Tofu Village
3807 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90189 (213) 386-3650
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
34 reviews
Neighborhood: Culver City
"This past Friday I was very fortunate to have dinner at Gyenari, the new Korean BBQ with a California twist. I felt so special, because that…" read more »
28 Reviews for Tofu Village
We tried to come here on a Sunday evening and they weren't open.....does anyone know when the hours of operation are or whether they are open at all on Sundays?!!?!? There was no posting on the door or restaurant anywhere!
I definitely want to come back and try it....and will update soon.
I came here because the reviews were so high on Yelp and yes it's pretty darn good. This place had the most side dishes I've seen, you get 12. I also like that they have three choices of rice, I can't really taste the difference between the rices, but I would like to think the colored ones are healthier. The meat was really juicy and flavorful, the type of place where you keep eating after you're full, because it was so good.
The food was good, but it was a bit pricey for lunch food.
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This unassuming restaurant hidden on a major street in Koreatown has definitely become one of my must visits on my trips out west. I've tried the more popular BCD Tofu and honestly I prefer this one. Maybe because the service is more pleasant and present than BCD, but I like the offerings of different types of food like my personal favorite Green Tea rice. They're also not skimpy on the banchan (side dishes) and are always willing to reload when you finish them. I honestly haven't tried anything, but the soodooboo (tofu soup) with either seafood or meat, but I hear the chain is known for their BBQ. I'll have to try it next time around...
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How can I not give 5 stars to the best soon tofu place in K-town??
This spot is way better than BCD. It doesn't taste like a bowl full of MSG. You get about 10 to12 different side dishes (banchan). You get a choice of white, black or green tea rice. The place is clean and the service is always good. There are 2 sections, a soon tofu section and a KBBQ section which I have not tried yet but it looks and smells really good. I will update my review after I try the KBBQ side for dinner another day.
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I discovered KBBQ through Yelp, so I thought a KBBQ review would be perfect for review #100.
I went here for dinner a short time ago with some good friends and Yelpers. I'm not a big tofu connoisseur, but I was told they have Korean BBQ as well and, because of Yelp, I LOVE KBBQ so I was there without hesitation. They have valet parking in the structure behind the restaurant for $5 or so. Before arriving, I was told not to valet and that you can just park in the structure. But, when I pulled in, the attendant said I had to valet. Weird, because some of my friends ended up parking there without paying. Oh, well, on to the food!
I didn't see my party outside, so I ventured in. It's kind of a weird setup, as they have two separate sections. The back part is more like a dining room with booths and KBBQ grills on the tables. The front part is more like a diner where you can get everything on the menu, except for the KBBQ. I wasn't quite sure where to go and didn't see my friends, so I gave the "lost white boy" look and got some assistance. I finally found a few of my dining companions that were already sitting down. The rest of the party got there shortly after and we prepared to gorge.
First came the banchan. As others have said, they have a bigger variety of banchan than most other places. Noodles, veggies, anchovies, crab, kimchi, potato, steamed egg, etc. Usually I'm not a big banchan eater, but I remember a few of these being really good. Next, rice. In addition to the usual white rice, they have green tea rice and black rice, all served out of stone pots. I stuck with the boring white rice, but my friends that had the other types seemed to enjoy them.
Next, KBBQ!! I have to say, this was the best quality meat I've had at a KBBQ so far. Tender, fresh, you could just tell by looking at it that it was good! Most of the KBBQ meat they serve is beef. Sirloin, ribs, skirt, brisket, tongue, tripe, etc. They also serve pork belly. You can either get individual plates of one type of meat or combo plates that come with a variety of meat, rice wraps, soju or beer and possibly some veggies, stew, casserole or seafood (depending on which combo you order). I don't remember for sure which one we got, but everything on it was great. As I said, the meat was fantastic! I'm a big fan of the thicker cuts of meat, so my favorites were the beef ribs and the sirloin. No KBBQ meat I've had since then has compared to Tofu Village. We feasted on our KBBQ and soju like kings and queens.
In addition to all of the above, we also ordered some soon tofu. They have various types of meat, veggie, seafood and combo tofu dishes (including blue crab and baby octopus). I'm not sure which ones we ordered, but they were very good. Nice and spicy, just the way soon tofu should be.
