5 Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Los Angeles: December 5 | Eater LA

"After nearly a year of anticipation , New York–based modern Korean restaurant Hojokban has arrived in the Arts District just in time for the brisk winter evening air in Los Angeles. The operation comes in tandem with the splashy South Korean brand Cafe Knotted , which opened a few days later next door and should draw Instagram influencer types by day. Hojokban’s space conjures a dim, intimate Seoul hangout but with high ceilings and a generous layout that one wouldn’t find in the bustling Korean capital. That dash of industrial cool amid the orante traditional decor illustrates Hojokban’s approach to Korean cuisine: familiar but undeniably new. Parents and grandparents probably wouldn’t recognize a lot of the dishes, like fresh salmon ssambap topped with uni and caviar, but the setup still feels incredibly old-school and delectable. A trio of kimchi comes in small golden bowls, regal and elegant, each banchan properly fermented and piquant. Most tables will order the immense pre-sliced galbi, laid out along the beef bone and served with a dressed green lettuce salad. The golden brown truffle potato jeon looks like a dreamy latke, but whose ultra-crispy disc of carbs comes covered with bacon, Parmesan, and truffle aioli. The kitchen is still buttoning up a few seasonings and sauces, like an inert rosé curry sauce accompanying the pork katsu and the fried chicken that’s frankly coated in too much breading. Still, there’s a lot of promise here, especially if cool young Korean Americans can make it their new hangout, a hole left open when Yangban closed earlier this year." - Eater Staff