Las Vegas: MSC (Min Sok Chong)
The Skinny: I needed a nice little reality check from some good friends and they decided to go here. Apparently I’ve been here before, but it was so long ago when food was just something I ate to survive I couldn’t remember. It did feel familiar when I first walked in. I was a little excited because it is a Korean/Japanese restaurant.
The interior is this cute little homely place. I felt comfortable the minute I walked in. It was like you’re walking into your best friend’s Asian dining room. We sat down and first thing we ordered was alcohol. Soju (Korean alcohol), Hite (Korean beer) & fresh iced green tea. I’ve never been here and was open to try anything. My friend ordered a dish that was slow cooked pork belly with oysters, tofu steak & a spicy potato & beef rib soup. I loved that the owner’s daughter came to our table with fresh limes and made a special cocktail we named Achy hands drink because she squeezed fresh lime juice into a cup of ice and soju. Loved it better then drinking soju straight up. For our happy ending we had candied corn with cheese. OMG who thinks up these things? At first when it came out my friends and I looked at the dish and looked at Sarah (the owner’s daughter) and said that’s a huge dish of corn! Don’t know why we were so shocked by the plate, we actually finished majority of it. It is THAT good.
The Good: I didn’t have one bad dish here. The slow cooked pork belly with oysters was fantastic! I’m normally not a big fan of pork belly because of how fatty it is, but Sarah’s mom made it so good, I could’ve eaten the whole plate if it wasn’t so filling. The dish came with pickled napa cabbage leaves to wrap the pork belly, oyster & sides (raw garlic, raw jalapeno peppers, and this fermented soy bean paste). This dish is like an explosion of flavor in your mouth. It actually really messed me up the first bite. My brain couldn’t decide what I was eating. I had the flavorful pork belly, the oyster and all the other flavors from the sides. It was delicious.
The spicy potato & beef rib soup was a great choice too. It went well with the other dishes we ordered. A lot of places when I order this type of soup are too spicy. The spice level and flavor was perfect here.
Our last dish was the candied corn with cheese. My friend told me that this is the best dish when drinking. Boy is she right. This dish is no joke. Definitely a must try if you ever go.
The Bad: I don’t really have anything bad to say about this restaurant other than it’s kind of in a ghetto area. The best restaurants are the little hole in the walls right? It is a couple blocks from the University so it’s not that bad, but still quite a drive from where I live. Worth the drive though.
Would you come back again? Absolutely, we didn’t even begin to take a crack at the menu. There are so many choices to choose from. I will definitely be back again. It’s Korean home cooking and you can’t find such great Korean home cooking unless you’re Korean yourself and if you are, then I’m jealous you grew up with such great food. Next time I’ll try some of the Japanese items and report back.
More Info: 1801 E. Tropicana | Las Vegas, NV 89119 | (702) 262-5592 | Reasonable pricing
– Sniper Tam
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