Service was awesome. Good was excellent. Portions were good. Drinks were unique. Very asthetic and perfect for date night Parking I just parked at madang mall and got somi somi after.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Gregory C
So I called Lapaba since there were no reservations available online to see if they could take one person I didn’t leave a message and they called me back. Cool. To tell me they were fully booked and couldn’t take a single. I guess they saw my caller ID. I don’t understand why you would call someone back if you don’t have seats to offer them. I went anyway and the hostess said sorry we’re still completely booked for the night and I observed a seat right there at the bar and she said OK. You can sit there. FoH not well organized - Gary was super friendly and well informed on the menu. The fried chicken was nicely presented. Trimmed, uniform pieces with a fresh dill ranch and diced jicama. The sauce was just very sweet and sticky without offering much flavor or heat. On to the most popular pasta dish the Agnolotti with brown butter and corn. This was delicious. But a very small dish. 8 small parcels for $24. With the Michelin recommendation, I hoped for a bit more individuality in the dishes. The entire concept here is to fuse Italian/Korean cuisine. Chef/owner, Matthew Kim was at Osteria Mozza so he knows his pasta one has to assume. Just didn’t get any Korean element in the agnolotti. And the chicken needed more punch. Will try again to see if they continue to develop the very promising concept.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Jordan Stewart
Wife and I aren’t typically the biggest fans of fusion, but this spot may have helped changed our mind.
Service was 10/10 for starters. Love that it’s a better so it feels like your server is there for you at all times even when busy. My favorites were the K meatballs, Galbi Jim pasta, and BTS ice cream was legit one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
T G
Perfect restaurant for a girls dinner. The food was good but we definitely wish there was a little bit more in the portioning like even 10 to 15% more would seem more justified for the price. Everything tasted really good though, really fresh and not too heavy. It makes for a great placed to have a cocktail and maybe one or two dishes but you’re not gonna get full off of that. The tiramisu was delicious and of all things the portion size was decent for the price.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Tina C
I was very disappointed. Portions are small and not worth the price in my opinion, the taste was mediocre, and everything about it just fell below expectations which made me really sad cause I was really excited about this place. I also told them 3 times that we came for a special birthday only for them to forget and not do anything.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Angela K Cheng
K-Town finally has proper pasta. Husband and wife team, Chef McKenna Lelah and Matthew Kim have built something special, where Italian flavors meet Korean soul.
Start with the burrata, satsuma sweet potato, sweet soy, chili crisp. So addictive. The handmade pastas are the main event: the garganelli with perilla pesto is bright and fresh, the agnolotti with cheesy corn and smoked scamorza is rich but not heavy, and the orecchiette with fennel sausage and gochugaru is a must. Save room for dessert, the black truffle soft serve and tiramisu are not optional.
Prices are accessible with pastas between $20-25
If Lapaba isn’t in your K-Town rotation yet, fix that stat..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
John DeLacy
One of the best meals we’ve had recently, 10/10. The setting is inviting, with lots of counter space (great for a date night) and the service was exceptional (shoutout to Jeff, he was wonderful). This is one of those places where you simply can’t go wrong with anything you order (e.g. I feel the same way about RVR). We ordered the Agnolotti, Bucatini, gem salad, cacio e pepe rice cakes, fried chicken pops and garganelli—each was fantastic and unique. The wine list was well-appointed and they have delightful soju-based cocktails (so good). I think the desert stole the show: still thinking about the pavlova and soft serve. Can’t wait to come back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
D K
Shady business they mess with the tip. The total amount with tip that I paid at the restaurant differed from what was finally billed to my card. They have no email or contact other than a phone number to reach out that no one answers. Everyone be vigilant and get a recipe and check your statements.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Anna Kim
Good combination of Korean sauce with Italian pasta.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tracey Lelah
A delicious Korean spin on Italian flavors. We tried a lot of dishes and all delicious! Loved the K meatballs, with the milk bread to dunk in the sauce. The Smoky corn stuffed pasta was so flavorful with the sage butter and parm cheese. The fried chicken with yuzu ranch was sooo good. I could drink the sauce. Cocktails were excellent! I had a Yuzu sour, and desserts soft serve ice cream w/truffle sauce was a great finish and palette cleansing. Can’t wait to go back!
We were super excited to dine at this new Korean Italian fusion restaurant. The restaurant is basically one large pasta bar and was well decorated. We ordered two of their pasta dishes and a few of their starters to share.
While the main focus on the menu were the pastas, it felt like they only added a Korean ingredient to make it different rather than try to make the dishes feel authentically “fusion”. They were tasty but the flavors definitely lean traditional Italian.
