ChoSun Galbee

On Saturday night our good friends, Beth O. and Larry A. invited us to join them for dinner at at Korean BBQ restaurant called ChoSun Galbee. Larry had been here before with members of his martial arts group, so he knew his way around the menu.

The restaurant is quite large and very modern. The exterior is covered in greenery. We were lucky to find a parking spot right on the side of the building near the entrance. However, valet parking is only $2 here! The lobby/waiting area/bar is brightly lit, modern, with lots of granite and bamboo paneling. There's a full bar with a huge flat-screen TV over the bar. The place was filled and there was a waiting list. They do not take reservations, but the place is so huge and the service so fast, that we only had to wait about 20-30 minutes for our table, primetime Saturday night.

We were ushered to our booth by a beautifullly dressed hostess...hot pink kimono-style jacket, long skirt and white tennis shoes. There are huge ventilation vents over each granite table and center barbecue.

The waitress started bringing us little bowls of side dishes, including broccoli, kim chee, spicy zucchini, potato salad and other delicious mystery dishes. We were brought dinner salads. We ordered BBQd beef, chicken, Hae Mul Pa Jeon which is a pancake with green onion.

Then, the sizzlin' began! The waitress threw some meat, onions and mushrooms on the grill. She came back often to cook the meat. When it was done, she served us our portions and then brought the next course. This was different from other Korean BBQ restaurants I've been to in the past. Cooking is usually done by the customers. This was rather elegant. The ventilation vents over each table really did a marvelous job of sucking up all of the smoke. It's a very clean atmosphere.

There's a lovely patio that would be perfect for a summer evening's dinner. It was crowded and not readily available for us, but NEXT TIME.....

I can't wait to go back to ChoSun Galbee and try more of the barbecued specialties. Thanks Beth and Larry for introducing us!

ChoSun Galbee Korean Barbeque Restaurant

3330 W. Olympic Boulevard

(@ Manchester Pl., west of Western Ave.)

Los Angeles, CA 90019

(323) 734-3330