Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Chosen Kalbi

Of the biggest, most often mentioned Korean BBQs, one of the only ones I'd never ventured to was ChoSun Galbee. ChoSun is a giant, cavernous place, full of side rooms of various sizes. It's staffed by an army of fast moving attendants who seem to have a strict division of labor (only the grill lighter lights the grill, etc.). The crowd is distinctly more diverse than most Koreatown BBQs (i.e. not 100% Korean), and the look is a bit more on the upscale side.

Panchan at ChoSun were plentiful and pretty good, but not particularly impressive (I do have a weekspot for fried fishcake, which they did very well). As with most Korean BBQs, it is really the meat that tells the tale and ChoSun had excellent meat.

We started with one of my favorites, ross gui, thin slices of unmarinated beef. I love the buttery goodness of Gui, quick-fried on the buttered grill then doused with the sesame oil/salt mixture that accompanies it. ChoSun had some of the best Gui I've had, and that includes Soot Bull Jeep and Dong Il Jang (which specializes in Gui). It was melt in your mouth delicious, smooth and carrying that wonderful buttery-beefy taste that is the essence of ross gui.

We moved on to the ChoSun Galbee, because how can you not order the signature dish? The galbee was plump, fatty and very lightly seasoned. I liked it but I wouldn't put it in the category of one of my favorites.

In terms of meat quality, I would definitely put ChoSun up their with Park's, though I still prefer the overall experience at Park's. Being a gui fan though, I will definitely be returning to ChoSun.


ChoSun Galbee
3330 W. Olympic Boulevard (one block west of Western)
Los Angeles, California 90019
(323)734-3330

2 comments:

Bon Vivant said...

Great title! I've never been to this place though the place that used to be there, Kang Suhr was the first Korean restaurant that I went to (1984).

sku said...

Great to hear from you BV! I've had to pick up the slack on the Korean places since you've been gone. I hope you're doing well in Napa.