Banchan A La Carte

Banchan catered our 300 guest, Korean SDA wedding in September 2015. I’ve been to handful of other weddings that were catered by then prior to mine.
Contact: Jayne (the owner) is a very busy woman, so sometimes contact through e-​mail is very quick but sometimes it can lag AWHILE, so it really depends on what her schedule is looking like. Your best bet is to call during the week somewhere in the off times of 10−4ish. We had a slight miscommunication between the both of us and initially she forgot about our initial meeting (we went to the store to meet her) and didn’t get back to me a proposal until I reached out to her a couple weeks later, so that part was a little frustrating but in the end she followed through.
There was no tasting through the process, which I know can be hard with Korean food, but if there are some dishes you would like to sample I’m sure she would be accommodate that but we didn’t ask.
Pros:
Food is great, our guests thoroughly enjoyed, and for the competing Korean catering companies in the area, for a large # of guests there are not many other choices.
Dessert tables, she takes a lot of pride in how this is displayed and the guests were raving about how beautiful everything looked.
They have a lot of choices in linens, she basically has every primary color and natural tone you can think of (aside from intricate ones like sequin table cloths), we also made our own napkin rings which her team kindly set up for us.
I chose a buffet option and she was willing to substitute some dishes out for me.
Cons:
I paid extra for water service to the table (per guest per glass) and I don’t think the wait staff even had time to serve refills aside from the initial glass, I stressed this was very important that beverages were not lacking in the event, but my mother mentioned that the drinks ran out super quick.
We still ran out of trash bags at the end of the night, I had mentioned this as well to make sure it would be a priority for me. My wedding planner had to provide them.
Basically I could go on about details but in the end they pulled through to make our wedding a delicious affair. It was basically a nightmare throughout the planning process but as my husband puts it «they took it from a one star to a four star» because they delivered on D-​day. think basically they are fairly new to the competitive LA wedding world and need to work highly on their communication with their clients and the venue itself. They need someone on their team to be better with this part of the process. If they did, then they would probably elevate their catering company to another level. I would recommend making sure you have a wedding planner who will be able to direct them with details because otherwise you will not have much control. I do know that Jayne takes a lot of pride in her business and it shows in her work.

I would give this place more stars IF they actually followed through with my quote requests to have the food for my events at work, but they never did.
I tried their food from an official government event, and I was very satisfied with their food and service. This made me contact them for the events I was hosting at my work place. I have contacted them for two separate events requesting quotes, and both times the chef nor the manager were not present, and the representative told me that they would get back to me. I’ve provided them with my email address as well as my phone number, but they never got back to me. He even said that he will send me the menu items via email, but he never did. I was extremely disappointed.
When my colleague from a different department asked me for help in ordering Korean catering, I suggested Banchan A La Carte. I called them again, but of course, they never got back to me with my quote requests… I ended up ordering from another Korean catering company.
With that said, I will enjoy their food at whatever future events with their catering I may come across, but I will NEVER –I mean NEVER, order from them myself.
My gut feeling is that they don’t cater to events with less than $ 2K budget or something. Because our events are smaller in scale, I think they honestly didn’t care for our business. I work for a big company, and there is so much business potential. I guess they don’t need our business!

I had some korean banchan that was absolutetly authentic and tastes so richly delicious compared to others you can buy at stores. As a mom of 2 little girls, I want them to taste real «fine» korean banchan since I don’t know how to make them. kk.
Things are not cheap there but I’d rather pay more for quality. And who wants to eat cheap korean food these days!!! haha.
Like many of reviews already mentioned, this place is hidden jewel in koreatown. I recommand this place for banchan, kimchi and pasta. The taste level is much more than anticipated ~~ Will come back again to try different banchan.
Julie from S. Pasadena

