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Join us at Moo Dae Po II today! We offer a unique Korean BBQ dining experience. We have great food, and premium beer on tap.
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Best Service and Best Cold Noodles in town!
I've been here at least a dozen times in the past couple years. It's not the best kbbq place but it's my favorite. That's the gist of my take.
However, my wife, even at the slightest mention of Family BBQ, undergoes some maniacal transformation in which her eyes glaze over, a bit of drool collects at each corner of her mouth, and she starts this Mr. Burns-like fiddling of her fingers. Is there a full moon out? Why is she hunching over like that? Is she really hungry or is she plotting to destroy the world? It catches me off guard every time.
Sometimes, Family BBQ randomly flashes into her brain and she sets herself off. In public. The sudden "uuuuuu" is apparently very disconcerting to unsuspecting bystanders. I might be exaggerating a bit but those who know her....
Anyways, the meat is generally of good quality. We only get the beef and pork so that's all I can comment on. Selection of such is only ok in that some other places offer a larger variety of cuts and marinades. The side dishes are fantastic with plenty to choose from. The cold noodles are the best we've had but please order before their 9:30 pm cutoff. I had the misfortune of enjoying a late dinner with the wifey in which she was denied her cold noodles. I don't remember exactly what happened but I do recall the ground shaking.
The service and atmosphere are what really keeps us coming back. There's nothing fancy or pretentious about the place. It's cozy enough to show up in sweats yet no-apologies-authentic enough for an intimate date.
The waitresses are genuinely pleasant and always smiling. Except the manager-lady. She's never rude...just part of the place's character. If you hate waiting for food, more water, a fork, or whatever...this is your crew. These women are the fastest, most attending, and most efficient waitresses I've ever come across. Brusque, almost. Seriously, you can walk in, fill your belly full of meat, get smashed on beer and soju, and be out the door within 30 minutes. Trust me.
One important note that I also noticed on other reviews: If you don't speak Korean, bring a representative. Or do what my Americanized self does and order the "Beef and Pork." You'll be fine.
There is "valet" on most nights but it's only $1 before tip. Never had a problem but the fellas tend to leave a cologne car freshener that cuts through the food coma haze like smelling salts. Keeps me awake for the ride home, I guess.
Family is #1 in AYCE service!!!...Its a nice small establishment with good meat.
The restaurant is always pretty full, and the first thing I noticed when I arrived, was that the floor was sticky/greasy...which kinda bothered me.
Anyways, Like any other AYCE establishment, there are lots of side dishes/condiments. They only use above average meat quality, and switch the grills out often enough, so the food is always pretty good.
I like go to Family for exceptional service, good meat, and fair prices. I am a definate repeat customer...even despite their greasy floors
Yum, this place was reallyyyyy good. We came by pretty late (8 or 9) so we didn't have to wait. Parking is valet, I think $2, in their lot. The people that work here feel like they could be my korean mom/aunt/grandma. They kept filling up our plates and grabbing the tongs from us to cook the meat... which was slightly annoying since I'd have an elbow/arm in my face every few minutes. But it was also sort of hilarious- I guess they don't think we know how to cook meat??
I didn't even see a menu, we just asked for the meats by name. mmmmm so good! And I like that they change the bbq'ing plate/platter/surface thing once it gets black and funky, they changed ours like 5 times. Kinda gross was when one of the servers came by to cut up the pork belly with scissors.... which came out of nowhere. Which touched raw meat and then cooked meat and then raw meat D: aahhhh good thing I didn't eat much of that
After reading the other reviews, I'm bummed we missed out on the cold noodles!! darn it, I'll have to ask for it next time.
This all-you-can-stuff Korean BBQ restaurant is small, not the prettiest and the newest BUT the quality of their meat makes up for it. The service is surprisingly decent too. And don't forget to leave room for their yummy neng myun (cold noodle soup) after all that food in your tummy. I recommend wearing pants with elastic waist. About $17/person before taxes, tip and booze. I will be back there when I'm off my diet!
This place is so delicious! Im definately going to bring more of my friends. All you can eat Korean BBQ that ends with a refreshing cold noodle soup that you just have to have! Located in k-town, there parking lot is valet, tips.
Don't let the place fool you, although you don't see the alcohol, they do serve it! So between the meal and soju/hite we ordered for 4 people it came out to $30/person. The ladies come bring you food to BBQ and their salad is great with the meat, occasionally they'll cook for you too.
everything was great about the place! Service, quality of meat, taste, pan chan, NaengMyun at the end, changing of the grills frequently and helping cook, all made me give it 4 stars. First time having Squid grilled up. No AC, get's a bit hot. Definitely one of the better Korean AYCE Bbq.
