#46 Beverly Tofu House
Posted on November 19, 2007
Filed Under Korean | Leave a Comment
It’s getting a little chilly out there these days, does a spicy seafood & tofu hot pot and a sizzling plate of meat sound good? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
You know how much I love Korean food, there’s 8 Korean meals on this website — not count today’s entry, and I’ve been trying to find a definitive soon tofu place. Oh, wait, what am I doing? Some of you might be wondering “What’s soon tofu?” Okay, let me break it down a bit.
Soon tofu is usually a red hot spicy soup base and silken tofu served in a hot stone pot. You don’t HAVE to have it numbingly spicy, but you don’t want people to think you’ve gone soft, so order it at least a little spicy so it won’t come out looking grossly pale. There are different varieties– beef, kimchee, seafood– etc. It also comes with rice and you can order an additional side dish — usually barbecue on a sizzling plate to kick your meal into 50Meals territory. There are also panchan galore at these places, so chances are good you’re going to walk away feeling very full.
I’ve had my share of soon tofu places, there are BCDs all over LA (very decent, generous with the panchan,) Cho Dan in Torrance (good but lacks the +barbecue option,) So Kong Dong across the street (more on that very soon.) And although there are very few things people do differently, Beverly is an overall winner in my book. Yes, it’s true, So Kong Dang across the street serves raw marinaded crabs (my favorite) and also had excellent reviews on Yelp, but the one time I went, the tofu was mediocre, and my friend and I both had stomach trouble afterwards. Sorry. Maybe someone can give a positive review of the place in the comment section.
Alright, we’ve covered the basics, did a once over of the honorable mentions, let’s get to our show…
Koreans like their happy drinks, man. I love me some Hite but haven’t gotten a good handle on the soju. If you’re not big into hard soju straight up, Manna has the BEST lemon soju, just bring a designated driver.
Standard fare at Korean joints - barley tea. The metal bowls are kind of cool, makes me feel extra manly.
The soon tofu arrives in a great cloud of steam, the red soup bubbling restlessly on your table.
The waitress will expertly perform a one-hand egg drop into your soup if you’d like. It’s spicy, it’s hot, it goes perfectly with a bowl of rice and hurts a little bit when you eat it — the heat and the spices adds urgency to the whole experience. I couldn’t resist it, though, and kept digging at it, it’s so good. The “breaks” I take are quick ventures to try the also sizzling hot galbee and bulgolgi.
We ordered a side of galbee, of course, slightly burnt and sizzling on the hot plate. Delicious.
I just realized that a big chunk of Korean Food’s appeal to me is the inherent danger of all these things. We got sizzling metal plates, bubbling hot pots, raw eggs cooked at the table, none of this is particularly “safe.” The ladies at work were right, my middle name SHOULD be “Danger.”
Okay, back to reality, we also got a plate of bulgolgi (sliced beef) which is expertly marinaded and also sizzling, note the cow-shaped plate.
I also ordered a bimbimbap. A mix of cucumber, sprouts, fish cake, mushroom, carrots, a sunny-side-up egg in a big bowl. You toss in a couple spoons of hot & sweet sauce, a bowl of rice, mix well. The textures of all the goodies blend together and it’s different on every bite, this was just fantastic and refreshing. Comfort food among all the dangerous stuff on the table. I’m so ordering this again next time.
Beverly is a tiny little hole in the wall close to the extremely busy corner of Vermont and Olympic. Parking a little iffy in the plaza, there’s valet for $1.50 and I’d actually recommend it. the restaurant itself couldn’t seat more than 30 people, so there’s a good chance you’d have to wait a bit. I’d say hit it early in the evening if you can. It’s quite something.
Beverly Tofu House
2717 W Olympic Blvd Ste 108
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-1113