If you're not interested in tofu or cooking your own meat, they do have a few already cooked dishes that you can order (stew, kalbi, bulgogi, spicy barbequed pork, casserole, grilled seafood). They also have some good looking lunch specials (box lunches, rice dishes, stews and salads). I just wish worked closer to the restaurant because I'd definitely be a frequent customer.
The service was very good. Maybe they just wanted to get us out of there quicker, but they were very attentive about bringing the dishes out, putting meat on our grill and flipping it if we left it on there too long. We had a couple Korean speakers in our group, so communication was not a problem. Even when I first got there and was looking for my friends, they were very nice and helpful.
One last thing, I read on another review that they have a soft serve ice cream machine???? Hmmmm...I don't think we knew about that. Must go back to investigate. Soon!
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This place is great! So I came here because my friend took me and I was really impressed. First there are sooo many side dishes and different choices. This place is a lot better than BCD. I actually went to BCD the next day to compare and I like this place a lot more.
Def if you like soontofu this place is much better than BCD. By the way make sure you validate your parking.
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Usually for me I don't eat soondooboo that much because I get tired of it. But this place their soondooboo is amazing as owner has secret receipe to make soondooboo unique in good way. there are a lot of tofu villages in LA county but I believe owner doesnt give out her secret receipes to other chain stores, which I don't understand since other franchise stores paying royalty to tofu villages why not share secret receipes with rest of stores. I tried one at cerritos it sucks and I realized food is not consistent at all!! If you wanna eat tofu village, don't go anywhere but here because this is only place where owner uses her secret receipe.
As far as Korean food goes, this place is pretty good. First thing to note, this place is split into two sides- the meat eaters and the vegetarians/vegans. Decide if you want to BBQ then you sit on the meat eater's side. If not, then eat on the other side.
Being a sad vegan, I could only get the dolsot bibimbap or the mushroom soondubu. I stuck w/ the dolsot bibimbap which was good but not excellent. Interestingly it came out on a hot black steel plate, not a bowl. They do have a variety of banchan (side dishes) but these were alright tasting, nothing special.
Just by looking at my meat-eaters' friends food, it appeared more tasty than my ordinary dolsot bibimbap. But better than BCD for sure which made me kinda sick once.
Nothing fancy but decent Korean food at a decent price.
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The LA and Gardena Tofu Village are awesome, however the newly opened Tofu Village in LittleTokyo is awful. I thought they have the same recipes. I have never been to a tofu place and ask them for salt to season my soup. Tofu soup was dry with no taste and to make it worst the service was terrible too. STAY AWAY from Little Tokyo Tofu Village.
Looking for blue crab soon tofu? They got it here for $10 a bowl!
Banchans galore!
Wanted to try this new place and now Kimi is addicted to this joint. Kimi says there is also one in alhambra http://www.yelp.com/bi.... Thanks Kimi! There is also one in La Crescenta. Thanks Felicia!
I think it provides that variety that BCD, Beverly and So Gong Dong can't provide.
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TWELVE , you can't even count that on your fingers, TWELVE types of side dishes bliss. There was the mung bean clear jelly like dish, the spinach, the seaweed, kimchees, potato, chap jae (clear noodles), anchovies, green cakes, oh dang (fish cake), cold beef rib meat, and i'm so full now i can't remember what the heck else there was.
anyway, before i talk more about the food, I have to say, the interior design of this place is very refreshing and modern. The walls are an amber redwood color, and the decorations are equally pleasing to the eye. Theres a waterfall type of thing with water flowing down this huge plate of glass in the front. And there are big comfy booths.
However, we were kind of disappointed/duped/confused with the lunch specials. Because there is one lunch special you can get with soon tofu (kalbi, soon tofu, side dishes, etc for $12.50). You can't get the dumpling soon tofu with the lunch special unless you add $1 and you can't get either the purple or green rice as an option. So instead, I got the mandu (dumpling) soon tofu. with the purple rice. And it was delicious. My roommates don't think that the lunch special is worth it, because you're essentially paying $3-4 more for some Kalbi and some smaller soon tofu and can only get white rice. I mean it comes in a box with all these small dishes but you can get the small dishes for free... 3.5 stars for you, and since i'm so full, i'll generously round up.
