Mapo BBQ Korean cuisine

Miko remarked on the "blinged-out" menu.

Bland panchan and weird-tasting kimchi.

I was charmed by the "Help Roaster" logo.

Bland mushy dumplings.

Bland tofu stew.

Rating: Two thumbs down
Date: 1/26/13
Time in: 8:46 PM
Time out: 9:31 PM 
Servers' recommendations: Tofu stews
What we ordered: Bean paste tofu stew, boiled dumplings
Number in our party: 2
Final check amount: $17.26
Price per person: $8.63 (but we were still hungry)
Notes: 

• It was surprisingly spacious inside.
• It was rather difficult to get a recommendation from the servers.  The first lady didn't speak a whole lot of English, but the fluent guy had trouble too.  They kept waving vaguely at the menu.
• The boiled dumplings were clearly from a package.  In fact, they tasted suspiciously similar to the frozen Daylee Pride gyoza that I get at the Asian market.  I was not pleased -- for the same price I paid here for a dish of 10 dumplings, I could get a bag of 40.
• The panchan was bland, and our favorites (potato salad, fish cake) were missing.  The kimchi had an odd flavor to it -- sweet and musty.  
• Gah, the stew.  It tasted like miso soup, but with tough, stringy beef and clams that were definitely not the freshest.  We did ask for the stew to be mild, but it was so bland that we were forced to mix the kimchi into it.  And then we'd realize that the kimchi tasted funny and made the stew taste even weirder.
• This was incredibly rude of me, but I called Red Moon Noodle House on my cell phone and ordered Singapore noodles while I was still sitting at the table, waiting for the check.  My mother would kill me if she knew.  I couldn't help it; the disappointing meal had taken away any shred of courtesy I'd had!  And we knew Red Moon was closing in just a few minutes!

RESTAURANT INFORMATION 
Address: 4647 Convoy St, Ste 104 
Phone number: 858.565.0403 
Website: http://mapobbq.blogspot.com 
Accepts credit cards? Yes
Parking: Shared lot, still crowded
Ideal group size: 2-6
Available vegetarian options: Vegetable tofu stew, chivas [sic] green pancake
Noise level: 2