The food was great and everybody at my wedding was delighted. However, my experience with Chef Jayne has been a nightmare for me. Planning a wedding is stressful enough and when you have done all your research despite of your busy schedule and sleepless nights, you want your caterers to kindly and gladly oblige. Besides, we are paying for their services. So, we started our meetings and during those meetings Chef Jayne had tried to convince me many times to change my color scheme or style. I told her many many times that I wanted it to be simple and that I will have my own décor for my sweetheart table and cake table. I told her specifically and what I wanted and come wedding day… this man I have never spoken with or met comes and starts doing things that were not mentioned during the consultation with Chef Jayne. I saw her write down all our notes, made us copies, and we exchanged emails. I was so furious at my wedding. That is totally not okay. We purchased the $ 40 per head for 200 guests so it was not a cheap meal. Yet, the customer service and the unprofessionalism on Chef Jayne’s part was unacceptable on her part. The man that came out to set up on the wedding day was rude and if it was up to me I would have already cussed him out… but since it was my wedding day I decided not to bother. I just had to change the décor myself to the way I initially said I would have it when speaking to Chef Jayne which totally wasted my precious time. I will not be recommending this place to anybody that I know. I felt like unless we did it Chef Jayne’s way, she was just not interested. P. S my wedding was fabulous and simple. It was rustic and cute and something very modern and I have gotten many compliments on my DIY floral centerpieces and simple chic décor on a tight budget. Unlike her traditional Korean Drama wedding style she kept suggesting. Her loss.

Banchan A La Carte is simply amazing! They specialise in a wide variety of foods, side foods and fusion ranging from American, Korean, Japanese, Italian, etc. Not only does Banchan cater but for special events, they set up the wedding; provide chairs, floorboards, tables, cutlery, dishes, etc. The lady who owns the restaurant is very kind and was a pleasure to work with! She has been in this business for several years and her recommendations and tastes are trustworthy. She genuinely thinks about her customers and listens well to what you want and look for in terms of your ideal wedding. The food quality is superb; delicious and well presented. The dishes were completely satisfactory especially the Cod Fish Roe Pasta. I go there for lunch runs and the food is consistently top-​notch!

Horrible customer service! My mom called this catering company to ask for an estimate for an event. I gave her this referral because I tasted the food at a friend’s wedding. My mom called me back and said she never wants to call them again. She said they were rude to her, major attitude. They were trying to get her to purchase a more expensive set menu, too. Totally not listening to her needs. That was totally unwise of this company. My mom goes to a large korean church. This company could have gotten hundreds of more referrals if they were at least friendly to my mom. I don’t care how good the food is. If you are rude to your customers, you are not going to expand your business. Sorely disappointed!

To start this review on a positive note, the set up was very well organized and clean. That was the only thing this place had to offer, because their banchan was overpriced and just tasted really bad. I’m assuming their catered food is decent, but their banchan is really not worth the trip.

A must try place for Korean food Connoisseurs.
The quality of the food was amazing,
and would definitely visit here again!

Best Korean food in LA. Clean and fresh taste, you can’t go wrong by coming here! Best steamed marinated beef :)

I grew up following my mom to banchan to pick up food for our home and to eat in time to time. The food was always delicious and definitely made without MSG.
Jayne, the owner and head chef, is classically trained and is extremely knowledgable about all aspects of food. So, when I started planning my wedding I knew I wanted her to cater. I was lucky enough to get a custom designed menu and boy was the food delicious! However, Jayne did not fail to bring her A-​game only with her food but she also did an amazing job with decorating the venue. Kevin, her husband and owner, did an amazing job setting up the venue. They transformed the gym into a classic dinning hall.
Everyone enjoyed their 4 course meal and raved about how great the food taste! I am so happy that Banchan A La Carte was a part of making my wedding dreams come true! Thank you!

My husband and I had an amazing experience with Chef Jayne and Kevin who catered our massive 475+ wedding. Through our meetings prior to the wedding, Jane demonstrated professionalism and patience by walking us through the many different choices of food and services she offered. During the tasting, she explained every plate and was able to make minor changes to meet our needs. Compared to many other places, she was also able to include linens, champagne glasses, chargers, silverware, plates, and even chair covers all under one fee. Due to our venue location which had inside and outside seating, Kevin was able to assist us in obtaining tables and chairs rental service for both environments. This made our wedding planning process extremely smooth and efficient because we didn’t have to talk to a handful of people nor go to a billion places to look for things.
The food was amazing and everyone was at an awe of how much there was. I think there were 30 to 40 different types of food including the desserts. This met our needs of covering a wide palette of our foodie guests and meeting the expectations of family members when they were used to the traditional 10 course meals. The décor and presentation of the food made it very appetizing. Everyone left very full and happy.
The one thing I wished I remembered was to ask for to go boxes for friends, family, and even for the wedding party so the leftover food didn’t have to go to waste.
I would definitely hire them if you want an amazing wedding! You will not regret it!