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Well.... so i had eaten a full bowl of some very filling beef noodles... and miss bunny calls me to join her for some korean bbq...
hmm... i ponder... i'm so very full...
but...
i says... okay... i shall go... and maybe just nibble a bit...
well...
i nibbled...
and i nibbled...
enough to do a 250 man proud...
i can't describe it better than she can but i can say that there were soooo many dishes on the table i didn't even make it too them all...
because i was too busy stuffing my already full face full of beef and pork belly...
and the super hospitable super cute short haired girl who cooked our food was great...
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12. thats right. 12 side dishes!!!!!! i was really hoping to get the fried fish, but they didn't have it.
but....... i got their kimchi beef soon dubu and it was delicioius.
will definitely be back for more... right when I got home i past out... tee heeee :)
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This place had been recommended by a few friends and acquaintances, so we decided to check it out. I have to say, I'm not sure what all the hype was about.
They did bring out a lot of banchan. Unfortunately, the staff was completely incompetent about what was in it. We asked several questions and they just didn't know the answers to any of them. Simple things like whether or not there were oysters or shrimp in a given dish.
To their credit, the rice options are good. If I end up here again, I'll have to try the green tea rice. This time, however, I went with the "black rice". They serve it in a hot stone pot so that it crisps up nice. They also left a hefty spoon on the table that I'd normally expect to see confined to a kitchen or buffet table ... our best guess was that it was for prying out the rice so you don't damage their regular spoons. And, well, that's what we used it for.
As for the sundubu, I was disappointed. The tofu was good, but the flavor was bland. It didn't strike me until later why this might have been. Whereas my wife was asked what level of spiciness she wanted, they didn't even ask me. They must have, in turn, served me the mildest version they had. With sundubu, that's just pointless. The sad thing, of course, is that they probably did this because of my ethnicity. Bad form for any restaurant, really.
I'd give this place another chance if friends wanted to go. Their place mats mentioned a store opening up in West L.A., which could be interesting ... but again the staff didn't know anything.
wonderful food and service!
My room mate and I went to this place, after studying all day at the coffee bean across the street, and now it's one of our favorites.
The food is not overpriced, but we never go there for korean bbq. (...it's called TOFU VILLAGE) for a reason.
I love how all the tofu dishes...comes with 12 side dishes, wonderful barley green tea, as well as your choice of white, green, and black rice for FREE. healthy choices.
the waiters were ice, we were working in the restaurant and they didn't care and even offered coffee and treats for FREE.
the waiters are knowledgeable and very nice.......you should go CHECK IT OUT! the Decor is amazing :p
Well, BCD Tofu House was closed the other night for remodeling, so I panicked. But only for 15 seconds, because there are so many cool Korean restaurants within blocks....and I knew I wouldn't starve.
Driving down Wilshire on the way to BCD, I noted a place just before (west of) Western. It was called Tofu Village and had a couple of cool waterfalls to attract your attention. I now know that if Tofu is in the name, I'll get my soontofu with dumplings and be a happy guy.
Well, since BCD was closed, I doubled back. (Have you EVER tried to make a legal U-turn anywhere in that area? Impossible!) No street parking was available, but lo and behold there was a big parking structure on a side street that had a sign specifically for Tofu Village. I think it was validated parking, but it was late enough so that the gate was open. Two sleepy guard sat motionless in their chairs, protecting those parking spaces from the parking-deprived local folks.
Went in the back entrance and saw people doing the Korean BBQ thing. But I just wanted my soontofu. After a humorous English-Korean one word at a time exchange with a waitress, she directed me to the front of the house where they do tofu. Apparently this is a HUGE place with two discrete sections.
This is a modern place with nice and attractive seating, both booths and tables. Couldn't stop gazing at the beautiful restroom doors. Inlaid glass and ironwork. The place was almost empty; I detected closure for the night was at hand. Especially when the waitress told another that I was there, and I got that frustrated look from her (Really? Oh shit? Can't we just CLOSE and go home??!??) But knowing that she Works Hard For The Money, I forgave her attitude slip.
They redeemed themselves. I ordered my soontofu with meat dumplings for $9.99. OMG, when the bansan (side dishes) came out, I was bowled over. BCD gives you the fried fish, kimchee, and maybe a measly 3 additional banchan. Well, this place gave me no fried fish, but kimchee and ***12*** banchan! Just for lil old me! And boy were they good and of good quality. The banchan included japchae (flavorful glass noodles to the uninitiated), seafood pancakes, the gelatin thingies, little crunchy anchovies, several veggie dishes, raw blue crab, and a little wooden cup with steamed egg. I was in heaven.
