Koreatown is one place in Manhattan that everyone should visit at least a few times, but somewhere that many lifelong New Yorkers never think to go. Literally overshadowed by the Empire State Building, people walk right through it without recognizing the urban treasures they are neglecting. Most importantly, there’s some fantastic food in this little quadrant from 31st to 36th Streets between 5th Avenue and Broadway, much of it on the sparklingly lighted stretch of 32nd Street. Even better still, this is one area that provides pedestrians with a little street entertainment in the form of shopfronts that allow you to peek inside and watch people pulling noodles, chopping onions, and best of all, assembling mandoo.

If you’ve never heard of them, mandoo are filled dumplings about the size of a ping pong ball– they’re similar to big wontons with a slightly more doughy skin. Several of the restaurants in Koreatown make their own mandoo, but only one, Mandoo Bar, lets you watch the entire process from dough rolling to filling. HungryMan and I have both stood in the doorway of this establishment at least a dozen times over the past year, marveling at the speed and skill of the women (it’s always women when we visit) who tuck the little green, orange, and white mandoo skins into the folds of their thumbs and firmly press a spoonful of ground meat or seafood inside. It’s almost hypnotic to watch.

This week, our friend TVGal met us for dinner a few blocks south of Koreatown and suggested (with no prompting) a quick meal at the Mandoo Bar. And quick is precisely what we got. The instant we sat down at the table, we had two small bowls of banchan in front of us: one containing cubes of daikon radish in a chili-vinegar sauce, and the other a preserved gourd pickle. We nibbled at them as we read the menu, which includes the greatest hits of Korean dishes as well as several mandoo and noodle dishes that are more difficult to find elsewhere.

Never having eaten fried tofu in a Korean restaurant– I usually think of this as a Chinese or Japanese specialty– we started our meal with something new. Korean fried tofu ($3.99) is pan-fried in very little (if any) batter or flour, and is always prepared in slices, as opposed to cubes. This gives the bean curd an almost eggy, crisp crust that is as thin as a sheet of paper. The hot sauce, soy sauce, and chopped scallions add more than enough flavor to enliven the tofu without overwhelming its subtlety. In the end, this dish felt much more substantial and filling than the less healthy deep-fried versions I am used to eating. I could certainly have made this my main dish, had I been so inclined. But I had mandoo on my mind.

I didn’t have to wait long for them, either. Three or four minutes after ordering the ten seafood mandoos ($7.99), they arrived still wet from the pot and glistening. The orange dumplings on a blue plate certainly made for a visually arresting contrast, which may well have been the intention, as the dish was otherwise completely ungarnished and unadorned. That’s not a problem when the mandoo are this good– from the very first bite, I knew I’d eat them all. Each one contained at least one shrimp, and several also offered up nuggets of cooked squid– there was no skimping on the seafood here. Even without any sauce, these seafood mandoo tasted rich, fresh, and complex. With a tiny dab of kochu jang (red hot sauce), they popped and jumped inside my mouth. Then, all too quickly, they were gone.

In the meantime, HungryMan ordered the japchae ($8.99), a stir-fry of glass-noodles and vegetables. Normally a safe bet for vegetarians, this version of japchae featured thin slivers of pork. Unsurprisingly, this posed no problem for HungryMan, who even went so far as to say that the added pork improved the japchae and made it more perfectly suited to a bracingly cold December evening.

TVGal took a different route and, on the recommendation of the waiter, ordered the mandoo soup ($7.99), a pellucid brew of pork, pork mandoo, and shaved seaweed slices. It looked impressive, and did contain eight freshly made dumplings, but as with many clear broth-based Korean soups, it teetered on the edge of blandness. As part of a larger meal that achieves the traditional Korean balance of flavors, I imagine this soup would have fit in nicely, but as the main part of TVGal’s dinner, it could have used an intensifying kick or two.

But this is a small complaint about what was an otherwise very solid meal. All the more impressive that three of us ate manifestly fresh food for about $18 a person, including beer, tax, and tip. I can’t think of many restaurants in this city where the same can be said, and even fewer where it’s as much fun to stand outside and wait for a dining companion to join you.

Mandoo Bar, 2 W. 32nd Street (between 5th Avenue and Broadway), 212-279-3075