Seongbukdong

The Pouter knows whats up when it comes to food.  She was the one who recommended Seoul Garden to me and I have loved that place ever since.  So when she raved about Seongbukdong, I knew it had to be good.  What is this strange sounding place, you may ask?  Well Seongbukdong specializes in galbijim or Korean braised short ribs.  I am happy to say I was NOT disappointed, and neither were my friends, Nancy Rheeeeeee, LoMa Linda, and Big Head Talks A Lot.


Brown Rice
I just had to include this picture of what they call brown rice.  Anybody would tell you that this rice is purple!

Banchan 
Pretty standard fare.

Kimchi Jigae
I'm usually a fan of doenjang jigae, but decided to do something different.  I think I'll stick to the bean paste variety of Korean soups/stews.  The kimchi version always comes out tasting pretty sour.

Galbijim
The pièce de résistance!  You're looking at 2 orders of the galbijim, which was more than enough to feed 3 chicks and 1 dude.  The best part of the dish is how freakin' tender the meat is.  Likely seriously, fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, tenderness.  My favorite parts are the pieces that were cut closest to the bone so that they have just a bit of tendon in them. YUM!!  The seasoning taste pretty standard.  I imagine a mix of soy sauce, sugar, garlic, onions, etc etc.   My one ding is that maybe the meat was a tad sweet, but still overall, crazy good!!

Lumps of tender meat heaven!

Pork Bulgogi
We really could have skipped this dish.  It wasn't anything special, but that's not to say it wasn't good.  The pork was perfectly seasoned to balance salt, sugar, and heat.  The meat was not terribly fatty, and it was served piping hot and fresh.  We ended up having a lot leftover of this one since everyone obviously favored the galbijim.

Wow, Seongbukdong, more than exceeded my expectations.  If you're not a fan of soft, stewed for hours type of meat, than you probably won't be that impressed by this joint.  But this place combined my love for Korean food and tender meats all together.  How could I not give it my seal of approval.  Next time I would like to try some of the other dishes, namely the mackerel which Yelpers say is pretty darn good too.  I wouldn't be surprised if this restaurant ended up being carried through on one awesome dish alone.  I'd still keep coming back even if that were the case.


Seongbukdong
3303 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020


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