Profile: Nandarang

By Ryan - Wednesday August 31st 2005

cafe smoketastic Each time I venture over to Nandarang two thoughts enter my head bam! bam! like one-two punches from Eu Chan Jung.

Thought #1: Holy bittersweet fancy Christ-on-a- Kimchi-Smoothie hassles, why the hell is this parking lot so packed!? This coffee shop has valet!?

As soon as I’ve disposed of the car and entered the establishment, Thought #2 takes over: Holy crap crackers! I wish I smoked. This order will be to go.

Of all the magical, fully legal breakaway interiors-cum-smokepatio-wonders in Koreatown, Nandarang’s may ultimately take the cake. Picture a redesigned Spaceland where the club is the smoking area and the smoking room is the stage area, and you begin to get the idea. Nonsmokers just aren’t the favored clientele. The cashier area is the smoke-free zone.

All smokes aside, you could do worse when it comes to smoothies and shakes. Don’t look for boba though…you’ll have to go a few doors down if it’s the dark rubbery balls you crave.

Thought #3 is really more of an observation: Aside from a few scattered oldies and boozers, Nandarang appears to be the place the underage Ktown kids go to smoke and drink coffee. There are about as many coffee shops as there are BBQ joints in Koreatown, but this one really seems to draw the kids in. Maybe it’s the giant video screens. If I were young and a smoker (as I once was), it’d probably be my home away from home.

Photos:
Counter
Wall of De-Smokation

Nandarang
3811 W. Sixth St
213.388.8513

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One Response to “Profile: Nandarang”

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