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Archive for Korea-town

Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong

Apr15

Restaurant: Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong

Location: 3465 W 6th St. Los Angeles, CA 90020, Wilshire Center, Koreatown

Date: February 27, 2020

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Very solid KBBQ

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This dinner was several months in the planning — mostly because it got moved around once or twice.
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But in any case I always like to try new KBBQ places. This one is in busy Wilshire Center which is a cool bustling courtyard in the heart of Koreatown. There’s also a Quarters here, which people also say is good.
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The interior is the usual smoke infested den. The hoods don’t do much. Afterward one reeks of char.
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This is the first of 3 tables. We kept moving to find one which fit the ever shifting count of people.
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Banchan here are good but way too limited. They have good “condiments” but not so much in the munching department. The kimchee, however, is excellent. I’m not so into the pumpkin/squash. There are marinated daikon for the meat, which is excellent.
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Seaweed wraps.
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This salad is one of the more boring Korean salads. Sometimes I love them. All depends on the dressing.
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This spicy green onion and bean sprout salad was better.
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Kimchee pancake! This and the kimchee are their best (only?) real banchan.
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Slightly sweet and spicy dipping sauce.
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Cheesy corn and egg around the grill.
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Cold “soup.” Very odd. Basically a lemon or lime half-frozen slushy with marinated daikon and pepper! Weird, but kinda tasty.
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Kimchee stew.
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Beef brisket stew.
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Spicy pork with green onions. Slightly sweet and spicy. Great dish. Maybe one of the best of the evening.
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Thin beef (brisket).
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On the BBQ. Pretty mild. They cook everything and she loaded this all up too fast and at first had it cooked in that middle range which is bland. We had to put it back on and crisp it up.
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Short rib.
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On the grill, a bit more flavor than the brisket.
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Our friendly server.
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Steamed egg. Good with the spicy sauce.
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Skirt steak. Definitely more flavor than the other beefs.
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Marinated beef short rib. The best of the BBQ beefs.
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Pork belly and jowl.
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The jowl has an interesting chew.
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Beef tongue. Nice texture and flavor.
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Getting crazy with an innovative new flavor: Oaxacan Choco-Mole – The base is made with Valrhona 100% Cacao and intense Oaxacan Mole Negro from Guelaguetza restaurant — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #cocao #oaxaca #mole #molenegro

This is a signature Sweet Milk flavor — Italian Lemon Cookie Meringue Pie — Limoncello Zabaione base with lemon cookie flavor mixed with Italian Lemon Creme Cookies and Sicilian Candied Lemon and topped with house-made toasted Meringue — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato) — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #lemon #LemonCookie #cookie #Sicily #Sorento #Limoncello #Meringue #LemonMeringuePie

Overall, this is a very good (non AYCE — I prefer non) KBBQ. Meat quality is excellent but they could use more variety. I think Park’s BBQ is better for sure. Service is friendly, but they don’t take any kind of reservations. The banchan quality is excellent but they need more of them. I particularly like the spicy/chewy ones like squid or fish cakes. None of that here. We maybe didn’t order the best — I was actually kinda distracted with the table moves and never looked at the menu, so maybe there are some other interesting things. Best things were the pork with green onions and the marinated short rib.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!
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Related posts:

  1. Black Goat at Mirak
  2. Back in the USA – Dha Rae Oak
  3. Shanghailander Arcadia
  4. Thai Tour – Pailin Thai
  5. Hanjip Korean BBQ
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, Koreatown, pork, Wine

Going to Guelaguetza

Mar18

Restaurant: Guelaguetza

Location: 3014 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 427-0608

Date: February 2, 2020

Cuisine: Oaxacan Mexican

Rating: Best black mole I’ve ever had

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My brother got a couple recommendations recently as to good Mexican places in the city and so me and the family decided to try out this famed Oazacan joint:

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Guelaguetza first opened its doors in 1994 by immigrant husband and wife Fernando Lopez and Maria Monterrubio. Since then, our goal at Guelaguetza has been to showcase the best of our family recipes and stay true to authentic Oaxacan ingredients. Guelaguetza’s mission is for all of its patrons to live and experience Oaxaca through all of its dishes.

 Today, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez are retired and have paved the way for their children, Paulina, Fernando Jr, Elizabeth and Bricia Lopez.  This new generation of Oaxaqueños has taken upon themselves the responsibility of not only continuing their family’s restaurant success but also expanding its legacy.   Recently they launched their online retail store where fans can purchase Guelaguetza’s famous mole and signature Michelada mix. The Lopez’s have undoubtedly become ambassadors to Oaxacan cuisine in Los Angeles.

Their hard work, dedication and love for their culture have earned them features and mentions in publications such as Los Angeles Times, Jonathan Gold’s 101 essential restaurants, The New York Times, GQ Magazine, Esquire, Los Angeles Magazine, Oprah Magazine, The New Yorker, Travel and Leisure, Sunset Magazine and others.  Most recently, Guelaguetza was awarded The James Beard Award for the American Classics category, the most prestigious award in the culinary industry.

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The interior is a mashup of modern (ductwork) and classic Mexican restaurant.

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They have an extensive bar too.
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The menu.
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Cadillac margarita. Tasty!

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Nachos with red mole and cheese. Delicious, sweet, a touch spicy and oh so heavy!

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A selection of 5 moles.

