Baroo

Baroo in the Arts District is a must-visit for a unique dining experience. The tasting menu is a journey through modern Korean cuisine, with each dish thoughtfully crafted and beautifully presented. The Hokkaido scallop with watercress sauce and puffed rice stood out, as did the soy-braised wild black cod in a creamy buttermilk sauce. The wood sorrel bingsu dessert was a refreshing end to the meal. The sleek, minimalist decor adds to the intimate atmosphere, and the chef's counter seating offers a great kitchen view. At $110 for the tasting menu, it's an excellent value for the quality and creativity of the dishes. Baroo has reinvented itself, staying true to its experimental roots while offering a refined dining experience.Emphasize the service: even on a rainy day, they remove your coat + place your umbrella in a nice jar. My partner and I went on an Anniversary the day before Valentines Day, the team provided us a lovely signatured note to celebrate our occasion. Please consider this place when you want to be intimate, ESPECIALLY on the first day.

Service and food were good, but did not live up to its reputation of being one of the "best restaurants in LA". Christian served us and he was great! My favorite courses were the fried lobster, soy braised cod and beef entree. We waited a while in between the courses. left a little hungry as the tasting portions were small, and one of the courses on the menu was rice lol. It was tasty and had other ingredients mixed in...but would I recommend coming here to spend money on parking + $115 per person? No...there's better dining experiences out there :) I also found it strange that all the kimchi they were served was white. Not a hint of spice in this Korean meal!Also--skip the green tea with toasted rice. It tasted mostly like hot water with toasted rice. The hand soap in the bathrooms was lovely.

Baroo right now is a premier restaurant where you can get a quality tasting menu for a solid (for LA) price. It returns to LA with a beautiful modern Korean menu of 7 courses for $115. Each course is wonderfully put together - great flavors and textural contrasts. Stands for me include the sool bang (great flavor and chew), scallop (soft buttery delicious), lobster tuigim (amazing light batter and perfectly cooked lobster), and the short rib. The bingsoo is a nice finish as well. Glad they included rice bowl as a final course alongside the meat course - you'll walk out hungry, but a little less thanks to the rice. Parking can be tough but some valets to tap into. Service is amazing.

Incredible - attention to detail in every course is obvious, combining traditional Korean influence with modern techniques and ingredients. We opted for the additional protein (strip loin) special that was off menu which they served with the ssam course which was a great idea. We got both the wine pairing and sool pairing and I really appreciated learning about all the different kinds of Korean rice wines. My favorite courses were the lobster and the scallop. It was my birthday and the staff even arranged for a special Korean fortune telling card at the end (you just tell them your birthday and name).

It's hard to describe in words how incredible of a dining experience I had at Baroo. From the moment we entered to the moment we left, every interaction with the staff was nothing short of pleasant.The food is without a doubt, Michelin star worthy. If you consider yourself a foodie, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice by not visiting Baroo before it becomes the next impossible-to-book spot.Before diving into the food, I want to take a moment to call out the spectacular cocktails that they have on their menu. Albeit the cocktail menu is a bit shorter than your typical New American restaurant, the three out of four (alcoholic) cocktails we tried from the menu were all innovative, well-balanced and drinks we would gladly enjoy time and time again.Moving on to the food, the Korean menu takes you on a journey with dishes from land and sea in a creative and cohesive manner. In one course, you get to enjoy the best piece of fried lobster you've ever had in your life, and in the next, you get to try the flakiest cod, that bests even the famous Nobu's miso-marinated black cod.The base protein for your main is a succulent piece of pork jowl, but you can optionally upgrade to a rib eye for an additional charge. On my visit, they actually had a strip loin as a substitute protein as well. Since my wife and I were celebrating a special occasion with our meal at Baroo, we decided to splurge and get all the proteins. The deep-fried potato pinwheel that came with the strip loin dish was one of our favorite bites of the evening. I cannot recommend it enough if it's on the menu during your visit.In terms of execution, every piece of protein was cooked to perfection, plating was aesthetically a 10 out of 10, and many dishes had layers upon layers of hidden flavors and texture with each additional bite.I've dined at many Michelin starred restaurants before and Baroo is right there among the greats. I highly encourage you to book a reservation before Baroo to celebrate your next special occasion.