I'm a huge fan of AYCE Korean BBQ. HUGE FAN. As in, my friend (who is also a fanatic) polished off 6 plates of meat by ourselves one time. I normally prefer going to Mu Dung San or Tahoe, but my friend told me this place was legit, so I agreed to try it. First off we went late on a weekday night, so it was almost empty. No wait, and we were bombarded with side dishes immediately. Meat was brought shortly after.
As the meal progressed, I was in awe of the service. It was exceptional. The likes I've only had at high scale expensive restaurants. And no, we didn't have a native Korean speaker with us to charm and joke with the waitresses. So either this service was due to my dashing good looks or they treat everyone like a king. My water was never empty, the dishes kept getting replaced with new ones- sometimes even before they were completely gone, meat came fast, they even put it on the grill for us. Amazing.
As for the quality of the meat, I'd say it was above average for AYCE. I still think there is better meat elsewhere, but the service is what makes this place really shine. The selection of meats was standard, I don't know the Korean names for the cuts, so I won't butcher them. Bulgogi, galbi. 4 stars.
Another notch in the AYCE KBBQ bedpost...
Damn, it's getting crowded in here!
The name here says it all since this is a little hole in the wall in a strip mini mall with cheapie valet. There isn't much to speak of in the way of décor short of the huge colorful pictures on the windows outside but service is always friendly (and not in that nefarious we wanna get you in and outta here whitey kinda way) and though you won't find as many options on the AYCE roster as some of the others what they do have is good quality. My faves are the chadol (thin sliced brisket) and the samgyupsal (pork belly) that's just the right thickness and served with a delicious dipping sauce I've never seen anywhere else.
This is one of the few AYCE joints that serve lemon sochu pre-mixed just right in a plastic container (that I might add makes a mighty fine grown up sippy cup) and also include naengmyun (cold noodle soup) to end your meal. After consuming your weight in meat this works surprisingly well as a palate cleanser, even when you think you're so full a sip of water may cause imminent implosion.
There are plenty of others I tend to frequent more often for this reason or that but if you want to mix it up or try something new, this place is definitely worth checking out. They make my Top 5.
I started this review 5 months ago....all I remember is:
AYCE
open till 2am ..... first star right there
limited selection of meats, you get the basics but not the works
rather fresh cuts of meat ....second star right there
bring your Korean friend along...but the staff is friendly and gets it most of the time
credit cards are ok......third star right there
a bit on the dive-ier side
good cold noodles from what I hear, didn't get to try since we missed the cut off time....don't remember what that time was....
Did I mention they are open late, and under 20 bucks ....additional star for that
I reviewed this place for a site when they first opened. I loved this place then and I still love it now.
Family was one of the first Korean restaurants in Koreatown to provide exceptional service. They are just sooo nice and attentive there! Especially back in 2004ish when good service and korean did NOT go together at all! And trust me on that, I ate all my meals and did all my partying in KTown back then....
Their meat is very good quality. They also have 2 menus to choose from for AYCE but they dont enforce it. Their Galbi, Samgyupssal and Nengmyun are deeeelicious! Full menu is like Galbi, Jumuluck, Chadol, Samgyupssal, Tripe, Squid, Chicken and more!
I dont know what else to say........ Great service and great food for an AYCE. Id say its one of my favorites and Ive tried them all!
I've had my good share of Korean AYCE BBQ Spots in K-Town, LA, but this one has got to be pretty up there.....and not because it had more meat and more grills. The meat is all pretty much to the same if you ask me actually, but a big plus on the boneless Galbi! Who knew not having to fight for dear life to rip off that piece of meat from the bone would make such a difference. And to top it off, they gave us the cold thin chewy vermicelli noodles that OH EM JEE, was the perfect end to the meal.
By the way, the coziness and the attentiveness of the waitresses made the experience deilghtful as well. But prepare to come out smelling of the BBQ unles you're one of those weirdos that just love that smell. (just don't be anywhere near me at the clubs)
So Where do YOU Guys Go? Part I -- LA Family House
LA Family House is, by and large, the most solid, highest quality, best service AYCE Korean BBQ place in Koreatown, possibly the world. I'm telling you, Korean BBQ is not actually supposed to be AYCE, you guys just like your meat so Koreans are just obliging. That said, this place and Haejangchon are the only two AYCE's I'd take my friends to.
At LA Family House you get:
A bowl of naengmyun for afters
Choices of very decent, well marbled meats
Excellent, smiling ajeumma service (smiling ajeumma is a paradox unless it's in a Korean drama somewhere and it's for nefarious reasons...)
for a flat fee, which I forgot but remember it was the same as all the other places. Trust me, it's the best you'll find as far as AYCE goes.
Parking: Valet
Dress: Casual
Credit Cards: Yes
BYOK (Bring Your Own Korean): Maybe. If you can.
