Dong Il Jang

Going to Dong Il Jang is like stepping back in history. When it opened more than 22 years ago in what is now Koreatown, it was a pioneer, not just one among the present flood of Korean barbecue and noodle places. Roy Kim, who runs the daily operation, says it was the first Korean restaurant to put in a sushi bar, now a common practice. The inspiration for that was Kim's grandfather, who studied in Japan and opened a sukiyaki restaurant in Seoul in 1945. That too was named Dong Il Jang ("No. 1 in the East"). Sung Kim, Roy's father, opened a Dong Il Jang here and added sushi to honor his father. And this serene place with a koi pond still serves sukiyaki, tempura, teriyaki and sushi along with a full Korean menu, full of the usual barbecued meats, roast kui (rib-eye steak sliced quite thin and cooked with an onion slice), and seafood, including succulent shellfish. There's a minimum of two orders, which is enough food for three people. When the beef is finished, the waitress greases the grill with any leftover butter, dumps on a pile of kimchi and slivered beef, and stirs in a generous spoonful of hot chile paste. Then she upends two bowls of rice into the mixture and stirs this until blended. It's spicy stuff, and filling.