Chang Hwa Dang

Great mandu! Their reputation is well earned.Chang Hwa Dang ("brightly shiny house" in Korean) is a famous chain of dumpling restaurants in Seoul, beloved in Korea with more than 10 locations. This was the first one opened in LA in 2020, and seems to be the only instance in the U.S. It is located on the first floor of the historic Brown Derby Plaza. My co-father-in-law and I came by taking the D-Line Wilshire and Vermont station, and walking the few blocks. It was about 3 in the afternoon, a great time to come, since it wasn't very busy.We were asked to find our own seating, and a server came soon after to give us a pitcher of self-service water (they will give warm water as well if asked). They don't serve alcohol here. It's a really nice, remodeled space, with large group seating in the middle, and booths to the side. The picture menu is available via QR code at each table...it took a bit to decided what to order and share, and the servers were patient. They sell the mandu's a frozen, so I'm guessing that the mandu is made in Korea and shipped over here, then prepared from frozen: pan-fried, steamed, etc. We ended up getting Steamed pork ($9.99 for six), Steamed kimchi ($9.99 for six), pan-fried shrimp ($11.99), Kimchi Fried Rice ($13.99) and it was enough to fill us up. I thought all 4 dishes were excellent: the filling in the kimchi mandu reminded me so much of the street market vendors selling huge kimchi mandu. The shrimp dumpling was more of a dim-sum in that it was a whole shrimp, very sweet, wrapped and pan fried. Delicious and would be the best appetizer at any restaurant. And finally, the fried rice was a perfect accompaniment to the dumplings...a little too sour to eat by itself but just perfect as spoonfuls following a dumpling stuff and feed (yeah, I eat these dumplings as one mouthful).The prices were very reasonable for the portions given, and service was good throughout (unlike other local K-Town restaurants, this chain was staffed with non-Korean speaking folks). Payment was at the table and we were quickly back on our way.

Simple no frills Korean dumping restaurant. The menu is small so you know the food will be great. I would definitely come here again! I love the fish soup - very simple and flavorful. The dumplings were bomb dot com. The sample platter is a must try.

Food was so amazing. Never disappoints when I come here. I live like 50 minutes away from this place but every time i'm in KTown, my mom and I always go here if it isn't Kbbq. The cold noodles are so yummy as well as the rose tteokbokki. Ambiance is very elegant yet casual. Service is nice and attentive !

The worst and most unprofessional treatment! They are NOT accommodating at all if you're looking to share a dumpling plate with someone that's vegetarian in your party. We also asked if they could add fish cake with the kimchi fried rice (which they have in their udon meal). NOT POSSIBLE.. and on top of that my friend asked how spicy the kimchi was and they told us it wasn't spicy at all when it clearly was for him.. instead of suggesting a zero spice dish... oh yeah did I mention we were supposed to get a refill on water.. I guess that was too much trouble.. smh never coming back here!

this place feels like i'm back in korea! we got the tteokbboki, assorted mandu combo, spicy cold noodles. the serving size is not too big, it's korean size which is like 0.7 smaller than Amerian size I would say and the price matches with the serving size which i liked. all the food was so good, i would def go back when i need some korean street food! i'd like to try something else next time.

So incredibly amazing. Our server was really amazing and attentive. He made us enjoy our time and very delicious meal. The ambiance was overall great and will definitely recommend to family and friends. If anyone is skeptical in trying it out- you will not be disappointed.