Hansol Noodle & Korean Food - Torrance

A fixture in the H-mart food court, perfect stop between check-out and car. Order before you shop and grab it when you're done. Just don't get too indecisive in the snack aisle - they'll throw your food away if it sits out for more than an hour. 

I love Korean food, and there isn't a lot of it in the South Bay if you're looking for something good. I like most of the food at Hansol so far, especially the Ttokbokki. Rice cake and fish cake, my two favorite cakes, coated with a thick, gooey armor of blood-red gochujang. The chewy texture is exactly al dente, and the red-hot sauce is a controlled burn that doesn't make your tongue bleed. 

Play it safe with a Bulgogi Set if you're looking to balance out the hot stuff. The beef is thin and saucy-sweet, and there's pickles and a salad on the side.

Gotta love the banchan. Kimchi is a classic, the radish is always great, and I'll even eat some seaweed.

If you can't get enough of the kimchi, go for the Kimchi Bokkeumbap. It's "just" fried rice, but it's full of kimchi flavor, but they sneak a lot of savor so you get a little something extra. 

Here's where they lose all the stars: I asked which dish had their handmade noodles, and the cashier suggested the A2 Soellenongtang. The broth is great. Rich and savory, packed with beefy flavor and plenty of tender, fall-apart slices of marbled beef, you can't stop sipping once you perk it up with some red pepper paste. This is a soup I would get over and over again...but then I got to the noodles. They were not handmade unless the machine at the factory had hands. They looked like plastic and crunched like plastic and all ten strands were 80% raw at least. I don't know what this is because it feels like a joke.

I hate writing negative reviews at a time like this, especially because I really liked everything else I ate. The food at Hansol has an endearing homemade quality to it, with all the warmth of no-frills comfort food. That said, I can't really forgive a mistake like those noodles when take-out is the only option and there's no practical way to check your order before it's too late. Sorry Hansol, I liked you but your noodles ruined my night.