MOLE NEGRO. This is the mother of all moles, smoky, sweet, with just the right amount of spice.
MOLE ROJO. This mole is on the smoky and spicier side with hints of chocolate and spice.
COLORADITO. This mole is on the sweeter side with a well rounded finish.
ESTOFADO. This mole has an almond base with hints of olives and pickled jalapeños.
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QUESILLO FUNDIDO. Melted Oaxaca cheese, grilled chorizo, mushroom and a small side of guacamole served on a hot skillet. served with kernel of truth organic corn tortillas. Vegetarian option available — we didn’t get it. This was delicious, heavy, and very hard to get out of the pan (it stretched behind the spoon).
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Corn tortillas. Probably fried in lard.
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TAMAL OAXAQUEÑO DE MOLE NEGRO CON POLLO. Black mole chicken tamale + black beans and rice. It’s hard to appreciate how large this is — above the size of a Roman brick. Just as heavy too. The mole is amazing. The sweet corn paste rich and tasty, the chicken very tender. It was great and sat in my stomach like the brick it was :-).
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Small salad that comes with the dinners. They had squeeze bottles of zesty Italian and ranch dressing.
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COSTILLA DE PUERCO ENCHILADA. Pork Ribs seasoned in a chile arbol, chlhuacle, morita, pasilla and guajillo paste. Served with rice, black beans and green salad, grilled jalapeños and grilled onion.
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CARNITAS GUELAGUETZA. Our version of pork carnitas. Served with salad, guacamole, black beans and pico de gallo + Large handmade tortilla.
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Assorted meat plate including grilled tasajo, cecina, chorizo and oaxaca cheese. Served with rice, black beans, cactus salad and green salad. The chorizo was a touch dry. The flat meats were well interesting, but mole (which I added on top) is so strong it hardly mattered what was under it.
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MOLE NEGRO. This is the mother of all moles, smoky, sweet, with just the right amount of spice. Awesome smokey stuff. I bought a tub of it to turn into gelato!

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Beans.
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Rice.
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There is a little market at the front with moles, drinks, to-go desserts etc.
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In the back was a huge mural of the Oaxacan artist Francisco Toledo. I only recently discovered his work, but the late great man is recently deceased and left humanity an enormous body of fascinating, brilliant, and often disturbing works in every medium imaginable.

Overall, Guelaguetza was some of the best Oaxacan I’ve made. The mole in particular were stunning. Portions are large, prices are reasonable (considering the former), and it’s a fun place. It is heavy. The corn flour / fat combo sat in my gut for 36 hours like a giant ball. But worth it!

Hiss to anti-immigration orange authoritarians who bash on outsiders. Why would you eat overcooked steaks and burgers all day when you can have mole like this?

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Bru’s Wiffle
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Francisco Toledo, Guelaguetza, Korea-town, masa, Mexican cuisine, mole, Oaxaca, pork

Quick Eats – Park’s BBQ

Feb19

Restaurant: Park’s BBQ

Location: 955 S Vermont Ave G, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 380-1717

Date: December 23, 2019

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Great charcoal KBBQ

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It’s been many years since I was at Park’s BBQ — before I started blogging in 2010 for sure — so when my friend Jerome mentioned that he wanted to try some KBBQ off we went.
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Park’s is seriously OG. It’s been around for a long time, has real charcoal grills, and very high quality meat.
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Even on a random Monday in December at 1:45pm there was a 30 minute line!

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Each table has its own dedicated hood.
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It’s hard to see down inside the grill but there are real charcoal chunks in there — none of that modern gas fired cooking!
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The menu. We went for set P2. The server said it served 4. We were just 2. I figured it’d be about the right amount of food!
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Salt and pepper vinegar.
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Hot sauce and fermented spicy bean paste (love the stuff because I love fermented Asian everything).
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Salad is of course one of the ban chan.
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Daikon radish wraps.
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Rice crepe wraps.
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A kind of kimchee.
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Spicy pickled cucumbers.
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Some kind of green.
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Marinated bean sprouts.
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Chewy fish cakes — delicious — I ate 3 bowls of them.
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Broccoli.
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Spiced potatoes or radish.
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Crunchy sweet pickled veggies. Really good.
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Taste of Parks P2.
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Mushrooms and Zucchini – in the back various beefs.
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Rib Eye Steak, and back right Pork Belly.
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Boneless Beef Short Rib (left), Beef Brisket (center), Ggot Sal (right).
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Bulgogi (with the green onion on top).
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Park’s Gal-bi – probably my favorite.
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Meat on the grill.
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Steak on the grill.
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More meat on the grill.
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Pork belly.

Overall, other than the bit of a wait, everything was great at Park’s. This isn’t a new style whacky or AYCE joint and they have a fairly traditional set of dishes and cuts but the meat is fabulous and the charcoal flavor great, so this is some really satisfying very Korean KBBQ — as it should be. Service was very great too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Da Jeong
  2. Quick Eats — Ippudo
  3. Quick Eats – Pho Cafe
  4. Quick Eats – Red Rock
  5. Quick Eats – Qin
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, Meat, Park's BBQ, Steak

Karaoke Night – Chosun Galbee

Dec11

Restaurant: Chosun Galbee

Location: 3330 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019. (323) 734-3330

Date: November 2, 2019

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Solid KBBQ fun

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Instead of a wine dinner night, this dinner is a big school parent KBBQ and Karaoke night.
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We had two huge tables at K-Town classic, Chosun Galbee — above is the ladies table (guys table behind the camera).
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We drank beer and solju — together in my case as I learned from some of my Korean friends 2 weeks before.
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Salad.
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Glass noodles with beef. Slightly sweet and tasty.
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Banchan.
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Love the potato salad with the raisins.
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But my favorite is the chewy spicy squid (orange shredded carrot looking stuff).
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Kimchee and pickles.
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Seafood pancake. Delicious.
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Shrimp and veggies on the grill.
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Almost done.
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The beef comes out.
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Various condiments.
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Like this lettuce wrap with included beef and sauce.
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Chicken.
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More meats.
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Fried Rice with stuff.
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Interesting fermented tofu soup — quite nice.
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More beef.
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And even more.

