LA Korea

Closed, really? I just found out they’ve closed while on my way to the restroom.
I’ve eaten here a couple of times. I really liked their cucumber side dish!
Also, I found a piece of hair in my food one time.

I LOVED this place. This was the only place I ate at Farmer’s Market. This restaurant was here as long as I have been in LA. Sweet memories…
I crave this place often and last night was one of the nights I was craving, so I went. GASP!!! They’re no longer in business…
Tears…
Does anyone know if they opened up in a different location?
I always ordered pork with potato salad and glass noodles.

Good. Not great. I had the chicken plate with rice & 3 sides. I love a good Korean BBQ plate but this just wasn’t doing it for me. Similar to a mall food court meal.
It was 10 times better than the Chinese place next door though. (My husband ordered from there and instead kept picking from my plate.)
If it sounds good try it. But there’s no wow factor.

This is a nice little food booth inside the famous farmers market. After roaming around we decided to give this place a try. It might not be the most signature food in FM or first choice for Korean food in this area considering Ktown is very close. It is like a fast food or street food booth. I ordered a combo plate with beef. The portion is big. I couldn’t finish whole plate. Beef was okay, might be a little dry to my taste. Rice was a little cold, but considering I went in a January night around 8pm, it is understandable. Overall a standard fast Korean food plate. I think i might give it another try after finishing all food merchants there.

Amazing food at a reasonable price. I was full all day. Had the bulgogi while my wife had the galbi ribs — very good food

Let me preface this by telling you one thing: I worked here and the owners are TYRANTS. So if you want to blame anyone about the food, blame them. The cooks slave away all day with no breaks, the owners Michael and Mini run a tight ship and fire anyone who ever takes a sick day, the servers don’t get to keep any of the tips (Yeah, that’s right, they don’t let servers keep the tips — to those of you complaining about service being sub par, now you know why.) So they aren’t exactly very motivated to do a great job.
Anyway, onto the food.
The only thing worth trying here is the pork — it is flavorful and delicious, and is best paired with the japchae glass noodles that they hide from you (but you can ask for them) and the potato salad. I can see why some people are complaining about food being bland, etc. and I can tell you that’s because the owners are penny-​pinching twits who live in the lap of luxury in the neighboring Palazzo Villas and won’t spend any money on seasoning or quality ingredients. I once asked them if they’d ever read the reviews on their Unilocal page and they said «We don’t care about them.» — REALLY? You don’t care about your customers, the ones keeping you in business?
So this is both a review and kind of a PSA — stop giving these miserable examples of humanity more money to churn out bland and uninspired food under the guise of «the authentic taste of Korea.» Take your business to someone that cares.

Really? Are people really comparing this yummy Korean bbq fast food spot to sit own grill-​it-​yourself tabletop restaurants. I find that hardly even fair.
And I question people who say it is bland. Anything more than what they have and I would consider it overseasoned!
With that said, LA Korea is a yummy fast food Korean BBQ spot in the historic Farmers Market. Their most flavorful is the pork bulgogi followed by and tied by beef and short rib. In my opinion, the short rib typically is my favorite but it tends to be a bit tough to eat so get this if you are willing to wrestle with the bone. Lastly the grilled chicken is super good but more simple (don’t read that as «bland») in taste than the other meats.
The sides are really good. No you are not going to get the typical banchan but there are veggie sides to complement your meat and white or brown rice.
Honestly, they are all good:
the seaweed salad (notable taste is the rice vinegar)
Korean slaw (more vinegary. Not mayo-​ey)
Broccoli: steamed, seasoned and chilled
Cucumber slices: (rice vinegar marinated)
Seasoned radish
Kimchi (Lately it is mad spicy. It’s also hidden so you have to ask for it.)
Glass noodles (great gluten free alternative to rice. Seasoned and also hidden. Must ask for it.)
Potato salad (creamy but not swimming in mayo. Also hidden from the bar so you must ask for it.)
Overall, it’s the only Korean spot in the Farmers market and surrounding areas. Otherwise you would have to drive over to Ktown which is 5 miles away.

I am a huge fan of Korean food! So I was excited about trying this place. I ordered a combo plate with the pork and Kimchi. The pork was pretty good but a little on the dry side and pretty thin portions. This isn’t the best Korean food I’ve had and not the worst. meh, its ok…

Cravings for Korean food without the hassle of driving and finding parking in KTown? I used to come here since it was walking distance for bibimbap. Not bad, not great. Just okay. Along with that, the japche, glass noddles, are good.

Food isn’t fresh. No refunds either if the food is bad. Beware. Not surprised their zagat award displayed is from 2005.