They also have you select your rice. Not just white rice, but green rice and black rice are available. I chose green, since I'm in the sage phase of my life design-wise.
The soontofu came out shortly and was bubbling hot like always. The waiter cracked the egg for me (probably assuming that I had no idea what it was....duh) into the bubbling tofu, and I stirred and cooked it. The dumplings were plentiful but everything (dumplings, veggies, tofu, stew liquid) was in the right proportion. Flavorful, spicy, bubbling hot, and with so many banchan, I sat there and FEASTED for my $9.99. Felt like a king.
Oh, they also do the rice water thing (after removing the rice from the stone bowl and placing it in the regular bowl) like BCD, but instead of just plain hot water, they mix SOMETHING sweet in. Not sure if it was honey or some kind of rice syrup, but it made the water a slightly dark color, and the mixture was kinda tasty. Still best if you mix some of the leftover kimchee and other items in.
This place isn't 24/7 like BCD, but if it is before 10pm on a school night and I'm in that neighborhood, I'll definitely visit again and again. I kinda missed my little fish, but the variety of banchan was so good I can't pass it up again.
By the way, they had a ton of big family style dishes costing $25-100+ dollars that you order for your table and then just pig out. Can't wait to bring others and try some of those. This place raises the bar on Korean tofu houses!
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UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the opening appetizer (pre-banchan) is a little wooden cup filled with cooked egg. Awesome flavorful, yet simple start to a great meal. I brought my Greek friend, who is a wizard in the kitchen, and he approved. A great deal.
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This is one of the best Korean restaurants in LA. Besides the "traditional" bbq and soon tofu, they offer "hard to find" dishes like seafood tofu pancakes and beef rib stew. The bbq is great, and if you're craving something liquid, order the beef rib stew, which is huge pieces of beef ribs cooked until tender with carrots, potatoes, a little chili for that kick of flavor and slices of ginseng (dunno what the ginseng is for, but my guess is to make it healthier).
The side dishes are also very good. They change the variety of the dishes, so it's a possibility that when you come to visit again, you'd be getting a different set of side dishes.
The restaurant is very clean and the service is great. It has free parking at the parking structure off the side of the building (make sure to get validation).
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Better than Chosun Galbi!
Korean BBQ delicate??? It is here! Starting with the side dishes, everything was obviously made with such careful consideration. Even the steamed egg came in our own little individual wooden cups. Thought and detail always makes the dining experience so much better.
-The BBQ: good quality, cut well
-Spicy Beef Rib Stew: rib, carrot, sweet potato, and ginger in a spicy stew. Redip the meat in the soup. It's full of spice and flavor.
-Cold noodles in kimchi soup: refreshing, on the sweeter side. It's huge, so split it.
-Seafood Tofu Pancake: instead of using batter, they use flattened tofu. Yumm!
-Rice: you get a choice of regular white, geen tea, and black (white rice with bits of black grains that color the whole thing darker).
-Tofu Hot Pot: Warms your insides with healthy tofu, choice of meat/seafood, in soup.
I love how they do a deliciously healthy concept on everything, even down to the rice. Good quality, fresh, clean, hearty, healthy. Excellent!
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DROOL! DROOL! DROOL! As diverse as SF is and as famous it is for good food, no offense to you hanguk sarams, but Korean food in SF (& Korea believe it or not) just does not compare to Korean food down in LA. I've been craving both soon doo poo (tofu stew with kimchee or crab or seafood) and kalbi (bbq). This place kicked @$$ in the little side dishes, the soondopoo, the bbq, the rice, the nooroonbap (rice soup?). Make sure to order the marinated calbi, the spicy lettuce, the salsa-ish dipping sauce with the rice paper to wrap it all up and make yourself a korean mini taco. YUUUUUUUUUM!!!
There is some serious soul in Mr. and/or Mrs. Tofu Village. Who wants to escape with me?
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I thought Tofu Village would be a vegetarians delight, but I should've known better... given that it is right smack in the middle of Koreatown. It's actually a Korean BBQ restaurant that adjoins a Soon Tofu restaurant. The two make one. You cannot have BBQ on the Soon Tofu side, but you can have soon tofu on the BBQ side. Make sense? It's only because the tables of the Soon Tofu restaurant do not have a grill.