This was an enjoyable dinner — of course they only ordered about half the beef rounds I would have (it was a group set menu) but it was delicious regardless. Very classic K-Town style.

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Then off to Pharaoh for some private room Karaoke.
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Walk like an Egyptian.
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But sing like a bunch of LA school parents!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. White Glove Dining – Get Bbul
  2. 8 (Million) Ways to BBQ in LA
  3. Late Night Medicine
  4. Yunnan Night
  5. Night of the Whirling Noodles
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: bbq, Chosun Galbee, Karaoke, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, Ktown

Second Dinner – Korean Army Stew

Dec09

Restaurant: Chunju Han Il Kwan

Location: 3450 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 480-1799

Date: October 29, 2019

Cuisine: Korean Army Stew

Rating: Hearty spicy goodness!

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After a great Brunello dinner downtown, Liz, Erick and I felt the need for some K-Town Second Dinner fun. So off to:
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Chanju Han Il Kwan, a Korean Army Stew place. Notice that it’s right next to Seaweed, the Armo Sushi place I went a week or so before.
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The interior is drop ceiling meets Korean classic. I like the wood panels.
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Banchan! Tofu and veggies.
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My favorite here is the chewy spicy fish cake (the orange thing in the center).
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The crunchy pickle kimchee (lower left) was great too.

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Spicy kimchee pancake. Good stuff late at night.
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The main event: Korean army stew. It’s basically chili-garlic paste with the kitchen sink dumped in, including ramen and spam and rice cakes!
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A close up. Hearty and delicious.
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Red bean (purple) rice.

This was simple, cheap, and tasty. Definately hearty too. I was so stuffed after (it was, after all, second dinner!).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Korean Closer
  2. Homestyle Korean Double Dinner
  3. Korean Kwicky
  4. Hanjip Korean BBQ
  5. Quick Eats – Da Jeong
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Army Stew, Chanju Han Il Kwan, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Second Dinner

White Glove Dining – Get Bbul

Dec04

Restaurant: Get Bbul BBQ

Location: 3189 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 380-7070

Date: October 21, 2019

Cuisine: Korean Seafood BBQ

Rating: First time and I liked it

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On reading this, you must recognize that this is “Second Dinner.” After a special Krug Champagne dinner event — with 5 or so courses of modern cuisine — four of us just didn’t feel full enough so headed out to Korea Town to “snack.”
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Never been to this kind of Korean Seafood BBQ so I was excited to try.

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The interior — hoods as usual.
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The menu. We ordered most of it of course.

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This plate has seen some heat. Anyway, we ordered the works.
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Various condiments for wrapped up one’s BBQ. Radishes, sauce, egg (both yolk and white), carrots, peppers, cabbage etc.
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More fixings.
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Leaves and oniony stuff.
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Salad.
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Soy and garlic.
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Hot sauce. It is a Korean restaurant after all.
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Coming off our Champagne tasting we decided to go with Solju / Beer shots. Sort of like a sake bomb. You fill a glass about 3/4 with beer.
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Then drop a shot-glass of solju (Korean vodka) in to make sure it’s extra strong. Tastes great too!
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Crispy fritters with mayo. Great drinking food.
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Seafood pancake. This was a delicious one too.
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Corn “pudding” with dynamite or whatever on top and baked.
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Cold sliced pig foot salad. Yum (really was good).
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Korean fluffy egg.
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Our modest seafood plate arrives.
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The BBQ is real coals.
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Eel (left) and hagfish (right). Not sure I’ve had hagfish before. It looks like snack. Abalone was on the far right.
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They cut up the chunks as it BBQs. Hagfish had a delightful chewy texture white the eel was nice and rich.
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Dinner comes with special Korean Michael Jackson “white gloves” so that you don’t burn your hand while working the hot grill. They really helped actually.
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Clams. When they open you eat them.
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Spicy Soft Tofu Soup with Seafood. Delicious and a bit spicy.
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Spicy noodle and tofu soup. Because when it’s time for second dinner, you need a second stew too!
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Cheesy clams and scallops on the BBQ. The cheese melts into a yummy mess.
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Some kind of conch or clam back there.
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Giant oyster!
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Grilled shrimp.
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The four of us actually managed to eat most of this feast — pretty impressive after having this dinner right before!

