Todamgol

Pretty low quality meat, tasteless soups. Overpriced as hell.
Worst Korean BBQ I’ve tried. Don’t ask for the marinated beef, it’s extremely sweet and hard to chew! Worst kimchee I’ve tried.
The lady who waitresses is nice, but not very fluent in English, so if you don’t speak Korean chances are she get you something different of what you were expecting.
Also, they only have sodas and alcoholic beverages, no ice tea or so.

I came to to-​go food here and the cashier was rude. First i walked in and the whole restaurant was empty with no where inside. After about 5 minutes, she trickles in from the back. When ordering the food, i had a couple questions and asked and she seemed annoyed. Umm… Why are you annoyed? Its your fucking job.
After ordering, you can clearly tell shes annoyed. I asked how long its gonna take and she raised her voice and told me «it wont take long okay?» Rude.
She looks like a crack addict korean lady, and from all the other reviews seems like service is shitty here anyways.

Well the food is edible. That’s about it. Before I make my review ask yourself this? Would you pay $ 20 for three slaps of boned in Kalbi/​Galbi?
If you would, this review is not for you. This is a review for those who are quite disappointed with badly priced restaurants that don’t get their moneys worth.
So to start off:
I wanted to go to the phở restaurant originally, but my friend Mike, who I offered to treat wanted to go here since it was in the same parking lot. He never had Korean bbq so he was very adamant of trying it. First thing I notice was that there was a lady standing outside and no one was in it. The parking lot was extremely full but nobody was here. I inquired whether this was an ayce, but it wasn’t. My friend still wanted to go in. Then I saw the prices were 20 dollars per place and I wanted to leave immediately since I could get ayce for half these prices practically anywhere. Mike refuses to leave and wanted to try it still.
So we both ordered meat, he ordered some beef and I order some Kalbi. I thought it would big servings but instead it was just three cuts of the bone in Kalbi. So are they charging like 7 bucks for a tiny slab of beef? This is robbery in broad daylight. The beef that was brought to my friend was no bigger. The only redeeming thing about this beef, was that the server cut our beef and served it to us; she had to serve the meat, there was no other customers during the whole 50 mins we present.
The kimichi here is probably the worst I’ve ever had at a Korean Restaurant, almost like they don’t know what it is, stale, old, and vinegar taste to the most extreme.
So when the bill came out to $ 45 dollars, I was extremely pissed and hungry. I tipped the waitress $ 5 because the service was not bad, just the price and quality of the whole place.
I’ll never comeback here if the prices are like this, quality is so poor, and if they are going to blatantly rob people like this.
Come here only if you want bad kimchi, extremely overprice food, and to be lonely.

The soup was good, the short rib was good, and the korean beer was good. We even tried the pork bbq and that was good. Kim was a good cook. She cooked for us… Thought us few tricks… Loved the food here… Very boutique place to dine.

The service was really mean and the pan chan didn’t taste good. The one waitress fawned on the businessman at the other table while ignoring us. We didn’t get water refills but I would not have cared about that if the kim chee had been good. The kim chee tasted like the jar kind you get at the supermarket; heavy on preservatives, light on garlic and chilis. The kal bi and the pi pim pap were ok, so if you don’t care about pan chan and like being ignored, this is your spot. I really like pan chan so I wasn’t at all happy.
You have to pay for valet parking to eat here.

The place looks nice inside. It’s private and I would recommend it for a date because it has a nice atmosphere. The menu is varied but, honestly, I think it’s overpriced. I ordered some fish. I believe it was mackerel. It was tasty but not particularly impressive to me. I left the place and I wasn’t truly satisfied. I got a business card and the name of the restaurant on it is Todamgal and not Todamgol. I’m not sure what the correct spelling is.

My experience was quite good, I realize that not everybody feel the same in some of the reviews. However I am non-​Korean, and don’t read Korean, the owner did a great job putting together a tasty lunch for me and a couple of friends. We will definitely be back.
* My opinion do not reflect on the authentic-​ness of the food and experience, simply that I as a pink white guy had a great time and enjoyed my lunch big time.

We came here by accident when we went to another store next door. Tried the «chicken bulgogi» (for TO-​GO) and it was really good. We went the next evening for another chicken bulgogi to-​go order but as much I as love the chicken, I won’t mind not going again due to the service. It makes you feel like you have to be Korean to come here. The atmosphere was not really very welcoming to those who are not Korean.
I would rather find another «friendlier» Korean barbecue place.

