order sides either because it was so large, but sharing and having a few (non-spicy) sides would definitely be better.
I drank at least two entire jugs of water!
This was a tasty dish — but I needed more people so I could share it, and I wish it wasn’t so temperate or cooled off faster because I really burned my mouth. Koreans and Japanese have asbestos tongues! It is a one dish restaurant, however, and VERY spicy — so don’t go if you don’t want a giant bowl of spicy carbs!