EL
This weeks lucky spot for kbbq happened to be at LA Family House. Are you thinking to yourself right now any of the following thoughts:
What is LA Family House?
How come I've never heard of this place?
LA Family House does not even sound Korean.
Where does Ben find these places?
This place sounds like a place for kids.
Prepare to get schooled.
LA Family House is not as popular on Yelp as some of the other kbbq restaurants in Los Angeles, probably because most Yelpers in general tend to just search for a kbbq restaurant with a high star rating and also most reviewed. I admit, I do this too, when searching for a good place to eat. By doing this though, you are also limiting yourself to other places that might be hidden gems. I guess that would be the safer route, but I am an explorer for kbbq so I thought I check out some places that did not have too much reviews, starting with this one.
So today, I knew I was going out for kbbq but the hard part is always picking a place to eat. If you have taken a look at my bookmarks, you would completely understand what I am talking about. My eyes landed upon LA Family House, I look at the pictures taken from other Yelpers... This place sure does look good. I call to see what time LA Family House close and find out they close at 2am!!!! Perfect.
During the day, I tried to gather as much troopers as I could to go eat kbbq. I managed to only get 2 friends to go. I guess everyone turned vegetarian on me or something. Who does not like kbbq and how can you turn down a invite from yours truly, THE KBBQ King! =)
Anyways we arrived and circled the block for parking spots to no avail. Oh K-town this is why I hate you so much. There is actually no such thing as street parking as K-town always has cars parked on the street, even illegally. We gave up on the search of a parking spot and decided to just valet, which we should have done in the first place because valet was only $1!!!!! The whole area looks very sketchy at night, if parking anywhere else besides valet, protect your wallets at all costs.
We walk right in and immediately get seated. This place was surprisingly dead on a Sunday night. Somehow the servers knew we wanted the all you can eat, which is the Combo A for $16.99.
Included in the Combo A is chadol, kalbi, and samgyupsal, and buckwheat noodles (end of meal?). We find out there was no bulgogi available in the all you can eat, nor tongue, nor squid. I swear I read tongue and squid mentioned in some reviews. WTF???!!! Oh well, Ill make the best out of the situation.
Our first round of meat, we started grilling the meat when the waitress came and said we were grilling wrong. What the...Do you know who I am? She goes on to say 1.2.3.4.5 then flips the meat, followed by 1.2.3.4.5..Again, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM and WHAT I DO AS A HOBBY?? I EAT KBBQ!
Why count, your grill just sucks. It should not get stuck if I wanted to flip the meat at my own discretion.
Chadol and kalbi were good, but not really worth mentioning as it was the same as all the other kbbq places I go to. However, the SAMGYUPSAL IS DEFINITELY WORTH MENTIONING!!!! OMG!! For the very first time in my kbbq dining history, I actually enjoyed the SAMGYUPSAL. I almost never order samgyupsal at kbbq, but these were thickly sliced and boy was it good. These were not dry at all after cooking them and had lots of flavor. Dipping it in the chadol or sesame oil (the best ever here) made it even better. My friends did not want to eat any of it, fearing death, so I had a plate full to myself! They thought I was going to die after the meal was over, HA! my body is made for this!
The side dishes were okay, not much of a variety, but they were fresh. Two types of different kim chi, ice cream scoops of potato salad, salad, radish, and some jelly looking thingy.
The waitresses were really friendly, but I wish they knew more English. I wish my gf was here with me because we had problems ordering meat because we thought there were more than just the 3 types mentioned above. The waitresses always had a smile on their faces though, so it gave off a good vibe.
If it were not for the limited variety of meats and the fact that we never even got our buckwheat noodles at the end, I might have gave this place a 4 stars. Nevertheless, the experience was a good one, but I guess I was just expecting more due to some of the reviews I read about LA Family House.
This would definitely be a place I would consider if I was hungry during the late hours of the night. The only other place I can think of that is opened late night till 2am is Hae Jang Chon Restaurant, BUT Hae Jang Chon is known to have long waits, so head over here and enjoy.
One of my favorite Korean BBQ places in LA. Probably in the top 3... at least in the top three on the block... quick what reference is that to??? haha I've been multiple times and it's been a cure for hang-overs, a good place for a big lunch, and fun for a small group at dinner.
I've only gotten the special A which runs about $20 for all-you-can eat. Good stuff. This is the place that ends your hunger.
Food: been coming here forever but finally realized that they had all you can eat?? my friend said we had always ordered all you can eat but i thought we didnt cuz i always left a little hungry. anyway, weve been coming here after deciding that other ayce places kinda blows. the meat is yummy and marinated the way i like it. side dishes also very good!
Ambiance: your typical korean restaurant. its very small and gets crowded. very casual and low key.
