I meant to post this on Valentine’s Day, honestly I did. It’s not actually the KBBQ that’s heart-y, it’s the rice done on the grill afterward (so delicious). Here’s the pic.
This is from Hae Jang Chon (also known as “that pig place in the strip mall on 6th,” because apparently many people can’t remember its name – including me; I had to look it up). I liked Hae Jang Chon, although on a repeat visit our server didn’t form the rice into a heart. But he was cool and let us sit and chat forever.
I particularly liked the beef brisket at Hae Jang Chon. I was also interested in the fact that they use radish to clean the grill. They dump a bunch of radish on, push it around with the scraper, then when they scrape it off the grease comes with it. Ingenious. Never seen that before.
Hae Jang Chon’s all-you-can-eat option includes AYCE meat, two soups (one before the meal, one after), lettuce salad, panchan (not as varied as some places, but they compensate by providing more dipping sauces for the meat than some), kimchee pancakes (yum), and fried rice done on the grill at the end (less meat and more seaweed than some, but delicious). It’s reasonably priced at about $16. They’ve got a parking lot, but it’s valet at night, so be expecting that if you go. During the day it’s also valet, but I zipped into a spot on my own before I got to the valet station, and nobody stopped me.
Hae Jang Chon
3821 W. 6th Street
(cross-street: Serrano, IIRC)
Los Angeles, CA 90020
www.haejangchon.com
Dueling Hae Jang Chon posts! I love it!
Yeah, I was bummed that our waiter the second time didn’t form the fried rice into a heart.
That heart shaped rice pic has to qualify as the cheesiest thing I have ever seen on this site… lmao…
Bon V., yours is much more detailed. If anybody wants more than the general overview and biting wit (*cough*) I’ve provided, go check out Bon V.’s great Hae Jang Chon post: http://myculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/search/label/Hae%20Jang%20Chon
James, just wait till I try the cheese ramen at the K-town Plaza.
Seriously, you have to admit the heart-shaped rice would have been perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Wow, we are really in synchronicity! I was going to suggest that we get some cheese ramen from K-Town Plaza!
That’s almost scary!
cheese ramen? wow… just goes to show how much more Koreanized LA is than NY… i don’t think any of my Korean friends here have ever suggested going for cheese ramen. I am a big fan of cheese kimbab, but can’t say I am crazy about dairy floating on top of my instant noodles… But you guys enjoy!!
Yeah, I’m not sure whether to expect the cheese ramen to be tasty or gross. But the idea of it intrigues me.
FYI,
http://throughwhiteyseyes.blogspot.com/
First hearts in my cappuccino foam, now hearts in my kimchi rice. What’s next? Heart shaped tamales? Dumplings? Steak tartare?
Don’t mean to dump URLs in here… but this site is WAY too funny!!!
http://www.allkpop.com/
Ooh, heart-shaped mandu (dumplings)! Maybe those are next.
Edward, good links, though. I’ll add them to my blogroll.
Have you tried Pho? For a vietnamese noodle dish, it’s extremely popular in Koreatown.
Also, there’s the Korean version of Chinese food like jja jjang myun. Just giving you more blogging ideas.
I’ve had pho but haven’t blogged about it because it didn’t seem Korean enough, even when the places were owned by Koreans.
I haven’t tried jja jjang myun, but I want to. Do you know a good place to get it?
Oh Raven,
I thought you were Korean, but now you tell me that you have not tried JJA JJANG MYUN??!! Impostor all along, you were….
Well, I will give you this one tip when you go to eat it. You know how you never wear anything nice when you go to eat kalbi because the smells of the meat and smoke will stay on you like a rotting corpse hours after you’ve eaten? Well, don’t wear anything white when you go to eat JJM because you will be agonizing over the flecks of brown sauce that inevitably stain the front of your shirt. Wear something dark where no one will notice!
Don’t say I’m not lookin’ out for you Rave…
I know, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit I haven’t eaten JJM, but there you have it. I’ve seen it eaten in many kdramas. Does that count?
I’ll bear your clothing advice in mind and wear something dark that day. I gave up white a long time ago, but I still have grays and things in my closet.
Most Chinese restaurants in Koreatown serve jja jang myun, but one of my favorite places is Jin Heung Gak. JHG actually has three locations, but my coworkers usually order from the main branch on 8th and Berendo. There is also a JHG in Koreatown Galleria, so you might want to try it there. Then you can get into the subtle differences between plain jja jang myun and other variants, like gan jja jang and yoo ni jja jang.
Based on personal experience, and the comments on my YouTube videos of Korean Pho, it’s really not worth writing about.
SKFK, cool, I’ll try it at Jin Heung Gak. I didn’t even know there were variations… Now I feel ignorant.
Bon V., I thought the pho at Pho 2000 was okay, but Pho 4000 should really be called Non-Soup Noodle 4000, because their non-pho noodle dishes are great but their pho tastes like dishwater.
I usually go to Dragon for jja jjang myun. It’s on Vermont on the corner of Vermont and Olympic. Well, it’s about half a block up the hill from El Pollo Loco. You can’t miss it because the sign looks like a hideous noh mask.
They usually have a lunch menu combo on weekdays where you can order a regular dish and get JJM for $9.95 or something.