Dduk bo rak, my new friend — it’s a variant of Korean BBQ, and according to the review of Shik Do Rak in this typically brilliant Jonathan Gold column, it’s the hot new thing. And Korean BBQ itself, speaking from my ill-informed perspective, is sorta halfway between a fondue experience (the heat and cooking pot or wok is built into the table) and a Mongolian BBQ (raw meats and other goodies are cooked up). Friend Jeremy having recently moved to LA and settled in Koreatown, when we all had a chance to meet up for a meal on Saturday we figured to try something in his neck of the woods, and that review combined with recommendations from Jeremy’s friend sealed the deal.
Watching everyone else around us being much more obviously adept with the etiquette of dealing with this cuisine than we were was a good lesson in humility but also provided a quick object-lesson, and we all took to frying up and dipping and wrapping in rice noodles with enthusiasm. Add in a slew of pickled and spiced goods — kimchee, obviously, but plenty of other things as well — and a pretty good beer called Hite, I seem to recall, and the evening was a more than pleasant one. Yet another further reminder that LA is a damned worthwhile place.