One of the things I enjoy about dining at Korean restaurants is that some of them offer tableside cooking where you either cook it yourself as in Korean BBQ or they’ll cook it for you as in Octopus Fried Rice or Spicy Crab Soup. So after reading an LA Times article about a Koreatown restaurant that specializes in a multi-course tableside prepared seafood meal, I knew that this was one place I had to visit and soon. The name of the restaurant is Bultaneun Cheongdamdong Jogae Gui, which translates to Flaming Clam Grill of Cheongdamdong and it’s in the Chapman Market Complex.

One key thing you should know right away about this restaurant is that there is no English signage. The name of the restaurant is in Korean and the street number is difficult to read at night. I actually ended up across the street and the valet there pointed me in the right direction. While there’s street parking, there’s also valet parking behind the restaurant for about $2 if you get your ticket validated.

Another thing to know is that the menu is only in Korean. Thankfully, I got that info from that LA Times article I read, so that wasn’t a surprise. After we picked the $59.99 option, the feasting began.

The first two things to arrive were beaten eggs in a covered pot and Dukboki, a dish that consists of rice cakes, enoki mushrooms, cabbage and some kind of chili paste or sauce. It didn’t take long for the eggs to cook with a soft steamed-like consistency, but the Dukboki wasn’t ready until much later.

The first 3 courses were all in one tray, which included a Short Rib Taco, a Spicy Pork Taco and an Oxtail and Kimchi taco. I’ve had the first two tacos in the past and they were just as good as before, but the Oxtail and Kimchi Taco was something new and wow, was it tasty. The meat was marinated well and had a slight chew to it that I liked and I really enjoyed the slight crunch of the kimchi. The only thing I would have changed is to have a spicier kimchi. It needed more heat, but other than that, the Oxtail and Kimchi Taco was a hit with the entire crowd. I think it should actually be added to their regular menu.

Fourth on the rotation was their Korean Hot Dog with a Kimchi Slaw. I wanted to like this more, but I think it needs some adjustments. First, the hot dog itself was just okay. It could be a preference thing, but I would have liked it to have more of a snap when I bit it into it, plus it could have been a bit juicier. Also, while I liked the bun’s softness, it needed to be firmer. When I got my hot dog, it had already fallen through the bun and while trying to eat it, the hot dog was slipping and sliding everywhere. I did like the kimchi slaw and how it hadn’t been marinated for too long, so it retained an almost green freshness about it.

Next up was their Chicken Burrito, which was almost like a Breakfast Burrito since it has eggs and sometimes even hash browns in it. I’ve had their burritos in the past and just as before, it still was a hit with me. The chicken was moist and tender and the sauce that was used to saute the burrito filling was tasty.

Our sixth course was the Pork Belly topped with Dandelion Greens Kimchi on a Sesame Leaf. I could have easily eaten a few trays of this dish. The little bit of sweetness in sauce that was on the pork belly meshed well with the slight bitterness of the Dandelion Greens.

6 courses down and our seventh one was actually my favorite of the whole menu. Chef Roy really knows to work the Spam because up next were the Hawaiian Spam Sliders. A few of those could easily be a main dinner entree for me. The sauce, the mayonaise and the sweetness of the bread really worked well with the saltiness of the fried Spam. Overall, the sweet-salty flavors really suited my palate.

Eighth on the list was corned beef topped with diced onions and served with a slice of lime for additional tartness. I wasn’t really feeling this dish too much. I liked the flavors, especially after I squeezed the lime and also when I ate the meat with some of the onions, but the corned beef was chewy. It reminded me of jerky. The marinade that was used was quite tasty, but there was something about the texture of the meat that wasn’t working for me and this comes from someone who likes jerky.

After all the meat we had been consuming, it was nice to end with a vegetable, which were grilled asparagus and a sauce that kind of reminded me of Thousand Island dressing, but way, way better.

Overall, other than a couple of items that weren’t quite to my taste, Kogi BBQ delivered yet again and I look forward to sampling even more of the unique items coming out of Chef Roy’s head and their rolling kitchen.

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Is there anything more Los Angeles then a Korean BBQ Taco Truck that cruises the streets delivering high quality fusion cuisine to the city’s taco lifestyle hubs? We salute the Kogi truck and hope it is the inspiration for many more… Pictures by Tales of an LA Addict. More info including where the truck is going to be at their website.

