Koreatown, located west of Downtown L.A. and south of Hollywood, is one of the most unique neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Here’s how to spend the perfect day in Koreatown, with these recommendations from a local — me!
Breakfast in Koreatown
Caffé Concerto
610 S Serrano Ave, Los Angeles
Opens at 9am daily
Parking: $3 valet parking in front of the restaurant or street coin parking.
An elegant café with a full menu of Asian-American fusion and an extensive selection of desserts and many macaroon flavors.
Haus by Coffee Hunter
3826 W. Sixth St., Los Angeles
Opens at 9am daily
Parking: Valet is $2 at lunch; $3 for dinner
For the coffee aficionados, this place is owned by Chris Kim, the person who brought Kona coffee to Korea. The coffee menu is extensive and showcases Kona coffees one doesn’t often see outside of Hawaii (or Japan, which purchases much of Kona’s crop), as well as carefully selected African and Latin American coffees. You can also get sweet coffee drinks, such as a Nutella Latte, and a wide variety of juices and slush drinks. On the food side, there are gestures at Korean-Western food fusion, such as a bulgogi and mozzarella panini, plus more conventional fare and a spread of tasty cakes.
Chunju Han-il Kwan
3450 W 6th St, Los Angeles
Opens at 8am daily, except Sunday’s which is at 10am
Parking: $2 valet parking
If you want to have a traditional korean meal for breakfast, then come here for kongnameul haejangguk, a spicy bean sprout soup with rice. Many people have late nights in Koreatown and this soup is designed to cure the hangover (haejangguk roughly translates to “hangover chasing soup”).
Shopping
Not shopping in the traditional sense, but go to a Korean market to see what kind of produce and items they have! I would recommend
H Mart
I like to think of this place as a Costco of
Daiso
the city’s best stationery store
Daiso is a shop that quickly turns into an addiction. The Japanese chain store, with multiple locations across Los Angeles County, sells most of its stock for just $1.50 a pop, ensuring that it’s almost impossible to leave with just one item. Venture into the stationery aisles and you may walk out with a shopping bag filled with everything from sleek business card cases to kawaii stationary. The best bargains are the “multipurpose pens” — four-colored pens with a mechanical pencil, sold in two-packs. They’re the cheapest pens we’ve ever found that actually work, while the hardcover notebooks are just as durable, and almost as lovely, as the Moleskine clones they were selling last year. High-priced items include leatherlike iPad cases in stylish summer colors — for all of $4. The stock changes regularly, and many items sell out quickly, so you’ll want to stop by Daiso often.
Visit A Korean Spa
Traditional bathhouses called jjimjilbang are where locals go to relax, detox in a sauna, . The major difference to an America spa is that most of the rooms require you to be in the buff.
Happy Hour
EMC
3500 W 6th St., Los Angeles
Parking: They validate 1.5 hrs for lunch and 3 hrs for dinner at Zion Market parking lot
Happy hour is from 4 to 7pm:$5 draft beers and $1 oysters, chef selection. Also late night happy hour after 10pm. Their uni pasta is also generous portion if you want to split that with your friend.
Unique Places to People Watch
The Line Hotel
3515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
Parking: valet is $12 so I highly recommend street parking or taking Uber (code gtg8x to get your first ride free,up to $20 USD)
Celebrity chef Roy Choi brought popularity to the Koreatown’s boutique, hipster Line Hotel. I thought the food was overrated at Pot and Commissary so I would recommend a drink instead. All the below are in the same building, no cover charge for any of them:
Commissary
This is my favorite of the three. Just take the elevators from the lobby to the 2nd floor and you’ll be on the rooftop inside an awesome greenhouse with clear glass waalls. The ambiance of this place is unique and beautiful. To the right of the greenhouse is a pool and lounge area.
Break Room 86
This is one of the cooler speakeasy bars in Los Angeles. Break Room is an 80’s themed bar that features karaoke, live break dance shows and 80’s music and memorabilia (and free arcade games!). The entrance is outside on the west side of the Line Hotel. There is a nice surprise on entering the bar but I won’t spoil it for you guys! You’ll see the neon sign “Break Room 86,” but this is actually the exit. The entrance is past that, up the loading dock.
Pot Lobby Bar
This is the bar right when you walk in. It has an trendy urban feel and they play hip-hop jams in a posh setting.
I have only been to Koreatown once so will try some of these