Staff: attentive, friendly
Price: $$
Epic Fail wouldn't be the choice words on how I described this place, but it still left me with an empty feeling towards this place.
I joined up with my dining companions who all wanted to give a go for this place since it was relatively unheard of at any conversations whenever All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ are brought up. In a way, it's a test run to see if this place measured up to the other illustrious biggies such as Soot Bull Gui Rim 1 & 2, Mu Dang San, and Chweh Ga Neh as being the top AYCE places in K-town.
One of the very first thing I noticed was the service here was top notch. Was it the fact that we had a token Caucasian in here and they needed to treat him well? Or was it the fact I busted out camera and started taking pictures? I don't know really and I probably think it was just because they provided good service to us through out the night. A huge bravo on that front.
We started off the AYCE rounds with the always must-ordered Galbi (marinated beef ribs) with a big round of brisket. I was a tad disappointed somewhat of both of the item http://static.px.yelp.... .
The marinated beef wasn't marinated well enough. It left a bland taste in my mouth and the beef quite tender as I thought it was going to be. The brisket was ok, but it was so thinly sliced that it melted on the grill constantly throughout the night. We could blamed it on the lack of oil on the grill, but that thin brisket just got decimated and melted away on the grill.
The interesting choice of the night was the ordering of the squid http://static.px.yelp.... . Was it because we had to try it? or was it the fact we just have to order it because it sounded cool? Whatever it was the reason, we avoided it once we saw how big the squid was. It was cut down to pieces, but it just underwhelmed us as we were just going through the motion of needing to finish it so that we can order something else. It wasn't a bad choice, but it was not very popular among our table.
For the rest of the night, we just stick to the marinated beef and the pork belly. Those were the only two items I can mustered up to eat as I don't think I could eat another piece of that squid.
It's a bummer they don't have soup or kimchee fried rice at the end of the meal for us. Heck, not even a tapioca pudding dessert. What we got is we got. Nothing more.
There was a few banchan dishes (side dishes of kimchee and greens) that Shauna D. described in her review. I think she pretty much described all of the items we have for the night. It was very underwhelming.
The only blessing in disguise was the attentive service. They were there all night long to offer salad (maybe to fill our stomach so that we don't order any more plates of meat?) and was there to service us in cooking our meat. I was very happy they didn't do the "small plate" trick where the plates of meat gradually get smaller (ie Soot Bull Gui Rim 2) or the check given to us before we were full (ie again Soot Bull Gui Rim 2).
I was pretty satisfy with the service provided. It seemed like they get a lot of regular customers there. With service like that, it will help them weathered through the storm of inconsistent quality of meat that was provided.
I teetered towards maybe giving them another chance down the road, but with so many other Korean BBQ joints to try, this would not be on top of my list in the pecking order when I'm in K-town again.
Hence the unfulfilled feeling of this place could have been better.
At first I was afraid, I was terrified,
Thinking I couldn't return to K-town
Without a Korean at my side.
Then I came here one dreary night
Realizing how I was so wrong
With a group of gaming nerds
We ate Korean BBQ all night long
La da di da...
So, I used to date a girl from Seoul and we'd roll K-town or Fullerton Korean restaurants like locals. And I totally dug it! She did all the ordering, I did all the eating, and we'd trade bills and peace signs. Unfortunately, she had to move back to Korea, finish school, start working and all that hubbub, so my lifeline to K-town was severed.
Fast forward a few years til present and it's been too long since I've been able to hang out with my Yonsei '05 crew who are currently spread out all over the world. My coworker shot me an IM about meeting The Great Nate over Korean BBQ and without hesitation I tagged along.
It's best to go with a picture in mind of what the place looks like, cause the cursive hangul does not remotely resemble "LA Family House" unless you're rolling on PCP. Even then.
Parking is, I kid you not, valet in the tiny parking lot. $1's fine when you pick up your car.
Like a Family joint, the place is small, and if there's a table for you and your group, fantastic. If not, you're probably SOL since few groups like to rush through an AYCE Korean BBQ.
The panchan sidedishes are okay, nothing spectacular. The rice wrap, kim chi, fermented bean paste, garlic, jalapenos, jalapeno/vinegar(?) sauce and some light dressing on the salad are enough to beat that meat into oral consumption.
Pretty much had kalbi, sam gyup ssal and brisket on rotation til we could eat no more.
Been here twice, once with a Korean native speaker and more recently without. Had good eatings both times and would return, though I still wish to explore the rest of K-town.
The food was ok. The banchan, chadol, and ojinguh were all pretty good. Didn't like the kalbi so much (I prefer mine sweeter). The samgyupsal was REALLY good: nice, fatty, and thick, and they dip it in some marinade right before placing it on the grill. On the other hand, the dduk (rice cake) slices were sort of dried out and the yachae (salad) looked wilted. Oh, and they don't give you a big bowl of it like at other places; they come by and refill your individual dishes from time to time.