The starters were definitely where the fusion comes in. Echoing the same point as before but the flavor of the kimchi in the suppli was also very subtle. The most “fused” dish was the K meatballs that tasted like bulgogi and were paired with a traditional red sauce. The bread it came with was tasty but didn’t have the most shiny/golden crust.
We got a few of their drinks (yuja sour, arancia yakult, matcha yuja-ade) and they were good but very very sweet.
We ended with the BTS (black truffle soft serve) which was a lovely balance of sweet and savory.
TLDR: flavors were good but the dishes didnt feel like a true fusion experience. We felt like the menu lacked intention.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
JG
This place has intrigued me long way before they even opened their door, then in the early opening days it's just too busy to even get a reservation especially as I was aiming for weekend. I finally gave up and picked a weekday dinner. Finding street parking would also test your luck certainly.
The venue setting was interesting with one long marble-top counter table so you could tell small-size group would be more ideal. Thankfully the menu was quite brief so at least eased the decision making. Most of the were meant for sharing so you could try multiple dishes, but portion wise it's more on the smaller side.
We got their Fried Chicken as starter, served with Calabrian Chili and somewhat reminded me of Thai Chili Sauce. It was good and I loved the idea of refreshing yuzu ranch dipping, making it distinctive but I would say the chicken itself was moderately good.
The radiatore was cooked al dente and the wine flavor stood strong in the sauce. Generously served short rib ragu was lovely, but I got it when people said to not expect it to remind you of signature Korean flavor, which I certainly didn't mind knowing it's fusion anyway!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Robert
Amazing experience Korean and Italian flavors were perfect
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amy Chong
From the mocktails and cocktails to dessert, Lapaba really impressed me. Their menu is fusion - east meets west. My personal favorite is the burrata as it was the perfect balance between sweet, savory, spicy, soft and crunchy. This is the perfect place to catch up with friends or date night! Exploring the menu will give you plenty to talk about.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ruby Monette-Meadow
Took my mom who was visiting from out of town last night for dinner, and we had the best time eating at the bar. She’s worked in hospitality for years and was ready for the hiccups that come with a newly opened restaurant but everything exceeded our expectations. We split the sweet potato burrata, fried chicken, cacio e pepe, ragù, and agnolotti. Standouts were the sweet potato, fried chicken, and ragù. We had both the tiramisu and soft serve for dessert. The soft serve was a last minute addition to our order and it was INSANE. It’s a must get. Great ambience - love being able to see into the kitchen from the bar and it wasn’t too loud in there which is an issue at a lot of hip LA spots. Will be back!!
Service was awesome. Good was excellent. Portions were good. Drinks were unique. Very asthetic and perfect for date night
Parking I just parked at madang mall and got somi somi after.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So I called Lapaba since there were no reservations available online to see if they could take one person I didn’t leave a message and they called me back. Cool. To tell me they were fully booked and couldn’t take a single. I guess they saw my caller ID. I don’t understand why you would call someone back if you don’t have seats to offer them. I went anyway and the hostess said sorry we’re still completely booked for the night and I observed a seat right there at the bar and she said OK. You can sit there. FoH not well organized - Gary was super friendly and well informed on the menu. The fried chicken was nicely presented. Trimmed, uniform pieces with a fresh dill ranch and diced jicama. The sauce was just very sweet and sticky without offering much flavor or heat. On to the most popular pasta dish the Agnolotti with brown butter and corn. This was delicious. But a very small dish. 8 small parcels for $24. With the Michelin recommendation, I hoped for a bit more individuality in the dishes. The entire concept here is to fuse Italian/Korean cuisine. Chef/owner, Matthew Kim was at Osteria Mozza so he knows his pasta one has to assume. Just didn’t get any Korean element in the agnolotti. And the chicken needed more punch. Will try again to see if they continue to develop the very promising concept.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Wife and I aren’t typically the biggest fans of fusion, but this spot may have helped changed our mind.
Service was 10/10 for starters. Love that it’s a better so it feels like your server is there for you at all times even when busy. My favorites were the K meatballs, Galbi Jim pasta, and BTS ice cream was legit one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Perfect restaurant for a girls dinner. The food was good but we definitely wish there was a little bit more in the portioning like even 10 to 15% more would seem more justified for the price. Everything tasted really good though, really fresh and not too heavy. It makes for a great placed to have a cocktail and maybe one or two dishes but you’re not gonna get full off of that. The tiramisu was delicious and of all things the portion size was decent for the price.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
I was very disappointed. Portions are small and not worth the price in my opinion, the taste was mediocre, and everything about it just fell below expectations which made me really sad cause I was really excited about this place. I also told them 3 times that we came for a special birthday only for them to forget and not do anything.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
K-Town finally has proper pasta. Husband and wife team, Chef McKenna Lelah and Matthew Kim have built something special, where Italian flavors meet Korean soul.
