That sounds like a fun event.
Baroo has re-opened in the Union Swap Meet off of Santa Monica near sunset junction. The menu is much smaller, focusing on bowls, small appetizers, and still making kombucha. They don’t have any of their recognizable dishes from the old restaurants (I’m assuming based on space/cooking constraints).
We went for lunch today had karma circulation, shirmp/shittake, and kimchi singing spring. No photos.
Karma circulation was a fried chicken cutlet bowl with gochujang mayo and watermelon radishes and some salad greens. Great flavor and the citrusy sumac really rounded out the dish well.
Kimchi singing spring was a greens salad mixed with napa cabbage along with a refereshing vinagarette, nuts and puffed grains. Would never really think to mix kimchi with a salad but the kimchi was very mild and not like typical korean kimchi.
Shiitake seaweed shrimp- tasted like a shirmp/mushroom katsu. The squid ink sauce served with it was delicious and would go well with any dish.
They were backed up but working very hard, so please be patient if you visit. Their food is delicious and definitely worth patronizing go check them out but they have limited hours.
Yelp link provided for photos and other info.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/baroo-los-angeles-2
I visited a few weeks back and tried the Kimchi Singing Spring, daily special Octopus rice with shepherd’s purse, Shiitake Seaweed Shrimp app and tepache.
Left bowl is the Kimchi Singing Spring, right bowl is the Octopus rice and the little bowl in the lower right is the Shiitake Seaweed Shrimp:
CU on the Shiitake Seaweed Shrimp:
The Singing Spring was fairly piquant as you’d expect for having kimchi but it was well balanced against the other savory and nutty elements. Octopus rice was very savory and the octopus was really well cooked.
The Shiitake Seaweed Shrimp was impressively good. I figured you couldn’t go wrong with something crunchy and shrimp-y but it was even better than I expected. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and well balanced in taste and texture with the mushroom.
Overall, I guess everything felt exceptionally well balanced in flavors and texture. I don’t have the best palate so I certainly can’t parse what each of the dozen or so elements going into each dish contribute but it was really enjoyable.
from various instagram posts, it looks like baroo is coming back sometime this summer!
was interesting to read the old posts here on it - i was surprised no one mentioned the various pickles (the onion w/rose, the kimchi w/pineapple, the passionfruit sauerkraut) which to me were one of the main highlights!
i visited the original version a few months before it closed and it has remained one of the most memorable eating experiences of the last 5 years for me. the way that some of the dishes were out-of-the-box reminded me of pierre gagnaire, and i was looking forward to seeing the chefs?cooks?/and restaurant mature (clearly the original version of baroo had a lot of issues, from service to the unevenness of the menu). hopefully this new reopening will be in that vein, as opposed to the swapmeet version of baroo or shiku…
They were off the menu when I was there. I think the noorook several of us mentioned had a lot of pickles.
And those pickled watermelon rinds 
excited to hear they’ll be back this Summer
just remembered they actually printed the recipe for their onion/rose and their watermelon rind
from eater, it’ll be a $95 (vegan only?) tasting menu with potentially nothing brought back from past iterations (Modern Korean Restaurant and Critical Darling Baroo Is Reopening in LA - Eater LA). will be interesting to see to what degree they differentiate from the evolved state of LA ‘modern’ Korean restaurants e.g. Kinn…
Couldn’t tell if it meant vegan only or there was a vegan option. Intrigued / excited either way
Rezzies are up. Going next saturday. 110$ 5 course tasting menu, NOT vegan.
went to their f&f soft opening tonight (thank u mina & kwang ~~!!).
it’s really special to see baroo evolve from the strip mall, to the swap meet, to shiku, to this newest tasting menu iteration.
tl;dr — I was thinking of this opening in a few different ways:
- is the cooking as experimental, as playful, as interesting as former iterations?
- is the service experience great?
- how does this (re)opening fit in, given the wider array of (I’m generalizing here, forgive me!) “asian fine dining” options that have sprung up in the last few years?
across the board, it’s a relief to say that they hit all of these marks. it feels like our lil punk rock star of a restaurant has grown up a bit 
. obviously with that growth, there will be some changes; but thankfully very few growing pains.
the quick-service counter vibe of the previous iterations has given way to a proper tasting menu experience.
the interior refresh of the restaurant FKA bao hiroo is well done. the bar looks well-appointed, the hankies are beautiful indigo dyed pieces. etc. I should’ve taken photos but… I’ll do that next week (heh).
now… onto the food and the menu(s), shall we? spoiler tags in case someone wants to go in w/ no preconceived notions. (fun!)
a light chowder of corn puree, w celery, cucumber and fermented corn. if you’re familiar w/ Kwang’s cooking, this is the first tell that you’re in for a different experience. this was a refreshing and delightful first dish, paired with a makgeolli “toast” topped w/ nduja, gouda and pichuberry, which basically tasted like a super intense pizza toast.
second course (redacted) for now because I inhaled it. you’ll have a big smile upon finishing this.
third course is a flip of gaejang or marinated crab. this version is a local soft-shell crab, fried and served in a wrap w/ pickled plum (maesil jangajji) & sea buckthorn. briney, crispy, with the most thoughtful hit of acidity from the plum, and a bit of bitterness from the sea buckthorn. if there’s something being done here that others aren’t doing as much (if at all), it’s playing w/ bitterness to add dimensionality to the dish.
will let someone else talk about the meat courses. split them both, they’re great.
ok the craziest thing on the menu was this rice.
when I was at the restaurant, I couldn’t stop thinking about that makgeolli toast. but many hours later, this is the winner here. I’m so sorry for the utterly terrible photo. thick grains of rice are mixed with mountain greens, pickled ramps (YES), an xo sauce that was almost like eating Bengali fish stew (this is a compliment), all topped with a sheet of fried seaweed. I think the best way to eat this is literally to use a fork and stab the seaweed and have a properly commingled bite of everything.
Dessert was also very thoughtful and very refreshing: a chamoe (Korean melon) panna cotta, w/ toasted grain ice cream and (again w/ the bitterness!) a sorrel granita/bingsu atop all of that.
basically, this place makes me extremely happy and y’all should go if you get a chance. if it’s this solid before opening, it’ll only get better.
in terms of fun nitpicky things, I think the initial stated price of $95 for the menu has gone up to $110(?), but its still an expertly executed meal. and it isn’t vegan, as initially reported. solid wine list too. 
Reservations are open for the weekend of 9/16
their website is giving me blue screen of death flashbacks.
An incredibly important restaurant for LA and maybe the first of the Korean chef-y trend that’s been popping up in the country since then. Glad they’re back.
We enjoyed our meal here on Saturday. It was VERY very quick, though. I wish we got some better explanations of the dishes and I had to pry to learn anything about what was actually in the dishes beyond what was written on the menu. We were probably in and out in an hour even with wine and non-alc pairings.
Rice dish was fantastic, loved the 2 bites at the beginning and the ssam. Dessert was a highlight for me too.
Non alc pairings were delicious. I look forward to trying the next menu, though.