If you're looking for a hip, locally sourced Korean food with a modern twist, this place is it. It's such a cute ambiance with Korean decor, and the food is absolutely fantastic. Their tasting menu is definitely a winner for me. $115 for 7 course - vegitarian and non vegetarian option. Wine paring is $70 or you can always order tastings al-a-cart and get any bottles you wish to try. Overall, every dish was carefully prepared and so delicious! I'm from South Korea myself and I'm beyond impressed with the depth of the flavors in each dish. For meat options you can choose pork belly or the galbijjim. Both options were seared perfectly and cooked to perfection. Out of 7 dishes I loved 6/7 - now that's a tasting you want to do. The banana dessert I expected it to be more creamy but it was more on the tart side! Still, Yummy and delicious. Chef Kwang Uh and Mina Park are both so kind and respected chef's and I believe that is what resembles this restaurant all together. I can't wait to come back!

Super refreshing take on traditional korean flavors, filling course menu with a good atmosphere and great service. Particular liked the 80s-90s korean musicplaying.Favorite dishes were the pork collar course and the scallop course, both amazing and unlike anything I've had before. A must go, but only once.

Wow, I haven't felt this excited about a restaurant or a chef in a long time. My husband made a reservation for an early Valentines dinner this past Saturday. We had the prix fix menu. It's about $115 pp but additional charge if you change the protein for the saam course. From the ambiance, service, and food, everything was exceptional. The star is of course the food. Overall, I think what excited us is in the execution of each course. Flavors were familiar yet unique, complex but still delicious. I think what chef Kwang does very well is his use of acidity from fermented foods to add umami and layer flavors to otherwise savory and or sweet elements. Each protein from the scallops to the pork collar were also cooked to perfection. Our favorites of the night were the cod and the pork ssam, but tbh each progressive course just got better and better. I can't wait to go back. This place lives up to the hype of being named LA Times restaurant of the year 2024! This is modernizing and elevating Asian cuisine done right. Kudos!

Food - 5/5The food was solid good. There wasn't an item on the menu that I didn't love. Very well thought out. I walked out feeling so full. Next time I go, I'll definitely want to try the drink pairing. Service - 4/5Super attentive staff. Warm and welcoming and ensured that we were taken care of the whole meal. Ambiance - 4.5/5I absolutely adored the décore and dishware and space.

We had heard amazing things about Baroo and so we decided to finally check it out recently after seeing that it made 2024 LA Times Restraurant of the Year. Overall it was a solid dinner, but it fell far short of our expectations, and it just wasn't next level good like we were hoping for. One problem with Baroo is that it's positioned itself in a awkward spot between upscale casual and fine dining. Baroo is nice, but not quite fine dining. All the dishes ranged from decent to good but nothing was truly exceptional. The plating and presentation were sloppy or lazy at times, and the service was fairly mediocre. Also, another big problem I had with Baroo is that the dishes just were neither avante garde nor traditional--just an unfamiliar mish mosh of Korean ingredients and techniques. To be fair though, I guess Baroo is accordingly priced relatively low, and to their credit they could probably get away with charging much more... I've been to many restaurants that charge a lot more for a far shittier dinner and experience. I know I'm probably being harsher than I normally would be, but it's just so disappointing to see yet another unexceptional attempt at Korean fine dining. I've seen chatter about Baroo being Michelin caliber/potential Michelin star etc, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon unless they make some radical changes to their menu and drastically improve their service. If Baroo hadn't been so overhyped, I'm confident that I would've have enjoyed dinner here far more. Temper your expectations and you'll have a good dinner.