Service was not so great, and we weren't offered any nengmyun after our meal. Shoulda read the reviews so that I knew. OOPS~
The restaurant is pretty small and thus probably not good for big groups.
One more thing, make sure you note the name IN KOREAN before you go, because the "Family House" lettering on the door is pretty small. I failed to do so and spent at least half an hour looking for it, and no one could help me because I thought the Korean name was "Uri Jib." It's not. It's "Kajokhegwan."
For $16.99 you get to choose between Brisket, Pork Slices, Marinated Kalbi, Unmarinated Kalbi and Squid. The meat quality was excellent. The brisket and the Kalbi were top notch. The pork was great as well and they provide a special sauce you can use to marinate the pork, if you want, before you put it on the grill. (Check out the pictures) The squid was great as well and was a nice change of pace after all the meat. (Check out the pictures) They also had a decent selection of banchan (sides). Really liked the potato salad.
The service quality will depend on your preference. They were really on top of the refills and were really fast with bringing out new meat. (best service then any other KBBQ place I've been... in regards of those two things) However, they will change the grill at least 7 times during your entire meal. It won't matter if you're in a middle of a conversation or in the middle of grilling something. They will change it like you're not even there. It depends if you prefer a clean grill with no grease and burned leftover meat or if you would prefer to be left alone....
The language barrier was definitely there. We had someone who spoke Korean so we were ok, but they didn't know what "Squid" was till she translated it.
Even with the grill being changed every 15 minutes, we still ended up smelling like BBQ. Definitely not a place to take a date, unless you're taking me ... :D
(+$1 Valet parking)
I'm so glad I looked at the pictures on the business listing before heading over to this place as there is no English sign for LA Family House. I started looking out for a cute sign with happy family (so Asian to include grandparents!).
Even so, I passed it the first time around and got an eyeful of a dirty Soot Bull Jeep (shudder). I headed back and the place is set in a mini-mall on the corner of 8th and Bernrendo. The parking lot was crazy busy but since it was only $1 valet, I parked in it.
It wasn't too busy around 7:30 last Friday night and Mike L and Kevin F were already seated when I got there. I felt like we were missing some banchan at our tiny table at the front of the restaurant but what we had was okay.
Banchan:
kimchi- spicier than other places. I ate an entire dish by myself. It was nicely crunchy.
broccoli- A bit over-steamed and served with sweet sauce. I would have preferred it marinated/vinegared.
daikon- good, I liked the huge portion of it. We never needed refills.
collard greens- This was interesting, I've never had kimchi collard greens before. I liked it.
white jello- not bad, I would have liked more of the garlic stuff on it.
potato salad- didn't try but looks like Sabrina L really liked it
marinated garlic/ jalepeno- the garlic was addicting and the jalepeno was actually still a bit crunchy so I liked it.
salad- there was an herb I couldn't place but I liked it. They were very quick to refill it and I finally had to tell them to stop. I liked how it was chopped finely making it easy to eat in the rice wrapper.
Meats:
galbi- nicely marbled. I liked this best
pork belly- not too fatty which was good. They dipped it in sauce before grilling but I didn't actually think it was that tasty unless dipped in a sauce of sort sort
brisket- it was okay, at the point we had it, they were grilling it so fast, we could hardly keep up and some of it was cooked way beyond what I like (medium rare)
squid- I've never had it grilled before so I wasn't sure when it was done exactly. The first couple of pieces I had were a bit raw. I found it was best after dipped in the marinade from the pickled garlic/ jalepenos. I was kind of sad we lost some of the tentacles as the grill was being switched out.
Some of the rice wrappers we had were very dried out though extremely oily and rather flimsy to the touch. A waitress showed Mike how to wrap it using chopsticks but I suppose I am more used to wrapping it up with my hands and eating my Korean "tacos."
The red pepper paste had more chili flakes than I'm used to but it wasn't that spicy. The fermented soybean paste was okay. The salt/sesame oil was pretty flavorful and they refilled it upon request.
Service:
I actually also like it when they cook the meat for you so it was a little annoying when they were cooking it so fast and we could barely keep up. But as the restaurant started filling up, they slowed down which worked out for me. And I no longer felt like they were trying to get us to scram. The manager even came by once to refill our banchan and poke around at our grill.
Water was refilled a few times without us being asked and overall, I would say the language barrier wasn't that much of a problem even with no menus or even pictures of things on the wall. Of course, when you ask them what meats they have, they say, "Beef, pork, chicken, squid." Um...yeah so make sure you specify what sort of beef you want (brisket, galbi, marinated galbi).
Towards the end, several people asked us if we were done or wanted more. Seriously, I think they warmed up to us now and just kept wanting to feed us but our bellies were bursting and we had to skeddadle.
