Not to be confused with Oo-Kook Tofu in Alhambra, Oo-Kook Korean BBQ is located in Koreantown. I came here for dinner on a Friday night after working a 12-hour day on set. I was sticky and grimy and looking forward to some real food that didn’t look like pizza or chips. Oo-Kook didn’t disappoint. The banchan was minimal but high quality. Since it was the weekend rush the servers were crazy busy and disorganized. It took five tries to save someone down before someone replenished our dishes. I was so thirsty I got up and served myself water.
Bad service aside, the food was excellent. The meat was high quality, even the chicken. I rarely eat chicken when I get Korean food because it’s so ordinary, but this chicken was well seasoned and for lack of a better word, moist. They also had intestines, which I’ve been meaning to try after watching Bride of the Century.
Behold – huge chunks of juicy red meat on the grill.
The highlight of the meal was the duck. I LOVE duck. Most Korean restaurants don’t serve duck so I actually didn’t realize we had any duck until my boyfriend put some on my plate. By that time I had already filled up and couldn’t eat that much more. Lesson learned, the next time I come back here I will eat two platefuls of duck.
Oo-Kook Korean BBQ
Grade: A-
Pros: Very clean, excellent meat quality, nice charcoal decor. Come for the DUCK!!! And much much more deliciousness for a reasonable AYCE price.
Cons: Parking on the street is near impossible. I parked 5 blocks away. There is $2 valet, but on the weekends the lot is crazy busy and it’s tricky even pulling your car in since people are standing everywhere. Waitstaff gets overwhelmed on busy nights.
Oo-Kook Korean BBQ
3385 W 8th St
LA, 90005
Koreantown, Wilshire Center
Korean Daydreamer 