9 Korean restaurants made it to LA Weekly’s list of ’99 Essential Restaurants 2017.’
5 places are located in LA Koreatown. The first restaurant, listed in alphabetical order, is Beverly Soon Tofu – a Korean restaurant that holds a 31-year legacy and specializes in soft tofu stew. The place is described to serve its stew with a “warming, comforting glow from the chili and egg and almost pudding-like tofu.” It has an incredibly diverse crowd that forms a huge line at the doorway during weekends.
Dan Sung Sa, located in W 6th Street, serves the best hangover-preventing meal to go with your soju or beer. Its rice cakes, gingko nuts, grilled items such as chicken feet or eel, sweet-and-spicy chicken wings, and the famous ‘corn cheese’ are all perfect midnight snacks.
Gwang Yang BBQ, located near City Center, also made it to the list. Reservations and valet parking add more convenience to the place. “Place a mouthful of bulgogi in a lettuce leaf, top it with slivers of garlic and raw jalapeno, and you’ve got the perfect bite.”
Ham Ji Park specializes in pork ribs, differing from all the other Korean BBQ places that mainly serve beef. Its full array of side dishes called banchan pairs perfectly with the rich ribs.
Park’s BBQ, located in Vermont Avenue, received a perfect score for its quality in meat and banchan. LA Weekly wrote that there is no need to look for expensive Wagyu meat and suggested the steak tartare.
Baroo is a health-focused restaurant with Matthew Kim as the co-chef, which specializes in salad menus. The Bibim salad is especially popular at this restaurant.
Kogi BBQ Truck, owned by Roy Choi, brought about the food truck craze with its ‘gogi dog’ hot dog, topped with kimchi or shredded romaine sauce.
Lukshon, chef Sang Yoon’s 6-year-old restaurant, serves modern Asian dishes such as nutty tea leaf salad with blue prawns, lobster rolls, and Sichuan dumplings. It is located at Culver city.
Original article available at http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?page=9&branch=NEWS&source=LA&category=&art_id=5116080
By Jae-ra Kim
Translated by Ellen Kim
