Soot Bul Gui Rim

A preview of coming attractions:

Our meal started off right at this Koreatown favorite. The top photo reveals our first round: unmarinated short rib, beef tongue, and the de rigueur pork belly. Glimpses into our second round in the bottom photo: marinated short rib (and we also threw on some fresh garlic and jalapeno).

Lately, I've been having a hankering for charcoal Korean bubbaque. With all of the Korean bubbaque places in Los Angeles, only a small percentage use charcoal. On this past Easter my nose took me (you can literally smell this place a block away) to Soot Bul Gui Rim which is known for being the best all you can eat bubbaque places in the city ("awesome" said one reviewer): what makes Soot Bul Gui Rim stand out from all the other all you can eat places is the use of charcoal briquettes and the high quality of meat.

Come, delight your senses in the world that is Soot Bul Gui Rim:

So, for the first round we were limited to the three choices. I thought that the unmarinated short rib was more tender than at Cham Sut Gol ($24 there) and the pork belly was much tastier than at the over rated, in my opinion, Honey Pig (don't even get me started on Honey Pig!).

I really liked the marinated short rib; at most places I feel that they put too much sugar in the marinade and what I'm left with after barbequing is candied meat. At Soot Bul Gui Rim the marinated meat was more on the savory side. And with our second round we also got a dainty...

Have a heart - literally:

You know, Dear Reader, I fail to understand why people do not eat heart more often? It's like a really tasty and uber tender filet mignon.

Ooh, look at the flames:

Below, photos of some panchan - a lovely bean sprout salad and a healthy dose of kim chee:

Take a full tour of the panchan and the dipping sauces:

I forgot to film one dipping sauce (the chili garlic paste) which was fabulous with the pork belly.

And finally, my thoughts on charcoal Korean bubbaque:



Soot Bul Gui Rim
233 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020