Midtown Lunch

If you’re a singleton and a fan of Korean food, you’ll want to drown your dating woes today with a hearty bowl of jjajangmyeon ($7.99) at Son Ja Jang in K-town (on 32nd btw. 5+6th)  in recognition of Black Day (April 14). It’s actually the same restaurant as Muk Eunji, although oddly there are two separate menus. Here, the noodles are made in-house, which makes this the only Korean restaurant with house made jjajangmyeon noodles that we know of in Manhattan, and then slathered in a rich gravy made from fermented soy beans and striated with chunks of pork. It’s served with a side of kimchi, danmuji (pickled radish), and raw onion that is meant to be dipped into a side of the same jjajang sauce or vinegar – all of which help to cut the richness of the sauce and noodles.

Nonetheless, it need not be Black Day nor do you have to be single to enjoy a hearty bowl of noodles at a Midtown lunch friendly price.

Muk Eun Ji, 34 West 32nd St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-736-0099

Any savvy luncher in New York knows by now that Koreatown (32nd St between 5th and 6th Ave) is a wonderland of cheap and filling lunches. In fact, it’s almost becoming difficult to choose between the overflow of options – Shilla, Food Gallery 32, Woorijip, Miss Korea, Arirang, etc etc. Last week, I stumbled across yet another lunch deal at Muk eun ji, the reincarnation of the old Hang Gang space, where you have an option of at least 10 different dishes that fall at or below the $10 price range.
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