Korean Country Cod 'n Dumplings: Mapo

Mapo is a Korean country style kitchen at Sixth and Normandie. The meal starts with a full dozen panchan, including at least three kimchi variations. This is one of those cases of so much panchan, you barely need to order anything, but you should.

I immediately honed in on the braised cod, which reminded me of the similar mackerel dish at Seongbukdong, and it is like a less funky version of that dish. The cod is braised to a point of tenderness that you don't see that much in Western cooking, soft oily pieces spill out, but be careful, it's full of pesky little bones. Large slices of daikon soak up the spicy, salty sauce which is actually quite mild compared to the rich, pungent version at Seongbukdong. It's a milder, but just as wonderful dish.

The hand made noodles are the thing here and the soup with pulled dough morsels is filled with a handmade spaetzle or chicken 'n dumplings type noodle. These were very tasty, but I bet if you had leftovers (we didn't) they would soak up the soup and become plump and even more wonderful.

The various grilled mackerel dishes also looked very good; we'll check those out on the next visit.

Mapo
3611 West 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213)736-6668