Hirai Mong

CLOSED, was a good place for a cheap lunch though…

Chinese-​Korean fusion? I can’t even imagine how that’d turn out and I’m always a little hesitant about fusion cuisines. It’s really hard to hit the mark on fusion and I feel like this place tried but missed it a little.
The only reason why I’m giving this place 3 stars is because of their $ 5.00 jja jang myun lunch special and the fact that I’ve never had to wait to be seated here (or maybe that’s a sure sign that this place isn’t so hot?).
If you want real Korean food though skip out on this place. It’s not worth it… and I don’t really taste anything authentically Chinese or Korean about it.

I only give it one star because it USED to be one of my favorite restaurants and Unilocal won’t let me give it zero. Back during the summer and late 2010 when they served the best ja jam myung (black bean noodles with seafood) and (slightly) spicy soup. I didn’t know noodles could taste that good! You could have the best lunch ever for under $ 10, tax and tip included. The waiters were also very friendly and the food came out of the kitchen before I even got a chance to think about how long it will take to make. So I would say 5 minutes tops.
But NOW it changed! It’s only opened after 5pm. They don’t serve real food anymore. They’ve always had a full bar near the entrance but now it’s officially a drinking spot. The waiters are also not that great. My most recent (and probably last) time I went was two weeks ago. We had to wait an extra 10 minutes for our food because apparently the chef didn’t hear the waiter’s order. The food didn’t even taste good. It probably had no flavor underneath the spice that they ODed on. And yet there was only 2 other customers there.
Don’t go for the food.

Want to spend some time eating w. 20 flies? Please come here. Not kidding. I spent 50% of the time shooing flies away. Seriously unacceptable! Get the health department here!
Food was mediocre. I’ve had better Korean food.
Service was good though.

THE WORST!!! I WOULD GIVE ZERO STARS IF I COULD.
It used to be my go-​to place for jja-​jjang-​myun and/​or jjam-​pong ( Unilocal needs to take down their «special lunch menu» of these dishes), but they just recently changed their menu to «drunk/​bar» Korean food… and let’s just say that YOU HAVE TO BE DRUNK TO EAT THEIR FOOD NOW.
My friends and I were craving jja-​jjang-​myun, so we went here last night unaware that their menu had changed, thus no longer serving the famous Korean-​Chinese dish. So, we went with a simple «bento» box of stir-​fried «ham» with kimchi, rice and a fried egg, which was $ 9. I don’t know who their cook is, but my college-​aged brother can cook infinitely better. Also, whatever «ham» they served us WAS NOT EDIBLE. They were strange mushy disc-​like, possibly CANNED, imitations of meat that you would force yourself to eat if you were in a natural disaster or IN PRISON.
…and the service SUCKS. I always overlooked it when they had $ 5 jja-​jjang-​myun, but since they have absolutely nothing to offer now, I bid them farewell.

More like 3.5 stars. The food’s decent, not as bad as I thought it’d be. Very friendly and attentive staff and I love the spaciousness. It was pretty empty though on a Monday night.
fried dumplings — mehh.skip.
The bibimbap was surprisingly good. Without the spicy sauce, it was still flavorful and not dry. I can’t remember the names of the other stuff.
Definitely get the lychee soju! It doesn’t taste strong but after 3 shots of it I was starting to feel it.

Love this place! A good place to hang out with your friends to drink and eat. The food here is good and the portions are huge!
We got the boiled seafood which is pretty much a bunch of seafood like clams, shrimps, etc, sauteed together with onions, scallions, cabbage and udon noddles and spicy sauce. Very very good.
Our friend got an order of the yakisoba, which is suppose to be an appetizer, but the portion is so big. And the spicy octopus and pork was very tasty. Tasted very good with rice or the udon noddles they provided. I also had a taste of their Japanese style pancake, very Delicious better than the ones they have at Kenka
The service was good and they were able to accommodate our large group of people. But surprisingly, this place is never really full.
Will definitely be back here again.

Hirai Mong is a good place to have Korean food and drink with friends in East Village. Their food is not the best Korean cuisine you can find in the city but for East Village, it is doable given the price and atmosphere.
I tried the fried chicken here and of course it is not as good as Boka across the street or Bonchon. But the service here is good and they don’t rush you at all.

