7.013 Mandu

7.013

18 (Mon) January 2016

Mandu

3.0

at Myeongin Mandu

(Ajou University Hospital)

-Suwon-

with W

Emergency Sick Leave, Day 1.

In Seoul.  Arrived last Wednesday on a mission.  Injured my back over the weekend (see generally 7.011 Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza).  Staying in town for treatment.  Return to Manila unknown.

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Myeongin Mandu is a Korean restaurant chain.  Hundreds (thousands?) of branches across the country, including one in the basement of the hospital (see most recently 4.275 Mr K…).  Specializes in mandu.

At Ajou, HJK pulled a few strings to get me squeezed in at the end of the day for an unscheduled MRI.

Good to have doctor friends, especially those working in a major university health system equipped with full facilities.

The results were immediately available, revealing the slipped disk as suspected, but the formal consultation with the neurosurgery department on Thursday will confirm.

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3,500 for 10 dumplings — I seem to recall a time when they were just 2,000.

After the MRI, W and I had a quick snack/dinner at Myeongin Mandu.  Most important, we could roll the wheelchair right up to the front door.  Second, I’d been waiting for an opportunity to cover the restaurant — any of its locations — which has long been a favorite.  And finally, the meal would commemorate this visit to the hospital.

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Kimchi (3.0) (top) + Gogi (3.5) (bottom)

As ever, the mandu were great.  Silky, chewy hand-made skins.  Inside, the gogi (meat) version contained minced pork, tofu, and aromatics, all perfectly seasoned and balanced.  The kimchi version was also good, but I’ve always found them to be a tad too sharp in flavor.  On a base order of 10, I typically like to get 8 gogi and 2 kimchi for the kick.

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