Gamja Gol — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Gamjatang was sooo flavorful and mouthwatering that I also had to try their sister restaurant in LA.

Parking: They’re located in a very small plaza, so finding a spot can be difficult. We visited around 15:30, and got lucky with a spot.

Ambiance/Environment: This spot is truly Korean. They have a small indoor space with a decent amount of seating. They weren’t as busy when we visited, but it started getting busier closer to dinner time.

Service: I didn’t catch any of their names, but all the servers were attentive, quick, & efficient! They speak limited English, but they understand enough.

Foods:

1. Gamja Tang - The portion size was LARGE! The soup was as flavorful as the gamja tang at their sister location. There were a generous amounts of meat and vegetable.

2. Vegetable Pancake - This tasted as expected. Its thinness and non-crunchiness made it stand out from other pancakes I’ve had. It was really soft, yet delicious.

3. Fried Rice - One of the servers offered fried rice. She packed the remaining gamja tang in a to-go bowl and took the pan away. When she came back with the pan, there was a thin layer of fried rice mixed in with the flavors of the soup! Yummm!

4. Banchan - I appreciate the amount of banchan they provide. If you want more of a specific side, simply ask. They didn’t provide purple rice, so I asked for some hehe.

Pricing: Definitely worth it! Dishes can be shared...

5 stars for incredibly satisfying food at a very affordable price. Service was alright, but they were really busy and every time they appeared, it was with good food so all is forgiven.

We ordered the medium Gamjatang for 3 people (the small is for 2, the large is for 4-5 apparently) and were served a variety of banchan while we were waiting. Really good banchan, I liked the different kimchi and stewed potato in a nice thick gravy.

The Gamjatang that arrived was huge! We thought we wouldn't be able to finish it, but we shouldn't have worried.. It was so good, we scraped up every last drop. The soup is really flavorful, not too spicy, and has a great flavor from the perilla leaves that they pile on top. The meat is really tender and it's fun trying to get it all off the bone. This is not first-date food, and definitely qualifies as comfort food, especially since it's been cold-ish and rainy recently.

We were wondering why they weren't serving us rice but the lady told us that they would make "fried rice" at the end so we waited patiently when we were done with our pot. When the rice came, they used purple rice to stir-fry a little with the remaining soup and meat, and mixed in some seaweed and kimchi for the ultimate comfort food. Gamjatang kimchi fried rice?? Bring it on!! We devoured every last bit despite being confident we couldn't eat...

Due to the cold weather, there was a bit wait, so restaurant was handing out cards with numbers, when they call you number, you will be seated shortly. Our number was 16, we were seated around the same time as 15, and we were also right next to 15. Because we’ve been here several times already, we basically ordered right away, so when 15 was ordering in Chinese to a Chinese speaking worker, she was told that they need to wait for 20 minutes because the restaurant just out of the food just wanted to get. Then this girl started to argue with the worker in Chinese about why we’re 16, they’re 15, but we got to order first instead of them. The worker was patiently explaining that because it’s just because we finished ordering first, but apparently she wouldn’t accept, kept going it’s not fair to let 16 order first. It was super uncomfortable, I full understood her mandarin because I’m Taiwanese, she wouldn’t stop arguing with the restaurant and pointing fingers at us, even asked for a discount, because it’s so unfair to her and she’s so hungry. My mind was blown away by her entitlement. Girl, you need to learn the numbers only mean the sequence to be seated, they don’t mean that you can...