Korean Food and Cooking

Happy Hour: Biergarten in Koreatown

Place: Biergarten, 206 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 466-4860. Hours: Weekdays 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., excluding holidays. Deal: A one-page menu with deals on beer pints and bar bites priced between $3.50 to $7.50, including German fried rice for $7 and sizable wursts (knack, brat and bock) at $7 ... More >>

Third Street and Western: Live Octopus, New York Slices A Patio Party Upstairs

In the land of strip malls, Koreatown in king. There are stacks upon stacks of tiny one-off eateries that dot the landscape around Western Avenue as it cruises towards Wilshire Blvd., an untold number that speaks to just how well K-towners must eat. More often than not, these are the sorts of places ... More >>

Korean BBQ Update: Oo-Kook Now Open in the SGV A Salad Bar

More than all you can eat. That's the slogan of Oo-Kook, a longtime Koreatown staple that recently set up another shop in the San Gabriel Valley. They're an AYCE barbecue joint that specializes in high-quality cuts of meat. The company has been in Los Angeles since 2010, but their Rosemead locatio ... More >>

2012 San Gabriel Valley Food Trends

The end of the year marks a time to re-evaluate, a time to step back and try to figure out exactly what the heck it was all about. Take for example, the food trends of 2012 in the San Gabriel Valley. We got word out through social media, message boards and e-mail asking those familiar with goings on ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: The Whole Menu

Over the past few months, you've watched us catalog our 100 Favorite Dishes. Catalog being a lovely term meaning eating our way across this town, well, even more than usual. And because we thought you might want a better way to access these, we've collected all one hundred into one piece, a menu if ... More >>

The Chef's Library: Mary Sue Milliken Discovering Korean Cuisine Edited by Allisa Park

The Chef's Library is a series in which we ask chefs around town to tell us about their favorite cookbooks. Today, we talk to Mary Sue Milliken, chef and owner of Border Grill. Mary Sue Milliken could talk cookbooks all day. "Oh my gosh, I love cookbooks," she says. "I just devour them." There are ... More >>

6 Great Food Museums: Food as Art, Or Not

Last week, the Carpigiani Gelato Museum opened in Anzola dell'Emilia, Italy, just outside Bologna; the first in the world, it says, to "delve into the history, culture, and technology of artisan gelato." Inside, you'll learn about the history of the frozen treat, from an 11th century recipe for pom ... More >>

34: Bossam at Kobawoo House

Celebrating this year's Best of L.A. issue -- now out in print and online -- we're counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes. 34: Bossam at Kobawoo House. Kobawoo is one of Koreatown's older restaurants, having been established all the way back in 1985, and although it bega ... More >>

K-Town by K-Town: A Jokbal Platter Seoul Train Partying in Rounds

Coverage of the delicious side of Koreatown has expanded past the well-tread over the years. We've learned about chic naengmyon (kudzu noodles in chilled beef broth) and gamjatang (pork neck soup). If we want Korean-style barbecue, we can distinguish places by cuts of meat and quality of banchan. Ev ... More >>

Cafe Livre Morphs into Spanish Fly Gastropub in Koreatown

Café Livre, the popular bistro in Culver City, closed its doors July 1. Two days later, executive chef Farid Zadi and his wife, director of operations Susan Park, reappeared at the Spanish Fly, a new gastropub in Koreatown. Partnering with owners Gene and David Park, they're revamping the menu of ... More >>

Bibigo Opening Soon in Beverly Hills: More Bibimbap for You Photos

Expanding its "healthy Korean barbecue" empire, Bibigo, with seven locations in Korea and now two in the U.S. is opening Monday, April 2 on South Beverly Drive, replacing Mako. A more upscale version of its Westwood location, Bibigo Beverly Hills is welcoming in friends, family and the media to samp ... More >>

LaOn Dining: "Exceptionally Satisfying" Korean Tapas

LaOn Dining is a tapas restaurant located right next door to Don Dae Gam, the immensely popular, pork-intensive Korean BBQ restaurant. If you walk into one because you thought it was the other -- depending on where you were trying to get to, the presence or absence of the tabletop grills should tip ... More >>

5 Koreatown Beer Joints: Hite Requirement

If you had to choose a part of the city to do a beer crawl, Koreatown would have to be a top pick: There seems to be at least one beer joint at nearly every corner of every block in the neighborhood. Inside, you'll find long lists of flavored soju, soju cocktails, beer and sometimes spirits, usuall ... More >>

Eat More Pork: 8 Reasons Why It's Good For You

Guzzle & NoshA shot of the menu at Palsaik​Pork is good for you, full of life-preserving nutrients and vitamins, didn't you know? We recently spotted this list of pork belly's health benefits on the menu at Palsaik Samgyeopsal, a Koreatown sam-gyeopsal house. That'd be a restaurant specializin ... More >>

10 Favorite Food Quotes in Simpsons' "The Food Wife"

L. Balla​The food media world was chomping at the bit to see last night's highly anticipated Simpsons episode. "The Food Wife" has Marge, Lisa and Bart write a food blog called The Three Mouthkateers as they make their way through the surprisingly eclectic Springfield food scene. There are sno ... More >>

Beer Belly: From Death By Duck to Lucky Charms Pancakes

​We are in Koreatown. The customers are Korean. The chef won this year's Korean BBQ cookoff, with a dish of kimchi-brined pork loin with Cismontane Double IPA ssam-jang. But we are not eating Korean food -- we are eating something called Death by Duck, which is to say fries crisped in duck fat ... More >>

Deconstructing Tuna: Woori Market's Tuna Cutting Performance

How often do you see an immense animal in its full form just before you eat it? Unless you are serious about fishing and hunting, live on a farm, or spend a lot of time at Lindy & Grundy, that experience is rare. If the idea sounds intriguing, and you enjoy yellowfin tuna, the place to be is the ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Soban

