When a pristine meal during which manners must be minded just won't do, Angelenos head into the depths of Koreatown for finger-licking favorite Soot Bull Jeep's barbecue. From what must be hundreds of area Korean barbecue joints, locals pack into this particular dark, smoky dining room for its perfectly marinated meats and authentic charcoal-fire grills. It's the sort of place where your eyes are most often bigger than your stomach – and where the scent of the meal inevitably lingers on clothing long after leaving – but the juicy cuts of marinated short rib, pork loin, beef or chicken exhibit a variety of robust Korean flavors that are just too good to pass up. More adventurous eaters may spring for tongue, tripe or squid, and any choice can be spiced up with the assortment of kimchi, peppers, pickles and salad accompanying each selection. Beer and wine available. Serving lunch and dinner daily.
Where the Locals Eat rating
Best Korean
Top 100 Restaurant, Los Angeles
"If you get hooked on the contrasting flavors [of Korean food] and want to try them at full strength, visit Soot Bull Jeep."
—Los Angeles City Beat
"Nowhere else is the aesthetic of flame expressed quite so profoundly as it is at Soot Bull Jeep, where the deep, round aroma of smoldering hardwood charcoal plays across the sizzling, blackened surfaces of marinated short ribs, beef tongue or squid the way that last night's best dream still flits around your mind."
—Los Angeles Weekly
"Of the hundreds of Korean barbecue restaurants in L.A., this is one of the best."
—Gayot
How others rate Soot Bull Jeep
Zagat 2009
23 food rating (very good to excellent)