Young Dong Tofu - San Gabriel

Earlier this summer, I met up with Pink Candles at Ridgemont High and her family, who were up to check out the Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition at Nucleus Art Gallery & Store - Alhambra. She wanted to eat cold noodles for lunch. After running through Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese cold noodle options, she decided on Korean.

I suggested Young Dong Tofu in San Gabriel because the menu specifically has a dish called Korean cold noodles. I know, so generic-sounding, but it was exactly what she asked. :P

Young Dong Tofu is located in a strip mall on Las Tunas Drive where Tokyo Lobby and Sam Woo BBQ are also. Unfortunately, ever since the Albertson's grocery store closed and got boarded up, the area has a rather desolate feel.

The panchan (Korean side dishes) were the usual seaweed, Baechu Kimchee (Korean Pickled Napa Cabbage), salad, cucumber kimchee, and Sukju Namul (Korean Seasoned Mung Bean Sprouts).


We also got a nice crispy Korean pancake.


Since it's a tofu house, we got the seafood tofu and bulgogi combo, $14.72. The tofus are $9.20 without the combo. A little bit pricier than I'm used to for tofu actually.


And the Bulgogi (Korean Marinated Beef).


Our meal also came with rice in a stone pot.


A regular order of Kalbi/Galbi (Korean Marinated and Barbecued Beef Short Ribs), not mini sized combo, $14.40. The kalbi went pretty fast, as it almost always does.


Here, you can see the difference in the smaller combo size of the meat, versus a regular-sized order.


While we were digging in, we totally forgot that we had also ordered the Korean seasoned cold noodle, $10.99, until the waitress brought it out.


We weren't really sure what to expect because of the generic-sounding name of the dish. I thought it might have been naeng myun (Korean cold buckwheat noodles) in a beef broth, but when I asked the waitress she said it wasn't a soup. We were pleasantly surprised by the pretty colors and amount of vegetables in the dish.


The waitress generously poured the dressing from a kettle. A bit of digging and you can find the noodles underneath the mound of lettuce.


We were pretty hungry and between the four of us, ate a good amount of everything.


All in all a perfectly good meal, but I prefer Ko Hyang Tofu House - San Gabriel for the larger variety and freshness of its panchan. Still, this was a new restaurant to try, and the Korean Cold Buckwheat Noodle Salad was something that I knew I would later recreate at home.

Afterward, she generously gave presents to me and lil' sis, which you can see on Day 204 in the July post for my Project 365 series of photos.

Check out Pink Candles at Ridgemont High's write up of our lunch.

Other Korean tofu restaurant posts:
BCD Tofu House - Rowland Heights
Ko Hyang Tofu House - San Gabriel

Young Dong Tofu (several locations)
927 E. Las Tunas Dr., #F
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626-286-6031

*****
1 year ago today, Behind the Scenes: House Foods America Corporation - Garden Grove.
2 years ago today, Ca Hap Gung Hanh (Vietnamese Steamed Fish with Ginger and Scallions).
3 years ago today, pandan mini cupcakes with coconut flakes, Hainanese chicken rice mix, belacan chicken wings, Thai green curry mix, and rendang instant mix.
4 years ago today, roll your own pork patty rolls at Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa - Alhambra.