Gold Dig #29

Park’s BBQ is one of the Korean restaurants on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list. I think he likes Korean food almost as much as he likes Thai food, as he often talks about his visits to Koreatown. As you might have guessed from the name, Park’s BBQ does Korean BBQ, where your order cooks in front of you on grills set into your table. From the outside it looks like a giant cement block, but inside it’s one of the fancier Korean BBQ spots I’ve been to.

The Dish

To go along with the higher-end interior are also higher prices. It will run you upwards of $30 for one grilled meat order, and can get up to $70 for the most expensive stuff. You’re paying for high quality meat, and they’re also known for the multitudinous array of banchan (small dishes) they serve with your meal. Park’s BBQ does have some solid lunch specials, so if you order a grilled meat and supplement with a lunch special, you can manage a pretty fantastic meal there at a reasonable price.

Bulgogi Set

We got the Bulgogi Set lunch special for $11.99. It comes with bulgogi, steamed egg, soup, rice, seaweed, and a fried fish. It’s a great way to try the bulgogi, with it’s sweet marinade. I also really enjoyed the egg, which is fluffy and light but full of flavor.

Pork Belly

For our grilled meat, we chose the pork belly. They lay these beautiful slabs of fatty goodness onto the grill with a giant slice of onion.

The fat sizzles, pops, and browns into these juicy morsels that melt in your mouth. Along with the standard dipping sauces, you get a special dipping sauce for the pork belly, which they tell you to mix well as it appears to have fair-sized chunks of salt in it.

Meat smoking on the grill surrounded by dish after dish of banchan is a wonderful sight to behold! And their vent fans must be pretty good because I noticed when I got home that my clothes and hair didn’t have near the meat smell I’m accustomed to dealing with after a Korean BBQ outing.

Bonus: While you’re in Koreatown, you may as well stop for Pat Bing Soo, the Korean shaved ice dessert topped with fruit, condensed milk, red bean, mochi, and ice cream. Hwa Sun Ji Tea House is an idyllic spot known for having some of the best Pat Bing Soo around. I wished it had a little less red bean and a little more ice cream and mochi, but more than likely that’s my own personal bias about red beans. Their tea is also quite good – I had the quince tea which was incredibly aromatic.