I love my Korean food and just loved the smell of this place the minute I walked in. I went here after my friends college graduation and was just in awe of the great service! We had a pretty big party and they accommodated us very well. The food even came out very quickly.
We had the bulgogi and the chicken, which was great! I think if I had to choose though, I’d go for the bulgogi. I’m more of a red meat kinda girl! lol. The side dishes were also superb and the atmosphere was very pleasant. I believe the owner was the one that actually cooked and served us! She was very warm and pleasant. Almost like I was being served at my own mama’s house! I’d definitely try this place again! I think those that gave poor ratings for this place should give it a second chance! :) I know I will!

Disappointed!!! $ 50 got me mere pieces of kalbi and pig belly… service was horrible.
Ordered:
Kalbi — tasted like beer (good and bad thing)
Pig Belly — nothing special
Bibimbap — no egg, she forgot the sauce
Bean Paste Soup — not horrible
Food was eerrr… nothing special, but the service SUCKED! Didn’t get our silverware (spoon for the soup), didn’t get rice, didn’t get the little app plates until we asked. and about water? forget it. I WILL NEVER RETURN here. unless there are changes.

I love going to different Korean places because I’m a super big fan of like Korean food because it’s so freaking delicious.
So stopped by this place one night, had the grilled marinated chicken and my personal favorite, the marinated beef. Oh my goodnesss… like seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever had such like juicy, tastey beef before. I’ve been to many Korean BBQ places but this meat I had here was like bombbbbbb dot com. I can’t even describe it. I’m a small person and usually don’t eat much, but at this place I freaking feel like I ate a majority of the plate that was in front of me. I left with a full and satisfied stomach. I’d definitely recommend this place if you are in the Los Angeles area and are looking for some bomb Korean food!

Ok so I seriously don’t care for korean bbq. But a bunch of us came over to korea town for one reason or another. They decided to stop by Todamgol. I was pissed. I hate being dragged out to stuff I don’t like, but whatever.
We got there and it was a really small place, it was quiet, not too many people. We got a pretty big spread of meats. Marinated chicken, kalbi, random meats I don’t know of, and bulgogi. omg the bulgogi was SO GOOD. We ordered like 3 extra plates of it. It was really juicy and tender, and the marinade actually made it taste meatier and better, not taste just like marinade. It made me a believer. I’m totally going to go here when I feel like kbbq. Totally my hidden korean bbq spot hahaha.

Ok… I am a Korean cuisine expert. Seriously. My last fucking name is Kim.
THE ORDER:
Spicy Pork 3.98 stars… good! Great flavor, not too-​too fatty… Juicy, smokey… solid.
Spicy Chicken 4 stars… verrry juicy, great flavor… not fatty at all, but remained its succulence.
Bibimbap 1.5 stars… the worst Bibimbap I’ve ever had… the Bibimbap inside HK in Santa Ana is a million times better than this garbage. Just lame… nothing fresh. Very little egg (definitely not even half of an egg)…limp veggies… nasty. I did like the red and white rice, hence the .5 star.
THE BANCHAN SUCKED DONKEY BALLS… we were brought only 4 items… japchae (lame), limp and not really fermented kimchee, some weird green cabbage bullsh! t, and limp sprouts… uhhhhh, no. FAIL.
THE SERVICE:
The woman was pleasant. Even tho she asked my husband if he was Korean and he said yes, she spoke in broken English… maybe out of courtesy for me… or maybe bc she didnt think he speaks Korean; he does. Whatever. She was pleasant. I did see her using her hands to prep the bibimbap, tho… ick.
OTHER NOTES:
We were the only table there at 12:15 on a wednesday… hmmmmm???
I do not recommend this place for peeople who love banchan and lots of it… or for a more varied menu… or if u like to grill ur own meat. The meats WERE good, tho, I’ll give them that. But, I like all components of my meal to be exeptional.
enjoy!
xo–
andrea

This very hard to review, I’d give this more of a 2.5 stars than a full 3. Mostly because this is a Korean BBQ place FOR Koreans, definitely not for westerners, even asian like westerners.
The service was mediocre/​ok because they assumed that I wouldn’t be interested in half the menu (the first page is all in Korean) so being curious I had to ask. She told me «that’s for koreans, you wouldn’t like any of that, try marinated beef or spicy pork»… since I was there I hate leaving so I stayed.. .. and kinda glad I did because the marinades are really good, the beef’s marinade made the meat very tender, but the bad things is that for the amount of food I got was not worth it. I could have gone to other places and get 3 times as much food (see my other reviews).
But it was open till midnight on Sunday (even though the menu said 11P) and I was really in the mood for some Korean BBQ and we were fortunate that it was good. But I don’t find myself going her again.

