Seoul Sausage Little Tokyo Is Open, But Very Different from the Original

Just a quick note to say that Seoul Sausage Company opened up this week in Little Tokyo. I can’t believe it’s been three years since I first posted about them. They’ve since become a fixture on Sawtelle and haven’t changed much.

But this new joint is different. Really different. The food is much the same, with a few new dishes. But there is a full bar. And table service. And prices to match.

I was expecting a quick takeout place like the old place, which was almost like a stationary food truck (per its roots). I wasn’t expecting a $28 kalbi dish or everything to be over $10. Or not an easy way to place a takeout order.

Anyways, I’ll report back when I try it. Hopefully, they’ll make lunch a more casual affair.

Seoul Sausage Company

236 S. Los Angeles St. Suite G

Los Angeles, CA 90012

A-Frame – Roy Choi’s Food Almost All Grown Up

Another long overdue review. A-Frame is Roy Choi’s first (somewhat) serious table service restaurant after hitting it big with the Kogi trucks. Housed in a former IHOP, the space is an incredible reworking of an old tired building.

But the real story is the food. Choi’s food is always reworking classics with Korean and other influences.

TJFLR – Bibimbap Bowl – Fine If You’ve Never Had BBB

Trader Joe’s is admirably taking on the task of mass-marketing niche ethnic foods for the middle class market of captive desk lunchers. Unfortunately, they are doing so with a supply chain that does not seem to cross streams at all with the ethnic foods they are trying to mimic.

Mimic is probably the right word to describe TJ’s frozen Bibimbap Bowl. Ubiquitous at Korean restaurants, every family has their own spin on BBB since you can throw almost any veg in it. Correction: any KOREAN-seasoned veggies. TJ’s version tastes like someone had read about BBB in an old book, was trapped in a Midwest grocery store, and this was their best effort considering they had never tasted gochujang.

Kogi BBQ & Kogi at the Alibi Room

Maybe you’re like me: you read all the hype about Kogi but just never got around to tracking down the truck in the middle of the night and standing in line forever. You’ve seen the truck at Venice First Friday or Art Walk, but the line stretched around the block and you thought, there are better things I can do with 2 hours, and you settled for a hot dog.

Well you’re not like me anymore. I took the opportunity a couple weeks ago passing through the OC to hit up the Kogi truck at the Little Saigon lunar new year festival. Good times.

Chego East – Good News: Nothing’s Changed!

My tears have finally dried from the closing of Chego West. Good to his word, Roy Choi has moved everything east to the Far East Plaza in Chinatown and got up and running quick. This picture shows probably the biggest change (other than location): picnic tables and outdoor seating.

Xlixe Pizza – Dumb Name, Pretty Good Pizza

Xlixe is the year-or-so-old pizzeria that brought actual pizza to Little Tokyo. Since we talked about Mr. Pizza yesterday, let’s talk about a Korean-American place that puts non-traditional stuff on their pies.

Mr. Pizza – Strange Things Afoot on My Pizza

Almost a year old, Mr. Pizza is part of a couple interesting intersecting trends in Little Tokyo. Will the masses start lining up for Korean pizza?

Seoul Sausage Co. – Rice Balls Like Your Korean-Italian Mamma Made

Another entry into what is fast becoming the new power center of the food scene in LA (the NW corner of Sawtelle and Mississippi in West LA), Seoul Sausage Co. comes fresh off winning that food truck TV contest to bring kalbi hot dogs and kalbi poutine to the masses.

Kaju Naengmyun – Kimbap Is OK

I had heard this place in Koreatown was great for two of my favorite Korean snacks, kimbap and ddukboki. Would Caju Naengmyun make me forget dear old mom’s versions?

Chego Means the Best

Let’s get this out of the way: Chego is my favorite thing to eat in LA right now.

If you haven’t already dismissed me as a fraud, let me elaborate. I’ve eaten a lot of bibimbap in my life, most of it at home. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I’ve eaten a couple hundred BBBs that were all roughly the same: white rice, bulgogi, sautéed spinach, bean sprouts, red chile paste, and of course the fried egg. Delicious. I went to Korea a few years ago and had probably half a dozen BBBs in a week, from probably the best I’ve ever had (in Daejeon) to one of the worst I’ve had (in the airport). But almost all of them were decorated with the same set of crayons.