Ms. Ma's Pyong Yang Soon-Dae, Annandale - Closed

[grover]

We always hear negative stories about North Korea such as terrorism, dictatorship or the horrible human rights situation. I am glad to deliver the good news that Ma Young-Ae (I will call her Ms. Ma) who escaped North Korea is opening a Pyong Yang style Korean restaurant in Annandale, VA. The grand opening date is November 1st. The menu advertised in a Korean newspaper listed Soon-Dae (blood sausage), cold noodle with pheasant broth (not typical beef broth), pheasant meat stuffed dumplings (it is considered the most delicious flavor among all Korean dumplings but I haven't tried yet), steamed duck, fermented flounder (scary isn't it? ), chicken soup poured over rice and so on. All of them are authentic Pyong Yang style. The address is 6499 Little River Tpk. across from Jerry's Ford. I guess it is replacing Chong-Jin Dong Crabhouse but I am not sure.

The ad said that Ms. Ma is opening her place in order to help North Korean refugees and to promote jobs for them.

[TheMatt]

I want to try, well, all of that. The pheasant meat dumplings, the duck, even the fermented flounder. May not like that last one, but I still want to try it!

[Fishinnards]

This is fantastic news. Thanks for sharing. I am very excited to try this place.

[grover]

Escoffier and I arrived here around 6:30 PM. The place wasn't full but looked very busy. As I guessed, it replaced Chong-Jin-Dong Crabhouse. It has eight 4 top tables on the ground level and three 4 top tables upstairs. We ordered a small size Soondae plate (blood sausage - around $10 ), dumplings ($8.95) and a bottle of Mokkoli (Korean unfiltered rice wine - $12.95). The waitress told us that dumplings would be on the house. How nice! I looked around to see what dishes other people are having. Chicken soup, Soondae soup or a small size Soondae plate seemed popular. However, I couldn't see anybody having dumplings. There were a cabbage Kimchi pot and a radish Kimchi pot on every table for self-service but there was no other ban chan given when the food is served.

For the table setting, we both got a spoon and a pair of wooden chopsticks wrapped in a napkin but a white plastic fork was given to Escoffier, just in case. The Soondae plate came with two separate sauces so we could dip the Soondae in a spicy baby shrimp sauce or chili paste. More than 10 slices of Soondae and about 6 slices of intestine and 3 or 4 slices of steamed liver were on the plate. The Soondae was very tasty. It is the best we've had and very flavorful. We didn't even need the sauce. The Mokkoli and dumplings didn't come while we were having the Soondae. The table behind us got a dish which smelled so nice and looked delicious. I asked them what it was but they told me they didn't know and it was a gift from the sous chef for some reason. Then, kindly they suggested that we could share it so I picked 2 pieces of meat. It was steamed duck and was very good. It is the dish I will definitely order when we come here next time. Finally, the Mokkoli came but we didn't have the dumplings because our server told us that the chef just started making them. The place was packed by the time we left.

With 3 waitresses, a male cashier (he was helping cleaning up the tables at times), Ms. Ma the chef, and a male sous chef/assistant, the place was very busy but the service was unorganized. Of course, it was the opening day, however, all of the staff were inexperienced. I really hope they settle down as soon as possible so I can organize a $20 Tuesday dinner.

The food is very delicious and that's a good sign. DR members, if you would like to go there, please take a friend who can speak the Korean Language.

[Escoffier]

Now for the mee-guk review. First the exterior. It's quite pleasant. The restaurant that was there has been modified so that you now enter on the side. You enter somewhat to the rear of a small front room that has a counter for take out orders, the cashier and people to dine. The rear dining room has the 8 4 tops and is the main dining area. There is also an upstairs room which we didn't see but which (on opening night) was hosting a group of Vietnam war veterans and, boy were they getting a lot of food. Unfortunately that also detracted from the service in the main part of the restaurant. You can imagine a small room with 20 or 30 people all trying to get food at the same time. Our server (who appeared a bit harried) not only cleaned the table, she also brought set-ups, glasses, the aforementioned white plastic fork, water and our tea. And then the best part, she bought the best Soon-dae I've ever eaten (and I've eaten a lot of Soon-dae in restaurants in Seoul who specialize in nothing but Soon-dae), it wasn't as tightly packed in the (fresh, not commercial) casing, lightly spiced and damn good!!. I started tentatively, not knowing what to expect and before the two sauces (chili paste and a spicy baby shrimp sauce) had come, I had managed to eat about 6 pieces. It was absolutely the best Soon-dae I've ever eaten (I think I've already said that but it deserves to be said again). There was also slices of pork-belly like intestine and liver. The intestine was very good (a bit chewy but actually quite flavorful), but the liver I found to be dry. Grover told me it had been steamed and then had been sitting for a while. Surprisingly, the liver wasn't overpowering. If you like Liver and onions, you might find this a bit bland but I liked it. After a gentle reminder, our bottle of Makkoli (okay, I admit it, my Korean isn't the worlds greatest) was delivered and we ate the last two or three pieces of Soon-dae with the proper beverage. Grover managed to borrow two pieces of what turned out to be duck from the table behind us. I think she said it was good and you won't get an argument from me. It was very good. We asked about our dumplings (I really wanted to taste those pheasant dumplings but it wasn't to be). When we were told the chef had just started to make them, we decided to leave to let the 10 or 12 people who were waiting patiently for a table to fight over the one we abandoned. If I knew I didn't have to wait, I think I'd go back tonight and eat that Soon-dae again. It was amazing.

