Danbi is a Michelin notes BiB establishment in the burgeoning Korea Town of Los Angeles. I was lucky to get a seat to take it in.
The space us ultra hip and chic. Darker vibe but with lots of cool adornments. It's noisy here in a good way. The place is electric.
The service is AMAZING. I had the pleasure of sitting at the bar and all of the staff were so helpful, engaging and attentive.
The food was amazing! Zabuton was perfect. The uni bibimbap was superb. And the cocktail offering was genius!
Cannot say enough!
5 x 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap
METODI JEFFREY KERR
I can't wait to try this place! photographs of food look consistent and delicious!
Angela Wang
Waited an hour for the zabuton. We had to ask the waiter about it 3 different times before it came out. We had long finished the rest of the food by the time it arrived. It was cooked well done when it should have been medium rare. Pretty sure they forgot about it and then reheated it without telling us. A waste of money.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Jay Z
Very expensive for very mediocre food. The uni was kinda bitter. And the waitress was apparently not in a good mood that day. Not sure why lots of reviews recommended the uni bibimbap, feel like they have not eaten good uni and shirmp before. Or they are fake reviews. Also it’s very loud in there and you could barely hear each other
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Sonya Tran
I personally don’t think the host needs to tell every table he seats that the table limit is 90 minutes. Perhaps they want to be consistent, but it’s weird to say that when we see the restaurant at 15% capacity, and by the time we left, it was not at 100% capacity. I get it for AYCE restaurants. Maybe I get it for super popular restaurants. I think it can be written on the menu if at all necessary. Overall, if guests are spending over $200 for a party of two, we should be able to sit there for 2 hours if we wanted to.
Otherwise, service was good and attentive.
For drinks - there was only bottled beer, wine, and soju/korean drink cocktails. I enjoyed the “luv u so matcha” cocktail. They should offer draft beer.
For food - Honey butter chips - can be skipped if you’re not trying to eat dessert as your first bite. Would be fine as a drinking appetizer
Cold perilla noodles - my favorite dish, very refreshing and flavorful
Uni bibimbap - MP $60, expensive, but tasty. Also had raw marinated shrimp and ikura
Pork jowl - tender and flavorful, came with pickled veggies. Wish the slices weren’t as skinny as they were already sliced thin
Scallop pancake - good amount of bay scallops and nice crunch. Could use more green onions/chives, and preferred dipping it in the sauce for my cold noodle dish
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Matty Lee
A beautiful restaurant for dinner in Koreatown. Definitely do reservations ahead of time (can be a week or more to get the time you want).
The Zabutan (Waygu) set is the star. Coming with rice, pickles, kimchi, and salt to dip in. The meat was succulent, rich, juicy, and very filling. Easy to split this dish, given how rich it is.
The scallop pancake was crispy and rich, the crudo was small but bright, the perilla noodles were a clean pallet cleanser, the tartar was delicious (would get again).
Only issue would be that it can get quite loud at night and the drinks weren’t memorable.
Overall, would recommend and I love sharing this place with loved ones. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Judy
10/10 As a Korean American, I’m generally hesitant to go to upscale Korean spots but Danbi did not disappoint.
Service - attentive and excellent. I ate at 6:15 and the place was already buzzing. Everything was timed well. Service checked in at all the right times.
Atmosphere - convivial. Great place for a night out with friends. A little dark as I wanted to stare at the food in brighter light.
Food - the Zabuton was melt in your mouth perfection. Definitely bring friends as it’s a big portion. The accompanying garlic rice was the perfect compliment.
I wish they had some refreshing kimchee to go with it. Even white kimchee would’ve been a nice accompaniment.
