Tag Archives: best restaurants koreatown

February 10, 2017 · 9:15 am

No Bones About It

There has been no food in the past couple years trendier than bone broth. Pitched as a miracle cure for all kinds of ailments and an elixir to make you look and feel younger, both Silverlake hipsters in flannel shirts and Santa Monica health food fanatics in yoga pants are lining up to buy overpriced jars of the stuff. But long before the bone broth craze, Han Bat was selling steaming hot bowls of Shul Lung Tang — Korean Bone Broth — in a divey little hole-in-the-wall in the heart of Koreatown.

The menu at Han Bat could not be simpler. They serve only two kinds of dishes besides the complimentary kimchi and rice: Suyuk (boiled beef) or Oxtail Soup with noodles and either brisket, flank steak, tongue, mixed meats or, for the adventurous, a combo of intestines, tripe and spleen. The soup is milky white as a result of the bones being boiled down for hours and it’s served with containers of green onions and salt so you can season it to your liking. I’m not sure if there are any real health benefits to bone broth, but the Sul Lung Tang at Han Bat is tasty and inexpensive; the perfect comfort food for a rainy day or a cold winter night.

Han Bat Shul Lung Tang is located at 4163 W 5th St, Los Angeles (in Koreatown)

Cabbage Kimchi

Radish Kimchi

Salt and Green Onions to season your soup

Spartan digs

A menu without complicated and confusing options, but with Intestine, Tripe & Spleen!

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May 4, 2016 · 7:55 am

Bosam Buddies

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, jalapeÃ±os, 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).

Bossam. The best in town.

Braised Black Cod with Radish in Spicy Sauce

Kimchi Chigae

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

Dolshot Bibimbab

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Tagged as best bo saam koreatown, best bossam koreatown, best korean restaurants los angeles, best restaurants koreatown, bossam kobawoo house, bossam los angeles, Braised Black Cod with Radish, kobawoo house, kobawoo house menu

December 11, 2014 · 9:08 am

Saints Be Praised

Until recently, the popularity of bone marrow in modern high end cuisine has confounded me. I know it’s an ingredient adored by celebrated chefs and sophisticated diners, but I’m not a fan of its usually gelatinous texture. Also it has been hard for me to get past the fact that restaurants are charging good money for something my poor Eastern European ancestors scraped and sucked out of bones because they couldn’t afford any of the better parts of the cow.

My feelings on bone marrow, however, have changed recently due to some amazing Bone Marrow Beignets that I ate at an incredible new LA restaurant called Saint Martha, where they were served with Steak and Oyster Tartare, along with a Champagne Sabayon that is playfully presented to look like a fried egg. Nick Erven, the Ã¼ber talented chef at Saint Martha, excels at reinterpreting and refining low brow and comfort foods, which also include an excellent brisket and an insanely good fried chicken served with steelcut oats, carrots, pickled dates and Moorish spices. Even Saint Martha’s standout dessert is an upscale version of a classic PB&J, but assembled with peanut butter ganache, roasted grape ice cream and griddled pound cake.

In keeping with the high/low theme, this intimate and cutting-edge restaurant, which is named after the patron saint of cooks and servants, is ensconced in a lackluster Koreatown strip mall. Despite the K-Town location, Saint Martha would be best described as New American and features an extensive and adventurous wine list. It has quickly become one of my favorite new spots in the city.

Saint Martha is located at 740 S. Western Ave, Los Angeles (in Koreatown). UPDATE: SAINT MARTHA IS CLOSED. WHAT A TRAGEDY. HOPEFULLY IT IS JUST TEMPORARY.

Octopus with Koshihikari Rice, Sauce Nero, Lardo and Espelette

Steak and Oyster Tartare with Champagne Sabayon and Bone Marrow Beignets

Crab “Okonomiyaki”

Chicken Liver Mousse with Mushroom, Hazelnut Praline, Pickled Blueberries and Toast

Crispy Chicken Thigh with Steelcut Oats, Carrots, Pickled Dates and Moorish Spices

Pecan Smoked Brisket with Chili-Hoisin, Lettuce and Shaved Root Vegetables

Peanut Butter Ganache, Roasted Grape Ice Cream, Griddled Pound Cake and Chocolate Feuilletine

One of my favorite new places in the city

Saint Martha

I’m a Seoul Man

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).