2.15 Dong Il Jang
Posted on May 6, 2008
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Dong Il Jang is highly ranked on Yelp and is one of the oldest Korean restaurants in Los Angeles. It also happens to be one of the higher-end Korean places in K-town. It is a little pricier than the usual cheap Korean places I go to, but you see it reflected both in the atmosphere and the presentation of the food. I’m looking to get away from strictly Korean Barbecue and go for more variety of Korean meals, so here we go.
We start it right off with a bang! This is the Yook Hwe, which is raw rib-eye sliced and mixed with a special sauce, mostly sesame oil, I’d say, since that’s what I taste and smell the most from this dish. It doesn’t really have a flavor, since the meat itself is nearly frozen. There’s also some sliced turnips in there for texture, it’s light on the palate and interesting, but since it’s raw beef, it’s not for everyone. It’s also a little pricy at $18.50.
Bibim naeng myun. Cold noodles with spicy sauce. $9.50
This is exactly what I was looking for in a cold noodle. The noodles are chewy, the sauce is a bit tangy and sweet with a good spicy kick to finish it off, the ingredients are fresh and everything is served chilled. The multitudes of textures from the noodles to the cucumber to the thinly sliced beef work well together and it totally knocked it out of the park for me. Loved it.
Bindae Duk. Mung Bean Pancake with bean sprouts, pork, picked cabbage. $12.50. I can imagine this being so good when you’re a bit drunk or hung over, it’s a bit greasy but the flavors are very pleasing, I’d call this a comfort food. Big hefty pancake, lots of goods scattered throughout, a good appetizer to share with your table.
Dohl Sot Bahp. Rice mixed with vegetable and meat cooked in a stone pot. $12.50. Yup, it comes like this, with the raw meat on top, what you need to do is to mix it at the table so that the meat can be cooked by the hot stone pot. It’s like fried rice but not as oily, and there’s a good mix of textures in this bowl of rice. It has seaweed and spinach, noodles and rice, among some other vegetables. It has a very wholesome, home-made feel.
Kimchee Chigae. Kimchee Casserole. I’d call this a Kimchee soup, really. It’s exactly like what you’d get if you went to a soon tofu place and ordered a tofu bowl, well, minus the tofu. Hot soup, tasty kimchee. It’s nothing spectacular but it wholesome and tasty and perfect on a cold day.
The restaurant itself is nice but a bit dated, it is one of the oldest Korean restaurants in Los Angeles. Service was very good but I should mention that I had a Korean family with me to be translators and do the ordering. Don’t worry, they do speak English. Things a bit pricy but the quality shows it. Food is very good overall and I’d definitely be back for more of those cold noodles.
Dong Il Jang
3455 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA, 90005
(213) 383-5757