I’d like to come back to Get Bbul a bit hungrier and get even more, but what I had was very good and quite interesting. I’ve never had this kind of grilled seafood with these exact trappings and it was quite interesting.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Tasty Dining – Wuhan Dry Hot Pot
  2. Big Bottle Madness at Kali Dining
  3. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
  4. 8 (Million) Ways to BBQ in LA
  5. Eating Boston – Shaking Crab
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beer, Foodie Club, Get Bbul BBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, Ktown, Seafood, Second Dinner, solju

Black Goat at Mirak

May06

Restaurant: Mirak

Location: 1134 S Western Ave A2, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (323) 732-7577

Date: April 11, 2019

Cuisine: Korean Goat

Rating: Solid, but small menu focused on goat

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Mirak’s is a Korea Town place specializing in Black Goat. Gotta try the exotics, right? Plus, goat is the most popular meat in the world!
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It’s that barely-labeled place with the yellow sign in the back corner of this Western Ave minimall.
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The interior is well… typical.
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This sauce was interesting. Mustard, mustard seed, chili, sesame oil. What’s not to like?
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Cooking is partially done table-side on the little burners. Truth is, I’m not sure these are even legal, but who cares.
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Every Korean place has banchan. This salad was okay.
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And the spicy daikon.
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Don’t really need the bean sprouts.
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Eggplant and kimchee are good though.
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And the cabbage in vaguely sweet water is a bit of a mystery.
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This is the main signature item — the black goat stew.
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Eventually it gets roiling and is actually quite good. Meat is very cooked, which for goat is a good thing.
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This was a kind of sizzling duck with garlic and onions dish. Excellent.
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Then pork belly.

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They do most of the cooking.
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It’s pretty good, if a bit piggy, when finished.
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Bulgolgi. This was a winner, tender, sweet, and full of flavor.
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Goat ribs. They tasted okay, if a bit gamey. The rubbery texture of the skin I could do without.
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Rice to go into kimchee fried rice.
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Seaweed and seasonings.

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Combine it all in the bottom of the goat soup.
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And fry it up to make the kimchee fried rice — which is pretty excellent.
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This one was done in a different base and so was slightly different.
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Kimchee, chewy pork, and tofu. Awesome dish actually. Lots of flavor and heat.
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Chicken and potato red pot. Pretty good too.
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Chewy spicy squid. Excellent, actually.
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As usual I BYOG (brought my own gelato):

New flavor — Limoncello Biscotti — Limoncello Zabaione base with lemon cookie flavor and Lemon Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Tastes just like lemon cookie! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #lemon #limoncello #Zabaione #LemonCookie #Oreo #LemonOreos

Fresh back from Hawaii I created this new flavor with things I dragged home — Big Island — Coconut dairy base, Macadamia Nuts, and Fresh Mango — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Island Fever! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Hawaii #MacadamiaNuts #nuts #mango #coconut #tropical
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The gang.
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Yarom and the owner (with someone else’s banchan).

Overall, Mirak is tasty, but it’s a very small, focused menu with mostly goat. We pretty much ordered everything. The goat stew is very good. As was the bulgolgi and a couple other dishes. Ambiance is vintage k-town but they are very nice and let us bring our wine too. This is not entry level Korean, but more a place you go if you are exploring “the real Korea town.”

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Phoenicia – Hookah Time
  2. Goat Herding at Tar & Roses
  3. Tar & Roses got your Goat?
  4. Back in the USA – Dha Rae Oak
  5. Thai Tour – Sri Siam
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, goat, hedonists, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, LA, Mirak, Wine

Back in the USA – Dha Rae Oak

Oct17

Restaurant: Dha Rae Oak

Location: 1108 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (323) 733-2474

Date: July 20, 2018

Cuisine: Korean BBQ / Duck

Rating: The pastrami duck was awesome, others so-so

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Los Angeles’ Korea Town is a gold mine of interesting Korean restaurants.
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And I’ve wanted to try Dha Rae Oak and its famed “stuffed duck” for years. And so even though I returned from China only 20 hours ago I head out to meet the guys.1A0A5974
A very unassuming frontage on Western.
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The inside is a bit nicer, with the BBQ grills and hoods all over.
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Banchan!
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Kimchee.
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Pickled onion.
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Omelet.
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Pickled mustard green or something.
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Yarom’s hedonist meetup page actually drew in someone new and young and female. She’s unlikely to want to hang out with us old fat guys again despite our scintillating conversation!

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Salad. Very zesty dressing and nice texture. Sadly, this might have been my second favorite dish.

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Dips for the meat. Spicy oil and mustard.
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Plate o’ meat ready for grilling. Most of this is beef. Most of this was very dry, seemed over cooked and bland on the grill. Nowhere near as good as the usually heavily marinated KBBQ.
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Pork belly or bacon. This was one of the better regular grilled meats.
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Frozen sliced duck. Decent, but a touch dry.
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Grilling.
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Grilled.
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Big sheets of short rib. This was pretty decent too.
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Purple bean rice.
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Skewers (from some other table).
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Pastrami duck. This was by a factor of 3X the dish of the night. Smoked pastrami/corn beef like duck.
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That is then lightly grilled to sizzle up the fat. Really excellent and takes the cold smoked duck (which is also good) up to 11.
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Famous clay pot stuffed duck. The inside is stuffed with all sorts of Korean grains and seasonings. But it isn’t that strong and the meat itself was a touch dry. It was nice, but nothing amazing.
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Pickled vegetable noodle soup.
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This was okay too, with a little bit of heat, but I’ve had much better noodle soups.

