I recently came across this mandu and steamed bun hole-in-the wall whilst out roaming the streets near Hanti Station in Gangnam. The billowing clouds of steam and stacks of shiny aluminium steamers instantly grabbed my attention, and I resolved to get in on the action asap.

Working out of an open shop front, this two person operation was churning out food at a frightening pace. On the menu was two different types of regular sized mandu, a larger, bun sized mandu, and a steamed bun of epic proportions. I chose a portion of kimchi mandu (6 pcs, 3000 won) and one of the steamed buns (1pc, 1000.)

The steamed bun was enormous – a mountain of doughy, pliable bread that had been filled to bursting with a hefty amount of sweet, chutney-esque Korean bean paste. It had a great, freshly made quality to it, but was unfortunately not entirely to my taste.

My feelings towards the mandu however were much less ambiguous. These little brain shaped parcels came stuffed full of chopped pork, kimchi, green onions and glass noodles. They had a fantastic lip burning, tongue tingling spiciness to them, and tasted great with the accompanying bag of soy sauce.

Directions: Turn left out of Hanti Station Exit 8 and walk for 30 seconds.