Came here with my friend only because we got the NYU discount (10%). Overall the food here was interesting – it was a blend of Chinese-​Korean cuisine. Who would have ever known the parallels between the two cultures’ foods? I had ordered their spicy seafood soup noodles, which was almost like a Chinese dish, but super spicy (a la Korean), so having the two was surprisingly pleasant. The flavors were quite bold and the seafood quite fresh. My friend got his usual jja-​jang-​myeon which looked and tasted typical Korean… so that was good too.
The Kimchi that they give you here wasn’t all that good. It was a little too vinegary and sour, but I still ate it. Kimchi is good for you, right?
The place has a lot of seating, despite what it looks like from outside. So, no real worries about having to wait to be seated. Décor is average – like any typical Korean/​Chinese restaurant.
Hirai Mong is like all the other eateries in the St. Mark’s neighborhood… cheap and good. Mmm!

This place was playing Musiq Soulchild’s Aijuswanaseing album in its entirety when I walked in. Instant bonus.
Anyway, I came here because I had a craving for jja jang myun. I haven’t had it in years, but I’ve wanted a bowl a few times over the past couple of weeks, so I consulted Unilocal,and decided this might be my best bet.
It was pretty quiet on this Saturday evening, so there weren’t many people inside. I was told to walk right on in to the back, where I grabbed a table for one. I already knew what I wanted, but I browsed the menu anyway. The prices weren’t too high, there were definitely some things that I’d like to return to try, but for now… noodles and black bean sauce were all that I could think of.
I ordered the jja jang myun and some cranberry juice, and two Musiq smooth jams later (or about 10 minutes), a large bowl of noodles slathered with black bean sauce was in front of me. Would my craving be satisfied? Would the noodles have a good texture? Will Scoob and the gang find out who’s been haunting the locals?
Well, I don’t know about the last question (although I’m sure they did, and there were jinkies involved) but the first two are a resounding yes. The noodles had a good chewy texture – not gummy, not tough – just chewy. The sauce was a little more bland than I remember it being, but it was still delicious, and it really hit the spot.
I had a minor mishap with my juice, though. They brought me the cranberry juice in a collins glass, and it was filled right to the rim. However, the table where I was sitting was set on a slight incline. I was enjoying the music and scanning the place with my eyes, and they found a small puddle on the table. Water, perhaps… then I followed it further and realized it was dripping off the table and onto the floor… and my knee. I wiped up the water to find that it was actually cranberry juice. Aside from that mild cran-​tastrophe, everything was great.
I definitely will return, and that means an update when I get the chance. I’d recommend it for the noodles, for certain.

From the ashes of Gama rises this passable Korean Chinese joint. They serve a respectable bowl of jjajangmyun, a lunchtime steal at $ 5. Unfortunately, in this neighborhood of cheap and plentiful beer, happy hour at Hirai Mong offers no specials on alcohol, and after a few $ 6 pints of Hite my five dollar lunch quickly grew to a thirty dollar tab. I’ll be back to try the tang su yook.
(No comment on the after hours crowd, but I figure it’s as lame, if slightly more Korean, than the likes of every other sake-​bombing NYU /​B&T brodeo haunting St. Mark’s at nighttime.)

I’ve been here twice before– once for drinks on a friend’s birthday, and again just last night for a super late dinner (at around midnight on a Monday– came here only because the place we originally wanted to go to was already closed).
Drinks were okay and fairly priced. Watermelon soju is tasty, but I couldn’t taste much alcohol in it at all. I must’ve had at least 4 glasses of the stuff on top of other drinks, and it did nothing for me! Weird.
Food portions are large. I ordered the half ja jang myun and half seafood noodle soup ($ 10), and it was a lot larger than I’ve had it at Shanghai Mong (are they owned by the same people? I would assume so?). My friend just had a bowl of ja jang myun, and it was only like $ 6 or $ 7.
Service is good. When I came the first time, I think the owner was in the place and he was very friendly and talkative. Waiter last night was also very friendly.
Outdoor seating, seats at the bar in front of the place, and tables in the back. Apparently there’s 10% off for students at nearby schools (NYU, Cooper Union, SVA, etc.) after 3pm, but I forgot to take advantage of that last night, boo!

In the last 5 hours of my stay in NYC, I visited this place. It was 2AM. Clean, well-​designed, and spacious interior. Met the bartender here, Valerie. Really sweet, easy smile, great to talk to. Apparently makes a wicked martini, but I couldn’t find out — I was in a beer mood.
Also met the owner. He seems like a real badass. He gave off a real enlightened vibe. My friend with me liked the drinks the bartender mixed, and I look forward to trying out the rest of the menu the next time I come by NYC. With people this cool staffing the place, the food will be sure to please.

