Culver City: Hanjip Korean BBQ Now Open

 

Hanjip Korean BBQ is now open in Culver City. The stylish restaurant features modern decor and fancy gold grills. The menu from Chef Chris Oh from Seoul Sausage has turned grilling upscale with huge cuts of meat (hello tomahawk!) and the biggest prawns I’ve ever seen. Also be on the look out for great sides and a nice wine selection.

You may order individual platters of meat but try the beef or pork combos for variety.

We started out with chadol (brisket) which is my preferred cut for the first round of meat. I noted the particularly good quality of the brisket.

 

As mentioned there are high end sides to order. Sure, I’d be happy with the provided banchan but I knew I had to get the bone marrow corn (parmasean) cheese. It also gets an extra boost of umami from bonito flakes. A server will scrape the bone marrow in to mix with the corn. Hanjip definitely encourages bone luging and will even pour the shot for you!

 

 

 

As mentioned, there’s a very nice wine program –get a bottle of rose wine for the table if you want to be baller but if you prefer to stick to soju, be sure to try at least one bottle of the higher end soju. It’s definitely not lighter fluid that is so often associated with KBBQ.

 

My favorite thing we grilled were the Carabineros prawns. These are deep red by nature so it made it a little difficult to tell when  they were cooked but our server who was helping us grill told us when to attack the critters. I loved everything – the head including the brains and digestive sacks (tomalley). The prawn itself was very sweet. I spilled a little of the brains in my bowl which I soaked up with rice to get every last bit.

 

Lately I’ve been into the pork jowl and neck meat which I find my tender and tastier than pork belly.

 

 

Another unique side to get is the uni (sea urchin) steamed egg. I already love Korean steamed egg but to add uni and ikura (salmon roe) was amazing.

 

I had a bite of the tomahawk from another table. It’s been sous vide which you then grill to a quick sear. The result is a very delicious steak. It’s served with foie gras butter.

 

If you still have room, get the shikdorak (kimchi fried rice). And if you ask nicely, they’ll even shake it up just like they do in Ktown.

Hanjip has a fun crew working there. I noticed a lot of familiar faces among the servers from some of Ktown’s KBBQ spots so they know what they’re doing as they help you grill. Meat + fire + booze = good times.

Hanjip

3829 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232  —  (323) 720-8804

 

© The Minty 2015