Korean Dinner Party is a L.A. Ktown “inspired” restaurant that serves Korean corndogs to Korean-Mexcian tacos. But for some reason Korean Dinner Party menu didn’t really resonate with me. Hear me out.
@rollinjoint btw the corndogs were cheaper than @bunsik_london ❤️ ##londonrestaurants ##koreancorndog
L.A. Ktown
In the 80s, My dad went to school in San Diego and my mom in L.A., so I ended up growing up in San Diego and Irvine (which is an hour outside of L.A.) for 8 years.
Back then Korean food wasn’t that trendy like nowadays, so if you wanted authentic Korean food, you had to go to L.A. Ktown.
And that is where my parents took my brother and I when we wanted good Korean food (Not that I knew what was authentic Korean food back then lol).
How It All Started
Not to make it too long, but the first generation of Koreans started moving into L.A. in the 60s and 70s and built what we know now as L.A. Ktown. Because of that it always feels like the town froze in the 70s of Korea.
L.A. was one of the biggest Korean immigration hotspot and naturally with bigger Korean population, there were bound to be so many Korean restaurants.
The difference between other Ktowns like New York or Atlanta was that the food wasn’t limited to just BBQ, but also we had Korean-Chinese, Kalgooksu to Agujjim and more.
BCD Tofu House
It was a town where Hee Sook Lee created BCD Tofu House which was a sensation in L.A. Ktown.
And this was probably when visitors from Korea started saying L.A. Korean food is better and cheaper than Korea because the ingredients they used were better in the States in the 80s.
BCD Tofu house eventually became a huge chain in Korea and around Asia.
Korean Tacos
With the second generation of Korean-Americans growing up in L.A., Ktown was also a place where innovative Korean food was born. One being the Korean tacos.
I remember back in college how unique Korean tacos were and everybody who lived in the States were talking about it.
It was in a food truck and we had to follow the twitter to find out the exact location of the Korean taco truck. My brother who was attending USC at the time went crazy over this.
Hip Hop
And after I became an adult, I remember my cousin Justin Chon, the king of L.A. Ktown, taking us to all these cool Korean bars in Ktown. It was different.
Everybody was like Jessi or Jaebum Park. I felt out of place but also excited to be sitting with the cool hip gangster style people (Korean Hip-hop was huge back in 2000s).
Now being in Europe I don’t get a chance to go back to L.A. much (it has been now 4 years), but I still have fond memory of L.A. Ktown.
L.A. Inspired Korean Restaurant in London
So, when I heard they were opening a Korean restaurant inspired by L.A. Ktown, I was excited.
I thought it would either be very Korean or very Korean-American. But it was neither and I was super disappointed.
Korean Dinner Party London Menu
The menu is not extensive but has some essentials. I want to say first the interior was nice and the drinks were good but the food wasn’t.
I think it was more like a Korean food inspired British restaurant. The food isn’t bad. It just didn’t really represent L.A. Ktown.
- To follow the trend of Korean food, they have Korean corndogs (compared to Bunsik, it is slightly cheaper if you buy 3).
- To fit the L.A. Ktown vibe, they also have the Korean tacos.
- The most interesting menu was the drinks. The Yakurt Royale was delicious.
Personally, if you are going to Korean Dinner Party, I would recommend the tacos. It doesn’t necessarily taste like Korean, but it was good as taco.
Alternatives to KDP
- If you are looking for a Korean cocktail bar (something you would see in L.A or NY ktown) I would recommend Ogam Tapas Bar
- If you are looking for a Korean pub style, Hongdae Pocha
- If you are looking for Korean Tacos, Korrito
- Korean Dinner Party Location : Top Floor, Kingly Court, London W1B 5PW, United Kingdom