I didn’t drive, but it sounds like parking is a nightmare.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Selina Wang
Uni bibimbap changed my life
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap, Scallops, 항정살 Sliced Pork Jowl, Chana Masala
Mirah Yoon
I absolutely loved my time here at Danbi. I recommend you be seated at the bar and not a table if you can. We already had a meal so we just grabbed the Honey Butter Chips and the Spicy Japchae, which I liked. The Spicy Japchae is enough to eat for two people! We tried the five recommended cocktail selection. My favorite was the Hwachae Milk, while my friend liked the Kimchi Mule. The Hwachae Milk was sweet, but not overpowering, while the Kimchi Mule was like a spicy margarita. The staff were ALL amazing. I wanted recommendations for where to go next and Alieen was so nice and gave me some recommendations based on what I liked. Beena was our server and so cute. She made sure to make us feel more comfortable and checked in with us often. Will was the most interactive bartender I have ever had without it being too much or making me uncomfortable ( which is a must if you are a female traveler). Will made us the entire recommended cocktail section, and patiently explained the ingredients for us. The Luv u so Matcha does have almond (extract) in it so if you are also allergic to almonds like me don't order it. Will was so kind to give me a different drink once I realized that I was not able to drink that one which was so kind of him. I think this is a great place to hang out with a friend to catch up while sipping some drinks or even a simple way to destress after a hard day at work.
A lovely open space in K-Town, refined but small menu. The place is always full - we were turned away as walk-ins a couple of weeks ago so made sure we booked this time - and enjoyed our time there. The acoustics are very loud: come energised for a shouting match with your partner - and they play snippets of old movies in black and white beamed directly onto the walls. Not sure what that has to do with the theme, but it’s a cool touch until you realise you’ve watched the same clip of Good Will Hunting 7 times while waiting for your mains. You’ll have a good time for sure: the cocktails are enjoyable (I love you so matcha was a work of art) and the food is very good, although I could have done with slightly fewer scallops on the scallop pancakes. Maybe it should have been called scallops with a touch of pancake batter. The sirloin steak, though, was incredible. You gotta get it. We were never wanting for service, and had a really enjoyable evening, but nothing quite made it to a 5 for us.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
P C
The server really wanted us to finish the meal asap which is understandable in term of making more profit but unacceptable because it is too early.
Food was ok. Atmosphere was ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 2
Aoife
The uni bibimbap is rly amazing, also love their honey chips, steak and desserts are also highly recommended Soba and pancake are just ok
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap, Honey Butter Chips
Amanda Paulak
John our bartender was the best person. A beautiful soul with so much local knowledge and skills. DANBI FOOOD FIREEEEE
Danbi is a Michelin notes BiB establishment in the burgeoning Korea Town of Los Angeles. I was lucky to get a seat to take it in.
The space us ultra hip and chic. Darker vibe but with lots of cool adornments. It's noisy here in a good way. The place is electric.
The service is AMAZING. I had the pleasure of sitting at the bar and all of the staff were so helpful, engaging and attentive.
The food was amazing! Zabuton was perfect. The uni bibimbap was superb. And the cocktail offering was genius!
Cannot say enough!
5 x 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap
I can't wait to try this place! photographs of food look consistent and delicious!
Waited an hour for the zabuton. We had to ask the waiter about it 3 different times before it came out. We had long finished the rest of the food by the time it arrived. It was cooked well done when it should have been medium rare. Pretty sure they forgot about it and then reheated it without telling us. A waste of money.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Very expensive for very mediocre food. The uni was kinda bitter. And the waitress was apparently not in a good mood that day. Not sure why lots of reviews recommended the uni bibimbap, feel like they have not eaten good uni and shirmp before. Or they are fake reviews. Also it’s very loud in there and you could barely hear each other
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
I personally don’t think the host needs to tell every table he seats that the table limit is 90 minutes. Perhaps they want to be consistent, but it’s weird to say that when we see the restaurant at 15% capacity, and by the time we left, it was not at 100% capacity. I get it for AYCE restaurants. Maybe I get it for super popular restaurants. I think it can be written on the menu if at all necessary. Overall, if guests are spending over $200 for a party of two, we should be able to sit there for 2 hours if we wanted to.
Otherwise, service was good and attentive.
For drinks - there was only bottled beer, wine, and soju/korean drink cocktails. I enjoyed the “luv u so matcha” cocktail. They should offer draft beer.
For food -
Honey butter chips - can be skipped if you’re not trying to eat dessert as your first bite. Would be fine as a drinking appetizer
Cold perilla noodles - my favorite dish, very refreshing and flavorful
Uni bibimbap - MP $60, expensive, but tasty. Also had raw marinated shrimp and ikura
Pork jowl - tender and flavorful, came with pickled veggies. Wish the slices weren’t as skinny as they were already sliced thin
Scallop pancake - good amount of bay scallops and nice crunch. Could use more green onions/chives, and preferred dipping it in the sauce for my cold noodle dish
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
A beautiful restaurant for dinner in Koreatown. Definitely do reservations ahead of time (can be a week or more to get the time you want).
