Hanbat Sul Lung Tang — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Han Bat is most certainly a restaurant of pedigree, attracting a large local crowd and having been featured prominently on Buzzfeed's iconic Worth It episode on Korean soups. With that said, I must report that its merits have been somewhat exaggerated. In a nutshell, there may be nothing wrong with Han Bat per se, but there's nothing that made it real feel amazing for me either.

Han Bat effectively does one dish - Korean seoullung tang - beef soup. It's simple by design anywhere you go, and this is no exception. I got the brisket and must report that the cuts were excellent, thin and not too chewy. The soup itself is relatively tasteless though you're provided with pepper, chili and powdery salt to flavor with as well as all the green onion you could ask for. The kimchi sides are quite good as well. Costs include tax which is very pleasant, as is the service which is very clearly friendly.

That said, the portions aren't amazing - the rice noodles in the soup are so paltry I didn't realize they were there at first. The price mystifies me - how a single bowl of mostly soup goes for 13.50 is hard to justify. And the service, though pleasant to everyone is also very Korean oriented. You'll never have trouble ordering in English but if you can't speak Korean, you will feel it.

Han Bat is perhaps the architype hole in the wall, for better or worse. Nothing much to look at, even boasting a rare B rating (not that they seemed particularly unclean) one goes in with the hope of finding something special eschewing looks for quality. While it's clear many people have found that here, I can't say I have. For every nice touch there's something stiffling to go with it, and if nothing else, I cannot fathom the 4.4 star rating it seems to maintain, earning Han Bat a middle of the road...

This restaurant is worth all the hype in my opinion. They only serve 2 dishes: seolleongtang & suyuk. I didn't try the suyuk, so I cannot speak on that, but I absolutely loved the seolleongtang!

PSA: The dish is supposed to be served bland people!!!! That's why there's always salt and black pepper, and you adjust as you want!!!!!!

Personally, I always add minimal salt and lots of black pepper & green onion. This soup is my "soul-healing soup". The very-slightly salted soup makes is perfect for a hangover, a cold day, or really any time. I've tried a few Korean restaurants that serve seolleongtang and would say this place is one of my top 2! I had two bowls of rice and emptied my whole bowl of seolleongtang

Another thing that I loved about the restaurant was the kimchi. The regular kimchi tasted freshly home-made, while the radish kimchi was incredibly delicious and paired so well with the soup and rice. We got (free) refills on the radish twice because it was just that crunchy and good!

My family and I came on a Friday afternoon, and it was packed. The restaurant has a very small hole-in-the-wall vibe and parking, unfortunately, is valet. Street parking is otherwise hard to find. The wait was not as long as I had thought it would've been for how long the line was. And yes, this is a very long review on one dish because that's how much I...

Original Bone Broth 💯

It’s hard to dispute the fact that Los Angeles’ Koreatown is the mecca for Korean food in the United States

I’ve never lived close enough to explore it well but did this past week sampling soy marinated raw crabs, short rib stews, and multi-colored banchan

My favorite however was the traditional ox bone soup. In the SF Bay Area, I most often order the more flavorful galbi tang (short rib soup) but the sul lung tang is as close to Korea and the go-to in LA

I’ve been wanting to try Han Bat Shul Lung Tang for close to a decade and it did not disappoint

Just a pinch of salt, plentiful scallions and a side of kimchi and rice made the perfect meal combination

The broth is milky white (side note I also tried the clear sul lung tang at Young Dang) and it’s so full of rich beefiness you can easily tell it’s made over hours

Parking isn’t as bad as I’ve always feared in LA with plentiful lots and parking structures in Koreatown that makes it a destination worthy of your time

📷 Salgoki Sul Lung Tang $20 brisket / Seokum $20 mixed / Naejang $20 ~ Intestines, Tripe, Spleen

📍Hanbat Sul Lung Tang (Los Angeles, CA)

Seating is indoor only and limited metered street parking is available nearby. Credit cards...