Soot Bul Gui Rim, K-Town

I don't make it down to k-town very often, and if I do, it's usually for one thing, and that's to GRUB on some authentic Korean food. Usually, I'll go for Korean BBQ or my other favorite, soon tofu. One of my favorite all you can eat K BBQ joints is a place called Soot Bul Gui Rim, which translates to "Charcoal Fire Meat" or something.

My friend Jangel, one of the few Korean food aficianados that I can trust referred me to this restaurant, and I've been a huge fan ever since.

I love this place for several reasons. 1. It's all you can eat at a decent price ($16.95). 2. The quality of meat is fresh and good. 3. The service is great, especially for a Korean place. So even though the wait is generally 30-45 minutes long, it is definitely worth it. And 4. They have one of my all time favorite ban chan dishes, a steamed egg that they make old school style in a stone pot.

In short: We GRUBBED. We had three orders of the cha dol, or thinly sliced brisket, bulgogi, marinated beef slices, kalbi, short rib, and a big chunk of rib eye steak, that they scissored up for us. The guys wanted to try some tripe, so we ordered it, but I wasn't feeling adventurous enough to try what resembled a white sponge of meat.

They serve their meat with duk sam, the new trend in Korean bbq, which is basically a Vietnamese inspired accessory to meat. Essentially, they are rice paper wraps that you can wrap your meat in, along with other banchans and the various sauces they provide.

We polished our meal off with four big bottles of hite beer. If you've never had Korean beer, this is pretty much one of the better of the variety, it is refreshing and light! We also shared a traditional bottle of chamesul soju, or Korean-style vodka. It is an acquired taste, as some people refer to it as rubbing alcohol, but once you start to like the flavor of it, it really pairs nicely with the meats.

The only thing I wish this place had were the moo sam, or the radish-wraps, which are basically like the rice paper wraps, but thin slices of pickled radish that really give the meat a nice refreshing taste. Otherwise, this place is great!

Soot Bul Gui Rim

3977 W 6th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90020