Overall, I was kinda disappointed in Dha Rae Oak. I had thought the stuffed duck would be amazing. Instead it was the smoked duck that was the real winner. And that would have been totally fine if the bulk of the other dishes had been tasty, but a lot of the meats were under-seasoned.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Wines for the evening:
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1A0A5993
1A0A5997
1A0A6020
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Related posts:

  1. Korean Kwicky
  2. Gwang Yang – Beeftastic
  3. Birthday Party, Hedonist Style
  4. Quick Eats – Da Jeong
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dha Rae Oak, duck, hedonists, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, stuffed duck, Wine

KTown Spicy Challenge

Jul19

Restaurant: Yup Dduk LA

Location: 3603 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 263-2355

Date: June 6, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Ddukbokki

Rating: Spicy!

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I had just spent 2 hours at the China Consulate waiting in line when I saw this sign:

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How could I resist? What kind of lover of spice would I be?
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This little KTown hole-in-the-wall had a line of about 30 “kids” (18-25 maybe) waiting for a seat.

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The interior is new but minimal and judging from my 1 hour visit the cliental consists 95% of young Korean American women on their cel phones (later it was packed with more of same and hordes of them outside).

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The menu is very simple. Basically one dish (see below) with a variety of add-ins and a couple of carby sides.

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And here it is: Original Ddukbokki with Ramen Noodles and Yup Dduk Fries. This dish is basically a giant bowl of carbs (with a bit of sausage) drowned in gochujang sauce — that’s the red stuff in case you were wondering. And it’s topped with gooey mozzarella.
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Eating down a bit you can see the main contents: the fried carbs, noodles, chewy bean curd, chewy fish cakes, and really chewy cylindrical rice cakes. It’s carbs and spice. I got “original” level in the middle of the spice scale and I’m glad I did because despite my “skillz” at Szechuan, super hot Indian, and mega-hot Thai this sauce was oppressively hot. Both spice level and temperature. Even pulling the contents out and attempting to cool them down, I was left with a badly seared mouth. The volume and the very insulated bowl kept it near boiling for 45 minutes!

I should also point out that these dishes are big enough for 2-4 people and there is no small size. I couldn’t even finish half of it. I didn’t order sides either because it was so large, but sharing and having a few (non-spicy) sides would definitely be better.
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I drank at least two entire jugs of water!

This was a tasty dish — but I needed more people so I could share it, and I wish it wasn’t so temperate or cooled off faster because I really burned my mouth. Koreans and Japanese have asbestos tongues! It is a one dish restaurant, however, and VERY spicy — so don’t go if you don’t want a giant bowl of spicy carbs!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Spicy City!
  2. Spicy Noodle is Not
  3. Hawaiian Noodle Bar
  4. K-Town Report – Lee’s Noodles
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Ddukbokki, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Korean food, Ktown, spicy, Yup Dduk LA

Holy Roly

Feb12

Restaurant: Holy Roly

Location: 3450 W 6th St Suite 109A, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (323) 739-8828

Date: January 2, 2018

Cuisine: Rolled Ice Cream

Rating: Tasty, but still too cold

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After a tasty Korean meal we wandered around the corner to try this rolled ice cream joint.

Rolled ice cream is really a Thai thing, but this place doesn’t really seem to have any particular ethnic slant. It does bill itself on its website as healthy and organic — all the while sporting fruit loops, Oreos, and marshmallows on top — go figure!

You pick your flavor.

There are specials.

Then they (slowly) take a cup of your flavor and pour it on the frozen surface.

They then manually (and slowly) do the job of a batch freezer by mushing the mix around.

Finally spreading it out so it can freeze nice and cold with little consistency or aeration.

Then they roll it up into ho-hos and decorate.

Deep Dark Chocolate. whipped cream, pocky stick, roasted marshmallow, fruity pebbles (apparently they ran out and decided on fruit loops or are confused), rainbow sprinkles (also out), chocolate syrup. If they think THAT is deep dark they should check out a REAL chocolate ice cream (gelato):
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NOT HOLY ROLY, but Chocolate Fondant Honey Nougat Gelato made by Sweet Milk (me).

Back to our featured location: Coffee, Oreo. Whipped cream, pocky stick, roasted marshmallow (sense a theme?), mini oreo, chocolate syrup. Not bad, but like all these rolled ice creams looks better than it tastes because the temperature is so cold and the texture so dense.

So like all the rolled ice cream places Holy Roly is pretty good (because how bad can house made ice cream be?) and very attractive, but suffers from being too cold and too dense. Plus the format is VERY SLOW. If it were even moderately busy you’d really be waiting a while since it takes maybe 6-8 minutes of straight labor from an employee to prepare just one of these.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Boston – Juicy Spot
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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dessert, hedonists, Holy Roly, Ice cream, Korea-town

Korean Kwicky

Feb05

Restaurant: Yangji Gamjatang

Location: 3470 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 388-1105

Date: January 2, 2018

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Korean

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Only 24 hours after traveling halfway across the world (on my way back from holiday) some friends summoned me out to a quick meal in K-Town. We originally wanted to go to Sun Nong Dan but there was a huge line and they don’t allow so we went next door instead.

From my cellar: NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

Menu on the wall.

And laminated. Lots of stews — but that’s Korean homestyle food :-).

David L brought: 2012 Deux Montille Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. VM 91. Subtle aromas of apple and minerals. Restrained and fresh, showing lovely cut to its sexy floral and spice flavors. Finishes with a touch of phenolic bitterness that calls for some time in bottle, but this very attractive version of Preuses has the density of material to support it. I managed to leave this very successful wine out of my Chablis coverage in the last issue.

banchan (free appetizers).