JA JANG MYUN! it’s so good here and their lunch special prices just makes it THAT much sweeter. $ 4.99 for ja jang myun and $ 5.99 for whatever else that’s on their lunch special AND it’s GINORMOUS! I ordered the JAM JA MYUN which is a HUGE gigantic bowl that’s half ja jang myun and half spicy seafood soup with MORE noodles. I left feeling comatosed! I wanted to take a nap afterwards, but too bad I had to get back to work! Haha.
It was $ 13 dollars for two @ lunch! I think I have a new favorite place for my ja jang myun fix! WOOT!

solid korean food to be honest i would rate it 3 ½ stars but whatev!
I wasn’t going to write a review for Hirai Mong but I noticed that Unilocal rated this restaurants price rating as $$$$. Preposterous!!! When I went there we paid $ 24 for a solid three person meal. NOT BAD AT ALLLL
so don’t be freaked out by the ridiculous $$$$ sign!

Went here to watch one of the NBA playoff games, sat a the bar and had a few drinks. Decent prices and friendly bartenders (they ran out of Redbull for my Redbull vodka so she went out to buy me some).

i had dinner at Hirai Mong today. I was pretty happy with their service, food and music. Four of us shared a big plate of seafood jja jang noodle, seafood spicy soup noodle, sweet potato & pork plate, boilded dumpling. Everything was tasty. one girlfriend ordered hot and sour soup — it was pretty spicy, but unique. I still give more than 4 stars to that soup.
There was a live jazz band in front of the restaurant bar. Bar area looks pretty cool and inside is more restaurant decoration.
Recommend this place to check it out if you are in east village.

Yum. finally, korean style jja jang myun arrives in east village. I also think they deliver so for those of you who are watching korean dramas and get the urge to eat jja jaang myun cuz they always seem to eat them in dramas, you can now get your fix here.
the price is very reasonable and the portions are massive. I got the half/​half jja jang myun, jjam bbong combo and it totally hit the spot. From the reviews I read, I hear they have live music but I don’t really care about that. The drinks are decent too, they have water melon soju but they shouldn’t put so much ice in it as after about 15 minutes, the ice dilutes and waters down the drink.
Items that I would skip are the kkam poong gi. Very dissapointing, too sweet and bland and not garlicky enough for me. Stick to the basics, you could easily feed 4 hungry foodies for under 30 dollars.

Saturday night out in town with my very good close friends for this Cantonese Chigga revealed the unseen side to select few who are close!
Hirai Mong is Korean/​Chinese Asian fusion with a full bar and offers a live jazz band Saturday nights for an optional $ 5.00 per person cover charge. Our party sat at the bar the entire night while being entertained by the Nori Ochiai Quartet band in between serious in-​deepth conversations to lively smiles to warmest kindness and understanding of geninue friends. The general manager, Gino, can pass for American Idol as the Korean Frank Sinatra who impressed us with his singing in conjunction with the band’s performance.
The entrées are, indeed, gargantuan portions. It resides in St. Mark’s Place in the Village. The Sake Cosmo at $ 7.00 and Lychee Martini at $ 8.00 were both quite tasty. The Hirai Gun Man Doo (pan-​pork fried dumpling) at $ 7.95 were very tasty as appetizers yet served piping hot at 1,000 degrees F. Disappointedly, there were no Hyang SoohRi (crispy duck) at $ 17.95 which I’d opt for the Ggan Poong Kyan Ja (braised scallop with garlic sauce) at $ 17.95 which were too bloody spicy for my taste palette and gargantuan plentiful. My entrée, Ggan Poong Kyan Ja, was immensely swimming in very spicy garlic sauce that I wish there were white rice to absorb it as there were none for an Asian restaurant.
Hirai Mong bar tenders are not well conversable in the English language as our party requested many times in different literates for either more water, drink requests, and food orders including pointing to the menu as sign language to communicate thus four stars. The restroom facilities’ sinks are shared for men and women in the corridor. Albeit, there are hooks for coats and bags under bar which is very convenient for security to women having their belongings nearby.

I came to Hirai Mong for lunch at 1pm and was surprised by how un-​busy they were. I walked through a nice bar area to the back, where most of the lunch customers were sitting. The menu is extensive, though as a Korean place, doesn’t have bi bim bap or bulgogi. Nonetheless, their lunch menu is good: I got the tofu and vegetables, which came with a choice of soup and rice. The portion was large! Warning: the tofu dish includes meat, but it’s possible to be made without meat. «Vegetables» were mushrooms and peas. Furthermore, the brown rice I ordered was more of a purple color, so I am not quite sure how to explain that. I guess I would just warn that if your ordering from here, be sure to ask more specifically about what comes in the dish.
I would probably give this place three stars if it wasn’t for the excellent service. Our servers were both very attentive and all smiles. My friend and I were out in less than 45 minutes.