Overall assessment, I might come back but it wasn't the most fantastic KBBQ place I've been too. We sat near the front door so I didn't think it was that smokey. And maybe it's a good thing I was reeking of garlic afterward. But it was super cheap, $16.99 plus tax and tip!
The hunt for the best AYCE KBBQ continues.
We went to this place after reading Shannon L's review. They are WAY too many BBQ places in K-Town, so we decided to choose this one and try it out.
The reviews were right - it's hard to communicate to the workers because they don't speak a lick of English. But the lady who helped us was really nice and patient, and told us that people usually get Combo #1 or #2 when they eat at the restaurant.
By this time, the fiance was heavily salivating so we chose #1 and got started right away. The lady cooked the meat for us, which I thought was a little weird because I was used to cooking my own meat, but it was nice to have her do it and not have to worry about burning my own meat.
The Kalbi was EXCELLENT! Of course, she fed us the thinly sliced brisket first. It was the cheaper stuff, and they probably wanted us to get full off of that.
BUT, the fiance totally went at it and we even got an additional plate of Kalbi to finish everything off. We avoided eating a lot of the panchans that they served, even though all of them were DELICIOUS!!!!
I personally liked wrapping their white noodle sheet over the Kalbi and eating it with hot sauce. The fiance really liked their potatoes and couldn't stop eating it. We were the only ones at the restaurant around 12pm on a Sunday afternoon, which made me wonder how popular this place really was. But, I'm glad we chose it because the experience was well worth it!
I am the LAST person you should ask about KBBQ...just ask Dawson S. lol It's usually not my cup of tea...i'm kind of more the Gyu Kaku kind of white girl snob lol...and am VERY picky with my meat. lol With that said, i've been trying lately...training shall we say...to get into the whole KBBQ thing.
This past weekend Dawson wanted to try some other place but the reviews all said it was crowded on the weekends, etc. so we opted for the suggested LA Family...and were SO not disappointed!
I was a little weary at first because when I read the reviews...Stephy's was the first I saw and with 2 stars....yikes. I take what she says about joints as pretty straight up. Still, I went in with an open mind.
We got the nicest...and pretty good English speakin'...guy as out server. The service was quick, we never had to wave them down, and yes, they did come by and change our grill when we probably didn't need them to (only small peeve). I'd say skip the tripe (we told them we didn't want it and they were cool with that) and get the three other red meats (kalbi and the like) and the bacon.
Make sure you crisp the bacon and don't scrimp on asking for a ton of garlic to toss on the grill....mmmm. The bacon comes with a sauce to marinate...I suggest you do so.
Also, at the end of the meal you have a choice of egg, soup, or chilled noodles...make sure you ask for it or they won't bring it up. The soup was kind of citrusy and cleansed the palate nicely.
All in all...for $16.99 for all you can eat...good spot!! AND... you won't come out reeking of smoke!
One of the better KBBQ places I've been to. After trying a few other places, the meat here beats most others. With AYCE, you get a choice of three meats, and they make sure your side dishes are always full.
Came here on a Monday night so it was not that packed. Seemed like the waitress didn't have much to do so she kept coming over to cook for us. Thankfully, some big groups came in afterwards so she left us alone. Meat tastes better when its cooked by myself.
Their salad has a herbal kick to it with some pepper-ish leaves thrown in. Squid is a choice, which I haven't seen at the other AYCE places. The squid is a nice break from the abundant plates of meat. The cold noodles that follow the meal are refreshing. It's better than the ones at Gui Rim but not as good as the ones at Corner Place.
I went there again last Friday with people from my work. And it was still freaking delicious. I have to say the chadol was not as good as it usually is, but the samgyupsal (pork) and the galbi (marinated beef) were superb. Joomooluk was actually freaking delicious too.
Besides, the service is really good here. The ladies gave me a huge plate of dduk and kept coming back with the delicious salad. They even replaced all of the side dishes when we ran out.
The only small problem with this place is that its 16.99 for all you can eat now. Boo. But I'll keep going back. Still my favorite bbq place.
Gah-Jok-Hweh-Gwan or LA Family House is my favorite place to eat Korean Barbeque (BBQ). I was… Read more »
This place is so local. No English menu. It's a buffet all you can eat meats. When ask about the cold noodles do order for everyone because they only make it once per table. The thing I don't like is that the waitress comes over and cooks your food for you, giving the feeling of hurrying your meal. I like cooking by my self and chat the night away with beer.
