Parks BBQ

I've been itching to try Parks BBQ for quite some time now.  We've been to LA many times but have never been to K-Town (gasp! it is true!).  Call it the "young children" effect as all we did was generally go to Anaheim.  Well, we were going to Anaheim this time around too, but I made it my mission to go to have some legit Korean BBQ (especially since the kids love it).  We ended up Ubering it because the valet parking situation at Park's can only be described as chaotic.

Before we got to the meat festivities, we were served a selection of Banchan including Rice Noodle with Meat Sauce, Potato, Green Salad, Marinated Bean Curd Skins, Kimchi, Rice Noodle Sheets (more for the pork belly than banchan), Spicy Bean Sprouts, Onion Salad with Cilantro, Marinated Peppers, Meatballs and Potato Salad.  I particularly enjoyed the bean curd skins as they were texturally appealing and slightly spicy.  Kimchi was crunchy and had a rich flavor.  In fact, the banchan here at Park's was a bit different and good.  Not your typical boring selection.

So we had no other thing on our mind other than going for a Taste of Park's BBQ (P1, P2 and P3).  They cook your food here and do it with great efficiency and care.  We started with the Brisket, Boneless Shortrib and Ggot Sal.  Gotta say the quality of the meat was top-notch where the marbling was particularly appealing in the ggot sal.  Meats were tender and the beefiness really came through.  Yes, the pricing isn't cheap here, but I think it is worth every penny due to the meat quality.  I particularly enjoyed the Ggot Sal which was so flavorful from the fat and succulent.

As you can see, there was also mushrooms, zucchini and onion.  We moved onto the Ribeye Steak next.  To the right of it is the cooked Outside Skirt. I found the ribeye to be soft and fatty.  It was beautiful.  As for the outside skirt, it was also marbled, but not as much as the ggot sal.  Hence, it was flavorful, but probably the least of the cuts we had.  It was rather meaty in texture, but still tender nonetheless.

In my haste of enjoying the food, I didn't get a picture of the Bulgogi, yet there is some remnants of it at the top right corner.  It was also, you guessed it, tender and nicely charred. What we see here is Park's Galbi, Shrimp and Pork Belly.  That short rib was buttery and delicious.  The pork belly was quite meaty with just a bit of fat.  Excellent for rolling up in the rice paper sheets.  Lastly, the shrimp were also good with a meaty snap and the usual sweet briny flavor.

To get some rice into our meal, I got the Dolset Bibimbap.  By appearance alone, it seemed to be quite a bit of ingredients on top of the rice.  When mixed together, it turned out that there wasn't actually that much rice, it was practically all toppings!  The stone bowl was hot enough to get a socarrat on the bottom (after I squished the rice on the sides that is).  Really good and hearty.  Now the Taste of Park's BBQ P1, P2 and P3 is $199.00.  I actually don't find that expensive given the variety and quality of meats offered.  Also, the banchan is delicious and the service top-notch.  Totally worth it in my opinion.

The Good:
- High quality meats
- Great service
- Good banchan

The Bad:
- With the meats cooked for you, the meal goes by a bit too quick
- That valet parking situation is not the best