Restaurant: Kinn
Location: 3905 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 291-0888
Date: September 1, 2022
Cuisine: Korean Fusion
Rating: Really tasty & a great deal
Erick and I decided to visit some of LA’s top “Korean Fusion” places as just a small (the two of us) Foodie Club dinner. Since these spots are aimed at young Asian-American millennials they tend to have serve tiny tasting menus (by our gluttonous standards) and so we just booked a straight up Double Dinner (two dinners in one night)! Second Dinner was at Hanchic.
The Michelin Guide (which lists Kinn) describes it as follows:
Chef Ki Kim delivers something special with Kinn. Tucked along a main artery of K-town, the slim, modern space is fitted with a blonde wood counter and tables. Whether preparing dishes or presenting them, the chef and his team deliver an exclusive experience. Chef Kim’s experience in upscale restaurants informs his menu which features dishes retooled with a Korean bent. Case in point? The K-corn dog, made here with Dungeness crab and a bechamel filling. Confit hen of the woods mushroom conceals a briny and sweet surprise of uni, along with Asian pear. Pyongyang naengmyeon is a delightful combination that embodies the art of simplicity with beefy and savory broth filled with buckwheat noodles, paper-thin slices of brisket, cucumbers, Asian pears and radish kimchi.
We got there early (Double Dinner, round 1!) and it were the first in the door. The space is very narrow, with tables along one side and a “sushi-like” bar on the other.
Tonight’s menu. We got all the supplements, Double Dinner be damned.
2010 Domaine Guiberteau Saumur Blanc Clos des Carmes Brézé. 93 points.
Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Sketch.
Steamed Abalone. Potatoes, squid ink. You slurp the contents out of the shell. Essentially it’s like a “abalone chowder.” Quite nice if a bit potato focused.
Perilla Salad. Tomatoes, Ikura, burrata, Perilla Sorbetto, Jelly. This was an amazing salad with a fantastic balance of sweet, herby, and tangy elements. The centerpeice was the Perilla (shiso) Sorbetto which seemed to be a properly formulated intensely shiso-flavored sweet sorbetto balanced with a bit of lemon juice.
Supplement of Confit Hen of the Woods Mushrooms and Uni. The mushrooms had a nice smokey “charcoal grilled” flavor and great texture.
Supplement of Spanish-Style Crispy Octopus. The sauce is a creamy aioli with Korean Chili Paste. Perfectly cooked octopus with a crispy outside and tender inside, I was able to cut it easily with a spoon. The aioli, basically a Korean inspired take on Bravos Sauce, was very thick and “creamy” with an egg, oil emulsion. Lovely take on this classic Spanish dish.
Rock Cod with a Fish Broth. The Crispy Topped fish was perfectly cooked, served with a Fennel Salad, and underlayed with a delicious Korean Fish Bone Broth spiked with Serrano Chili and Tarragon Oil. Really lovely.
Charcoal Grilled Wagyu Shortrib. The succulent beef was topped with kimchi spicy greens, a bit of potato puree and a dust made from sweet potato skins. Really lovely beef dish and I very much enjoyed the contrast with the spicy and bracing greens.
Pyongyang Naengmyeon. An iced buckwheat noodle with beef, pickles, and radish.
It’s deconstructed and you combine the elements like these toppings.
And the noodles.
To get the whole. Very refreshing, mild, and clean. Noodles had a great snappy texture. This was an “extremely” calm take showcasing the noodles unlike some of the more bracing chili paste, mustard, and vinegar Korean noodle dishes.
Corn Bingsoo with cheese. Corn and cheese in a dessert? Well this totally worked. Basically it was a shave ice with mild sweet corn flavors. It wasn’t massively sweet either but was cool, refreshing, and quite lovely.
The bill wasn’t bad at all, even with all the supplements.
Kinn was awesome. Not only was it intimate and the chef extremely friendly and interesting, but these were big bold flavors and quite novel. The cooking techniques are heavily “modern French” or “modern European” (some dishes like the Octopus are pretty Spanish) but a lot of Korean ingredients and flavors have been melded in. It’s simultaneously comforting and novel.
We immediately discussed setting up a larger format special dinner with the chef for later in the fall.