Anyway, so for the food. I'm a vegetarian so this might be a hard one to review. Actually, I'm a politically incorrect vegetarian-- a pescetarian, one who sometimes eats fish, seafood... y'all get what I'm saying. I know I've reviewed lamp chops and all that great stuff on a previous review, but those were speculations. Sorta. I've had a great number of people telling me so. I won't review something I cannot eat unless I'm adamantly certain that I can review it, cuz maybe I've eaten it before (I wasn't born a veggie) and I trust my friends. I digress...
So, I went to Tofu Village with some family and friends. Of course, they naturally gravitated towards the BBQ. They ordered "Tong Galbi" (unmarinated beef whole ribs) and beef tongue. That certainly ain't my cup of tea. However, they seemed to enjoy it tremendously. They were even comparing it to Chosen Galbi, which is an excellent BBQ restaurant. On a whole, they very much enjoyed the meat. Oh, and the banchans (side dishes) were awesome. Absolutely delicieux. A Korean is happy to see a table decorated with small plates of fresh and vividly colorful banchan. Everything was good. Damn those free refills on banchans! I've gotten about three or four for each. And there were how many? Mucho mucho. Oh, so moving on. I did not just eat banchan, okay. I ate Soon Tofu with a choice of healthy black rice (you get to choose what kind of rice you want, probono). Crab Soon Tofu at that. Better than BCD, I might say. And I do say! So whatever you crave, Soon Tofu or Korean BBQ, or maybe even both, Tofu Village is a must eat experience!
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Located on the first floor of an office building/shopping mall? Not quite sure...Anyway, there are 2 sides to the restaurant, one side is the soon tofu side, where you can enjoy steaming spicy tofu soup with many different varieties for your pleasure...The bbq side is where we congregated this evening, a higher level of korean bbq, with vents aplenty and full waiter service! Impatient and hungry, I kept grabbing the metal tongs to try and grill the meat myself, only to have them pried out of my hands by a waiter/waitress. We appeared to have several servers and it was wonderful since we loved all of the side dishes and salad bowl, and constantly needed more. The sauces that accompanied our dinner were amazing, I enjoyed the sambal chili based one, in particular, and would've liked nothing more than to slurp it with a spoon...There were several meats included in our meal, beef rib, marinatedbeef rib, pork belly, all delicious and mouth-watering. Also there were 3 types of rice, black, green tea, and white. We had the green tea and it was sooooo aromatic and palate pleasing. Dessert consisted of a soft serve ice cream machine, which tasted like lightly sweetened non-dairy creamer slush. Pass. On either side of the ice cream machine were a hot tea dispenser and a hazelnut coffee or cocoa dispenser. Push a button and a little disposable cup fills itself with your beverage of choice. Yum hazelnut coffee, yum cocoa. Dinner for 5 including gratuity: $121. Word.
One good thing about a Korean restaurant is that they give you unlimited side dishes for free. This place gives you about 10 side dishes that all tastes great. If you like soon tofu from BCD, you might like this place even better. Why you ask? It's clean, service is decent (service at BCD is horrible), the tasty side dishes, and no roaches! Once I was eating dinner at BCD tofu on Wilshire and saw a KING roach crawling around the floor. I jumped up and screamed (I cannot tolerate roaches) and told the waiter about the pest and all he did was smile and killed it right on the spot with a napkin. Gross!!!
Btw, if you are watching what you eat, ask for red rice. They also have green tea rice but I'll pass on that. Also ask for NO MSG in your soup! That works for BCD as well. It still taste good but less salty? I think.
They serve BBQ in the back but I haven't tried that yet.
Just a note. This place is on Wilshire and Western but on Wilshire street. The zipcode on here is wrong.
I had no problem with the food...but I had a problem with their parking...Ok, so let's begin:
This restaurant is divided into two sections. One side is dedicated to bbq and one side is dedicated to non-bbq dishes.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant was pretty clean (you know them Korean restaurants...) and not too crowded. We were promptly seated in our section (we decided to get soon dubu) and given our menus. The menu had a variety of dishes ranging from soon dubu types to kimchi cold noodles. The soon dubu selections were very similar to that of BCD (kimchi, seafood, curry, dumpling, etc.), but Tofu Village also had a couple unique ones like the baby octopus and clam soon dubu.
