For weeks, I’ve had open-ended plans to join my friend Tai for dinner in Koreatown. He grew up in South Korea and has some serious food knowledge, so not only did I know I’d have a good time, but I figured I’d eat well and probably even learn something. Koreatown contains hundreds of dining options, but we decided on Sa Rit Gol, Kyung Hah’s Korean restaurant with a lengthy comfort food menu that resides in the back corner of a strip mall. In Korea, a Sa Rit Gol is a traditional country house.
Kimchi, chile-slathered fermented cabbage, appeared alongside bean sprouts seasoned with chile sauce, carrots, scallions and light sesame oil; and slices of sautéed zucchini with tiny shrimp so small they practically require a microscope. The middle row features, left to right: warm lettuce roots, dried in winter, boiled in spring and marinated with pungent anchovy sauce; tiny chile-slathered cucumbers and garlic cloves; and quarter-inch-thick slabs of fried tofu partially submerged in soy sauce. The top row consisted of ruffled slabs of white acorn gelatin with garlic vinaigrette and subtly fermented greens and cucumbers, another form of kimchi. As advertised, Sa Rit Gol delivered impressive banchan.
My bowl of soup featured flaky chunks of cod meat and tiny bones. This was a dish that required technical use of chopsticks, but it was worth the effort.
As expected, Sa Rit Gol was a positive experience on many levels. I’ve eaten at dozens of Korean restaurants in Los Angeles, but thanks to Tai and his friend Matthew, I learned fresh information about Korean cuisine. The food was also in the upper tier of the neighborhood’s Korean restaurants. I’m excited to return and eat my way through the rest of the enticing menu.
Blog Comments
edward hah
May 23, 2011 at 12:24 PM
im about to cry 🙁
Joshua Lurie
May 23, 2011 at 1:15 PM
Edward,
I have fond memories of Sa Rit Gol. I can’t imagine what you must feel when you read about your family’s late great restaurant. Hopefully you can help to revive those dishes at some point.