Sauce for something.

Bean sprouts.

Spicy pickled stripes of some vegetable, or maybe squid. I liked ’em.

Cucumbers.

Kimchi.

Sweet bean curd.

Spicy pickled radish.

Marinated potato. Slightly sweet.

Baby asparagus and sausage.

Spinach fried dumplings. Very hot and crispy. Nice texture, but not super exciting.

From my cellar: 2002 Maison Leroy Bourgogne-Grand-Ordinaire. 93 points. Balanced and complex. Medium body. Very nice

Spicy beef stew. A bit less sweet than next door. Beef short ribs with potatoes and rice noodle tubes. Yummy!

Spicy pork sparerib stew. Same sauce (and everything else) except for having pork ribs. A bit more “savory” and spareribby than the beef.

Yarom brought: 2008 Bisceglia Aglianico del Vulture Gudarrà Riserva. 90 points. I thought this tasted like Aglianico. It’s from Basilcata down in the very south part of Italy. A nice volcanic wine.

Spicy noodles with lots of stuff. I think they describe it as “mixed thick cold noodle.” Basically the same stuff as bibimbap but noodles instead of rice.

It got a special “hand job” (with gloves).

Here it is mixed up. Not bad at all.

Kimchi pancake. I like the Korean seafood pancakes better. This one was a little bland.

Seb brought: 2015 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. 92 points. SO heavy and modern — tasted like grape juice with oak and vanilla extract.

Spicy sweet and sour chicken. Not spicy at all, and very sticky, but quite delicious. Ox bone soup with beef brisket and noodle. Very bland beef and noodle soup. Just collagen basically from cooked bones. Not my thing, but it’s “what it’s supposed to be” for this dish. I had to dump a bunch of spicy sauce in. Beef was pretty good though.

Overall, a nice casual Korean place with some variety on the menu (mostly soups and stews) and they were really really friendly. Plus they allowed wine.

Afterward we headed down the street for some rolled ice cream!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Homestyle Korean Double Dinner
  2. Korean Closer
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  4. Gwang Yang – Beeftastic
  5. Hedonists Noodle over Hoy-Ka
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, hedonists, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Wine, Yangji

Mary’s Birthday at Mama Lion

Nov15

Restaurant: Mama Lion

Location: 601 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90005. (213) 377-5277

Date: October 12, 2017

Cuisine: Fusion

Rating: Half night club, but great food

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Mary’s birthday brings a gang of us to Michael Hung’s Mama Lion for some awesome eats and lots of big wine…

Koreatown’s recent modern dining renaissance has officially reached its second phase, with the brand new Mama Lion. These are big, bold statement pieces for the neighborhood, incorporating Korean flavors and Continental fare into one seriously striking package — and this one’s got master chef Michael Hung behind the helm.

The special menu for tonight.

Mama Lion is as much a bar and supper-club as it is a restaurant — although he food is great.

 It was quiet at first then got super crowded later at night.

On the left is Michael Hung, our excellent chef.

Chevy takes his flighting seriously.

2006 Dom Perignon Champagne. VM 97. The 2006 Dom Pérignon is a beautifully balanced, harmonious Dom Pérignon that strikes an incredibly appealing stylistic middle ground. Rich, voluptuous and creamy, the 2006 shows off fabulous intensity in a style that brings together the ripeness of 2002 with the greater sense of verve and overall freshness that is such a signature of the 2004. Bass notes and a feeling of phenolic grip on the finish recall the 2003, as the Pinot Noir is particularly expressive today. After an irregular summer that saw elevated temperatures in July followed by cooler, damp conditions in August, more favorable weather returned in September, pushing maturation ahead and leading to a long, protracted harvest. The 2006 falls into the family of riper, more voluptuous Dom Pérignons, but without veering into the level of opulence seen in vintages such as 2002.

From my cellar: 2011 Veyder-Malberg Riesling Bruck. 91 points. At first very “Veltliener” like, honey, white pepper and lots of herbs on the nose. The herbs stayed over the time of the evening but the honey transformed into more citrus components. On the palate I miss the last tick of acidity, nevertheless very mineral & long.

2009 Martinelli Chardonnay Charles Ranch. 90 points. Nice mouth filling Sonoma chard. Tasty without being too distinctive. No reason to wait, I can’t imagine an up side.

Heirloom tomato and burrata cheese on sourdough toast, herb salad. Very bright flavors.

Truffled white bean hummus, warn flat bread, hrebs and extra virgin olive oil. Hummus bugs my stomach but it was worth it for this various which had a high lemon/acid and herby hit.

Plancha seared gulf shrimp, anchovy butter, french bread croutons. One of my favorite dishes. Shrimp were cooked to perfection. Very much like a gambas pil pil — but on toast.

From my cellar: 1998 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays. VM 92. Good bright red-ruby color. Knockout nose combines cherry, raspberry, redcurrant, underbrush, licorice, flowers and earth. Penetrating and quite fine; offers a three-dimensional texture but is not really showing its underlying fat today. Intriguing note of cinnamon in the mouth. Finishes very long and complex, with dusty tannins and compelling sweetness. This should be superb with eight to ten years of bottle aging.

2011 Maison Ilan Mazoyères-Chambertin. 92 points. Pop and pour. Nice aromatics. Good acidity and balance. This actually exceeded my expectations which were pretty low given the history of the winery.

