KBBQ — Highest Quality UNDER $100/PP

You’re only thinking of marinaded galbi or bulgogi. That’s a small part of KBBQ. In fact, you’ll rarely see koreans eating bulgogi at a KBBQ restaurant such as Park’s. Most of KBBQ is not marinaded and simply seasoned with some salt and sesame oil.

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Taking a true vegetarian to a Korean BBQ restaurant is sort of like to taking a blind person to the Louvre.

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I think they try to do what they see as the “right” thing without being too strict about it.

They have done this before at KBBQ numerous times and are generally happy to be ignorant of how the sausage, or “vegetarian” fare, is being made.

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? confused. Maybe this is just personal taste/experience, but I was always under the impression that marinated meat was a big part of KBBQ. Just as a data point, I grew up in a Korean family and have been going to Korean bbq all my life in many different areas, my relatives from fobs to 2nd generation ppl have always ordered at least some marinated beef whenever we went out for kbbq; some people prefer unmarinated meat at times but that’s personal preference and varies. There’s a reason why LA Galbi has its name.

Anyways, going back to the topic at hand, both Park’s and Gwangyang specialize at least in part in marinated beef. Park’s for the galbi, and Gwangyang for the bulgogi (one of the few places where it’s worth ordering since it’s one of their specialties and they use good quality beef for it). It’d be strange to go to either and not order marinated beef, but whatever floats your boat. And regardless, wine pairing is ultimately a personal choice/preference.

went to Park’s today, really great meat quality, especially the unmarinated cuts which were better there haha than Gwangyang. Still think the kangnam-style bulgogi at Gwangyang is the best, though. corkage at Park’s was only $15 per bottle (versus $25 at GY) and they had better (or at least larger) stems than Gwangyang, though that isn’t saying much. had a Lambrusco and kabinett-level riesling which were perfect for what we ordered; could see a cab going well with the unmarinated cuts though still iffy with some of the banchan. The banchan at Park’s is still the best that I’ve seen in LA overall.

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Most kimchi is not vegetarian due to the salted shrimp.

Thanks for pointing that out; although most of the banchan I had at Park’s (and at places like Soban that have like 14 - 16 little dishes) tasted nothing of shrimp paste? But perhaps it’s just a backnote. I’ll try and find out which ones are “100% vegetarian” next time.

Probably more info than you’d want to know.

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I can’t taste the shrimp. I haven’t seen vegetarian kimchi at Korean stores.

Not me. That’s really fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

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Hey, all. Quick follow-up. I got VETOED! The guest of honor wanted to keep things accessible for all once again. We opted for AYCE + Naraebang. It was fun!

There will be a smaller group gathering later this summer for the final bon voyage and it will be Park’s v Gwang Yang again. I’ll let you know how that works out.

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H-mart in Koreatown has vegetarian kimchi in their cold section near the produce. I bought a jar and it was pretty good. Don’t remember the brand name though. I usually just make my own though, using a recipe from SeriousEats.

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You’re not supposed to taste the shrimp. It’s there for umami.

The same way you shouldn’t be able to taste the fish or oyster in quality fish/oyster sauce.

There’s not much salted shrimp, like 1/4 cup for two big heads of nappa.

Don’t go to Soot Bull Jeep is all i can say after our time yesterday. . A whole lot of meh, some good, some downright bad.

I am of the firm opinion that because they’re using charcoal they’re getting lower quality and sometimes unfresh meats and the smoke acts as… uh… a smokescreen.

Sorry to hear that. It was on my list, but we seem to have similar tastes so I will cross it off.

You can absolutely find vegetarian or vegan kimchee at Korean markets. It simply requires you to read the labels of the many, many, many different versions of kimchee available. I know, because I used to do it all the time, until I figured out to take a photo of what I found for future reference. :roll_eyes: I also found kimchees without garlic, believe it or not.

I read the label of every kind of kimchi at my local Korean supermarket. Not one was vegetarian or made without sugar.

I have not gone to these lengths to confirm but I have never heard of a kimchi that was 100% vegetarian.

I’ve found a few vegetarian kimchis, just not at Korean markets. One was pretty good stuff made by a hip Korean restaurant group in the Berkeley-Oakland area. The others were amateurish hippie crap.