Start with the burrata, satsuma sweet potato, sweet soy, chili crisp. So addictive. The handmade pastas are the main event: the garganelli with perilla pesto is bright and fresh, the agnolotti with cheesy corn and smoked scamorza is rich but not heavy, and the orecchiette with fennel sausage and gochugaru is a must. Save room for dessert, the black truffle soft serve and tiramisu are not optional.
Prices are accessible with pastas between $20-25
If Lapaba isn’t in your K-Town rotation yet, fix that stat..
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best meals we’ve had recently, 10/10. The setting is inviting, with lots of counter space (great for a date night) and the service was exceptional (shoutout to Jeff, he was wonderful). This is one of those places where you simply can’t go wrong with anything you order (e.g. I feel the same way about RVR). We ordered the Agnolotti, Bucatini, gem salad, cacio e pepe rice cakes, fried chicken pops and garganelli—each was fantastic and unique. The wine list was well-appointed and they have delightful soju-based cocktails (so good). I think the desert stole the show: still thinking about the pavlova and soft serve. Can’t wait to come back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shady business they mess with the tip. The total amount with tip that I paid at the restaurant differed from what was finally billed to my card. They have no email or contact other than a phone number to reach out that no one answers. Everyone be vigilant and get a recipe and check your statements.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 1
Good combination of Korean sauce with Italian pasta.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A delicious Korean spin on Italian flavors. We tried a lot of dishes and all delicious! Loved the K meatballs, with the milk bread to dunk in the sauce. The Smoky corn stuffed pasta was so flavorful with the sage butter and parm cheese. The fried chicken with yuzu ranch was sooo good. I could drink the sauce. Cocktails were excellent! I had a Yuzu sour, and desserts soft serve ice cream w/truffle sauce was a great finish and palette cleansing. Can’t wait to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
We were super excited to dine at this new Korean Italian fusion restaurant. The restaurant is basically one large pasta bar and was well decorated. We ordered two of their pasta dishes and a few of their starters to share.
While the main focus on the menu were the pastas, it felt like they only added a Korean ingredient to make it different rather than try to make the dishes feel authentically “fusion”. They were tasty but the flavors definitely lean traditional Italian.
The starters were definitely where the fusion comes in. Echoing the same point as before but the flavor of the kimchi in the suppli was also very subtle. The most “fused” dish was the K meatballs that tasted like bulgogi and were paired with a traditional red sauce. The bread it came with was tasty but didn’t have the most shiny/golden crust.
We got a few of their drinks (yuja sour, arancia yakult, matcha yuja-ade) and they were good but very very sweet.
We ended with the BTS (black truffle soft serve) which was a lovely balance of sweet and savory.
TLDR: flavors were good but the dishes didnt feel like a true fusion experience. We felt like the menu lacked intention.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
This place has intrigued me long way before they even opened their door, then in the early opening days it's just too busy to even get a reservation especially as I was aiming for weekend. I finally gave up and picked a weekday dinner. Finding street parking would also test your luck certainly.
The venue setting was interesting with one long marble-top counter table so you could tell small-size group would be more ideal. Thankfully the menu was quite brief so at least eased the decision making. Most of the were meant for sharing so you could try multiple dishes, but portion wise it's more on the smaller side.
We got their Fried Chicken as starter, served with Calabrian Chili and somewhat reminded me of Thai Chili Sauce. It was good and I loved the idea of refreshing yuzu ranch dipping, making it distinctive but I would say the chicken itself was moderately good.
The radiatore was cooked al dente and the wine flavor stood strong in the sauce. Generously served short rib ragu was lovely, but I got it when people said to not expect it to remind you of signature Korean flavor, which I certainly didn't mind knowing it's fusion anyway!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Amazing experience Korean and Italian flavors were perfect
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
From the mocktails and cocktails to dessert, Lapaba really impressed me. Their menu is fusion - east meets west. My personal favorite is the burrata as it was the perfect balance between sweet, savory, spicy, soft and crunchy.
This is the perfect place to catch up with friends or date night! Exploring the menu will give you plenty to talk about.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Took my mom who was visiting from out of town last night for dinner, and we had the best time eating at the bar. She’s worked in hospitality for years and was ready for the hiccups that come with a newly opened restaurant but everything exceeded our expectations. We split the sweet potato burrata, fried chicken, cacio e pepe, ragù, and agnolotti. Standouts were the sweet potato, fried chicken, and ragù. We had both the tiramisu and soft serve for dessert. The soft serve was a last minute addition to our order and it was INSANE. It’s a must get. Great ambience - love being able to see into the kitchen from the bar and it wasn’t too loud in there which is an issue at a lot of hip LA spots. Will be back!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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