Havana Street is the most diverse conduit in the metro area, at least for culinary adventurers. But even amid Ethiopian, Somali, Mexican, Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants (and that's just a sampling), Yong Gung stands out. The menu at this bright and tidy eatery reflects Korean cuisine as it evolved during decades of Chinese immigration; the newcomers brought their recipes with them while learning to cook with new ingredients. The result is a canon of noodle dishes, soups and stir-fries, from jajangmyeon noodles in jet-black fermented-bean sauce to aggressively spicy jjampong soup swimming with shrimp, mussels, mushrooms and long noodles. Some dishes are reminiscent of sweet-and-salty American-Chinese combos, while others — like chilled naengmyeon — share a kindred spirit with Japanese cold ramen. Just don't skip the Korean fried chicken, coated in a spicy, sticky sauce so good you'll forget there was ever a KFC.
Readers' Choice: Sam's No. 3