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Ttowa is hardly the only Korean restaurant around town that exhibits a high degree of specialization, and these dumplings, or mandu, can be highly specific themselves–a few of them differ only in preparation, whether steamed, panfried, or deep-fried. My favorites here are the simple steamed mandu that come with a delicate wrapper so translucent you can see the filling inside. The combination gul mandu, (pictured) comes with three pork filled varieties: kimchi, gogi (stuffed with vegetables and japchae) and yetnal (with tofu and vegetables). They’re a terrific value at $6.99, as are the wang mandu, fat pork, vegetable, and japchae meatballs encased in a steamed bunlike exterior ($5.99). Less successful are the deep-fried maewun mandu, not unlike fried ravioli, with a sweet-spicy sauce; these are either understuffed or the filling has somehow contracted in the roiling hell of the deep fryer.
We missed a few others: there’s a tofu- and vegetable-stuffed “Wellbeing mandu” for vegetarians, and three dumpling soups, as well as a selection of popular non-dumpling-based Korean dishes such as kimchi fried rice and bulgogi. The small, house-made panchan selection is outstanding, particularly some lovely, fresh bitter and spicy dandelion greens.
