Korean Barbeque - Kang Hodong Baekjeong


Los Angeles has the largest Korean population outside of Korea, hence all the yummy Korean food!!! There are tones of Korean restaurants in the area close to downtown called Koreatown, and one of the very popular kinds of restaurants is Korean Barbecue. There are a lot of places that do "all-you-can-eat" Korean barbecue, and there are also places that offer higher quality meats with slightly higher prices. 

There are so many Korean barbecue places that I don't think one can try them all. But this one I tried last weekend was one of the best ones. This place is located in a little square, and they have valet parking, as we all know it is crazy hard to find a parking spot during dinner time. In order to avoid long lines (there is always a line), we went there at around 3pm (between meal times), and we got a table in 15 minutes, which is probably the best you can get. 

They have around 5-6 different kinds of pork meat and beef meat, and they also offer pork meat combo and beef meat combo for people who want to try a variety of different meat. Most Korean restaurants have complimentary sides dishes like radish, kimchi, fish cakes, tofu, and others. These taste delicious and add to the meal. (And free refills!!!) However, this place has fewer side dishes than most. But their kimchi is really good (on the spicier side for those who loves spicy). From the pictures, you can see that on the side of the grill, there are three different compartments, one contained seasoned eggs, one contained corn and cheese, and one contain some pepper and onion, which will all be cooked by the end of the meal. This is something I haven't seen in other Korean BBQ places and were a nice addition to the meal.

The waiters/waitresses grilled the meat for you, and all you need to do is eat! The service wasn't great unfortunately (I guess they are all busy?), it would be nice if they can smile a little more and be a little more friendly. Well, for me, when it comes to a restaurant, food is always more important than the service, and the food was great! Look at the meat! Look at the beautiful distribution of fat in the beef! It is to die for! Eating meat alone can be a little overwhelming after a period of time, wrap the meat with the lettuce and sprouts and put them all in your mouth at once... um..... perfecto!

For people who eat a lot, it would be perfect for you to go to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, one place I recommend is Hae Jang Chon, it is cheap and good, but with a long line (as usual). 

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