2005 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence. VM 94. Deep red. Scents of raspberry, cherry, herbs and dried flowers, plus a hint of black olive. Juicy, finely etched red fruit and anise flavors become spicier with air and pick up a note of white pepper. Finishes with outstanding clarity and impressive thrust, echoing the sweet red fruit notes. Paul Feraud emphasized that the objective in making this wine has always been to provide a bottle that’s ready to drink on release.

Crispy avocado samosa, smoked chili ranch dressing. Like southwestern spring rolls.

Seared Foie Gras, rhubarb conserve, grilled brioche, watercress. Fatty greatness!

My photo didn’t turn out so I had to use someone else’s.

2012 Château Pavie Decesse. VM 94. Radiant and sexy in the glass, the 2012 Pavie-Decesse is the most gracious of the three top wines in Gérard Perse’s lineup. Dark red cherry, plum, smoke, menthol and licorice are some of the notes that fused together in this beautifully focused, layered wine. Hints of violet and lavender add the closing shades of nuance. Silky tannins give the Pavie-Decesse plenty of early appeal, but there is also more than enough depth for the 2012 to drink well for a number of years. The 2012 is 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, from vines that are 50 years old on average.

2005 Château Pontet-Canet. VM 95. Good full ruby-red. Complex, enticing aromas of black raspberry, licorice, minerals, bitter chocolate, lead pencil and pungent cedar; just this side of exotic. Wonderfully silky, sweet and thick, with a powerful minerality framing the currant, graphite and spice flavors. This boasts superb inner-mouth energy and great length, with the full, ripe tannins totally enrobed by the wine’s mid-palate richness. (My sample of the 2006 was old and tired, so I’ll wait until next year to report on the finished wine; this was a star in the early going.)

2006 Château Pontet-Canet. VM 94. Saturated medium ruby. Inky cassis, black raspberry, graphite and pungent minerality on the very ripe nose. Dense, rich and silky, with a brooding inky minerality and an almost liqueur-like dark fruit sweetness leavened by a savory peppery element. This very ripe, deep and concentrated wine boasts wonderful lushness without any undue weight thanks to its sheer energy. Like its neighbor Mouton-Rothschild, Pontet-Canet’s 2006 conveys a powerful impression of soil character. Finishes with serious dusty tannins and superb lingering sweetness. Should be long-lived.

Fresh bucatini pasta, Italian pork sausage, leeks, slow cooked egg. Along with the shrimp one of my favorites. The egg melting into it really made it lovely.

Butter poached ocean trout, fennel, and fingerling potatoes, miso butter sauce. Not bad but one of the weaker dishes. Very very soft.

2007 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova. VM 92. Medium red. Very rich aromas of plum, mocha, dried flowers, underbrush and leather, along with a liqueur-like suggestion of marc de Chateauneuf. Supple, plush and highly concentrated, with superripe fruit flavors slightly leavened by harmonious acidity. A distinctly viscous, fruit-driven wine that could use a bit more class and definition but will please fans of outsized Brunello. Finishes with a bit of youthful aggressiveness.
 2015 Ipso Facto Syrah.

Fortunate Son Cabernet Sauvignon. If a wine wants to be written about, it can stick the vintage on the bottle.
2003 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon. VM 92. Deep ruby-red. Aromas of cassis, black cherry, sweet butter and loam. Sweet, lush and sappy, with black cherry and graphite flavors offering very good definition and lift. Offers compelling sweetness and an almost liqueur-like ripeness, but this is more than simply a fruit bomb. Finishes with substantial ripe, broad tannins. “The 2002 version is more muscular and long-aging but the 2003 is flashier,” notes Herold.
2013 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red. VM 94. A real knock-out, the 2013 Proprietary Red is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. A wine of tension, energy and opulence, the 2013 has all the signatures of the vintage in spades. Red cherry jam, smoke, licorice, spices and white pepper are some of the notes that meld into the super-expressive, delineated finish. The 2013 is the first vintage of the Proprietary Red that is more than 50% estate, while the rest of fruit was sourced from Stagecoach and Rancho Chimiles.

Pan roasted duck breast, ragout of braised duck cabbage, young vegetables. Nice duck and LOTS of it.

10 oz. prime 28 day dry-aged New York Steak.

Salad of young brassicas.

Cacio e pepe. Not peppery enough and served this way more like a mac than a proper pasta.

Smothered tater tots, shortrib chili, aged cheddar cheese.

2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Reserve Claret. VM 94. Good deep ruby. Knockout nose combines currant, cedar, licorice and tobacco. Large-scaled, thick and rich, with compelling density and sweetness. This has superb depth and an intriguing minerality. Finishes with horizontal tannins and superb vinosity and persistence.

Warm humbodlt fog goat cheese. Salty goodness.

Dark chocolate pots de creme.

Sweet cream panna cotta. I don’t know what was in this other than strawberries, but it had a weird flavor (maybe in the “ice”) and was amazing. By weird i mean something like St Germain. Herbal, or floral. Really unique and nice.

Apricot souffle.

After I have poured in the apricot sauce.

Just a few wines.

Rub the Sebby head for good luck.

Overall a total blast with the gang (half pictured) here, great food, and way too much wine.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  3. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  4. Il Grano Birthday
  5. Birthday Party, Hedonist Style
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: birthday, fusion, Korea-town, Mama Lion, Michael Hung

K-Town Report – Lee’s Noodles

Nov11

Restaurant: Lee’s Noodles

Location: 401 S Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 351-9963

Date: November 2, 2016

Cuisine: Chinese Korean

Rating: Tasty little spot

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Ah, Los Angeles is home to so many tasty Asian restaurants.