This was my 6th all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant experience. And quite frankly, the best of them all. I came here with a friend, and got their $16.99 deal. We ordered kalbi, chadol baegi (thin brisket), and samkyupsal (bacon slices). One thing I can commend about this place is that their meats are a bit fresher and well textured than most other AYCE BBQ places. The kalbi was pretty good, but the briskets were even better. It was some of the tastiest I've had in any BBQ restaurants. I definitely recommend this one if you come here. The samkyupsal was fairly good. It wasn't excellent, yet it didn't have that overly dry n' hard taste that characterizes the samkyupsal in most other AYCE places. The banchan is also pretty decent. Not the best, but still okay in its selection and taste.
In all, I give this restaurant a good recommendation if you want all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. It's not in the A-league quality such as with Park's BBQ or Soot Bull Jeep, but it's probably as close as you can get for paying $17. In fact, it's pretty much as good as the meats in Corner Place (Ghil Mok) and Suhrabal. As I previously mentioned, it's by far the best all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant I've been to. The food is tasty, the service is surprisingly good, and the ambience is practical but clean. But my 4 star rating goes to food taste/quality only.
One of the best Korean BBQ place I've been to. Its up there with Mana, but the waitresses here are way nicer...I've had my share of korean bbq but this is I think is up there with the best...definitely check it out.
Great place to bring family and friends! Not necessarily good for larger groups this is more of a family restaurant. Expect a frown if you order too much meat...they're not use to people going to stuff their heart out. Parking is horrible!
Food: 4
Service: 4
Environment: 4
Price: 3
This is my favorite Korean BBQ place so far based on quality and price.
Service was very good.
$17 for all you can eat. The pork belly is really good.
Quality of meat is very good for the price you are paying (compared to Manna where the meat is really bad)
Seating is good because surprisingly the wait is not that long.
I'm a fan because the wait is not that long for this place, you can valet across the street if their lot is full, and cuz you can get one plate of cow tongue with your AYCE deal for $17. Much better quality than Manna's and I think it's just a pretty good value over here.
I would come back.
If this was really my LA Family, I would f'n emancipate myself. YUCK.
First of all, this is by far the worst service I've had in a looooonnnng while and I go out ALOT as you can see, so when it is THIS bad, oh yeah, it's getting YELPED.
So the ladies working here pulled a few server tricks that I know good and well. The first offense was the, "Oh let's look around the room and conveniently turn our heads as the blond and the brunette in the corner are waving their arms and practically sending rescue flares in a failed attempt to be seen.
Next was the "Huh, what? I don't understand" trick. I go to alot of Korean places and I've got the whole BBQ thing down. It's about 6 options, it's $14.99, it's all you can eat and it should come with a cold noodle soup with an egg and cucumbers. Got it. So when I say can we get an order of marinated short ribs, come on, do you really need to play clueless.
Finally it was the changing of the grills. Now I am not a fan of the gas grills. I muuuuch prefer the taste of the charcoal grills, but I know how to use both and when these women keep coming over and rearranging what we've done with no regard for our perfect meat placement, I swear my backhand reflex starts to sneak up. Let me be! You won't come over when we REALLY need you and then you feel the need to change my grill 5 times in a 45 minute period. NO.
Needless to say, I won't be going back to this Family or to their House and you can most likely find me at Soot Bul Gui Rim 2 enjoying yummy food and excellent service! I'm so sorry SBGR2, I'll never stray again.
only in la where kbbq still going strong after 10. apparently this closes at 2. no? yes way!
16.99$ gets you the meat heaven. i don't know what they offered for meat, but i'm pretty sure guy said intestines, tongue, pork belly, brisket and ribs. this time, no intestines and no pork belly. my take are the tongue and ribs. tongue was a little thicker than most places and has more flavor. basically, just eat it and try not to think of the cow, cos that's like a wet dream bound to happen. ribs was juicy. brisket was fab in the first round, it was steak thick and juicy, unfortunately the next few rounds, it went back to the normal tiny fatty slices. i got blue balled.
so kitchen closes at 10. that's your last call for your cold noodle. icy cold noodle goes so well with my rib straight off the grill. the crazy combination of ice cold and burning hot mixing in my mouth makes you "damn rick, i'm hungry now". they have mirrors everywhere that i can't help watch myself eat.
seaweed, garlic, jalapenos and onions were all i needed for this time for my meat and cold noodle.
word.
My japanese/korean bbq experience up to this point has really been limited to gyu kaku, but I finally ventured to k-town.
Pros:
-I was the only gringo in the whole place
-The service was great - they kept bringing resh platters of meat, refilling the sides and water all night
-You really get a ton of food for $16.99
Cons:
-Nobody speaks English. Luckily I was with some Chinese kids who were able to get by with one of the waiters
-The meat is good quality but makes me appreciate Gyu Kaku more
-The grill doesn't get as hot as Gyu Kaku so it's hard to char/sear the meat without overcooking the inside
-Parking is kind of ridiculous around here
First time I had authentic Korean BBQ. I have to admit it was quite good. something to get used to. The service was quick and fast and pleasant. The portions were big. It was a new experience because i've never had authentic Korean BBQ, so when I saw all these sides, a whole bunch of sauces and all it threw me off a little bit, I didn't want to come off ignorant but where was the rice bowl to accompany my BBQ? well I requested for it, and they give you a small portion of rice which was fair enough. Awesome place, looking forward to eat there again.
