Mandoo Gui at Han Bat

Han Bat is a Korean restaurant in Manhattan, situated on the periphery of Korea Town.  They have a full menu of Korean restaurant staples, but when it comes to dumplings they only serve Mandoo Gui, the fried pork Mandoo.

The Dumplings:  The Mandoo Gui are large pork and leak dumplings, deep fried to a crispy golden brown.  They are best eaten almost immediately upon arrival at the table, I find that if they sit awhile and cool too much they somehow take on a greasier taste and mouth feel.  So there is a narrow, optimal window of time in which to eat them, between when they are too hot to eat and when they have cooled too much, but during this window they are delicious.  The dumplings are quite large and packed with minced pork and leaks so they are really filling; best shared with a group if you want to make it to the entrees.

The Dipping Sauce:  The sauce is a traditional soy and vinegar based sauce with a dash of sesame oil.  What sets the sauce apart from the competitors is the large amount of diced scallion floating in the sauce, enough to impart a scallion fragrance to the overall sauce.

Location:  Han Bat is between 5th and 6th avenue on 35th street, which puts it three blocks north of the main Korea Town  strip.