The phrase “hidden gem” gets thrown around way too often, I think, but that’s what Mokomandy is! It’s tucked away inside an unassuming looking shopping center known by some of us locals as Lowe’s Island. Just some random shopping center right off Algonkian Parkway in Sterling, Va.
But Mokomandy is a far cry from ordinary.
As stated on its website, Mokomandy calls itself a “fine-dining establishment based upon the marriage of a Korean-American man to a Cajun woman and the food, family, and friends created along the way.” As you might expect, then, the food is a fusion between Korean and Cajun cuisines.
You have both sides of the spectrum, like the Korean bulgogi dish and the Cajun shrimp etouffe, but there are also dishes that fit neatly in between the two, like the shrimp and grits dish, which includes a chili crawfish butter.
I went with the wild boar and duck egg bowl. Why? I’ve never had either. Now, I can say that I have. Plus, if I ever have to kill a wild boar (I’m having flashbacks to that one LOST episode), I’ll know what I’m in for.
Turns out it’s delicious. It’s not a tough meat, at least not the way it was prepared. It’s not too gamey either.
The duck egg, on the other hand–I couldn’t detect any unique taste. Tasted the same as a chicken egg to me. Maybe that’s because it was covered in the spicy bean paste sauce, gochujang, or maybe it’s because my palette is far from being refined enough to taste a difference in between bird eggs. Who knows?
The rest of the bowl consisted of kimchi and fried pork, spicy cabbage, mung bean sprouts, red carrots, rice, and seaweed. It’s a heavy dish, so prepare yourself! That said, it’s pretty delish.
Peripheral Chew 