Recomendations for Lunch in Koreatown

[Dybno]

Hey everyone, I was just looking for some good suggestions for lunch in K-town. I have pretty much hit a lot of the Mexican spots (El Parian, El Taurino, King Taco, Taco Razas, Mama's Tamales), and some of the chicken spots (Dino's, Pollo La Brassa), also enjoyed Langers. If anyone has any suggestions for places that serve good, fast, lunch I would enjoy hearing about it and dishes that are good at those places. Also, cheap is good!

[bite bite]

Another vote to Beverly Soon Tofu -- yummy, cute, little. Good bean paste.

Have had a couple nice meals at O Dae San -- seafood oriented, largish space. Especially liked the Al-Bab -- large bow of rice with a rainbow of multicolored fish eggs across the top with sea-urchin dolloped on top. mmmm

[Diana]

Isn't O Dae San gone?

[bite bite]

Really? I just ate there a few months ago. Does anyone know? That would be so sad...

[condiment]

It's gone. A pity. But A Won is pretty close.

[Suebee]

Opus is now open for lunch but menu looked a bit boring. Also, you can try Mr. Pizza Factory which was just reviewed in this week's LA Weekly.

Good luck!

Suebee

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Opus Bar & Grill
3760 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010

Mr Pizza Factory
3881 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010

[Tom P]

Taylor's Steaks has a great cheeseburger. It is 10 bucks but comes with fries and one more side. It is made from the trimmings and it quite good. They also have daily lunch specials:

http://www.taylorssteakhouse.com/lalu...

[jen.m]

The service at Han Bat Sul Lung Tang was fast when I went. I guess all the time-intensive preparation of the broth happens in the many hours of slow-cooking before they serve it. Mmm...broth...right, you will be eating beef soup because that's pretty much the menu. The only decisions are a) do you want something tame like brisket, or everything including spleen and b) how much green onion and salt are you going to dump in there when you get it?
It think it was $9, which seems a little spendy for soup if you're used to pho or boat noodles, but since I'm not making it an everyday indulgence I can't say it bothered me.

Nice staff, too. They asked if I liked it and I said I did and would be back. So when I left they said, "see you tomorrow!" Cute.

4163 W 5th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
[phone]

[Sandra W]

Kobawoo, Vermont south of Wilshire. Try the acorn noodles, seafood pancake, bulgogi, pork bo-sam.

[Bon Vivant]

Ssin Ssin on the southwest corner of 7th and Vermont has some pretty good food and it's fairly inexpensive. They specialize in Korean tinged Japanese dishes but their Korean comfort food is pretty spot on. They are a lunch spot so they are usually pretty fast.

http://myculinaryadventures.blogspot.com

[namstermonster]

try the chinese restaurant on the first floor of k-town plaza (betw. nicole's cafe and art box i believe) it's korean-influenced chinese food and their jja jjang mien is pretty good. (jja jjang mien is kinda like spaghetti but chinese style- for lack of a better description) their water dumplings are pretty decent, too. other than that, most korean places have lunch specials during the week. i esp like cho sun galbi (olympic blvd??), woo rae ok (one in beverly hills, and finally re-opening ktown branch), and a few others which are only in korean. ;p

[smssms]

cassell's - burger
ham hung - bibim naengmyun
noshi sushi
myung dong gyo ja - kalgooksoo

opus now serves lunch. haven't been, though.

[kevinucla2000]

Manna is good!

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/prof...

[Dybno]

What's good there for lunch? I have only ever been for dinner and had the bbq special.

[wilafur]

manna is dirty and disgusting.

[sku]

A good neighborhood for eating
Here are a few:

Lunch buffet at Makkah Hallal (Fourth and Vermont)
Guelaguetza (8th St and Olympic locations)
Papa Cristo's (Pico and Normandie)
Jeon Ju (bibimbap dol sot at Vermont and Olympic)
Beverly Soontofu (Vermonat and Olympic)
Chichen Itza (6th Street, west of Mac Park - not as fast)

[cant talk...eating]

I actually found Jeon Ju to be annoyingly bright and sterile (hope I'm thinking of the right one - sw corner Vermont/Olympic) w/ unremarkable food; Beverly Soontofu maybe for that dish, but not much else to recommend it (and the other things aren't that cheap).

How about:

Ddo Soon Ee (Korean, standards)
6th and Harvard

Authentic Korean Dumpling
Irolo/Normandie and 7th

El Colmao (Cuban - a bit east, toward Downtown)
2328 W Pico Blvd

and the big HK Korean supermarket
124 N. Western Ave.

[condiment]

Jeon Ju bright and sterile? Unremarkable food? You're definitely thinking of the wrong place. It's pleasantly dingy, actually, and what they do well - bibimbap, spicy cod stew - they do better than anybody.

[sku]

Agreed.

And as to Beverly Soontofu, they have great BBQ Ika.

Meanwhile, I really don't like Authentic Korean Dumplings; I find their fillings to be sort of blah.

[baloney]

condiment, have you tried the dolsot bibimbap from Dong Il Jang? Just curious if you could compare theirs with Jeon Ju's. I found JJ's to be just edible.

[sku]

Do you meant the dol sot served after Gui or a separate menu item at DIJ?

If you mean the Gui, I like both. I'd say the kalbi in the JJ is nicer than the gui and holds its flavor better in the dol sot, but the DIJ version is spicier.

[baloney]

I actually meant the separate, stand-alone dish. And I agree about the spicyness which is a part of why I like DIJ's version more.

[condiment]

But the spiciness reflects nothing more than how much of the chili you mix in - it's kind of self-regulating.

[sku]

...and how much kimchi is in the bbb.

[baloney]

Well, at DIJ they put in a set amount of kochoojang and there is no kimchi in their version. I've rarely had a dolsot from DIJ that didn't have just the right amount of spice. I just don't get Jeon Ju's dolsot, but to each his/her own.

[another_adam]

+1 for jeonju!! the bibimbap is great, and during winter months, their stews really hit the spot-- I especially recommend the cheonggukjang jjigae, I can't remember its English label, but it might be one of the ones labeled "dregs casserole" (that name sticks in my mind) The roe stew (al jjigae) can also be quite comforting. I'm not sure about the speed, but it's pretty reasonable.

SGD (sogongdong) tofu in the same plaza is a good spot for sundubu. (I like them better than BCD). They can have a line sometimes, but they take your order while you're standing outside, so it's basically timed to be ready by the time you sit down...

Also @ olympic and vermont, some of the prepared foods at Hannam can be good (you have to be a bit watchful for freshness sometimes, but if you're going at lunchtime, there are many good fresh offerings that can be taken to go)

I have generally liked madang guksu (869 western) for big bowls of thick noodles (kal guksu) (also a wintertime treat), or for the soymilk noodles (kong guksu) in the summer.

[MeAndroo]

I've heard amazing things about Kyochon's fried chicken, but I don't know if they qualify as fast and they're certainly not cheap. I'm going to try to get there sometime next month.

http://kyochon.com/

[Dybno]

I was thinking about that place but then I heard horror stories about the wait for the food. The chicken does sound good though. Anyone know if its possible to be in and out in less then an hour?

[MeAndroo]

I've heard it's possible to call ahead, but haven't tried it myself.