Howondang

Seriously the best rice cake place in Koreatown. You could even order rice cake CAKES (as in layers of rice slabs) in lieu of your traditional flour and cream cakes — which would be a healthier alternative. Well, unless you write something on top with cream like «Happy Birthday».
Try the drinks that are stocked in the refrigerator. All the cakes and drinks are freshly made.
The owner is super friendly and very attentive to whatever type of cake you’re looking for.

Best Dduk (Rice cakes) in LA. Friendly service. I highly recommended them for gifts or party favors. Comes in nice packaging too!

Upscale dduk (rice cakes) — perfect for presenting to someone as a gift. Grandma’s loooovvveeee this s**t. Well, at least mine does. (She’s fancy). It’s not just the beautiful packaging, which is a definite bonus, but also tastes superior. Moist, yet not oily. Doughy, but not dry. And the filling is light and sweet.
They will even wrap it for you in a traditional Korean scarf (bojagi) if you spend over $ 50. Again, this is upscale dduk for gifting. If you are buying in bulk, I would recommend any other mom and pop dduk jib (bakery) in town. But if you are buying it for the woman that helped your parents raise you and is part of the reason you even exist, then… well… this is the place. A small price to pay if you ask me.
I will be back! Their excellent customer service is the cherry on top of everything else they offer.

Fun Korean bakery! So many fun things to look at! I imagine a good portion of their sales are for dols since I’ve never seen so many varieties of dessert dok in my life! They all looked really yummy!
Peter, his mom, & I came here after lunch for something sweet. Pete & I got the sweet rice drink. He got a small and I got a large. Peter’s mom bought a little thing of… I don’t know what it is. But it’s sweet and delicious!
I will definitely come back for more goodies! :P

I was sad when Howondang closed down @ Koreatown Galleria.
I stumbled upon HWD @ Rodeo Galleria and I didn’t know that they moved here since last year.
The ladies were so nice and helpful. They patiently explained each of the products to me. I picked up some Korean traditional rice cookies for holiday gifts. Ranging from $ 1.60 for a tiny bag to $ 195 for a nice gift that can impress your boss, these cookies are not for everyone but they are also super addicting.
I don’t care what you think but I like my Korean cookies =P They also have the rice drink and cinnamon ginger drink; $ 1.50 for small and $ 2.25 for medium/​large.
$ 10 minimum for credit card.
4 stars!
Howondang is yummylicious!