Homage to Korean Cafe Food: Omurice, Squid Ink Pizza and the Definitive Kimchi Pasta

I'm paying homage to old school Ktown joints today serving old school fare or classics with a twist. Omurice at the Yellow House Cafe is one of those nostalgic dishes that takes you back that is just comforting. Omurice comes in many shapes and sizes - sometimes the rice is mixed with ketchup and wrapped in a perfect blanket of an omelet; and the version I like has veggies and meat (sometimes spam or ham) mixed into the rice. The constant common denominator, however, is that the rice must be wrapped in an omelet and there must be ketchup. Yellow House Cafe's version was average. I'd probably make a better version at home. 

I had heard about the kimchi pasta at Nandarang and it did not disappoint. I actually tried it a few years ago and have been meaning to try making it at home yet haven't had a chance to. I loved it -- it was spicy, creamy and salty over a bed of al dente spaghetti.

What amused me even more were the "works" that came with it. Koreans in Korea love to pair their pastas with pickles because the heavy cream is, well, too heavy. Naturally, the pasta plate came with two dainty little pickled radishes.

I got a host of side dishes including pickled radishes and sliced jalapenos; kimchi (because that's exactly what you want when you're having kimchi pasta); fish broth and macaroni salad (carb overload!).

Even though it made absolutely no sense to have macaroni salad with kimchi pasta, I happily dug in.

The third and final spot is Caffe Concerto. I seriously feel like I've been transported back in time when I enter places like these. It's fancy digs but I don't feel like I'm in LA. I had a black squid ink pizza at Caffe Concerto that was average. I liked it better with an over-easy egg the next morning. Still, amusing to go and people watch, marveling at how I'm actually where I am and not in Seoul. True to the Korean cafe culture, all spots maybe except for CC are a bit pricey for what they serve. 

In any case, viva nostalgia!