At many places if you get less than 2 orders they cook the meat in the kitchen and bring it out on the wooden platter.
Yup
Does Genwa Wilshire have solo dining at the bar?
oh genwa and their death by a million banchans strategy
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I like OP’s list. the throne for best KBBQ is very much up for grabs…
Park’s is still pretty damn good, but it ain’t what it used to be… those banchans are not the same and things have gotten a little out of hand (haven’t seen their proper aged kimchi in at least two years, saw a weird corn salad thing one time I went and it was awful, eundaegu jorim ain’t all that anymore. the tangs and soups are still pretty good. naengmyeon not all that either). on the other hand, if you guys see me on the evening news murdered in cold blood it was Jenee Kim and she read this.
big groups, genwa is always the play. though I called recently and they require a $200 fee just to book the table (it’s not an order minimum… i was kind of shocked. smart business model, but also… damnit).
these days I find myself craving soot bull jeep for more of a rustic feel. the marinated meats are obviously not on par with park’s short rib or gwang yang’s bulgogi (then again, no one really is). the charcoal though… there’s no feeling quite like it
I also went to daedo in K-Town and though the interior is just drop-dead gorgeous, the meat is not as high quality as one might expect from a buildout/marketing of that magnitude. it’s CAB which is good enough, but just feels like a missed opportunity especially considering that they use cast iron and it would be really great for a fattier cut like wagyu (not to mention their portion sizes would leave a chihuahua hungry). also they trim the fat, which is a Korean preference kind of thing… though the preference of no Korean I hold dear. if you’re forced to go, DON’T SKIP THE COLD NOODLES. incredibly refreshing and great bounce on the noodles. (the original daedo in Korea uses korean domestic beef, with marbling akin to australian wagyu).
with a gun to my head, I still say park’s is the best… but now places like soowon galbi, chosun galbi, morangak and others are now in play…
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I agree that Park’s is not as good as days of yore - for the higher end I prefer Gwang Yang. And Tenraku has been quite good for me as well.
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I love this phrasing. Can you tell me how I know a tang from a soup?
I always assumed they were the same.
The man knows his Mandarin.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had higher-end KBBQ, but this is my choice, as well. There is something decidedly unfussy (but still fairly upscale) about the place, which is appealing to me.
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they are the same i had a brainfart
tangs and jjigaes*
tangs are generally soupy/brothy, jjigaes are thicker, have more solid ingredients inside, more akin to casseroles than soups necessarily. but i’m sure you know this lol
good callout! hope you’ve been well!!!
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ahhhhh…got it!
Was there this past weekend. Good as always, although the banchan was tiny and the kimchi/tofu soup could use some work. Service was incredibly slow as they seemed understaffed. SBJ is always in the rotation for the throwback feel and the charcoal, but there are just so many places with better meats.
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Yeah service is tough at a lot of places right now due to staffing issues. And agree with you, the quality is definitely not in the top tier… but if I’m going to smell like a mess anyway, I prefer charcoal to splattered grease. Thanks for the intel on the banchan!! That’s good to know
Speaking of banchan do you know if Gaenali on Garden Grove Blvd is still doing the gejang for banchan. The owner used to give me refills of gejang =)
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I have no idea but they must have really liked you bc I’ve seen tables of non Koreans not get the gaejang at other places. Don’t want to waste the precious goods on non believers.
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What’s the best AYCE recommendation?
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Don’t do it?
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I like Jjukku Jjukku. Banchan is sparse but the meat quality is really high if you go with the premium option. Plus they use charcoal in their grills.
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Very true - the space and crowd are super, the food not so much.