[teddyguy]

It was my grandmother's birthday last week, and because she's from Pyong Yang we decided to go here to celebrate. It looked different from its previous incarnation as a crab house and drinking place. We sat in the front room, and it was slightly chilly as people came in and out. The food came out in good time, and we got the man doo, and the soondae and chicken soup combos. The soondae was delicious. In fact, my parents, who don't particularly like soondae, enjoyed the slightly spicy blood sausage and commented that it was probably the best soondae they had in Virginia. It defintiely tasted better than Seoul Soondae in Annandale or the soondae that they give you at Gamasot or Gomtengee. The liver and intestines were pretty tasty as well. My grandmother definitely enjoyed the soondae. The chicken soup was delicious, with pieces of skin and meat floating in a very flavorful broth. The soondae soup was less memorable, but it was probably because my father refused to put any salt in it. The man doo were good, but nothing really stood out about them. The fermented flounder that came out was pretty good and nicely spicy.

The service was friendly and seemed eager to please. When they heard that my grandmother was from Pyong Yang, they gave us extra soon dae.

[Ericandblueboy]

Went with a Korean friend for lunch. I don't read Korean but even so, I can see the menu is very limited. We had some kind of set meal, consisting of the fermented fish, bloodsauage platter with liver and intestines, and a soup with liver and intestines. We ordered the dumplings but was told much later that they ran out. In addition to what we ordered, I believe they have the steamed duck, for $45?! According to my friend, that's pretty much all they had to offer. The bloodsausage was indeed delicious. I had a bite of the liver and the intestine, I would eat more except I'm in the process of lowering my cholesterol. The soup wasn't anything exciting. The fish wasn't fishy, which was good. We got there around noon. We did see one table with the dumplings. Why is it they don't prepare the dumplings in sufficient quantity in advance?

[grover]

We just had lunch here. We ordered a Soondae meal ($12.99) and a plate of dumplings ($8.99). The Soondae meal includes a small plate of Soondae, a bowl of soup, a bowl of rice, a small plate of fermented flounder and 2 steamed dumplings. The Soondae was excellent as usual and the soup came with the meal was a knuckle bone soup and was nothing special. The flounder dish should be called pickled flounder (with radish and millet) even though the term on the menu means fermented. I can't say I like the flounder but Escoffier found it okay. The dumplings were good. they were stuffed with chives, bean sprouts and something else. I can't say if it was pheasant meat or Tofu. I asked the waiter about the dumpling situation Ericandblueboy got yesterday. He told me that too many people ordered dumpling at the same time but it didn't convince me. By the way, the duck dish is indeed $45.99 but it is for 3 people. I think it is a bit pricey.

[DonRocks]

I want to try, well, all of that. The pheasant meat dumplings, the duck, even the fermented flounder. May not like that last one, but I still want to try it!

This is fantastic news. Thanks for sharing. I am very excited to try this place.

grover - sounds like a $20 event is a great idea!!

I second this!

would love to try this place. Anyone going in the near future?

Soup

I could go for lunch any day this week (preferably Thurs or Fri). Are they open for lunch?

I believe so.

Just saw this. I third this!

It is the major reason why I am not doing $20 Tuesday there right now. It seems that it is the first time for Ms. Ma to open a business and she needs to build her skills to estimate how much food she needs to prepare for a day's operation.

Is anyone still up for a $20 Tuesday here? (I would be.)

[Escoffier]

It looks like Ms. Ma has sold the restaurant to someone else. We went by there a couple of days ago and the sign on the restaurant had changed to something else. Maybe we'll do a lunch run over the weekend and see what's now there.

[TheMatt]

It looks like Ms. Ma has sold the restaurant to someone else. We went by there a couple of days ago and the sign on the restaurant had changed to something else. Maybe we'll do a lunch run over the weekend and see what's now there.

I was wondering about that. The whole building turned orange!