I'm Korean, lived in LA for past 10 years. I KNOW good Korean food. I understand if you are new to Korean cuisine that this may be a user friendly forray into what can be at times intimidating adventures into sometimes crazily pressured broken english speaking environs of a typical Korean restaurant. There are certain advantages to this restaurant: relatively proficient english, rather easily accessible, decor and atmosphere is not insulting, service is marginally acceptable. But that's where it ends. If you think this is fusion, you are just plain wrong. It is just a ruse, a disguise at sophistication by serving smaller (delicate? as some of you may prefer to say it) portions. I realize that their lease space may dictate slightly higher prices but 14 bucks for BiBimBap?! A little sprinkle of vegetables and bits of meat (arranged delicately) with a lump of fairly dry rice? (My wife literally had to cover her mouth as not to cause a scene, to stop her self from howling with laughter) By the way you could make that dish for about $1 and it probably would taste better. Daegoo Jorim typically tends to be pricey as a mountain of fresh fish (daegoo) assault your senses in a typically good Korean restaurant. But of course we were presented with a previously frozen rather bland small specimen easily forgotten. The rest of the two dishes were very forgettable (literally I've forgotten but I'm sure it was bulgoki or some meat dish and we usually get pa jun) and again pricey. Do they think this clever attempt to bolster the bottom line by disguising this mockery of korean food as a foo foo fancy cuisine will fool anyone? Maybe in Portland. Portlanders, fancy Korean is an oxymoron. There is only good value beltloosening Korean,whether you are in Seoul, LA, SF, NY. All the frilly stuff aside,for Korean food all that matters is how fresh the fish or meat, how good the seasoning, how good the BahnChahn (that's how you say it). In those categories BeWon is a poser.
Pros: acceptable service, english speaking staff, easily accessible
Cons: food
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