So I fequent this place not because of the quality of meat but because of service. The all you can eat meat is so-so. There is plenty of places with better meat but the service is excellent! They are always attentive and bring you what you need. They change the grill on a regular basis and everyone is nice.
The price is average. The place in Chapman plaza is def better quality meat and much nicer place but service is mediocore when busy. This place rocks in service!
Great for big groups, kid friendly, projection tv, attentive wait staff, clean and comfortable, patio or indoor dining, valet parking for $1+tip, not a lot of variety but they have the key players beef, pork, and chicken - most importantly ALL-You-CAN-EAT for $17. Can't beat that with a wiffle ball bat.
Ah yes, K-Town (Koreatown), the land of the $14.99, excuse me, $15.99 all you can eat Korean BBQ. If you are looking for a good place for your kalbi craving, I would highly recommend Family Restaurant.
The place is your typical mom and pop restaurant. No thrills or frills here, just good Korean BBQ with good pan-chan (complimentary side dishes). The place is relatively clean. Standard grills built in to the tables with so called ventilation above (typical).
The last time I was here (summertime), they limited you two only 2 servings of kalbi and all you want of all the other types of meat. Well it's been several months since I have been, and they lifted that ridiculous rule (thank goodness)!!!
Now to the food; kalbi (beef rib meat) here is really good. It's one of the better places in K-Town. It had a nice warm, sweet (not overly sweet), nutty (from the seasame oil) flavor as well as being nice and tender. The chadol-beggi (paper-thin sliced beef brisket) and sam-gyup-sarl (thick cut korean style bacon) were good as well. The sam-gyup-sarl comes with a sauce you can pour on while the meat is grilling.
The dipping sauce is pretty standard for kalbi buffets. Nice soy based sauce with honey, garlic, rice vinegar, and sliced jalapenos that have been marinating in the sauce. If you are looking for something more salty than sweet, then try the dipping sauce which is made up of salt, black pepper, sesame oil, and some other seasonings which is status quo as well (some places make a dry version, hence minus the sesame oil, add sesame seeds).
The green salad it comes with is nice, fresh and clean. It comes with a similar, but not same sweet soy based sauce/dressing.
Dduk bosam (thin, chewy, ricecake wrappers, think of the wrapping on a spring roll except thicker and the size of a wonton skin. It works wonderful with a piece a kalbi and a little bit of the greens from your salad. The combination of the doughy wrapper, sweetness and meatiness of the kalbi, and the fresh crunchiness of the veggies does something magical/orgasmic in my mouth. It's a texture and a taste thing!!!
The panchan (side dishes) are good. Everything tasted the way it should and all the veggie dishes were nice crisp and fresh.
At the end of the meal, it comes with your choice of mul neng-myun (cold buck-wheat noodle soup) or dengjang jigae (korean style miso soup, very different from japanese miso soup).
The mul neng-myun is usually good, which for me is a perfect palate cleanser as well a refreshing way to end a meal; it comes with rice vinegar and gae jal (spicy Korean mustard) on the side. But for whatever reason this time, the mul neng-myun was atrocious. It had this weird lemon-lime taste and I never want to taste ever again. But when it is made right, I put some.
Dengjang jigae was good. It was a hot and spicy version, with chunks of tofu and Korean squash. If you don't do well with spicy, you may want to stay away from this.
Word of advice, if you have plans afterwards, your clothes will stink. The place is not smoky, but your clothes will smell like BBQ.
Solid 4 Stars.
This is by far my favorite Korean Barbeque place. If you've been to Manna and this place, then you can tell which one has better meat quality now. Manna was very dirty and gross.
You can sure get your money worth here, but it will be better if you can bring a friend who can speak Korean. The side dishes are very good as well.
It might get crowd during dinner time, so i recommend you to go there early if you have more than 4 people.
Love this! Not the best, but definitely still good. $18/person for all you can eat meat.
I don't know if it was because I was with a Korean, but the service was great. They didn't stop refilling our salad, panchans & duk bok sam. That's probably part of their strategy in attempting to fill us up. As time goes on, you can see that the cha dol bae gi (thinly sliced brisket) gets fattier and fattier. That's your sign to stop eating. The kalbi was good but I've definitely had better... more flavorful.
There is valet parking but the guys left at around 9 pm so they came in to give us our keys.
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
Los Angeles, CA
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Wilshire Center
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
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