One cool thing I liked was the variety of rice types. You can choose from white rice, black rice and green tea rice. I wasn't brave enough to choose the green tea rice, but their black rice was good. Just like BCD, the rice is served in a stone pot and scooped out.
Another cool thing that I liked was their side dishes! They had several small plates of different side dishes + individual steamed eggs + hot tea & cold water. Although none of the side dishes were exceptionally stellar, it was fun tasting each one. :)
The soon dubu was very good too. I think it tasted as good as (maybe even better) than the soon dubu at BCD. I ordered the kimchi soon dubu, and it was very yummy.
OK...so to sum it up:
PRO: clean, not too busy, reasonable prices, tasty meals, fun side dishes, parking is 'free'
CON: unlike BCD, there is no option of ordering combination meals (soup + meat). If you want the meat, you will have to fork out and extra 13-15 dollars, parking is 'free'
TIP: PARKING is shady...like really really shady, so be careful. The restaurant parking is located in the parking structure. The restaurant will pay/validate your parking ticket, only if the ticket is issued by the parking structure (ie: press button upon entering, get ticket, gate rises up, drive thru). Ok, yeah, so this all makes sense, right? But..THIS is what happens:
When I went there..around 6:30-7ish (PRIME TIME), there was no attendant in the cubicle, and the parking bar was raised up. So, I innocently drove past it.. I was soon greeted by a valet person. This valet person walked up to me and asked me where I was heading to. I said, "Tofu village." He nodded his head, signaled to me to get out, and I got his ticket and went to eat my meal. After my meal, I handed the waitress my ticket, and she told me that the restaurant only validates the parking structure ticket, and NOT the valet guy. She told me that I was supposed to press the button and get the ticket. I asked her, how was I supposed to know to press the button when the bar is raised and there is no attendant...she agreed with me. I proceeded to ask her how come the valet guy specifically asked me where I was going and took the car anyway knowing i was going to Tofu Village where the parking is free?! The waitress nodded her head and said the restaurant was always fighting with the valet people for targeting their customers.
"then why don't you PUT up signs for your customers saying free parking w/validation on Parking structure ticket? She said, "we're not allowed to put up signs."...
In summary, She said, "next time you come in, and the parking bar is open, just drive through, and go past the valet guy (who motions for you to stop) and self park." ..She said all this as if i was supposed to know all this. It was no use asking her to put up signs telling customers, "free parking, self park." or whatever. Anyways, long story short, I didn't have to pay...or actually went down and refused to give the shady man his 1.50 (he let me go with no hesitation...he KNEW what he was doing was shady)...
Ok, that is all. Hopefully the parking situation will improve.
*picture Posted*
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Yeah, 5 stars. Really. Now I know what you're thinking: "Albert's been in Sydney for seven months, where the Korean BBQ is mediocre AT BEST, how can he possibly think he can waltz back into LA and immediately start handing out 5 star reviews to places that nobody's even reviewed yet?"
Well listen here, I'm BACK you see, and just because I wasn't able to get good KBBQ for seven months doesn't mean I've gone insane. Just think back to my (First To) Review of Soot Bul Gui Rim 2 and remember how much you liked that, k?
I didn't know what to expect when I met my fellow snobby LA/Sydney dining buddy and her sister for KBBQ the other night, especially because we were having BBQ at a new place (month or two old now?) called "Tofu Village". I don't go to Starbucks for tea, and I don't go to McDonald's for their Mexican (style) food, why would I go to a tofu house for BBQ? (Granted, I don't go to Starbucks and I don't eat at McDonald's, but I do shop for DJ gear at Guitar Center and I have been known to eat the cheeseburgers at Del Taco, but that's besides the point.) I trust my friend implicitly at restaurant choices, she has never steered me wrong.
The front half of the restaurant is the Tofu Village half and the menu looks like what a typical soon dubu (sp? I'm not Korean) type restaurant usually serves, silken tofu soup with your choice of mushroom, dumplings, seafood, meats, etc. served with a stone pot of rice (interestingly enough, with your choice of white, green, or black rice). There were also a couple of typical Korean dishes found in establishments like this, the seafood pancake, bulgogi, bibimbap, etc.
