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Baroo (Los Angeles, CA) [3]

Baroo Restaurant
905 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-221-7967
www.baroolosangeles.com
Fri 02/27/2026, 09:00p-11:10p





You might recall that I attended a special Jeong Kwan collaboration dinner at Kwang Uh (어광) and Mina Park's (박미나) Baroo (바루) a while back. I left suitably impressed by that meal, and was curious to return and try the restaurant's regular menu again. Said curiosity was piqued even further due to all the accolades that the place has garnered since then. This includes "Best Chef: California" semifinalist status from James Beard in '25 and '26, as well as #3 rankings on the LA Times' "101 Best Restaurants" list in both 2024 and 2025, not to mention a spot on the LAT's "101 Best Restaurants in California" guide. Baroo also has a new General Manager, Tiange Xiao, a Cornell/CIA grad who joined last fall and previously worked at the likes of République, Maru Sushi & Grill, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Coincidentally, some friends of mine who'd never been recently decided that they wanted to go, and so here we are.


Baroo occupies a storefront on the ground floor of The Garey Building apartment complex in the Downtown Arts District. Here we see the view from the restaurant's entrance, which is now located at the end of the bar.


A better view of the dining room, which hasn't really changed much since the restaurant first opened back in September 2023. The best seats in the house are still the ones at the kitchen counter (where we were placed).


Baroo's fermentation-focused modern Korean tasting menu is priced at $125 a head, with optional supplements. In addition, pescatarian and vegetarian versions (also pictured above) are available with advanced notice. Printed on the back is a listing of the staff and suppliers, which is a thoughtful gesture, and tonight's menu was signed (clockwise from top-left) by Sebastian Cuevas, Malia Shen, Sean Park (션박), and Daniel Cho. Click for larger versions.



In terms of libations, a signature wine pairing is offered at $100, a mixed pairing at $80, and an alcohol-free pairing at $55. Other beverage options include an expanded, Old World-leaning wine list curated by newly-appointed Wine Director Peggy Keplinger (Night + Market, State Bird Provisions, Shaya), sool (술), beer, tea, and low-ABV cocktails. Corkage is $40 per bottle, limit two. Click for larger versions.


While we were getting settled, we opted for some beer in the form of the jester king 'nani?!' japanese-style rice lager [$9]. This certainly packed more of a punch than your typical pale lager from Japan, offering up primarily sweet, ricey, cereal-y notes alongside refreshing hits of lemon, some grassy hop bitterness, and a hint of funk. A nice apéritif.




1: 태 — 胎 — tae / a bridge over field & paddy | sunchoke & pine, jokpyeon, black sesame sool bbang
Dinner commenced with what was essentially an amuse-bouche trio. As instructed, I began with the topinambur porridge, which featured an almost melon-like sweetness combined with a pinch of lactic(?) character, all perked up by the zing of pine needle. Next was the jokpyeon, basically a Korean version of head cheese with a splendidly slick, springy texture and seasoning that I found somewhat reminiscent of Chinese-style sausage. Last was the soolbbang, a pleasingly chewy rice cake that married a base of sweet, grain-y flavors with some delectable spicing.


As I've mentioned before, to celebrate this blog's twentieth anniversary, I'm focusing on drinking 20-year-old wine in 2026, hence tonight's first bottle, the 2006 Didier Dagueneau Pur Sang. A Sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley's Pouilly-Fumé appellation, this was actually the penultimate vintage crafted by legendary vigneron Didier Dagueneau before his untimely death in 2008, and comes from the La Folie vineyard, acquired in 1988. Upon first blush, the nose was wonderfully heavy and heady, with sweet, floral, waxy stone fruits layered over a ribbon of brine. The palate veered soft and silky, displaying an overarching oxidative character commingled with bruised yellow fruits, zippy spice, and an underpinning of juicy apricot. By course #4, things became noticeably earthier and herbier, but I still found bountiful fruit, all tinged with pricks of white pepper. Quite lovely.



2: 양 — 養 — yang / a light in the dark | jaetbangeo, gooseberry, pear, sanchu
Our first proper course brought hay-smoked amberjack marinated in charred scallion and seaweed. The fish demonstrated a fantastic smoke and salinity, juxtaposed against the fruitiness of gooseberry and Korean pear, all while the lettuce served as a bright, bitter contrast. Superb crunch and savor from that seeded seaweed twigim to boot.



2 (Vegetarian): 양 — 養 — yang / a light in the dark | hearts of palm, gim gelee, ssamjang curry, gim bugak
Along with the dish above, we were provided a sample of the vegetarian version of the course. The yajasim was great texturally, and its comparatively mild flavors combined seamlessly with the deepness and intensity and heat of its various accoutrements. This was something that I just wanted to keep eating, and again, that seaweed bugak served as the consummate finishing touch.



3: 생 — 生 — saeng / lives underneath | sole, scallop, crab, prawn, chrysanthemum
This was a course comprising two disparate, but complementary components. Up first was sole with a crisp-fried seaweed batter and a sweet, creamy interior, paired with an almost tartar-y seaweed-boosted aioli. Interestingly, it reminded me a bit of Shanghainese táitiáo huángyú, which isn't a bad thing. Meanwhile, even better was that seafood stew, a mouthwateringly oceany-sweet potage with considerable depth--it was something I could just eat a big bowl of.


