Soban

Oh em gee, I fell in love with Soban!

Had heard of this place and finally got to eat here.

We had:
Tofu bibimbap - Excellent with an umami flavor I couldn't quite place.
Cod fish - huge portion, so incredibly perfect, delicious & shareable.
They give a nice variety of banchan too.

Highly recommend!

Food: 4/5
We ordered the raw crab and the cod fish. The proportions for the cod fish are large!! And definitely worth the price. We thought the crab was fresh and seasoned beautifully and the cod was full of flavor with the fish meat cooked amazingly with such good texture! It's a great place if I'm craving something more simple! The dishes + rice + different types of banchan will definitely fill you up!

Service: 4/5
Standard service

Ambiance: 4/5
Small but open place!

Definitely would come again to try the other special with the beef!

I need to start this review by saying that I'm Korean because some of these poor reviews are made my non-Koreans who don't understand our cuisine and what it takes to make these dishes. I would not give any validity to the folks who, in their own words, say their experience with Korean food is exclusively bulgogi, galbi and bibimbap. That's so level 1. And making comments about the smell is just disrespectful. So much of our banchans are fermented and their dishes include FRESH ass raw crabs. Sorry for the sass, but this place having negative reviews for these reasons makes me so mad, as a Korean. One more thing- the negative comments about the price. *Insert absolute eye roll* People pay WAY more for a singular cut of steak. Galbi jjim takes multiple days to make, you're getting so much quality meat and ingredients, and for it to be priced at $50 is an absolute steal.

Okay, all that said- this food tastes and smells like home. It was INCREDIBLE and I could not stop raving about the spicy cod and galbi jjim. The tenderness of the meat and flavor profile you get with the galbi jjim and the spicy cod is just *chefs kiss*. My fiancé and I took home leftovers and asked for every remaining sauce to be packed haha. The assortment of banchans is made with love and brought me right back to Korea. If you're looking for authentic, tasty af Korean food, this place is it. Highly recommend and I can't wait to take my parents here when they come to visit. 너무 맛있어어요! 자주 올게요.

honestly, food is amazing here. service is lacking but they do tht bc they're extremely busy, but definitely can be better. BANG PD came here and JYP and so many other celebs! so exciting to see they've been on the michelin guide.
got the marinated crab and soybean stew w fish(조기) and seafood pancake (came out to be $74) per person! the ahjumma is so cute tho, if ur korean they definitely like u more, unfortunately the culture is like that at some ktown la spots. overall i would come back just for the food tbh!

2.5 stars really b/c of the poor service.

Food was meh (the entrees) and service was subpar (Rude).
The saving grace was the ban chans.

I had been seeing all kinds of beautiful pictures on Instagram about this place. The main reason I went was to eat ban chans.

We ordered for dine in:
- Raw marinated crab, taste was meh, you only get 1.5 crab parts, not a great value for the price
- Grilled JohGEE, I thought it was going to be a fresh fish, but it was the kind that was partly dried (fishy), not a great texture
- The fish came with a side soup of miso soup, it had two tiny pcs of tofu, some (4 tiny pcs) of squash and slightly more mushed up potato slices

The banchan was great in the beginning. But they were slow to deliver the first round arrives just right before the entrees. You will get hungry waiting. When I asked for refills, it was stingy, just a few of the banchans. Then the last time / round, she only brought two items. There are overly long pauses before they bring you stuff: more rice, water refills, banchans, etc.

The service was horrible. One mean lady for the whole restaurant. She was rude. When she hadn't refilled our water and banchans for 15-20 minutes and I just reminded her again, she stopped to lecture me and asked if I didn't see others that she needed to serve in the restaurant.

They don't give enough rice. You have order two bowls.

Perhaps Sat lunchtime is a bad time to go. Perhaps we ordered the wrong things, not their best entrees. Perhaps the server was unleashing / projecting onto me.

They have a strange rule: you are discouraged from taking the leftover rice home. The waitress told me a false story how food exposed to air can give you a tummy ache. She just wouldn't bring me the togo containers. I had to use a produce bag in my purse.