Lee’s Noodles is located in the heart of Korea Town, and while it says “Chinese Restaurant” on the sign, it’s really more Korean/Chinese or Chinese/Korean. Does this make it Yanbian? (the prefecture in China between North Korea and China). I’m not sure. Or maybe it’s just the kind of food made by Chinese in Korea. Either way, let’s move on to the food.

The inside is recent, but not exactly elaborately decorated.

The menu.

And like any Korean place it comes with banchan.

Cabbage with Russian dressing. Communist influence?  Just kidding.

Some fairly lame kimchee and much better yellow pickled daikon radish.

Signature Dok Dok chicken. Drumsticks with “spicy glaze.” The glaze turned out to pretty much mean honey dipped fried chicken. Absolutely delicious. Very sticky too. Hot and fresh.

Steamed dumplings with meat and kimchee. Nice light steamed potstickers. Delicate flavor.

Spicy Seafood Soup Noodles. A giant bowl of seafood and noodles drowned in the Korean “red sauce” (aka siracha-like sauce). We got it mild and it still had a bit of kick.
 Pan-fried glass noodles w/ pork over rice. This turned out, along with the chicken, to be a standout. Nice woody flavor from the mushroom. A little bit sweet. Delicious.

Overall this was a super reasonable ($40 total) and extremely tasty little meal. I’ll certainly pop by again on one of my many K-Town lunches.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  4. Night of the Whirling Noodles
  5. From Noodles to Fish
By: agavin
Comments (9)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, fried chicken, Korea-town, Korean cuisine, Lee's Noodles, Yanbian

Quick Eats – Da Jeong

Mar21

Restaurant: Da Jeong

Location: 3909 1/2 W Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019. (323) 931-8900

Date: March 14, 2016

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Great homestyle Korean

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Los Angeles is blessed with a huge Korea Town and an extensive library of Korean food.

Da Jeong is a home style place that’s famous (at least among my friends) for its Korean fried chicken. But somehow I’d never tried it.

Pretty much beer friendly food.

Like any good Korean place, Da Jeong comes with an array of banchan (small usually pickled dishes). This one was a spiced pickled cucumber.

Kimchee, the classic.

Greens and onions.

Bean sprouts.

Chewy radish and peppers, vaguely chewy and quite tasty.

Little “candied” fish. Sweet, spicy, and briney.

Seafood pancake. This omelet/pancake is served with a soy sauce-like sauce. It was full of green onions and all sorts of seafood goodness. Really quite excellent.

Soy sauce shrimp. Raw or marinated prawns soaked in soy sauce. You twist off the head and chomp. As we noted, this was an “advanced” dish. Not so hardcore as the raw crab, but hardcore enough.

Fried chicken. Had to get this of course. Very crispy, with a strong Asian salt and pepper in the batter. We found it a touch mysterious which part of the chicken we were getting under all that fry, and the cuts are different than classic American breast and thigh. I’m guessing it was mostly dark meat. It was pretty darn awesome though.

Hearty Korean Spicy Beef Stew. That standard red Korean sauce with beef and cabbage and green onions and other stuff. Certainly a hearty hot stew.
 Purple rice (rice with a bit of red bean).

I have to come back here with the Hedonists and a bigger gang and/or someone Korean. Food was very good and I could tell the ingredients were super fresh and the execution excellent. I don’t really know enough yet about Korean food to know how to order well, and with just the two of us we only got to try a few things — plus with portion sizes as they were we had WAY too much food.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
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  4. Quick Eats: Chan Dara
  5. Quick Eats: Momed
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Da Jeong, fried chicken, Korea-town, Korean cuisine

Dumplings the size of Grapefruits!

Jun28

Restaurant: Myung In Dumplings

Location: 3109 W Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90006. (213) 381-3568

Date: May 17, 2013

Cuisine: Korean Dumpling House

Rating: Tasty and great value

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I’m a big dumpling fan. I mean, what isn’t there to like with a pasta-esque dough ball filled with ground goodness?


Myung is a little hole-in-the-wall place right next door to Shin Beijing in the heart of K-Town.


The menu is short, and very pictorial.


Like every Korean place, just sitting down seems to earn you a collection of little “salads.” This one is cabbage with mayo, a dish that is very familiar from my many trips to Japan.


And the classic kimchee, some pickles, and a slightly spicy dumpling sauce.


King steamed dumplings with meat and vegetable. They aren’t kidding. These puppies are the size of grapefruits, or cannonballs.


Inside the thick covering is a hearty mixture of meat (probably beef), spices, onion, and scallions.


This “dumpling soup” is basically egg drop soup filled with soft beef dumplings. Tasty.


Spicy steamed dumplings with shrimp. While there was some mixture of spices in the dumplings themselves, most of the heat is in the red stuff.


Shu-mai. The Korean variant on this classic appears to be a little larger than the Chinese.


Overall a nice little “snack,” tasty and a great deal for the money. Not quite as good as Din Tai Fung, but a different thing (and country) and far closer.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

He’s everywhere!

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
  2. Food as Art: Ping Pong
  3. Foreign Flavors: Panjshir
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, dumpling, dumplings, Korea-town, Korean, Korean cuisine, Myung In Dumplings
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