1.30.04 (updated 2.13.04)

Lava House

The LA Weekly last week did a big Koreatown issue (2.11.04) Among the 100 restaurants that Jonathan Gold went to in order to pick his top 40 were a bunch of "Tofu Houses" that specialize in SoonTofu, aka LAVA! BCD did not even make the cut I am afraid, but I did go to one of his two picks, So Kong Dong, 2716 W. Olympic Blvd., No. 104 (213) 380-3737 And it freakin rules. Hard to find, no doubt better lava and the Panchan (small dishes of Kimchee like stuffs) were superior. For now you can read/download the entire list of 40 restaurants here. I recommend it.

This is a Korean restaurant chain called "BCD Tofu House" there are a handful LA, and a bunch of others around the world, including Seoul. The one I go to on Wilshire just east of Western is open 24 hrs and are usually pretty full around 2am. But, not too many round eyes here. It is the real deal. Second time I went with my pal John Lindley, we ordered the Raw Crab, (which is usually not available). The waiter paused, looked at us again and then excused himself (yes, in the middle of our order) so he could check with someone. When he came back he asked if either of us had ever had the "Raw Crab"?. We said no. He paused again and then pretty much told us we could only have one order, to share and that we should get something else as well.
His advise was all we needed. In actuality, he was right on the money, the raw crab was very intense and two orders would have been one order too many.

Lava house (as we here at DaDa call it) is called such because basically they serve one thing, lava. A hotter than shit cauldron of bubbling red stuff. You can have it with meat, seafood, veggie, any way you like, but it is always gonna look like lava. then along with the lava you get a bunch of kim chee, a deep fried small whole fish, a raw egg and a bowl of rice that is inside a marble bowl, looks like a mortar. As soon as you start your meal, the rice is scooped out by the waiter or waitress and the empty mortar is filled with boiling water.

The raw egg?

The raw egg is cracked and dropped by the eater, into the lava. There is some cool techniques I have seen performed mostly by older Korean men. Carefully cracking their eggs, dripping them in from on high. Sometimes breaking and administering the egg of their partner instead of there own.Some osrt of "I'll break your egg if you break mine" situation.

What happens to the boiling water rice bowl that now looks and tastes like stewy dish water? It seems you eat it at the very end, kind of like some sort of pallet cleanser. I have never really been able to get through the bowl . I am always pretty stuffed by thenm anyway.

BCD Tofu House 
3575 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone: (213) 382-6677

A stick of melon flavored gum comes with the check.