Walking through to the back of the restaurant takes you to the BBQ house, which serves all the menu from the front half of the restaurant PLUS BBQ. The three of us opted to share Combo #1, which consisted of 4 different kinds of BBQ (Beef Brisket, BBQ Sirloin, Black Pork Belly, and Marinated Beef Rib), assorted Mushrooms, Miso Soup, Ricecake wraps, and a bottle of Soju, all for just $59.99 inclusive. This isn't AYCE, mind you, but it ended up being more food than the three of us (two of us are gluttons, btw) could manage. (although come to think of it, we did add some soon dubu and a couple more bottles of soju for good measure) While I am known to be a fan of AYCE, I assure you will not miss it as the quality (especially for the price!) far outstrips the quality of the AYCE joints in town. The panchan (Side dishes) that are served with the meal were diverse, plentiful, fresh, and delicious, as were the meats that they come and dole out to you in courses (service is excellent, even for non-korean speakers like me).
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Great lunch, try the spicy BBQ pork. WOW
update 5/6/08:
the best time to go is non RUSH.. don't expect to get supreme excellent service on a Friday night. saturday early dinner is the way to go.
If you do plan on going during dinner time, make sure you make reservations.
also we found out on our last trip that there is FREE soft serve.. well it's not as thick as soft serve it's more icy but it's not frozen yogurt ish.. hard to explain but it's good.. HEY it's free! and they also have the free coffee machines too.. it's self servce.. so it's nice to just grab and go as you leave the restaurant .. or as you ROLL out the door
it's still my #1!
oh they have cool looking lunch box combos.. but i would only go for bbq.. yay for MEAT!
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SOOOO INCREDIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE....
it hurts!
it was amazing.. thanks to albert's review:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
I decided to check it out..
THE ADDRESS IS WRONG on the other location.
This is the one.. I called and made sure.
You walk in and you are greeted by nice servers but make sure if you want to drink or bbq you let them know so they can escort you to the back.
I think there is a way in from the back and there is also a parking lot too.
But it makes you feel VIP when they announce through their headsets that they are bringing you to the back for drinks and bbq.
The seats are very comfortable.. almost too comfortable.. in the middle of my meal I wanted to lay down and take a nap.
It was also because of food overload.
We had the rib eye, the other rib meat with the bone, and the black pork and I also ordered a combination soon doo boo.
The combinations that they had didn't seem worth it. We are a big fan of the fatty beef. We originally wanted to order the tripe but they sold out the night before.
The service is a bit slow and unorganized considering they were all on the walkies and headsets but they are very nice.
Even my broken korean didn't seem to bother them.
It did take 3 tries to ask for cold water. But they came and took care of all the bbq-ing and cut up the meat in perfect portions.
But you guys have to order the rib meat on the bone, i can't remember what it's called right now.. I am in too much pain to think.
I am seriously drunk on food.. it's not even a food coma because i can't pass out.. but i'm incoherent and a bit uncomfortable.
Their banchan spread is awesome.. stay away from the kimchi though.. NOT GOOD.
I liked the green pancake type thing.. this some sort of dduk. You also get gae jang (spicy raw crab)
Oh and their version of the potato salad is BEAUTIFUL.
it's a potato patty with mayonaise spread on it with tiny chopped pieces of carrot & cucumber sprinkled over it so it looks like a cake.. awesome.
They had the mook (acorn jelly), dried squid, anchovies, and other stuff.. i didn't have room for.
Their greens mixture for the ssam is good too.. good flavor to go along with the unmarinated meat.
The soon doobu is freaking good too.. great flavor.. it was hot.. hearty.. and spicy.. i wish i could have had more room for it.
I think it's better than going to AYCE.. the rib eye is about $30 per plate but you get a large portion.
Try dipping the riby eye in the soy sauce jalapeno garlic mixture before wrapping it up.. it adds a soy sugary flavor to it..
i will most definitely go back.
The lady even cut out the cartlidge pieces from the pork.. which was great.. because i love those pieces to crack my teeth on but some people just spit it out when they get that piece and i don't want to put that piece in my mouth so i got to enjoy the bone pieces without having chewed meat piecces on it.. EW haha.
They also have 3 options for rice with your soon doobu.
White, Green, and Black.. don't ask me what the other colors are.. i just wanted to let you know.
