This South Korean chain specializes in sotbap, or pot rice—the most famous of which is bibimbap, a mixed meat and vegetable rice dish found at most Korean restaurants in Los Angeles. Literally named for the stone pot or cauldron in which sotbap is made, Damsot LA is a standout no-frills, fairly affordable lunch or dinner option with few comparable alternatives in the city’s Korean dining scene. (Technically, there’s Lasung Tofu House & Pot Rice, but the pot rice quality is much better at Damsot.) A protein-topped rice bowl on its own may not seem particularly special, but the restaurant dresses up the individually portioned crispy-bottomed sotbap with the likes of spicy eggplant and pork, abalone (along with sumptuous abalone liver) and flavorful bits of house-aged steak with egg yolk and green onions. Beyond those menu highlights, there are options for pescetarians and vegetarians, and the most expensive dish, the abalone sotbap, clocks in at $29. Each entrée comes with salad, miso soup and three solidly prepared banchan, plus a kettle of barley tea to pour over the remainder of your sotbap to make nurungji tang, or crispy burnt rice soup, at the end of your meal.
Time Out tip: Your server will probably recommend you scrape out your damsot at the start and put the rest of your meal into the separate bowl provided, but I personally prefer to skip the nurungji tang and eat the nurungji on its own like an uncultured heathen once I finish the rest of the vegetables, protein and rice. You do you, however.