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    Home » restaurants » Hodori - Suitable Only for Sobering Up

    February 2007 restaurants

    Hodori - Suitable Only for Sobering Up

    hodori korean restaurant, koreatown, los angeles, ca - bibimbahp

    Hodori
    1001 S Vermont Ave (@Olympic Blvd.)
    Los Angeles, CA 90006
    213.383.3554

    ** yes, i know. yet another overdue completion of a previously published half-ass post. sue me. **

    There is but one, only one, reason you would ever eat at Hodori Restaurant – you are drunk in Koreatown after 2 am and can’t figure out where the other holes in the Great Wall of Koreatown are because you can’t call 411 because you don’t know the English name for “Sahn.”

    If you’re drunk on the Westside late in the evening, you certainly wouldn’t drive all the way out to Koreatown eat a sobering meal, and if you’re in Koreatown at any other time of day, you should probably go to Sa Rit Gol. It has to be the complete combination of all factors – drunk, Koreatown, late – otherwise, really, you just have no excuse.

    We were drunk. We were in Koreatown. It wasn’t quite 2 AM when we decided to sober up, but by the time we descended upon Hodori like the buzzards we were, the clock had just turned. Perfect drunken timing.

    hodori, koreatown, los angeles, ca
    visible even through hazy buzz
    hodori, koreatown, los angeles, ca
    order by number

    Hodori is in a strip mall on the southwest corner of Olympic Blvd and Vermont Avenue. Though you may not see the sign for the restaurant right away, there is no way you can miss the screaming neon of the entire plaza. Just make sure you can get into the plaza. At prime time, you may have to grease the parking patrol's hand to land a spot inside the plaza. Otherwise, you wait in your idling car until someone leaves. Once you're in the plaza, look for Hodori, the dorky tiger that was the symbol of the Seoul Olympics of which Koreans are unnecessarily proud. Seriously? The Olympics were over in 1984 1988 (thanks, anonymous). Move on.

    With fluorescent lighting, tables smacked up against one another end to end, and a calming, chaotic din, Hodori has a bit of a cafeteria vibe. Enormous menus are posted high above on the walls behind the counter, written in Korean, translated into English, and I can’t be sure, but I think there are some with photographs, for those of us who are at a point in the evening when all we can do is recognize images.

    hodori, koreatown, los angeles
    panic button
    hodori restaurant, koreatown, los angeles, ca - bahnchan
    bahn-chan, bring it ahn

    Hodori serves café-style Korean food – soups, jjigaes, and rice dishes – all things suited to sober one’s senses and attempt to pre-empt the imminent hangover with food coma. My personal poison, when it’s not Citron/soda, is a bowl of yook-gae-jahng, a five-alarm beef and green onion soup that perhaps helps sober me up only because it makes me sweat so hard that any residual alcohol in my system will come flooding out of my pores. I won't even mention the fire-rrhea the next day. Oops. I just did.

    We went all kinds of crazy and ordered, instead, something else. Bi-bim-bahp wasn't my choice. For one thing, paying money for what is essentially a bowl of white rice (free) with marinated vegetables (bahnchan is free) and hot sauce (condiments on table are free) seems a ridiculous waste. I suppose you're paying that $6.99 or whatever it is for the fried egg on top which, despite the fact that I have a long-time love affair with eggs, I always remove from bi-bim-bahp. Plus, mixing the ingredients together is just way too much work. However, I do appreciate a good, overwhelming dose of goh-choo-jahng, so I didn't argue. Many people go bonkers for dolsot bi-bim-bahp, which is the same content but in a different presentation. Instead of the usual oversized stainless steel bowl of regular bi-bim-bahp, the rice is served in a "dolsot," a heated stone pot that causes the rice to sizzle and create a disgusting crust on the bottom that is, for some weird reason, a highly prized ending to the meal. It's the crust. It's residue. Gross, but whatever. I drink the milk at the bottom of the bowl of cereal, so I shouldn't talk.

    hodori korean restaurant, koreatown, los angeles, ca - bibimbahp
    mashup of bahnchan, imho
    hodori korean restaurant, koreatown, los angeles, ca - soon doo boo/tofu
    five alarm wake up call

    We placed our order of the bi-bim-bahp as well as soon doo-boo jjigae, a tiny little hotpot of soft tofu, vegetables, and sometimes seafood, beef, or pork, that comes to the table still boiling. We sat down at one of the tables and
    began picking away at the array of bahn-chan: kimchee, ggak-doo-gi (spicy pickled radish), sook-ju namul (marinated sprouts), moo (acorn jelly with vinegared soy sauce), and that ever-so-Korean dish, potato salad! Hodori's bahn-chan selection is decent, but the taste left something to be desired. I shan't complain beyond that since it is "free."

