Yangban Review - Arts District - Los Angeles - The Infatuation
"Yangban looks different these days and, no, it’s not a phase. Since it opened in 2021, this Arts District spot has reinvented itself on two (three?) occasions, with each iteration inching closer to the upscale Korean-American restaurant it is today. Conceptually, what you’ll find now is the most cohesive Yangban to date, with table service and a more fleshed-out menu than its previous new-wave deli format. And we hope it sticks around. Because even after a few identity crises (and a floor-to-ceiling makeover), Yangban has kept its most redeeming quality: a fun, genre-blurring approach to Korean cooking. Okay, that and the . If you haven’t dined here in a few years, you might not recognize the place. Remember the bright, colorful deli where you could order seasonal banchan and buffalo soft serve at the counter? Or the hip bodega on the second floor, where you could shop for soju and Korean snacks? All of that’s gone. Yangban is simply a restaurant disguised as a dark, brooding art gallery, with a coat of black paint and modern art installations that look like charred trees and floating plastic bags. Despite the highbrow makeover, the menu at Yangban still includes many of the restaurant’s earliest hit dishes—which is a good thing. These Ghosts of Yangbans Past make up the bulk of the highlights, like the crunchy, twice-fried soy-garlic wings, the creamy smoked trout dip with big lumps of fish, and a pot pie filled with lobster and savory congee. And then there’s newer dishes, which make use of Korean ingredients like perilla leaf, gochujang, and kimchi in clever ways, but with varying results. The makgeolli-marinated scallop toast bathed in brown butter and tangy “golden sauce” is so good we suggest ordering one per person, but the delicate gochujang-braised cod is all heat, no flavor. Generally speaking, inconsistent seasoning is our biggest critique of Yangban 3.0, with many entrees and seasonal banchan missing a pinch (or two) of salt. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t miss Yangban’s casual days when you could leisurely show up on a weeknight for soft serve and beer. But dwelling on that would detract from how gracefully this restaurant has evolved. The experience might be different, but the food at Yangban continues to expand what Korean-American cooking can look and taste like in our city. And that by itself makes it an LA restaurant worth visiting. " - Sylvio Martins
