Yangji Gamjatang - KTown

This was the first place I took blogging more seriously. A lot of my friends if not 99% of them all love Korean BBQ. All love trekking out to Korea Town to find the best all you can eat BBQ. But a lot of them, and acquaintances that I've come across never had other Korean cuisines besides that.

I don't remember if I was hungover when I first came here. That or still drunk. Who knows. But this place is legit and will definitely be a cure for your hangover or is you just caught a cold. No matter what it is, any excuse is a good excuse to check out Yangji Gamjatang.

3470 W 6th St Ste 6 Los Angeles, CA 90020

Every table gets water served in a Psy water bottle. It reads, you could drink me or you can have soju and beer instead. That's not what it says but, it's funny to think so.

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With your order, you get the famous Banchan that these restaurants are known for. 

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I like to try something new every time I come. This is their oxtail soup. It's good, simple and clean if you want something lighter, but their gamjatang is still my favorite.

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Here it is. Their gamjatang. Oh so delicious pork bone soup braised in a light spicy broth with potatoes. You can share this, but I don't recommend it. Just order your own. I add more korean spicy powder to give it more heat. This soup is pretty mild and the broth is also light if I had something critical to say. This soup showcases the pork bone without too many complicating flavors. A must try when you come.

3470 W 6th St Ste 6 Los Angeles, CA 90020

The Backhouse - Koreatown

I love Los Angeles. It's a blessing to live in such a multicultural community. We literally have culture right here in our own turf. There's nothing that you can't find to eat. We have Vietnamese food, Oaxacan food, all kinds of Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Cuban, French, Italian, etc.

Yakitori is something that is widely eaten in Japan and something that I preferred to have when I was there a few years ago. But grilling meats on a stick isn't just a Japanese thing though they did perfect some of the best versions I've had. You will find more yakitori houses located in Torrance. But since we are so diverse, there are more and more locations now serving up cuisines locally so you won't need to venture off too far.

The Backhouse serves items you would find at your typical Izakaya. From yakitori, to sushi, and to many fried nibbles, to lavish ramen noodles to soak up the alcohol you spent drinking all evening. But that's really how you do it anyways.

3500 W. 6th St.Suite 301, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Here are the few, many items that we had.

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Corn Tempura

Our appetizers were a seared Salmon and Albacore Carpaccio. The Albacore Carpaccio wastopped with crispy garlic, onions, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic ponzu. The Salmon Truffle Carpaccio was topped with truffle shaving, japanese pickle, ponzu sauce, and white truffle oil. What's not to love about truffles right?

The corn tempura, however, was so amazingly delicious. The dipping sauce, which I believe was some sweet garlic miso, was velvety and oh so perfect with the crunchy tempura. Great beer food.

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A few yakitori samples here to show. Shiitake, cheese tsukune, beef tongue, and rib eye. Everything tasted delicious and memorable. The special beef tongue was very tasty.

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Other items we had were negima and grilled jumbo sweet shrimp. The negima was made with chicken breast instead of dark meat.

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The sushi sampler we received was a very fancy one featuring some of their best fishes they had to offer for that evening. I can't complain about any of this. They had special uni creations such as their scallop and uni combination topped with caviar.This needed to be devoured in one bite. No exceptions.

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Other Uni creations were Uni with Red Snapper wrapped with shiso. I'm in love with shiso. I can eat almost anything that involves shiso leaves. It's so aromatic and fragrant. There's just isn't anything that reminds me of it or can come close to what this taste like. Again, topped with caviar that automatically creates a one bite experience.

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Delicious lamb chops grilled and served with a sweet miso butter sauce. Just give me a big bowl of rice and I will be a very happy happy girl. Cooked medium, just the way I like my lamb to be. I find it more gamey tasting when it's closer to rare.

Dessert was a giant crepe filled with vanilla and bananas, topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, brûléed bananas, fresh fruits, and mochi ice cream.

The drive wasn't that bad on a Friday night coming from Pasadena. I recommend an early arrival to grab a table. Seats do fill up fairly quickly with EMC Seafood downstairs.

Eat, drink, eat some more and drink some more.

3500 W. 6th St.Suite 301

Los Angeles, CA 90020