The Zabutan (Waygu) set is the star. Coming with rice, pickles, kimchi, and salt to dip in. The meat was succulent, rich, juicy, and very filling. Easy to split this dish, given how rich it is.
The scallop pancake was crispy and rich, the crudo was small but bright, the perilla noodles were a clean pallet cleanser, the tartar was delicious (would get again).
Only issue would be that it can get quite loud at night and the drinks weren’t memorable.
Overall, would recommend and I love sharing this place with loved ones. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
10/10
As a Korean American, I’m generally hesitant to go to upscale Korean spots but Danbi did not disappoint.
Service - attentive and excellent. I ate at 6:15 and the place was already buzzing. Everything was timed well. Service checked in at all the right times.
Atmosphere - convivial. Great place for a night out with friends. A little dark as I wanted to stare at the food in brighter light.
Food - the Zabuton was melt in your mouth perfection. Definitely bring friends as it’s a big portion. The accompanying garlic rice was the perfect compliment.
I wish they had some refreshing kimchee to go with it. Even white kimchee would’ve been a nice accompaniment.
I didn’t drive, but it sounds like parking is a nightmare.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Uni bibimbap changed my life
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap, Scallops, 항정살 Sliced Pork Jowl, Chana Masala
I absolutely loved my time here at Danbi. I recommend you be seated at the bar and not a table if you can. We already had a meal so we just grabbed the Honey Butter Chips and the Spicy Japchae, which I liked. The Spicy Japchae is enough to eat for two people! We tried the five recommended cocktail selection. My favorite was the Hwachae Milk, while my friend liked the Kimchi Mule. The Hwachae Milk was sweet, but not overpowering, while the Kimchi Mule was like a spicy margarita. The staff were ALL amazing. I wanted recommendations for where to go next and Alieen was so nice and gave me some recommendations based on what I liked. Beena was our server and so cute. She made sure to make us feel more comfortable and checked in with us often. Will was the most interactive bartender I have ever had without it being too much or making me uncomfortable ( which is a must if you are a female traveler). Will made us the entire recommended cocktail section, and patiently explained the ingredients for us. The Luv u so Matcha does have almond (extract) in it so if you are also allergic to almonds like me don't order it. Will was so kind to give me a different drink once I realized that I was not able to drink that one which was so kind of him. I think this is a great place to hang out with a friend to catch up while sipping some drinks or even a simple way to destress after a hard day at work.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Honey Butter Chips, Basque Cheesecake
I don’t even care about the food, Beena is the best server I’ve ever had at a restaurant in LA. Super attentive and friendly!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Perilla Cold Noodles
Restaurantji Recommends
A lovely open space in K-Town, refined but small menu. The place is always full - we were turned away as walk-ins a couple of weeks ago so made sure we booked this time - and enjoyed our time there. The acoustics are very loud: come energised for a shouting match with your partner - and they play snippets of old movies in black and white beamed directly onto the walls. Not sure what that has to do with the theme, but it’s a cool touch until you realise you’ve watched the same clip of Good Will Hunting 7 times while waiting for your mains. You’ll have a good time for sure: the cocktails are enjoyable (I love you so matcha was a work of art) and the food is very good, although I could have done with slightly fewer scallops on the scallop pancakes. Maybe it should have been called scallops with a touch of pancake batter. The sirloin steak, though, was incredible. You gotta get it. We were never wanting for service, and had a really enjoyable evening, but nothing quite made it to a 5 for us.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
The server really wanted us to finish the meal asap which is understandable in term of making more profit but unacceptable because it is too early.
Food was ok. Atmosphere was ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 2
The uni bibimbap is rly amazing, also love their honey chips, steak and desserts are also highly recommended
Soba and pancake are just ok
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Uni Bibimbap, Honey Butter Chips
John our bartender was the best person. A beautiful soul with so much local knowledge and skills. DANBI FOOOD FIREEEEE
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Perilla Cold Noodles, Honey Butter Chips
Food was amazing, service was great. Parking situation was kind of rough with the $10.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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