Tag Archives: best korean restaurants los angeles

Bosam Buddies

Kobawoo
If you live in Los Angeles and you’re not eating in Koreatown on at least a semi-regular basis, you’re doing it wrong. As the home to the largest number of ethnic Koreans outside of the Korean Peninsula, Los Angeles, not surprisingly, has an incredible breadth and variety of Korean food. Most people are at least familiar with Korean Barbecue, but that’s just the tip of the Korean cuisine iceberg.

Bossam, which consists of warm tender slices of seasoned and boiled pork belly wrapped in cold, crisp cabbage leaves or paper-thin slices of radishes, is one of my favorite Korean dishes. The best Bossam in town is at Kobawoo House, where they have you create your custom-built mouth-watering wraps with spicy fermented shrimp paste, jalapeños, and pickled radishes.

There are other tasty offerings at Kobawoo House. Their Haemul Panjun, a giant sizzling Seafood Pancake with Scallops, Shrimp, Oysters, Squid, Clams and Green Onions, is first-rate Korean comfort food, and their Braised Black Cod with Radish in Spicy Sauce is one of the most delicious versions of this dish I’ve ever eaten. Parking can be a hassle and there’s often a wait, but it’s well worth it.

Kobawoo House is located at 698 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles (in Koreatown).

Bosam

Bossam. The best in town.


Braised Cod with Radish in Spicy Sauce

Braised Black Cod with Radish in Spicy Sauce


Kimchi Chigae

Kimchi Chigae


Haemul Pajun (sizzling seafood pancake with scallops, shrimp, oyster, squid, clam and green onion)

Haemul Pajun (sizzling seafood pancake with scallops, shrimp, oyster, squid, clam and green onion)


Dolshot Bibimbab

Dolshot Bibimbab


2 Comments

Filed under Koreatown

I’m a Seoul Man

Banchan

Los Angeles is home to the largest Korean-American population in the country. As a result, we have a ton of amazing Korean restaurants here, especially in Koreatown, where the varieties of Korean cuisine seem vast and endless. Most Koreatown restaurants have a single dish that they’re well known for, such as Duck Bulgogi or Abalone Porridge. But one of my favorite K-town eateries, Ham Ji Park, is known for not one, but two spectacular specialties. As befitting a restaurant whose first name is “Ham,” both dishes are of the porcine variety.

First there are the most delicious Korean barbecue pork spare ribs that you’ve ever eaten. The ribs are marinated in an insanely delicious slightly sweet sauce and served on a sizzling platter of onions. They remind me of really great galbi, except they’re larger and pork instead of beef. They are served with table cutlery that we don’t see much in this country — a pair of scissors, for easy separation of the meat from the bone.

The other specialty of Ham Ji Park is Gamja Tang, a spicy Pork Neck Stew. The hot and flavorful broth of the stew is great all by itself, but with potatoes and braised meat which is falling off of cooked neck bones, this dish can’t be beat. Of course, as with all Korean restaurants, there is complimentary Banchan; small side dishes such as kimchi and spicy marinated turnips. Cold Barley Tea is provided to wash it all down.

Ham Ji Park is located at 3407 W 6th Street, Los Angeles (in Koreatown).

Pork Ribs

Korean Barbecue Pork Spare Ribs

Pork Neck Stew

Pork Neck Stew

Salad

Salad

Cold Barley Tea

Cold Barley Tea

In the heart of Koreatown

In the heart of Koreatown


Ham Ji Park on Urbanspoon

1 Comment

Filed under Koreatown