Lyla D.
Yelp
During our recent vacation in Los Angeles, my brother-in-law teased me about my post-pandemic Korean drama binge-watching. Also, because of his teasing about K-drama binge-watching, I suggested we eat at an authentic, home-style Korean restaurant, where I could demonstrate that I have learned some Korean foodie culture and phrases to recognize and order our dishes at a restaurant. My relatives are meat lovers, and they wanted to go to a Korean barbecue, such as the Soot Bull Jip, which features charcoal table grills. However, I won the debate by suggesting Jinsol Gukbap after reading about it in a December 2024 Eater LA article that listed it as one of the Top 20 Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles and because we were going to be flying out the next day and we didn't want our clothing to pick up the cooking aromas.
Jinsol Gukbap 3rd was easy to find at the corner of W 3rd Street and S Ardmore Avenue. There is an attached parking lot behind the restaurant (entrance on S Ardmore Avenue) that it shares with two other businesses in the building complex. We entered the restaurant from the parking lot and were about to sign in on their waitlist when I saw a hostess/server coming towards us, so I said "안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo)" or "hello" in Korean. She returned the friendly greeting and sat our foursome at a community table. However, since the restaurant wasn't too crowded, we asked to be seated at one of their booths along the windows.
Each dish's menus and colorful photos were printed in English and Korean, so you don't have to worry about guessing about your food. My dining mates left the food ordering up to me, and I spoke in English about the names of dishes I couldn't pronounce confidently. Our server recognized that my husband and I weren't residents of Los Angeles from our speech intonation, so we told her we were visiting from Hawai'i. She was excited that we chose this restaurant and informed us they are known for Busan's regional contributions to Korean cuisine. From the look of the restaurant's clean, bright decor and vibe, I gathered that Jinsol Gukbap leans more toward feeding the neighborhood workers and crowds. After all, gukbap (soup-and-rice) is among the many Korean staple dishes, and many gukbap shacks are affordable and feature wide varieties of this rice-and-soup in the country.
We started our lunch with glasses of icy cold and refreshing Cass beer, a South Korean non-pasteurized lager. Our server brought us seven banchan dishes ranging from vinegary pungency to spice level. She warned us about the jalapeño kimchi, which she, as a Korean native, said was too spicy for her. Haha... my brother-in-law took the spice challenge, and even he stopped after eating one slice but paired with the steamed rice, he said it wasn't too fiery. Sorry, I wouldn't try it because I didn't want to ruin my tastebuds before the rest of our meal was delivered.
First to be delivered to our table was the Busan specialty, boiling dwaeji-gukbap or pork, soy sauce, miso, rice wine, sesame seed oil, and bone broth in a ttukbaegi. At first glance, the soup looks like the milky or creamy seolleongtang (beef bone soup); however, while serving the soup, we discovered a red chile paste in the bottom of the bowl, which is the signature of dwaeji-gukbap. I added the seasonings, kimchi, fermented shrimp (?), and rice into my soup bowl, as I believe it is traditional to do when eating gukbap. My lunchmates just drank the soup as is and found this soup on the bland side without the condiment seasonings.
Next, our server brought us a platter of Naengchae Jokbal for $40 (braised pork trotter with special mustard sauce and cold jellyfish salad). Our family is a group of porkaholics, so we all dove into these chilled/room temperature pork slices and the jellyfish salad. The "mustard sauce" described on the menu tasted like an Asian salad dressing made with sesame seed oil, grated Korean pears, soy sauce, a little garlic, and more.
Then, our server delivered a sizzling platter of Marinated Spicy Pork Ribs that were tender, juicy, and so tasty that I felt my eyes roll back with each bite. The ribs were grilled to perfection, and the meat was fork-tender. We used the tongs to grab and hold the ribs to pull out the rib bone. She followed with an aromatic sizzling platter of LA Grilled Beef Short Rib or Galbi for $32.75. The onions lining the sizzling platter sputtered in the hot oil while its natural sugars caramelized into soft and sweet onion strips. Meanwhile, we paused to allow the hot-off-the-grill short rib pieces to cool before biting into unctuous beefy flavorfulness.
The portions at Jinsol Gukbap were generous, and our foursome had to admit defeat: We had to pack a container for leftovers. We'd gladly return for the casual, friendly, delicious, and affordable meals at Jinsol Gukbap 3rd.
