Feng Mao Mutton Kebab

Who knew there were Chinese people in Ktown?!  I surely did not, but slowly I have come across a few native Koreans who grew up in China or vice versa.  I've had my fare share of Chinese-Korean food, mostly in the form of jja jiang myun at Dragon Restaurant.  For some reason, another popular Chinese-Korean dish is sweet and sour pork.  I can't really understand why, since it tastes like Americanized Chinese food.  Anyways, I digress, since I'm here to talk about a whole different food experience when it comes to the genre of Chinese-Korean cuisine, namely mutton!

Mutton?  No, that's not dog meat, but rather sheep.  Apparently lamb is meat of a sheep in its first year, while mutton is adult sheep.  At Feng Mao, they specialize in grilled meat skewers, varying from mutton, of course, to chicken, beef, and all sorts of offal.

Ban Chan
What Korean meal would be complete without some side dishes?  The offering wasn't very extensive here and I was really craving something to vary up the taste of grilled meats in my mouth.

Gye Gran Jjim egg custard soup
Pretty standard.

Gun Bae or Gan Bay?  Who cares?  Drink up!

Skewered Meat mutton, chicken, beef, kidney, heart
Some reviews recommended 10 skewers per person.  Sounds like a lot right?  I can't remember how many I ate, but it's like eating popcorn, you just pop 'em in your mouth and before you know they're all gone!  I don't think I ate quite as many as 10, but I'm damn sure The Bottomless Pit had his fair share.

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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.

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Seoul Garden

There are few times in my foodie life when other people show me the good places to eat in town.  Usually, it's the other way around since I make it my mission to know about and dine at all the best spots in LA.  So it was really nice to discover something delicious in Seoul Garden at the recommendation of The Pouter.  I've been here many times since and I've been able to share this place with other friends.  On this occasion, I brought LoMa-Linda here to enjoy Seoul Garden's specialty, Korean style shabu shabu. 

Salad
Nothing particularly special, but just your standard iceberg lettuce with tangy creamy dressing.


Banchan




Dipping sauce
Japanese shabu shabu is usually served with a soy based sauce and a peanut/sesame sauce.  At Seoul Garden, you only get one sauce, which is a slightly tangy and sweet soy sauce.  It can get a little tiring eating your meat with just one flavor, but the sauce tastes great with everything.

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Yu Chun Chic Naeng Myun

I never knew about Korean food until I got to college.  My first experience was not a great one.  I was really put off by all the strong, pungent, and spicy flavors.  Since then I've really grown accustomed to the flavors, and have really learned to appreciate the bold taste of Korean cuisine.  I would say these days, Korean food holds a special place in my heart.  I'm not just talking Korean BBQ folks.  Sure I enjoy meat, but I also enjoy other things such as naeng myun.  I will always be grateful to my ex for taking me to Yu Chun Chic Naeng Myun.  For me, its the best naeng myun in town.   I encourage you to take that statement with a grain of salt since I am not Korean, so what do I know?  It's like when a non-Vietnamese person tells me where to find the best pho.  In my mind, I'm thinking "Oh silly rabbit!  What do YOU know about pho?"

All I know is that I have not had any other naeng myun like the one that is served here.  I was told that the noodles are not made from buckwheat like the usual cold noodles, but in fact are made from arrowroot which supposedly makes them low calorie and healthy?  That's what the ex told me anyways.  

Naeng Myun #2 (#2 has the broth separate, #1 has the broth with the noodles)
The noodles are indescribably toothsome.  I wouldn't call it al dente.  That just doesn't do it justice.  They're slippery while being chewy.  A combination of pickley radishes, cucumbers, a few slices of beef, half a hard boiled egg, a generous sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds, and some crazy delicious spicy red sauce makes up the rest of the dish.  It's flavor-packed heaven in a cold metal bowl! 

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Soowon Galbi

I haven't traveled the world. I have barely even traveled the country, but I'm just gonna put it out there.  Where is there better Korean food, or at least as wide a selection of Korean food, than LA?  Of course, I'm excluding Korea obviously.  Good food is born out of fierce competition to be the best.  There is a lot of that going in LA's Koreatown.   Korean bbq joints are a dime a dozen in Ktown.  You'll find one on every block.  I always wonder how any of them stay afloat.  I guess one could say the same about Pho restaurants in Little Saigon.  They're everywhere!  I guess everyone just has their personal favorite.  My favorite Korean bbq joints are Soowon Galbi and Shik Do Rak.  I haven't been to Shik Do Rak in a while, favoring the newer cleaner Soowon Galbi.  I'm pretty sure there are better bbq places, but I haven't been motivated to find any new ones.  Once you eat the galbi here, you'll be satisfied to make this place your own too.

It was an occasion to dine here, because Zhu Zhu Hamster was in town.  I called up The Communist to make it a girl's night out.  By that, I mean eating till we drop, not drinking or partying because I'm so boring like that.  The Communist invited Soprano Man.  I was like, "Oh fine, I see how it is!"  So then I called out Wontuan who begrudgingly drove his pale ass up from the LBC.  It turns out Zhu Zhu Hamster called out #1 Fan to join as well.  What started out as a private 3 person affair turned out to be a mish mosh group of 6.  Anymore and I would have been annoyed.  I do not dine in groups large than 6 when I intend to enjoy the food and specific company of the people around me.  In any case, it turned out to be a really fun night and I'm glad everyone brought a date.

The spread...


Hae Mul Pa Jun seafood pancake
Pretty standard.  Packed with seafood, onions, and crispy goodness.

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Kalbi Burger

To my lucky readers, we have another guest blogger!  Care Bear has so willingly offered her authorship for today's post about the very popular Kalbi Burger.

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Well hello everyone!  Let me introduce myself, I’m sometimes referred to as Care Bear but don’t let the name fool you, I could still be a lethal assassin like Nikta, my new TV show interest. Anyhoo, today I am honored to be a guest writer for Overworked’s blog (aka BO per WonTuan).

The target of the week: Kalbi Burger.

The top secret mission: To gather intel on this new Asian infused burger joint and to annihilate some burgers while we’re at it.

The elite undercover burger tasting agents (and yes, everyone will be bears): Overworked Bear, Hates Asian Food Bear, Panda and Little Bear, Bowtie Bear, Buff bear, Hawaiian bears consisting of Luau and Macadamia Nut Bear. Luau brought Farm Bear. And then there’s me and Token Bear. 

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