    Between rubber-necking the shiny, red-faced clientele around the dining room, "picnicking" on the potato salad, and chattering away about the unraveling of events of the evening, I was tempted to press the tiny little doorbell that is attached to the edge of every table in the restaurant. This is the waitress "call-button" and I have never seen it any other type of establishment other than Korean. It's a doorbell. Though empirically it makes perfect sense to have such an efficient, and "quiet" way of calling the waitress to the table (rather than shouting "yo-gi-yo!" or in a club, raising up candle), it just seems so...cheesy. I never pressed it, since I didn't really have any other reason than to ask where our order was.

    The bi-bim-bahp came out looking exactly as it should - a collage of colorful vegetables with a fried egg on top. After everything was mixed all together, it tasted good enough, though I was slightly disappointed by the goh-chu-jahng sauce that we had to use. It was way too sweet, which has become a frequent complaint of mine of Korean food in restaurants. Either I am becoming increasingly sensitive to sweetness, or Korean restaurants are falling into the trap of making food sweeter to appeal to a wider audience.

    We didn't crack a raw egg into the soon dooboo jjigae like people usually do when it arrived gurgling at the table. I have no idea why. I often wonder if serving a raw egg at the table like that is legal, but I suppose if Caesar salads are legal, it's okay. The jjigae was dragon fire red, but it didn't taste as spicy as it looked. It did have, however, the usual paradoxical refreshing sensation, "shyun-hae"-ness, from a steaming, boiling hot, spicy broth. I spent an inordinate amount of effort fishing with the long, thin-handled spoon for the slippery shards of tofu to suck down whole and of course, burnt my mouth on the temperature almost every time.

    Hodori wasn't the best meal I've ever had, but when is Denny's, Dolores or Benito's ever the best meal you've ever had?

    Scratch that. Benito's is the best meal I've ever had. Every time.

    Others are saying:
    ~ J Gold at LA Weekly: "the Canter's of Koreatown" (Feb 2004)
    ~ Yelpers give it 3 stars out of 5
    ~ Citysearchers give it 3½ stars out of 5
    ~ Daily Gluttony: Beer Goggle Cuisine - Hodori, Koreatown (Dec 2006)

    ** a year ago today, eating shrimp made "danger" my middle name **
    ** two years ago today, i discovered a sushi secret in el segundo **

    tags :: food : and drink : korean : restaurants : reviews : los angeles

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    Comments

    1. j gold says

      February 24, 2007 at 4:04 pm

      But priceless for that...

      Reply
    2. eugene says

      February 24, 2007 at 5:05 pm

      bi bim bap.... oh man, that'd hit the spot right now. though i can't complain as i'm about to down a bowl of gohm tahng.

      Reply
    3. sarah says

      February 24, 2007 at 8:38 pm

      j: and that it's open during after hours :)

      eugene: you know what's funny? bibimbahp would be so perfect...without the bahp! then i guess it's just a mashup of bahn chan. and gohn tahng - you said it. that's actually my favorite hangover prevention :)

      Reply
    4. Anonymous says

      February 25, 2007 at 1:20 am

      Just wanted to stop by and say I just found your blog a couple weeks ago and absolutely love it. Normally I just scroll through pics on food blogs but your writing is awesome! Hope you keep up the great work :)

      -Pam

      Reply
    5. JF says

      February 25, 2007 at 3:08 am

      The BEST place for sobering up...and to think, just a year ago you were talking about Benito's for sobering up...good to see you on the "East" side of LA once in a while! Someone needs to review the place next door to Hodori. It's not bad either for sobering up.

      Reply
    6. JF says

      February 25, 2007 at 3:08 am

      The BEST place for sobering up...and to think, just a year ago you were talking about Benito's for sobering up...good to see you on the "East" side of LA once in a while! Someone needs to review the place next door to Hodori. It's not bad either for sobering up.

