Ham Ji Park ~ Delectable Pork Belly, Spareribs & Stew

The Pork Spareribs at Ham Ji Park make me seriously question why I bother to make ribs at home. HJP's Spareribs are tender, meaty and well-marinated in a rich salty sweet sauce with a gentle spicy kick.

I have a serious addiction to Korean BBQ; I need help. I've been on a Ham Ji Park binge lately (3 times in a month?) and super cheap certificates from Restaurant.com doesn't help me. Oh well, just got to workout more! The Core Performance Center is currently my best friend, 5 days a week, if not 6 :)

The Pork Neck Stew is full of spices and heartiness. The meat is soft and falls off the bone. It's absolutely delicious with a bowl of rice. Trust me, you'll want that rice to soak up every bit of that stew. It's comfort food at its best.

Black Pork Bacon. BBQ till crispy and the fat is delicious. Go workout before AND after you enjoy this.

Marinated Sirloin Beef. Fat is well-marbled and I like the light marinade. The onions and green onions are a nice addition to the grill.

The beginning of the carnage. Disclaimer: it's really hard for me to remember to take photos when the food arrives - it's exciting and I'm hungry you know...

There are two Ham Ji Parks in the Koreatown vicinity. I've only been to the 6th St. location so far because parking is so easy there ($2 valet and plenty of street parking on 6th or Catalina).

Ham Ji Park

3407 W 6th St
Ste 101-C
Los Angeles, CA 90020

(213) 365-8773

and

4135 W Pico Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90019

(213) 365-8773

Road to (My) Seoul

Is the way to a man's heart really through his stomach? I'm not sure about men but I do know food is one way to my heart and soul. And all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ at Road to Seoul is a new road to my soul.

I'm very lucky to live so close to Koreatown in LA. I find so many new Korean restaurants I want to try that my "To Eat" list is always growing faster than I can eat or should eat. Luckily, I have friends and colleagues who indulge me; I formed a "Eat Drink & Be Merry" group at work and the names speaks for itself and below are pics from our recent outing.

Beef Sirloin (well marbled fat!), Beef Brisket, Black Pork Belly

Baby Octopus - it comes with a separate red spicy sauce for dipping

Bulgogi, Marinated Chicken, and half-cooked Baby Octopus

Pork Neck and Cow Tongue (a must!)

Except for the baby octopus, everything above were crowd favorites. It's definitely better to go to Korean BBQ in a large group in order to try more meats.

At Road to Seoul, the AYCE is $16.99 per person and that gives you nine meat choices to choose from and an order of steamed egg, Korean pancake and tofu soup is split amongst 3 to 4 people. In my experience, sometimes in a large group, it gets a little chaotic and the waitress will forget the soup or the steamed egg so remind them if they forget because that steamed egg is delicious. Of course, you will get banchan (a decent selection), rice wrappers for the meat and a huge bowl of salad with vinaigrette to go with your meat.

Last tip - In addition to the bean paste and hot sauce, you get a small plate of salt to dip your meat. If you like sesame oil, you can ask the waitress to add sesame oil to your plate of salt for a richer and more fragrant dip.

Road to Seoul

1230 S. Western Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90006

(323) 731-9292

*Takes reservations, good for groups big or small, pretty comfy, spacious seating, big-screen TVs usually showing sports and the mandatory blaring of English pop music.