丰茂烧烤 Feng Mao Lamb Kebab Western — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I came to this restaurant a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday dinner. I'm not a fan of lamb in general, but I found the concept of a DIY kebab restaurant pretty neat. This restaurant not only specializes in kebabs, but they have a few popular Korean dishes that other patrons were ordering.

Ambiance: For me, I thought the layout of the restaurant was a bit strange. It's in a horseshoe formation, with the kitchen on the far left and a room to the left, and 2 rows of booths that primarily occupy the space with a wooden banister in the middle of the two sections (if my description makes sense). The tables on one side aren't really divided and because the atmosphere is quite loud and boisterous, you can really hear the people talking to your left and right. We actually occupied three tables, so I'm sure the other customers could hear us. :X There are vents on top of the cooking stations; the lighting isn't too bad. More suited for big parties, I would say.

Food: It was okay. You pretty much order by the skewer, although there are sets that are supposed to be cheaper. We ended up ordering way too much food for three people, and over-ordered on the lamb and the gizzards. Although they specialize in lamb, since I'm not a fan of it at all, I didn't care for those kebabs. I liked the chicken wings and the beef a lot more. They were properly seasoned and tasty. Unfortunately, I wasn't too skilled in cooking the kebabs and despite the waitress trying to help me, I ended up burning a lot of the kebabs.

Overall, I would say that it's an interesting concept if you like eating kebabs. For me, I thought it was too expensive but that could be because we ordered the wrong kebabs. We ended up paying over $20 per person. The waitresses and waiters are really nice, but I don't think this is the...

This is an all you can pay for establishment, which means you will pay a lot more but at least you won't stuff your face in attempts to make it all worth it. The beef and pork are the stars at this establishment so if you are looking for chicken or fish then you might be SOL. They do have shrimp you can grill but it's doesn't go as well with the tasty premixed seasoning they provide, it's definitely meant for the red meats. Oh and if you want the dumplings please be aware they are pork. Didn't say it on the menu but when asked after my order came out, the waitress confirmed it was indeed pork.

Service is cool but they give you wet cups for your beverages. Something about that doesn't sit well with me and makes me feel that the cups are used/dirty.

The parking in the shopping center...

A great place to get Chinese spiced skewers: lamb, beef, mushrooms, chives, etc. The red spice mix is a mixture of lightly spicy red pepper powder, cumin, sesame, etc. The skewers you get are raw and it's fun to turn them over the gas powered but charcoal cube accentuated grill. Best to just turn up the heat to max and make each side a golden brown.

Lamb soup with sour cabbage is a cold day cure.

The service is fast, especially with the table button. The ambiance is refreshing and much quieter than popular Korean BBQ spots.

The take out here is not as good, they seem to just bake the skewers in a tin foil pouch and there's a lot of oil that can spill out.

PS Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, seems to like this place but we prefer Feng Mao BBQ Lamb...