Quite mediocre. If you are going to open up a Korean place in Los Angeles, it better be great and this place is not. They really need to either find a new kimchi dealer or if they make it themselves, a new recipe.

okay so was cruising thru the grove and farmers market and I got a hankerin for some Korean saw this and said why not
a decent sized bibambap would quash that hankerin so I ordered one
I have never had such a flavorless bibimbap
mostly had lightly salted veggies and even raw iceberg lettuce really? iceberg lettuce
will never be back

Ordered the combo number 2… you get 3 side dishes… which don’t taste that good… and the food is made by spanish people… so it doesnt taste like authentic korean food. Go to K-​town to get the real stuff.

No, obviously it doesn’t compare in authenticity, quality, or value compared to a K-​town joint, but come on, you’re NOT in Korea-​town, and this is the ONLY korean food stand in a touristy farmers market! I got the bugolgi pork plate and it was the 3-​star quality «ok» quality I expected from a food stand just next to the trendy «The Grove» megamall.
Yes, the sides were edible but a little weak. I was especially disappointed by the kimchi (tasted like it wasn’t pickled long enough), and the shredded radish/​daikon side lacked the vinegar & spicy punch I’m used to.
The bugolgi pork flavor was decent, but it had a bit more chunks of big fat that I prefer.
For $ 9.50 + tax it was average priced compared to any other meal in the market, and the portion was definitely large enough to serve one hungry person or shared by 2 smaller eaters.
Overall, if I was really jonesin’ for some K-​food, I guess I’d go again, but otherwise there are probably better quality dishes in the area.

So here I am… with clothes on this time, eating with my lovely wife and this meal wasn’t good! We’ve eaten here before and it used to be pretty good for fast food Korean food. This time everything tasted bland. I expected good flavor in the vegetable dishes and especially in the marinated meat but it was all disappointing.
The lady serving didn’t seem too excited about life either. I won’t be returning. Don’t let those 11 year old Zagat ratings fool you!

This isn’t fine dining Korean BBQ but it’s just as good. This was a go-​to favorite when we lived beside the Grove. I went there again before Christmas and it was the same owners/​managers and same great food.
To be honest, we’ve only had the BBQ short ribs combo with rice but after you’ve had this, why would you want to try anything else? There’s always a good amount of meat on the short ribs so that you’re not getting a majority of bone which is always a plus. Their is also a generous portion for the 3 sides that you get with it! My usual sides are glass noodles, seaweed salad, and tiny sushi vegetable rolls. All of this for under $ 12 is a deal as it’s a big meal.
If the wait is too long at restaurants at the Grove, then this is definitely another option worth checking out! Also, this restaurant is located on the side of the farmer’s market close to the parking lot. The great thing about this location is that on some evenings they have bands that play and karaōke too! Bonus!

It’s «La Korea» not «LA Korea,» which is a sure sign that you are in for mediocrity. Like everything else at this «farmers market» La Korea is overpriced and not worth it.
I ordered the chicken with kimchi, broccoli and potato salad. Only the potato salad was decent. How can you be a Korean restaurant in this city without decent kimchi? It hurts the soul a little.

I came to Farmer’s Market yesterday because I’m attempting to show le BF all the cool spots in LA (he just started grad school and living up there). So after hiking the hills at Runyon Canyon, we stopped here for a post-​hike lunch.
I couldn’t tell you what compelled me to get Korean food when there’s so many other spots I love at Farmer’s Market, but i was feeling adventurous and I’ve never really had it before so I decided to give it a try.
I ordered the #1, beef short ribs with rice and three sides. Pretty huge plate of food for what it cost — I wanna say like 12 – 13. Could easily split with le BF and was filling. And we’re both pretty tall people with accompanying large stomachs.
I really liked the side dishes. I tried the kimchi, cucumber salad, and something resembling coleslaw. All tasted fresh and had great flavor while still being light.
I have to say though, wasn’t a huge fan of the short ribs themselves. Were kind of (extremely) rubbery and had a lot of fat on them. I have never really had Korean food before so I’m not entirely sure what they’re supposed to taste like but I mean, rubbery meat is rubbery meat.
The ladies running the stand were adorable though. 5 stars for service. Just wish the food had been a bit better. This def piqued my curiosity about Korean food though — definitely going to try a highly ranked Korean BBQ spot in OC in the near future — let me know fi you have any suggestions!!! :)

I would give this place a ZERO RATING but… it won’t allow me too, so ONE STAR is that the service is decent. This place is fucking ridiculous. It’s overly expensive and the food is horrible. DO NOT BUY.
Instead just head down to koreatown where you can buy inexpensive delicious food.

May I say that this little spot at the farmers market on third called la Korea is so gosh darn good…
its not a all you can eat, bummmer:(
Anyways its a bit pricey but let me tell you its all worth it. I get the #2 which is the beef bolgoki and it comes with three sides, I usually get kimchi, pickled radish and glass noodles and dont worry they give you a side of rice with the meat. A total of $ 10.35 not bad rite.
The service is fantastic, the ladies who runs this spot are the most friendliest people youl ever have the pleasure of meeting and did I mention the food was great to. I think you get it!!!
happy eating!!!