South Bay: Koong's

When we had a jajangmyeon bracket with the crew, a dark horse came in second.  This came as a complete surprise to me as I'd passed by Koong's multiple times and it'd never occurred to me to eat there:

I always just assumed it was an Americanized Chinese take out restaurant and as a result, I had zero interest in checking it out.  After the bracket, I felt immense guilt and shame for dismissing Koong's so quickly.

The problem with brackets is that after a while, everything becomes a blur.  To remind myself what Koong's tasted like, I ordered it to go one night:

It would simply be a crime to order jajangmyeon and not order tangsuyuk ($14.95): 

Koong's sweet and sour sauce wasn't quite as tangy as I usually like it, but it wasn't bad.  The pork was nicely battered, though a bit on the dry side.

The dry fried chicken wings ($14.95), on the other hand, were great:

Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.

And of course, the jajangmyeon ($10.95):

After trying Koong's jajangmyeon for the second time, I really wanted to do the entire bracket again.  While it was good, I couldn't imagine it coming in second place.  Personally, I prefer Tong Soon.  Their jajangmyeon comes with large pieces of shrimp and pork.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Koong's.  I've even gone back multiple times since.  It's just that it isn't anything special.  It's convenient because it's close to my house, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there.

Koong's

103 N Milpitas Blvd

Milpitas, CA 95035

(408) 946-8020

https://www.koongschina.com/