Korean food in San Gabriel Valley

There seems to be a handful of places to have Korean food in the SGV. Please help us find more places for authentic Korean food-- the basics such as BBQ and soondobu (soft tofu stew).

We've heard of Pete Wood BBQ in Monterey Park-- is it authentic? Is it still open? Any other Korean BBQ places?

There is a small cluster of tofu houses in San Gabriel, Monterey Park-- which places are the best?

We've been cooking Korean food at home but would love a break and eat @ an authentic Korean restaurant.

Thanks, fellow hounds.

[Quik]

I'm quite a fan of the Young Dong on Huntington. Their tonkatsu is always light and not greasy and they give you a veggi-jun as one of the panchan, which is nice.

Also, there's a Korean restaurant in a mini-mall on the north-west corner of Atlantic and Garvey (same plaza as SUP bookstore). I can't remember the name, but it's on the 2nd floor and it's the only korean restaurant in that center. They're not especially good (solid though) and they seem to have a really varied menu. Their lunch specials are some of the most affordable I've seen in the SGV.

[calabasas_trafalgar]

There's also a Young Dong in Arcadia on Huntington.

But the best of all was Soo Kyung in Temple City which is no longer with us. It was run by a husband and wife, and the wife was very ill, and after a while I think it became too much for the husband to run on his own. They had a onion and pepper soup to die for!

[monkuboy]

Was Soo Kyung on Las Tunas and Encinitas, where that ramen house is now? It sounds like you are describing that place. My wife and I used to go there a lot and it was great but then they sold it to some woman who made a mess of it and then she sold it and now it is a yuppified ramen house. If it's the same place, I'm sorry to hear the wife was ill because she and her husband were vere nice.

[calabasas_trafalgar]

Yes they were great, she was very nice especially. I hope they are ok, but the husband told us she was very ill.

[calabasas_trafalgar]

Actually its las Tunas and Cloverly, across from Ralph's. It's called Won Won now...

[monkuboy]

Oh now I know which place you are talking about - it was in a little strip center where there's a donut shop and a video rental place facing Las Tunas? I used to see it but never tried it and then recently I noticed it was gone and replaced by a Chinese restaurant. I should have tried it when I had the chance!

[calabasas_trafalgar]

They had two items which we haven't been able to find elsewhere; their BBQ chicken was very light and doesn't have the grainy texture we find at most of the other places, and it really mixed well with the bed of fried onions on which it was served. Also they had a radish and onion soup which was simply to die for it was so good.

there is this place in glendale called seoul restaurant. It has the best korean food around. It is off brand ave, next to hot wings cafe.

[Das Ubergeek]

I have to disagree with this... Seoul Restaurant used to be really good, and then they discovered the awful truth that all ethnic restaurateurs eventually think about: that if you Americanise your food, more people will come and you will make more money, even if it doesn't taste as good.

The last time I went to Seoul Restaurant (which was probably the last time) I had to beg in Korean for them to give me gochujang for my bibimbap, and there was no flavour at all in the kimchi.

I go to Seoul Grindz, which is in the Glendale Marketplace in the 100 block of South Brand near Borders, when I want Korean in Glendale... it's Hawaiian-Korean and is a fast-food type place, but the food tastes much better and the gochujang is out there for anyone to take.

pete wood is alive and well. 910 e garvey. authentic, but not as in the glitzy places in koreatown. it's kind of like going to your friend's mom's house, except they have charcoal in the tables. it's got about 6 tables. unfortunately they recently raised the prices, but it's still a bargain compared to koreatown.

So to Rowland Heights and hit Ong Ja Gib. It is on Colima and Nogales. Good stuff.

There's a place in San Gabriel that have decent soon tofu, bbq, and bibimbap.

Young Dong Tofu
927 E Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776
[phone]
(on Las Tunas, same mall as Albertson's, next to Tokyo Lobby)

I wholeheartedly second this place. I go here with my Korean coworkers regularly.

[AlwayzHungry]

I agree! This place has a thicker tofu soup... I've found some tofu places are a bit watery and prefer a more stew-ish tofu soup.

TOFU HOUSE on Las Tunas Blvd. in San Gabriel is pretty good.

There's also JANG GUN in Rowland Heights on Nogales St.

Any relation to the Tofu House in Monterey Park? We had pretty good Soon Dobu there last night.

There's Manna on the corner of San Gabriel Blvd. and Potrero Grande.