ChoSun Galbee Restaurant

This is one of my favorites korean bbq restaurants in LA (and I have to say that I think LA has the best korean bbq in the country in its korea town). It is also the most "westernized" in terms of decor and service (mainly in that they have servers and hostesses that speak english). :) It has gotten more and more popular over the years so at dinner their valet often gets full and you will need to find street parking in the nearby area, which is sort of sketchy. They've also put in a new policy that they will only take reservations for larger parties, so smaller groups are sitted on a first come first serve basis (with wait times of 30 minutes plus at times).

When you first walk in you are enveloped in a cloud of yummy bbq smell. If you like bbq, your mouth will likely start to water. Service is quick and efficient once you are seated. The menu is very broad, including all the bbq items that you can choose to grill at your table or ask them to grill inside the kitchen (but grilling yourself is part of the fun of korean bbq) :). They have a range of meats (kalbee (marinated beef shortrib); bulgogi (marinated beef); spicy pork; chicken; shrimp, etc.). My favs are the beef and shrimp. They also have a range of other standard korean fare (bibimbap (sort of a rice casserole with veggies and beef in a stone pot); panjan (sp?)(seafood pancake); jap chae (glass rice noodles with veggies and beef). Almost everything is heavily marinated with garlic, sugar and soy sauce - and the flavors are great!

On this visit, my friend (who is visiting from London) and I ordered a seafood pancake, galbee and shrimp. Immediately thereafter, our server brought out the little side dishes that accompany every meal. I think all korean bbq places do this but I really like ChoSun's assortment the best. Aside from the normal kimchees and pickled radishes/turnips, they have potato salad, fishcakes, spicky pickled cucumbers, pancakes with scallions, broccoli, bean sprouts, etc. All of these range in flavors and spiciness and create a party in your mouth, and complement the meats very well. We immediately dug in with delight while our server heated up our grill and put a slab of butter and onions onto the grill. Soon thereafter, the shrimp and then the beef were thrown onto the grill and quickly cooked up to perfection. Our seafood pancake (variety of seafood and scallions in a light batter) came during this feast and we ate that up as well. We were super full, satisfied and happy! All of this for about $42 pp (including tip).

(KOREAN BBQ TIP - WEAR EASY TO WASH CLOTHES BECAUSE YOU WILL SMELL AFTER EATING KOREAN BBQ; AND DON'T PLAN TO GO ANYWHERE AFTERWARDS UNLESS YOU DON'T MIND SMELLING LIKE A WALKING BBQ.)