Kobawoo House

Very athentic! My friends and I enjoyed the bossam and the haenul pajeon. It was enough to share with 2/3 people. Not very spicy and served with napa cabbage and radish kimchi. I also liked the fermented shrimp ! Appealing presentation.Service was fast and friendly. There was a wait for a water refill but they were busy after we pressed the call button.

What we ordered:* Medium Bossam (boiled pork belly with napa cabbage, pickled daikon, radish kimchi, salt fermented shrimp) * Yukgaejang (spicy stew with shredded beef flank, vegetables, eggs, glass noodles)The wait was ~50 minutes on a Sunday night. Parking in the lot was $4, valet only. Our first impression of the dishes was a premium but also home-cooked vibe. Bossam was flavorful and paired well with the cabbage/pickled sides. It was tender but more on the chewy side; would recommend going to Hangari Kalguksu if you want really soft bossam. The spice level of yukgaejang was just right and the broth was not too heavy or salty. Overall we really liked this spot and look forward to coming back!

We got a medium bossam, haemul pajeon, and yukgaejang to share for 4 people. Banchan was all really good and fresh. They gave us jangjorim beef, kimchi, potato salad, and one other dish I don't remember.Bossam came with cabbage, radish, and 3 sides to eat with. Very tender and soft. Service wasn't the best, we had to wait a bit to get a refill for our water and banchan even after pressing the call button. Parking is valet only for $3.

We actually just found this place on a whim when our original plan had too long of a wait. We were a big group so we called ahead to make sure that there was room for us and there was. Once we arrived, we didn't have to wait long before our table was ready. We ordered the Large Bosam, Dotori Guksoo, Haemul Pajun, Stir-Fried Calamari, Yuk Gae Jang, Bibimbap (forgot which kind), and Kimchi. The dishes came out pretty quickly and all of them were HUGE! Between the 7 of us, 3 of the dishes would have probably been enough. There were plenty of leftovers for us to take back home. I was glad that we got so much stuff though because then we got to try multiple items, and there were all so good, I couldn't even choose a favorite. The meal also came with bowls of rice for each of us and some side dishes, all of which were also very good. Service was great and quick. They have a bell at each table to call over servers if we ever needed anything, and they came over instantly. Since we just found this place in passing I had no idea what to expect but this place definitely exceeded my expectations. One of my new favorites in the area.

I don't go to koreatown for lunch often, but I had been wanting to try their lunch special for a while so made a trip out there! Bossam is usually pretty pricey at dinner but this place has a nice set for lunch at a great price for the pork belly and a side of soup. The pork belly was served with all the normal fixings which made each bite burst with flavors. The soup was nicely seasoned and came out piping hot and is the perfect complement to the pork wraps which might be my favorite in koreatown now. We left stuffed and would recommend for someone looking to find a good hearty meal.

Got the medium bossam for $50, perfect portion size for two people and such an affordable meal. Interior is very modest and casual, great for dinner w friends and can accommodate bigger groups. Service was so fast as well, and refills of banchan are offered too!

