Eat. Travel. Eat!

Widely known as a bibimbap specialist (their website is " bibimbap.webs.com ," if it wasn't already understood), Jeon Ju is a venerable place to visit for a Korean meal. Not only is their bibimbap well done, but so are lots of their other items.  As we perused the multi-paged menu, cups of smooth, weak barley tea were provided at the table. After ordering, we were presented with a wide array of banchan. There were six common items for the whole table--bean sprouts, marinated potatoes, sweetened, dried shrimp, daikon kimchi, a green pajeon, and napa cabbage kimchi. For each individual was a bowl of noodles in a lightly spicy broth and napa cabbage water kimchi. We found everything to be nicely done, and found the dried, crispy shrimp really fun to snack on. A condiment of green onions, sesame seeds, peppers and soy sauce was also provided for a larger haemul pajeon and yeong yang dolsot that we ordered.

After looking at Ma Dang Gook Soo's handmade noodles and acorn noodles featured on Gastronomy and Buzzfeed / The Actors Diet respectively, it didn't take much more to make our own visit to Ma Dang Gook Soo. When we visited on a Sunday evening, Ma Dang Gook Soo was operating at system capacity. The restaurant was full, but it didn't take much for us to wait in line before getting an open spot. Seated down, lots of people were enjoying the noodle options, seasoned spicy rice cake ( tteokbokki ), and bibimbap. Moreover, the friendly waitresses were eagerly serving the customers. When I wanted to learn more about some items which were only written in Korean on the wall (it was actually soy broth noodles), the waitress took her time to answer, and when I asked her about the soy broth, she even brought a small bowl for me to sample before deciding whether to order it.

In search for some healthful Korean food--soups and porridge--I found out about Jook Hyang, a standalone Korean restaurant on Olympic in Koreatown. An abalone, chicken soup, beef bone soup (cooked for a week), porridge specialist, Jook Hyang offers a wide range of offerings dedicated to the three items--abalone sashimi, abalone porridge, abalone and chicken soup, and a page full of different porridge items. Walking into the restaurant, you'll see an abalone tank and bucketfuls of cornish hens. All these quality items and work spans throughout the restaurant and offerings, which also includes bamboo rice entrees, korean barbeque and seafood, banchan, and other items. It also translates into slightly higher costs--lunch is slightly cheaper if you order the sets, but otherwise, expect to spend around 15-20 USD per person, if not more.

Last time we talked about Orange County , now it's Los Angeles for a twist before I go back to restaurants in San Gabriel Valley again. When we were going back from Steinway and Il Piccolino last time, we drove by Tahoe Galbi, and a thought came into my head that Wandering Chopsticks had wrote about it before . We went back to LA in hopes of trying Spago after visiting the places we needed to go, but when we saw the customers going in, they seemed as if they were dressed very formally, and we were not. My dining companions did not feel right eating there in casual clothing (although that was permitted), so we decided to find a casual option based on Korean food since Koreantown was close by! After driving by Tahoe Galbi again, we noticed a small, dimly lit restaurant with plenty of customers, but with problems on finding parking we just went to Tahoe Galbi. After getting our car in the valet (2 USD), we went in, only to find a long waiting list plus the smell of barbeque. No ...