I don’t want to bum the party out but there is a reason that at 10 pm on a Friday night this place is empty. We had a guest in town and wanted to have some Korean BBQ, drove to Ktown and thought that what ever we find would be good. Especially having never been disappointed with Korean food.
First, the experience. Like I said, you know something is up when you go into a place and it is empty. I just didn’t want the hassle of getting back into the car to drive around looking for another place. Our server — probably the owner was quite overbearing. She was pushy and tried to get us to order twice as much food as we wanted. She also cooked the food for us… which I’m not used to but could be cool.. except for the part where she said «I cook, you enjoy» We had a hard time enjoying the food as she beat our meat around with very stern face.
As for the food, I found it to be quite lacking. The chicken was good — and I’m not a fan of bbq chicken. The short ribs were well… not bad. I don’t think you can go wrong with short-​ribs but the flavor here was unimpressive. The ribs were cut really thin and so the nice bounce-​back texture wasn’t there. The sides… four sides. I like my plethora of sides when having Korean food… Four not so yummy sides. The kimchee was so so, the bean sprouts, and I love bean sprouts were not that good. I think the main flavor in the bean sprouts was salt, not much else.
Even if the service wasn’t awkward, the food would still be 1 star. The bill at the end was much more than the food deserved and since none of us read Korean, we just had to take it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect the first time I came here with my boyfriend (who is Korean BTW). I was already a little rattled because we just left the Galleria (which was quite the experience with all the «glares.» I told my boyfriend that he minus-​well be holding my hand and walking in the middle of Seoul with me. Awkward!) so arriving here, I was expecting the same.
However, I was pleasantly surprised. Our waitress was very sweet (and recognizes me every time we go back… but…it’s not like she WOULDN’T remember me LOL!) The food was great! We had what we now call, «Severe Comatosis»…if we had no shame we would have passed out at the table LOL! We also had a bottle of Pomegranate wine (and bought a few to take home).
Another plus… we can smoke in here! How awesome is that?!
Overall, I love this place. I’ve gotten use to being the «token non-​Korean» when we explore different places in K-​Town. This is one of my favs! Awesome place!

tracy, you should’ve ordered wine, there is a crazy selection of fruit rice wines…
anywho…while aunny d. and her 200 Unilocalies were playing donkey chong and gettin smashed on sake bombs over at miss t’s barcade i decided to rather burn some meat and suck on fermented spicy cabbage.
my favorite korean dish is bulgogi and min j. kim marinates a fine-​ass bulgogi.
good thing no baby possum walked in, since i’m known for tryin to pick those little boogers up and take ‘em home as a pet and then get bit in the hand which requires a fresh tetanus shot…
back to the food, it’s no woo lee oak, but the place was completely empty, so we got fast service and i got stuffed on nicely crunchy han beef.
then walked up to miss t’s and watched the leftover Unilocalsies fall over themselves… where the hell was aunny at 10:30???
haha, oh wait, i forgot to mention that min kept taking the tongs of the plate with the raw chicken juice to flip the items on the grill… talk about cross contermination… freaked me out everytime she did it… i guess it burns off… but still…

Those that know me, know that even though I have lived in Koreatown for 10 years, I had my first KBBQ 7 months ago. I came here twice during the summer. The first time, I wasn’t hungry so I just picked off my date’s plate (hey, it was late that night). Besides how good the meat was, what I remember most about this place was that a baby possum came into the restaurant. (It is a very small place that it open to the sidewalk.) We assisted the waitress in herding the possum out of the place, and the first thought that ran threw my mind was that I needed to Unilocal this place.
The second time I went, I ate dinner there. The food was just as good as I remembered, but no possum this time. I discovered just to drink water — I am not a sake drinker and this was not the place to order wine.