The Koreatown dispatches
This week, Five Things I Ate will be reporting from Koreatown, Los Angeles, where she is in hiding. If you’re new, check out past posts here, and make sure to follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Korean fried chicken at my friend’s apartment
Undisclosed location, with a backyard
“Los Angeles is like a shitty heaven,” my friend says to me, when I ask her why everyone I meet seems so depressed in this blue-skied paradise. “And New York is a fun hell.” Normally, I’d chose Fun Hell over Shitty Heaven in a heartbeat (I do work in journalism, after all), but this week, I had a strong need to seek out any version of paradise, even one you pay for with a life stuck in traffic and a seasonless sense of ennui. What really convinced me, though, was the fried chicken, made fresh in the kitchen by my friend’s sweet roommate. You too can have the power to win friends and influence people, if you follow the recipe at My Korean Kitchen (I am told you should use boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into uniform pieces, for best results). It looked surprisingly easy to make, although I can’t tell you from firsthand experience: In Shitty Heaven, I don’t cook for you, and I most definitely don’t clean the dishes.
Tacos al Pastor at Tacos LaGuera
1298, 1236 S Hobart Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006
The street taco is to LA what the halal cart is to New York, and it’s one of my favorite things about the city. Every night, the folks at Tacos LaGuera take over the corner at Pico and Hobart Boulevard, transforming the whole block into a bustling taco assembly line. Everything at Tacos LaGuera is good, and cheap, but the tacos al Pastor are definitely the main attraction. It’s also visually spectacular, a huge cone of meat broiling over an open flame that workers quickly chip into bite-sized tacos. At 1.25 each, you can get a filling meal for under five dollars until the wee hours of the morning.
Tamal oaxaqueño de mole negro con pollo at Guelaguetza Restaurante
3014 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006
Guelaguetza Restaurante is supposed to have the city’s best mole, as evidenced by its website, ilovemole.com. The mole is good, but I’m actually not quite sure it’s worth the wait, which can be over an hour on the weekends. The place itself is huge (by my New York standards), with a stage for live music in the front room and a plastic bougainvillea tree strung with lights in the courtyard, and so are the portions. The chicken tamal I ordered with rice and beans could easily have served two. By the time I got to the second half later that day, I was less than jazzed about it; the whole thing felt a little overbearing and mushy. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing (and if so, please tell me what to get next time), but I expected more out of a restaurant with such rave reviews.
Beef taquitos at Cielito Lindo
E-23 Olvera St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
This restaurant isn’t actually in Koreatown, it’s in Chinatown, which should never be confused with Koreatown, say my ancestors and several thousand years of history. But it’s close enough by car and a fun enough place to visit that I’m putting it on this list. Cielito Lindo is a taquito and burrito stand that marks the start of Olvera Street, reputedly the “birthplace of Los Angeles.” It’s now a market for modern-day trinkets made up in the style of an old-school Mexican marketplace. The taquitos are what makes Cielito Lindo famous, and I got the beef ones doused in avocado sauce. Nicely crispy and plenty hearty, they make a cheap but filling snack for an afternoon adventure.
Kimchi fried rice at Yellow House Café
234 S Oxford Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90004
I came to Los Angeles with one item on my agenda: To eat Korean and Mexican food. And I’m happy to report that unlike most weeks, I accomplished all my goals. Yellow House Café is a kitschy Korean restaurant with a sunny backyard that would be very peaceful if, unlike me, you go on a day when there’s not blaring construction in the nearby lot. The food is hearty homestyle cooking, with lots of spicy ramen noodles, rice cakes, and stir-fries. I went with the classic kimchi fried rice, which was served with a dollop of mayo-heavy coleslaw and a fried egg. It was greasy but good, and I imagine it’d be even better if you drank the night before.
See ya next week in Fun Hell,
Soph