Mangwon Udon

If kids who grow up in the West have chicken nuggets as a staple, then there’s donkatsu for kids who grow up in East Asia. Sure, it’s an udon place but the kid in me can’t help but be enticed by the large fried portions of pork cutlet. Mangwon Udon seems to be filled with pairs of customers of all ages sharing one order of donkatsu and one order of udon (either spicy or mild). While the straightforward menu consists of those three items as well as eomok (fish cake) and there’s nothing fancy about the interior, the restaurant is never empty. Dinnertime sees many families with a lot of the kids with their hagwon backpacks smiling and greeting the grandmas who work there and late nights are filled with those going for a third or fourth round of drinks.