Koreatown: Late Night Eats at Hodori
shortribs
It’s been a minute since I found myself in Ktown looking for late night eats. But there I was along with seemingly half of LA looking for grub Halloween night. Luckily Hodori and neighbor Nakwon were open, as they always are being the few 24-hour restaurants in Ktown.
Hodori didn’t seem to have any discernible wait list. A harried server said they just knew who was next. Well, then…
Some opted to order take out, some waited it out. I… well, I ate eventually.
banchan
First came the banchan. It is now 3:30 a.m. You eat the banchan. There’s no hope for refills though. Not even the nummy gelatin that I really enjoy more for the texture than any apparent taste. The mung beans go quickly as do the cubed radish (daikon). The kimchi was on the sweeter side so I didn’t eat much … at first. You start feeling the urge for kimchi half way through your meal.
bibimbap – where’s the rice?
We shared short ribs. The marinade on the beef was fine, nothing particularly exciting. But I was outraged by the lack of rice with the bibimbap. Where’s the rice? It comes on the side? What nonsense is this? I suppose it’s all fine if you were going carb-less but don’t they know why we’re here? It’s the middle of the night and all the bars have disgorged their patrons into the 24-hour restaurants. You do the math.
soon dobu
Sadly, the soon dobu was almost cold when we got it which made trying to cook the egg in the soup very hard. Still, to be out of the rain, in relative comfort? That’s why Hodori rules.
I blinked at the restaurant Beverly Soon across the street which sat smugly closed at now 4 a.m. and vowed to get over there at a decent hour for a bowl of tofu soup.
1001 S Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006 — (213) 383-3554 © The Minty 2014