Short rib and spicy pork tacos

Tofu Taco


Short rib slider

(L to R) Eric Shin (Website Administrator/Photographer), Chef Roy Choi and Co-Founders, Mark and Caroline Manguera

3575 Wilshire Blvd. @ Kingsley ~ Koreatown, CA 90010 ~ 213-382-6677 (TACO Map)

Other 8 L.A. locations: Torrance, Cerritos, Rowland Heights, Reseda, Garden Grove, Downtown & Western

Don’t let the name fool you, this legendary KTown eatery is not a flowery temple for keeping your karma in line, freeing the bees from their slave labor, and leap-frogging yummy animal parts for mung beans and soy cubes. At BCD Tofu House you will get a bite of just about every major animal group that ever graced man’s plate– burned, branded, and sliced up in an indulgent feast of Korean flavors. There is only one completely vegetarian item on the menu, the rest is pure meat mayhem.

The classic has a few outposts from LA to Garden Grove to Seoul to Tokyo, each with their own specialities. Neighborhood outsiders are welcomed, but sadly, for their sakes, few appear. I broke my BCD cherry along with the golden-paletted gourmand Ali Khan, from the hilariously mouth-watering Chef Jeff and Ali Show. It was creeping up on midnight so we needed a 24-hour option and were feeling like a healthy snack, allowing the “tofu” to mislead us from Thai Town down Western to Wilshire. The tofu comes from the centerpiece of every meal here, soontofu, a hot-as-Hades soup lined with melt-in-your-mouth silky tofu and copious ingredients from the animal and marine kingdom…..

Mere minutes passed after sitting and placing our orders, two dinner specials, mine with the pork bulgogi, Ali’s with short ribs. Food bumrushed our show from every direction. More ritual than a heroin habit got underway, with rice and water filled mortar bowls placed here; spicy, garlicky, fresh kimchi there (the national dish, obviously named with a ‘Kim’); sliced pickled veggies and sauces scattered across the packed table. The kimchi is clean and very vibrant, a few pickled, major-league shoots under a watery, blood red sauce of balanced spices, with noticable chili and garlic.

Next appeared a whole fried fish, a small yellow croaker that is nicely greasy and salty with delectably soft flesh that breaks apart in tiny squares. A few tiny bones await you if you don’t split it up right and the sight of the eyes and mouth turn many a puss…um, ‘unexperimental diners’…off. Don’t miss it.

The feast continues with the emergence of a sizzling stone cauldron, furiously burbling with lava-colored, lava-hot soontofu. On the side is placed the main attraction of the dish, in my case a hillside of thinly sliced, rough, ragged and sumptous pork bulgogi with a deep adobe-orange color on a molten plate that could be used for fajitas. Bulgogi, meaning ‘fire meat’ in Korean, is typically pan grilled or charcoal barbecued steak, and spiced with sesame, pear, wine, ginger, pepper, and soy sauce, among other ingredients, and in this case served over a layer of oily, flavorful grilled onions, and beneath a sprinkling of diced shallots and sesame seeds. Ali’s mound of ribs also boasted a deep shimmering color with a sharp bone poaking through the tender meat of each rib.

As the broth simmers and spews, an egg is placed before you. Cracking it into the firmament-fueled soontofu broth cooks the egg among the countless ingredients inside, sort of like Japanese sukiyaki. And what a edible zoo it is down below. I pulled a crawfish and a clam out of my bulgogi, in addition to the cooked egg, saturated veggies, and slices of soft pork I’d administered. The house’s main attraction fills the stone pot to the brim; tiny chunks of tofu so soft they melt into one another as well as the broth, creating a liquid solid that soaks in the surrounding flavors of its soup mates.

Ali’s ribs were addicitve and delicious, soft and sweet, with a scrumptious charred taste from the grill that didn’t compromise the tenderness of the meat, despite leaving it lightly blackened on its fatty ends. I later sampled the beef bulgogi too, and found it softer and more flavorful than the pork. On further visits, I will have to try the bimibap and some of the other specialties at this diner.

Soontofu combos are excellent for those who like variety in one meal and dig mixing their eats together. The combo meals cost about $13 and are a total feast of Korean meats, side dishes, and regional stars. Forget In N’ Out after your next last call, no matter what time of day or night, BCD keeps the light on for you. They provide a good overview of Korean food with a set-up that includes the flavors of some of the city’s barbecue joints with a broader focus towards comprehensive Korean tastes. A solid and fun feast!