      Reply
    7. Anonymous says

      February 26, 2007 at 1:03 pm

      too bad you don't even know the actual date for the Seoul Olympics. Not 1984. 1988. So before you diss on the name, get your facts straight.

      Reply
    8. Anonymous says

      February 26, 2007 at 1:03 pm

      too bad you don't even know the actual date for the Seoul Olympics. Not 1984. 1988. So before you diss on the name, get your facts straight.

      Reply
    9. Androo says

      February 26, 2007 at 4:31 pm

      Has anyone else had difficulty getting ANY kind of service at Hodori without a Korean in tow? Or is it just that the 3 am shift isn't exactly hustling when dealing with slurred food orders?

      When I'm there, I think I fit the conditions Sarah put forward to a T.

      Reply
    10. GT says

      February 26, 2007 at 11:51 pm

      I'm surprised you didn't end up at the other "drunk, Koreatown, late blah blah place" - BCD. Hodari gets a little to underage for me. I'm partial to Mexican for late night eats lately.

      Reply
    11. Anonymous says

      February 27, 2007 at 4:54 pm

      Sahn is Mountain Cafe, on 8th and I think Berendo. 213-487-7615. My bf and I always order takeout or order in advance so we can eat right when we get there. 213-365-1111 is a korean directory in case you ever need a number for a korean place - but its in korean...hanna

      Reply
    12. Hiro says

      March 11, 2007 at 1:48 am

      Ha! The panic button. I love that. I've been there more than I'd like to admit.

      Hiro @ West LA Foodblog
      westlafoodblog.blogspot.com

      Reply
    13. joanh says

      March 28, 2007 at 2:34 am

      i like this place.. though someone really needs to open a decent korean place on the westside!

      Reply
    14. James says

      April 04, 2007 at 3:23 pm

      Very interesting I will have to remember that if I am ever near there drunk at 2am.

      Vauxhall engines and car salvage.

      Reply
    15. James says

      April 04, 2007 at 3:23 pm

      Very interesting I will have to remember that if I am ever near there drunk at 2am.

      Vauxhall engines and car salvage.

      Reply
    16. Jessica says

      April 20, 2007 at 6:55 pm

      Um, I'm not sure whether I should be embarrased or not, but I still LOVE hodori! Hubs and I will go there all the way from the Westside just to eat Yukhaejang! Actually, the last time we did that was probably 6 months ago but I STILL love it!

      Reply
    17. Jonathan says

      May 10, 2007 at 10:41 pm

      i love reading this, neighbor!

      Reply
    18. Jonathan says

      May 10, 2007 at 10:41 pm

      i love reading this, neighbor!

      Reply
    19. One-eyed Doowite says

      May 11, 2007 at 4:06 am

      Hey, babycakes!
      Some guy did a numba on my face in Hodori's parking lot one a.m. a coupla of years ago.
      Thanks for the memories!

      Reply
    20. SteamyKitchen says

      May 11, 2007 at 4:13 am

      I've been there, but its been a while and it was REALLY bad K-food. It didn't help that I was having a bad hair day and heartbroken - so maybe I just looked kinda like homeless lost soul.

      Reply
    21. Deborah Dowd says

      May 11, 2007 at 10:15 am

      Sounds like an adventure (culinary and otherwise!) Your post was hilarious though!

      Reply
    22. Aaron says

      May 11, 2007 at 9:42 pm

      Mmm, wish I had the time to drivet he 2 hours to get some delicious food.

      Also, this might be of interest.
      http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/01/29/korean-sweet-pancakes-hoddeok-fully-home-made-version/

      Reply
    23. U says

      May 12, 2007 at 1:03 am

      I live for the rice in the bottom of the dolsot. I wish I could order just that alone...

      Reply
    24. U says

      May 12, 2007 at 1:03 am

      I live for the rice in the bottom of the dolsot. I wish I could order just that alone...

      Reply
    25. Katlyn says

      May 12, 2007 at 8:59 pm

      This post made me smile. But for a food blogger, you seem to have been eating a lot of mediocre stuff these days. When was the last time you ate something that thrilled you?

      Reply

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