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Visits Moko

Anne FishbeinGreen chile pork mandu at Moko​ In which Jonathan Gold visits Moko in Culver City and considers the career of chef Gary Robins, the state of banchan in Los Angeles and the efficacy of ordering s'mores. Banchan, the parade of small courses accompanying a Korean meal, often is igno ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Korean BBQ Cook-Off, Ubriaca, India Sweets & Spices, Blue Palms Brewhouse, Taste of Santa Monica

Guzzle & NoshKorean barbecue.​Korean BBQ Cook-Off Sample the best Korean barbecue from dozens of local Koreatown restaurants and vendors. The third annual cook-off features an Orion Choco Pie eating contest, a craft beer and Korean wine garden and a contest (judged by our own Jonathan Gold) in ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 8/1-8/5

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "You will find the pro-Palestinian posters in neither restaurant." Palestinian Chicken Conflict: Only in Curb Your Enthusiasm or Is It Real? "Milk, gallon after gallon of it, was poured down the d ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 7/18-7/22

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "It is quite true: Korean fried chicken is the new black. Or was the new black three ago when the chicken wars began to get nasty, but that's another story." The New KFC: Korean Fried Chicken. "On ... More >>

Bibigo Expands to Beverly Hills, Replacing Mako

C. Soudrybarley and rice-stuffed cabbage at Bibigo​ Bibigo, a year-old chain originating in Korea, is expanding throughout L.A. with a location in Westwood (opened nine months ago) and another on its way. An eighth location of the casual Korean order-at-the-counter and tableside dining restau ... More >>

Gyenari Korean BBQ Closed, Moko to Open in its Place

Orly Olivier ​Culver City Korean barbecue spot Gyenari, next door to Rush Street, has closed. The space, known for cheap happy hours and not-so-cheap dinners, closed for renovations on April 11th. The restaurant updated its Facebook page: "Dear friends - Gyenari will be closed this week for ... More >>

Mexican Cooking, from a Korean Point of View A Chicken Pozole Recipe

Amazon​So why is a Korean food expert writing about Mexican cooking? It makes sense when you find out that Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee's parents had a Mexican grocery in the San Fernando Valley. Working there, she learned many a dish from the women who came in to shop, and she later immersed herself ... More >>

Olympic Cheonggukjang: Bean and Nothingness

Korean soul food that will take your breath away

Korean BBQ Explosion at Torrance High School Injures 10 Students

Anne Fishbeinan expert cooks Korean BBQ at Choonchun Dakgalbi​ One female student remains hospitalized at Torrance Memorial Medical Center after Friday's lunchtime "cooking accident" at North High School left ten students with injuries. As part of a fundraising activity to benefit Unicef, the ... More >>

Five Things L.A. Has That San Francisco Does Not (After Five Weeks)

Anne FishbeinSoot Bull Jeep​ Five weeks ago, we packed our belongings into an orange-and-white truck and moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We'd spent eight years in the Bay Area, a period of time marked by bowls of lime-sluiced birria at Mexican diners in the Mission, curly fried sausa ... More >>

Guess What's In These Lattes? Hint: It's Not Coffee

Barbara HansenYellow Cafe and Restaurant's potato latte​ The answer is, sweet potato. If you know anything about Korean cuisine, this won't seem strange. Sweet potatoes pop up in lots of Korean dishes including sweet potato porridge, sweet potato noodles and the sweet potato breads and pastrie ... More >>

Korean BBQ Update: Bann Restaurant at MaDang Courtyard in Koreatown

Esther HahnBann's Interpretation of the Korean Shaved Ice Dessert​ MaDang Courtyard is a new restaurants-and-cinema complex on Western in Koreatown. MaDang, which is the Korean word for courtyard, is a three-level mall, home to an upscale Korean BBQ restaurant, two casual dining options, a bee ... More >>

Chego: Outside Inside

Kogi's Roy Choi goes all strip mall on us

Best Place to get Soaked with Champagne (and Uploaded onto YouTube) on Your Birthday

Flickr/siikThe Birthday Champagne Spray at Manna ​ Leave the vegetarians and tight pants behind for birthday dinner at Manna. The Korean BBQ restaurant offers an all-you-can-eat meat fest for an outrageous 17 dollars every night of the week. The staff and restaurant, accustomed to accomodating ... More >>

Dumpling Station Food Truck Launches

Los Angeles has plenty of Thai food, but what about Tai food? Outside of the San Gabriel Valley, it can be hard to find Taiwanese dumplings. Hoping to bring these delicate balls of meat, vegetables, and dough to the masses, Helen Pan, 25, and Chris Aragon, 28, launched the Dumpling Station food truc ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Happy Hour

Popeye’s and Jazz

In search of the perfect portable chicken dinner

Supersuckers: Masan's Tenacious Tentacles and Fiery Monkfish

Food that writhes

Koreatown 1.0: A Food Diary

Sunday, bloody Sunday

Lawry's the Prime Rib: Give 'em Red Meat

A prime place for out-of-towners

I Yam What I Yam: Mr. Pizza Factory

Retooling an Italian tradition

Soup Opera

The broth, the squid and the glamour queen at BYJ

Hot-Pot Pocket

Soontofu in the South Bay

Soy Good for You

Ask Mr. Gold: Korean Barbecue

You Are Where You Eat

Craving L.A. grub

Griddle Me This

Waiting to Inhale

Welcome to La La Land

But not a lotus in sight

White Space

The possibilities and pleasures of pasta

Out and In

Where to go after the Music Center

Hawaiian Aye

Bruddah's island soul