My experience with ban chan from start to finish for my wedding reception was fantastic. Super professional, great taste in décor and food, and good customer service. The planning, coordinating, day of set up, service, the delicious food, everything was beyond our expectations. Literally everyone told me the food was delicious like SO GOOD. Granted I didn’t get to eat a lot of it during my wedding day but that is what literally everyone said. I would recommend them for any wedding or party!

A hidden gem with selection of Korean banchan and dishes with a fusion twist. It’s quite an interesting place that sells banchan, kimchi, to-​go meals, and pastas. Many korean restaurants have cooks that are just good cooks who didn’t get proper training. This is one of those rare places whose chef has a background in culinary. I would say, maybe trained in some foreign country, like maybe … France? Haha ok ok just cuz they sell interesting pastas to cook at home don’t mean chef got trained in France.
Anyway, this is a great place to go with girlfriends. I love the sanchae bibimbap. It’s light, fresh, and perfect. I don’t know if they still have the spring rolls but i remember it tasting so fresh and so clean. On the few occasions I eat pasta, I always want kimchi. Which is why their kimchi shrimp pasta is just perfection.
They also have a to-​go dinner plan. It’s like having your own chef cook you a meal every day but you have to pick it up. I would eat it everyday if I lived in Ktown.
Update: Banchan catered for my friend’s wedding and OMG it was the BEST korean food I had at a wedding. Since I won’t have another wedding, Banchan will be my caterer fosho for my future baby’s dol-​janchi (1^st birthday celebration).

I had Banchan Catering for my wedding, and i was beyond thrilled with everything!!! food was outstanding, and presentation looked absolutely stunning!!, which was very important to me. Guests enjoyed dinner and most of them finished their entire plates! and of course I had so many compliments!
Wedding was held at Biltmore Hotel with 90% Korean guests. So i was looking for Korean food, but something that will blend well with the venue. and Banchan’s course meal was exactly what I was looking for.
When I went to do menu tasting, the owner/​chef Jayne explained menu one by one, and she really listened and understood how i wanted each dishes to be.
Hands down amazing, will definately recommend banchan when someone asks and would use them again and again!
thank you banchan for making my once in a life time wedding so special~!!!

Awesome place for Korean side dishes! Absolutely delicious and tasteful! The coffee is very organic and fresh too! I highly recommend this place~~

It was an excellent choice to go with Banchan for our wedding reception catering. First off — food was great. The reason why we chose Banchan in the first place was because we’ve been to other wedding receptions that used Banchan’s service and were very impressed overall. Second, they helped a lot with planning how the tables should be set up, what sort of decorations would go well where, and such. We had our wedding ceremony and reception at our local church which isn’t that great of a spot for a wedding. Banchan’s planning helped us pull off a wedding reception that was well beyond expectations. Third, their service was great on the day of the wedding. The crew were mindful of the busy bride, groom, and family members, and really stepped up to take charge in their service. Overall, it was a pleasant experience working with Banchan.

Easy to spot with decent parking.
The interior is very unique for a Korean banchan place.
All the banchan are neatly packaged.
Definitely on the pricier side compared to all other places I’ve been to.
They also happened to be a restaurant with an eye-​catching menu.
Their bibimbap was very good.

Pricey, but the quality of the food is excellent. I ordered the deluxe, and everyone that ate the food had nothing but compliments. If you’re not looking to low-​ball on food you’re serving for guests and you’re too lazy to cook, I highly recommend this place. They are professional and deliver exactly what’s promised on time.

Went to a party of them last month & wow. best of best. though i would write a review. J use to be a caterer and yea stressful and hard to satisfied all clients but this guys where so profesional that i had to give em 5 stars and let people know it aint easy been in catering. Thats why from my point of view they did amazing. And lets nit forget aboyt the food. i saw people go about three times. some got mad because they inly twice. They have to understand that who ever hires them they ask for specific amount .so its nit their fault that people take more then what you can eat. Overall great service and food. Im looking foward to having them carter my sister birthday since she loves asian food and american :)

I attended a wedding where Banchan a la Cart catered. There was a carving selection that served chicken and beef, and a dessert table. But I was blown away at their buffet selection. When you think of buffet food, it isn’t the prettiest but this place made the food not only delicious but pretty too! I didn’t find their food salty or bland and it tasted really clean. I thought they did a good job for serving 250 guests in 3 separate rooms. I was hoping I could get 2nds but Everyone took everything!
I hear that they have a dine in restaurant on Western too. I’m looking forward to dining in!