[ Background ]Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 1:00 PMEstablished in 1983 [1], Kobawoo House is a long-standing restaurant located in Koreatown with a reputation for their delicious, traditional Korean dishes and is most famous for their bossam (boiled pork). The establishment is pretty well-known and is included in Eater LA's "20 Classic Los Angeles Restaurants Every Angeleno Must Try" [2]. Additionally, Kobawoo House frequently pops up on food websites' lists of the best Korean restaurants in Los Angeles (such as Eater LA [3] and the Infatuation LA [4]), so my friend and I decided to visit for lunch.Right after we walked in, we saw the front counter where I added my name to the paper waitlist. Limited seating (three chairs) at the front allowed customers to sit while waiting for a table. The inside of the restaurant was a little dim and mostly relied on indoor lighting rather than natural sunlight. The interior design looked traditional and consisted of dark wood for the tables and chairs while screens separated the dining room into sections. The ambiance was casual and relaxed, not surprising since it was lunchtime on a weekday.[ Food ]Online menu link: https://kobawoola.com/#kobawoo-house-menuThe menu contains a limited selection of dishes, and the physical in-person menu provided in the restaurant just has one side. Many of their dishes are on the more expensive side; I'm assuming they include more food and are meant to be shared among larger parties. So I'm glad they have a small section for lunch specials designed specifically for one person's appetite.I had to try their renowned bossam, so I ordered:* Bossam & doenjang-jjigae ($19.99)Located under the lunch menu section (available on weekdays from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM), this lunch special also came with a small metal bowl full of purple rice and banchan.Banchan included four different offerings: a cucumber salad with sesame oil and sliced onions; kimchi; cubed radish kimchi; and sweet, stir-fried dried squid. The side dishes were pretty tasty although the portions were a bit small.The bossam, fanned out slightly so each slice's surface peeked out a little, was accompanied by fresh inner napa cabbage leaves and pink rounds of thinly sliced, pickled Korean radish. A lettuce leaf held the salted, fermented baby shrimp, spicy radish, and sliced jalapeños. The bossam was slightly salty, tender, and a bit fatty. The pork's flavor was definitely elevated when combined with all the fixings. Additionally, the order came with a traditional stone bowl full of piping hot doenjang-jjigae containing tofu cubes and vegetables like zucchini and mushrooms; everything was topped with a generous helping of sliced green onions. This fermented soybean paste stew is basically a Korean version of miso soup. Make sure to wait before eating a spoonful since the temperature was super hot. The stew was a decent amount of food, but I wasn't a fan of its sharp, funky flavor or texture.The lunch special is a cost-effective deal if you want some bossam but don't want to order a huge amount (and if you like doenjang-jjigae). This combo is also a great option if you want a break from eating heavier meals and instead want a dish that's more homely. However, since I didn't really like the stew, I thought the lunch special was just okay overall.[ Service ]There were five groups ahead of us on the waiting list, and it took us about 15 minutes to get seated as a party of two. Service was pretty quick since it took less than 10 minutes to receive our food after ordering. However, after delivering our food, our server never came back to check up on us; they didn't ever come around to refill our waters, and my friend had to go up to the front to pay our bill.[ Tips ]There is plenty of street parking nearby that is extremely cheap (we found a spot that cost just $1 per hour). However, you can also use their valet parking in the strip mall's parking lot.----------[1] https://kobawoola.com/[2] https://la.eater.com/maps/classic-los-angeles-restaurants-oldest-famous[3] https://la.eater.com/maps/best-korean-restaurants-koreatown-los-angeles[4] https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles/guides/the-best-korean-restaurants-in-la

My friend highly recommended Kobawoo House, so I decided to check it out on a Friday night. To my surprise, it wasn't super busy, which meant the service was speedy. I really liked the mix of modern and traditional decor inside.I visited with a group of four people: we ordered a medium bossam and two kimchi jjigae. The prices were super fair considering how big the portion sizes were. We had tons of leftovers at the end of the meal that we took with us.The bossam was incredible. The pork belly was rich and chewy, a great balance to the sharp Napa cabbage and kimchi flavors. The kimchi jjigae was much richer than others I have tried. There were plentiful bites of meat in the stew, and it was quite good as well. However, the star of the show was definitely the bossam. I brought the leftover bossam back with me, and it tasted just as good the next day!

Went here specifically for the Jiangban Guksoo and it did not disappoint! It's a vegan acorn noodles dish w julienned vegetables in a sesame chili sauce for about $30 (a little pricey, but definitely shareable!). So incredibly refreshing, pretty, & delicious :) Reminds me of a more complex version of Bibim Naengmyeon (Spicy Cold Noodles). Korean friend and his parents both immensely approve of this place, and were actually the ones to recommend and take me here!

Ordered bossam and potato pancake. Both were really good! The portions are big here and pork belly was flavorful and perfect ratio of fat to meat. The salted cabbage was good too but some pieces were just awkwardly shaped making it a little difficult to get consistent bites.Also liked how this place was decorated as it was a a combination of modern and traditional, which reflected the food. Parking is $3 valet but there's also street parking.