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Koreatown
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
8 reviews for Koreatown
Name speaks for itself
Korean restaurants/karaoke
Korean drivers
Korean malls
Got it...Korean (google it)
Reasons why I like K-town: Close to my job. I dodge not only palm tree droppings on windy ass days but also crazy Asian drivers (including myself). I maneuver around double parked cars. I spend 1-hour searching for parking. I get woken up late at night by drunken folks.
I'm kind of joking but in all honest, I like that most places are near by in walking distance. This area is smack in the middle of every thing; down town staples center, weho, hollywood, bh, major freeways, bus lines and the metro. Another plus is that I'm close to all the kick ass Korean BBQ restaurants Geeyahhh! I really missed this area...way better than the wack ass G-dale ugh!
Yeap thats it! Seriously if you chill out in this area...stop biatching about the parking, people, restaurants where they don't speak good English...blah blah blah...what ya expect? Duh...what's the name of this area again? LOL
Living here for a year and a half, near Wiltern Theater. It's working for me as I'm also only a 5 minute or so drive to work.
Pros:
-Lots of places to eat, drink, shop for groceries, dry cleaning, all within walking distance of my apt. And even those you may have to drive to, plenty of entertainment options.
-No issues as a non-Korean. Learn a few words but really hasn't been necessary.
-Walk to the Metro Purple line. Easy to get downtown or Hollywood if I want.
-Some nice new condo and shopping complexes going up near Wilshire/Western. This part of town is undergoing some renovation and looking good.
Cons:
-Kind of dirty in places. for me, I can deal with it.
-Parking sucks. DO NOT get an apartment that does not include parking. But the worst is trying to have friends over and they drive around for what seems like hours trying to find a spot, only to have to park blocks away.
K-Town is great!! The only thing that's not so great there is the crazy drivers. Too many crazy drivers there...seriously people drive like there's no traffic law. The unofficial boundaries: Beverly Blvd, Westmoreland Ave, Olympic Blvd, Crenshaw Blvd-Wilton Pl. Entertainment, food and booze = K-Town. Everywhere you go you can see billiard places, karaoke bars and bars. Great restaurants are everywhere; ayce korean bbq, fried chicken, fusion pizza, noodles, soon tofu and don't forget fro-yo and korean mochi (not to be mistaken with Japanese mochi). My favorite eats at K-Town: Soot Bull Jeep, Kyo-Chon, Dae Sung Oak, Buffet Land, Park's BBQ, BCD Soon Tofu and Pink Berry. Some of the shopping centers there: Koreatown Galleria (highly recommended-see my review), Aroma Center and Koreatown Plaza. Go to Kim's Home Center for household items. Buy pastries from the bakeries, they have the lightest and not too sweet cream. Make sure you buy marinated bulgogi/kalbi and ban chan before you go home from the supermarket. I usually cook the marinated meat and mix it with ban chan from the market plus steam rice to make my own bi bim bap @ home.
ON PARKING:
Who doesn't hate parking in LA?! Those LA meter maids have to have been brainwashed by the city of LA and grew them a pair of devil horns for them to be so brutal.. but parking in Koreatown a lot of times gives you the option not to cross the meter maids' turf. And that, my friends, is the parking option that makes you feel like a million bucks = valet.
You can roll up in a beat up metal box on four wheels at a janky karaoke or KBBQ joint, they'd still park your car. But there's absolutely NO shame in parking next to all the Benz and Bimmers that are frequently seen in town.
ON FOOD:
HOLY! Banchan (Korean side dishes) galore! You will be mesmerized by the amount of authenticity and goodness of Korean food. By authenticity I also mean people taking your order in Korean and speaking to you in Korean even if you don't understand a word of Korean. If you miss Korea, long for Korea, want to "Be the Reds!", take a trip to K-town.
first off, kudos to the prior yelper who wittily addesses the parking issues of K-town!
second, this place is soooo not me. the apartments are old, the streets smell weird, the parking blows and the food is limited to, well, Korean.
and yet, i love it. I'm from Pasadena, so the city-life has never been something I am familiar with. It is very lively, loud and colorful in good ole' K-town.
The food is an adventure, since I am not Korean and most of the restaurants have little to no English signage, and aside from a McDonald's and a Denny's the food selection other than Korean is really lacking. When I yelp Koreatown for other options, I get a map of arrows all in Hollywood. oh well, its 5 min away.
I suppose the best way to show my K-Town love is this little list:
-Food is like Christmas, you never really know what you are going to get
-the old buildings are beautiful in the area, and there are so many great photo opportunities
-there is always an ice-cream truck near. seriously, all day.
-close to downtown, but not too close to downtown
-close to hollywood, but not too close to hollywood
-always something to do, even at 3am
Ok, I live seriously a block away from Wilshire/Normandie, which is a hop skip and a jump from Wilshire/Western. Someone recently told me that this area isn't Koreatown but just an area where Korean businesses and people live and congrete (and the real K-town is somewhere closer to Downtown..)
Riiiiight. I'm just going to say "That person's an idiot."
K-town has many possibilities, but if you're stuck here you might get tired of Korean food and people not understanding your English. A large majority of the people in the area ARE ethnic, mainly Asian and Hispanic.
This is a cool place to visit, but living here is still on the fence. I give it three and a half stars because it's dirty, full of potholes, not incredibly bike-friendly, and generally borderline ghetto. But the buildings are beautiful and this is a part of L.A. with a ton of history and besides... sometimes you WANT unlimited choices in Korean food. :)
hello kitty: pochacco why are you so down?
pochacco: it seems like i'm out of place everywhere i go.
hello kitty: i know what you mean. everywhere i go now. its no more "hi hello kitty." all i get are cat calls, and people saying, "nice pussy."
pochacco: sons of bitches.
hello kitty: i know. fuck'em.
pochacco: where can we go where we still belong? where we won't stick out?
hello kitty: let's go to koreatown.
pochacco: yeah! ruff ruff!
everytime i go to koreatown and come back home...
...i'm a bit fobbier than before....
(referring to a switch in the car)
lib it in the meee-dul
ohhh i have to bbak-ku
umma i have to get gggges.
need new shit. ship. sshuuueeeettts. aish..shit. u know...bet? bet caba.
needa new bbat-dae-ri ... shi-gae ga die.
....laying off koreatown for a while...
should go visit my parents in texas instead.
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7/23/2008
bitchy korean girls "sizing you up" as you walk through the door
*check*
ah-juh-ssi/ah-joomz giving… Read more »