She rebuked me about taking the expensive leftover crab home, that it says on the menu you can't take it. She told me I was really stubborn. I told her it's a waste b/c of the price, so expensive for what you get.

Well we ordered another whole raw crab to go for my client's wife, she had no problem with that. Let's be consistent here.

It left me feeling bad, and kinda soured my Saturday. Boo hoo. Never gonna go there again. If the restaurant makes you feel like you need therapy afterwards to regain your peace...it's a hard NO.

Finally got to try Soban. We came here for dinner at 8 pm. We ordered the raw marinated crab, Kalbi Jjim, pork bulgogi, kimchi jigae, and the al tang. The raw marinated crab was outstanding. I thought it was better than the raw crab at Master Ha's. But that was it. Everything else was average. The Kalbi jjim for the price was not spectacular. The pork bulgogi was below average. There are better alternatives in Korea Town. Little bit disappointed but it was packed anyway. ‍

It could be the day we went but this place had an aroma that caused me to gag and almost vomit the minute we walked into the restaurant.

I normally eat Kalbi. They had Gahlbi Jim which looked a little like a fancy Bibimbop. I was not willing to try it out since it was $50 normal Kalbi with a bowl of white rice? Sure.

The lady that helped us was friendly enough.

I wasn't crazy over the Bulgogi ($29) that I got and only ate half of it. I was not impressed with it at all since it was super dry.

Probably one of the few restaurants (if not the only) in Koreatown that serves both galbi jjim (braised short ribs) and gangjang gyejang (raw soy sauce marinated crab). We were greeted and seated immediately. The front of the restaurant is run by a friendly mother and daughter duo who checked in on each table, offering refills on water or banchan.

It is a bit pricey for the amount served but everything tasted home made and clean.

The spicy galbi jjim tasted like it was cooking for hours with pieces of carrot, mushrooms, dates, radish, and a few pieces of long ddeok (rice cake).

The gangjang gyejang was good and tasted clean and not fishy. There was one crab per order so my friend and I shared the crab shell.

Pro tip: mix the rice into the shell with a few spoons of the soy sauce marinade, a spoon of the sesame oil, and some seaweed flakes. Mix it well and it's ready to eat!

The only bummer is no alcohol. With food this good, you need some soju to wash it down between bites!

Small, quiet, and reserved in Korea town LA. Loved finding this gem of an area that was featured a couple times from famous celebrities and Youtube stars. The menu is very simple with only a few options with each catering to every hungry soul out there. Though they have a very small menu, they take their pride is making sure that the quality of the food is fresh, flavorful, and something definitely to be remembered.

We had ordered the Cod fish plate the fish itself was beautiful! Tender, buttery, and not overcooked. The sauce that was made for it was divine! My party and I absolutely drank that sauce on the fish and even on the rice! It was accompanied with vegetables like daikon and potatoes and those were fork tender. They absorbed so much of that sauce that it was delicious with every bite.

We had wanted to try raw crab in soy sauce and this place had it! The waitress took the time to show us how to properly extract the meat out from the shell and how to eat it properly. With so much dedication, the first bite was an eye opener! The raw meat sitting in that soy sauce was marinated perfectly. The star of this dish was the head of the crab, being able to eat the inside and mix it with the rice, sauce, and kimchi was delicious.

One appetizer we got was the seafood pancake. Super crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the inside with bits and pieces of seafood. They also had some green onions in there for texture differences which was much needed. The citrus soy sauce that came with this plate was a nice added touch as it helped cut through the savory flavors.

If you miss homemade cooking, this place is for you.

I liked that this place offered a vast variety of side dishes and all of their dishes reminded me of home.

The only downfall is that I did feel like it was way over priced. They're known for their kalbijjim as well, but with that pricing, I'd rather go to sun non dang for a bigger portion.

If you love Korean movies, I did hear that the Parasite crew dined here and a bunch of other A list actors. They have pictures and signatures on the wall