We are really loving life in our new ethnic enclave! Fortunately, here in Koreatown most of our neighbors are Spanish speaking so I get to practice my Spanish while befriending our building mates but as the name suggests Koreatown actually does have a lot of Koreans. Go figure!
The neighborhood is rich with culture as nearly every shop and restaurant has Korean signage, most are also accompanied by a rough English translation like the Salon down the street that reads "magic hair straight sale" or the store around the corner that says "cosmetic underwear". There are also many signs with no English on them at all but as beautiful as all the Korean signs are this can be a little intimidating for non-Koreans. We decided to quell our fears by jumping right in! Given our choice of going into a restaurant that read "Chinese Food" under the Korean sign or going into the small place next door with no English at all we decided what the hell...
the menu was no more English friendly than the sign outside:
Our server was very forgiving and though she didn't know more than a few words of English herself she got us through dinner nicely. The menu was quite extensive from what we could tell but she only gave us two options: barbecue or soup -- either because she thought that was the only thing two Americans would like, or those were the only English words she knew. We went with barbecue, Dominic had pork and I had beef. Our meal came with a variety of exotic sides and some very sticky and delicious rice. The ice cold beverage, I assumed was water, was actually some kind of tea, not bad but a little surprising at first. Overall our experience was very pleasant and though I'm not sold on Korean barbecue just yet I am totally in love with our new hood.
So, if you ever find yourself in Koreatown, Los Angeles be sure to pack a pocket translator...with multilingual capabilities!