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when you're at a place like soot bull jeep, you love every minute of it but at times you might think things like, "wow, this place would be totally great if it wasn't so damn smokey." or maybe you think, "i love this place! i wish the meat was a little higher quality."
that's around the time you should consider going to tofu village next time. the meat is amazingly fresh and good. the restaurant itself is clean and has excellent ventilation and high ceilings. however, you can't help but fondly miss that authentic korean bbq vibe of places like the aforementioned soot bull jeep or manna.
it's all about the give/take when it comes to kbbq, i suppose.
Stepping inside Tofu Village in LA is how going into a clown car must feel like: the restaurant is on the first floor of one of the buildings next to the Wiltern, but it feels HUGE. You feel like you're looking at miles and miles of tables; at the end of the meal, when I went to the coffee machine to get some da-bang coffee for myself, I almost got lost on the way back. I am still skeptical as to whether or not Tofu Village will be able to fill all of those seats, but I think a lot of the food is good enough to draw people in.
We were seated in the barbecue section of the restaurant, which was equipped with large, rather intimate, booths that were comfortably cushioned with some sort of tannish leather. Everything was still shiny and new, but the sheer largesse of the space was so surprising.
The restaurant was quite empty (I think we came in at around 6 or 6:30), so we had about four different servers attending to our needs. We got our tea pretty quickly and ordered two servings of the rib eye and a hot steamed tofu-and-fish dish with soybeans. The banchan were presented before us, and I have to say, I was a little disappointed. The portions were pretty generous and you can ask for refills, but the variety was lacking and the banchan seemed more adult than a lot of other places, even the T.V. in Cerritos, which has a great array of banchan, including individual portions of steamed egg custard.
Our fish and tofu were served first, which raised some red flags: normally, the meat, as it's the central and most expensive item on the menu, is served first for the patron to enjoy as much of, and then the less expensive items served afterward. Plus, the tofu and fish are spicy, which would probably have been a nice palate cleanser after the heaviness of the meat, expecially seeing as how they give you bean paste stew and rice in the end, which would have gone well with the tofu. Also, I personally thought the dish wasn't that great; it was spicy but bland, and I felt that T.V. didn't take into account the fact that they would have to adjust the seasonings, considering how much water soybean sprouts give off when cooked. It was pretty disappointing, to say the least. Make sure, if you order this along with meat, to have them bring the meat before the tofu. It only makes sense.
The rib-eye made up for whatever the tofu lacked. Cut into bite-sized pieces and sliced thinly but not so that the integrity of the meat would have been compromised, just a few minutes on the grill made the pieces flavorful, tender, and thoroughly enjoyable. The pieces of rib-eye melted in our mouths, seasoned with a dip of the sesame oil-salt-pepper concoction that they give you. Since I don't like pieces of raw garlic, I throw them onto the grill, as well; by about the third go, they're tender and sweet enough for you to enjoy with your meat, as are the mushrooms, who have by then cooked and gathered a pool of water in its natural well.
Sure, it's a deconstructed steak in some ways, but people should sample some of the finer, unmarinated cuts at Korean barbecue restaurants. It's best if the joint uses a charcoal grill, but even if they don't it's a chance for you to enjoy the meat in its simplicity, immediately off of the grill and into your mouth. Tofu Village's rib-eye was stellar and well-cut, with nary a piece of fat or gristle in sight. Two portions were enough to fill the four of us (and we didn't even come close to finishing the tofu dish), so the price isn't even that bad-- at around $60 dollars for two portions of rib-eye, we had a quality meat experience for $15 each and some change. They served us a complimentary pot of soybean-paste stew, boiled straight on our grill. It was nice and salty, with clams and pieces of meat giving the broth a hearty flavor. You also get to choose from three types of rice-- white, black, and one infused with green tea, all made in individual stone pots. My personal favorite is the black rice.
One gripe I had with my experience at this location was that service was a bit spotty, even though the restaurant was nowhere near full capacity. Even with the ever-present call button, it took repeated calls and interactions with different servers for certain things to get done. Everyone was extremely nice in person; it was just the speed and efficiency that were lacking.
From my experience with this location and the one in Cerritos, I would definitely recommend the rib-eye, the dumplings, and the braised stewed shortribs. I know people love the soft tofu stuff and that the restaurant is called Tofu Village for a reason, but I think their tofu dishes are bland and better versions can be had in other restaurants.
I doubt that some of the other locations would serve some of the fancy fare that this one has, like the prime rib, but I would actually rather go to to the one in Cerritos.
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