4a: 대 — 帶 — dae / sometimes nomadic | black cod, fermented black bean, chungju beurre blanc
Black cod came out as lush and fatty as I was hoping for, its abundant amounts of smoke and savor and salinity augmented by the potency of black bean. Given all those hefty flavors at play, the inclusion of celeriac, cheongju-enhanced beurre blanc, and jaepi oil really helped even things out.


4b: 대 — 帶 — dae / sometimes nomadic [$40.00] | grilled ora king salmon, perilla beurre blanc, trout roe, abalone liver sauce
The supplemental salmon was a winner as well. The fish had the right amount of sear, along with some crisp, flavorful skin, and was delicious just by itself. However, it was indeed taken up a notch by the oomph of that smoked abalone liver sauce, while the perilla worked to lighten the mood.


The night's second 20-year bottle was the iconic 2006 Giacomo Conterno Monfortino Barolo Riserva, made only in top vintages using choice fruit from the producer's Cascina Francia vineyard and aged seven-ish years in Slavonian oak botti. Perhaps the poster child for traditionalist wine-making in the Langhe, the Nebbiolo initially exhibited aromas of ripe, juicy cherries all over the place, mixed with perfume-y roses and conveyed in a forceful, yet elegant manner. In the mouth, I found gorgeously-rendered tannins along with loads more of those lush, tart cherries, all finished with traces of herby Chinese medicine. After about 40 minutes, the bouquet's considerable fruitiness was joined by a funkier, somewhat Band-Aid-esque characteristic that I rather enjoyed. On the palate, the wine was even more beautifully structured, with those cherry flavors beginning to take on a nearly candied quality, offset just a tad by smidges of minerality and spice. The Monfortino was in a great place tonight, but will undoubtedly evolve over the coming decades, and I can see why it's oft considered the standard-bearer for Barolo.



4 (Vegetarian): 대 — 帶 — dae / sometimes nomadic | lotus root, dooboojang, mushroom, maemil kuksu
Lotus root was marinated in ssamjang, then grilled over binchotan, giving it a delightful taste and texture all on its own. The yeongun was joined by grilled 'shrooms and a remarkable housemade fermented tofu sauce (dubujang), both of which lent a familiar, comforting earthiness to the dish. With all these potent tastes going on, I appreciated the accompaniment of memil-guksu. The buckwheat noodles were spot-on in terms of consistency, and I liked the amalgam of nutty-sweet-savory-smoky flavors imparted by the seaweed dressing, perilla seeds, perilla oil, and gamtae.


5a: 왕 — 旺 — wang / remain in between | peads & barnett kimchi brined pork collar, pastrami squash blossom mandoo, kimchi jus
Cooked pleasingly rare and heightened by a kimchi/red wine jus, a kimchi-brined pork collar struck a fine balance between austerity and decadence. To go along with the moksal, we also enjoyed a courgette flower "dumpling" stuffed with the Chef's homemade pastrami as well as a quenelle of piquant white kimchi, both of which were fitting counterpoints to the meat.


5b: 왕 — 旺 — wang / remain in between | brandt beef short rib ssam, beef & burdock jus
A thoroughly reimagined version of galbi revealed an inviting mix of sweetness and smoke, all layered over an unabashedly bovine base. Nice counterpoint from that zesty nasturtium leaf, too. A crowd pleaser.


5c: 왕 — 旺 — wang / remain in between [$39] | washugyu farms domestic wagyu striploin, fermented black bean and curry sauce
A portion of American wagyu strip steak showed off an agreeably rare cook along with some tasty touches of smoke and sear. The cut wasn't nearly as overtly fatty as you'd except from true Japanese beef, and worked well with both the squash blossom and deulkkae-studded baek kimchi. However, I would've liked to have gotten more from the advertised black bean and curry.


6: 병 — 病 — byung / finally realize? | wild mountain greens rice, perilla jangajji, gamtae bugak
San-namul bap made for a cozy, homey close to the savory portion of our meal, but one that also showcased a certain beguiling quality that really drew me in, perhaps due to the incorporation of a house-made XO. I was a fan of that just-sticky-enough texture on the rice as well.


With the wine all drunk up, we moved into the brasserie des voirons 'vivante de sureau' elderflower blonde ale [$36]. The 2024 vintage, spontaneously-fermented French ale featured elder flowers macerated in 1000-liter amphorae, and was aged five months in used oak barrels. The beer put forward juicy stone fruit flavors commingled with subtle florals, barnyard, and a restrained herbiness--a refreshing, enjoyable, quaffable combination to be sure.


7: 절 — 絶 — jeol / wait for another with doubt | strawberry, pistachio, hazelnut croustillant, makgeolli
Dessert brought together sweet-tart berries with the nutty, grain-y, and crunchy qualities of pistachio and hazelnut, all while the rice wine imparted a sprinkling of ferment-iness that really sealed the deal for me.


At the conclusion of dinner, we were handled gift bags containing White Lotus tea sourced from Hadong, South Korea. After preparing the beverage the following day, I noted that the resulting liquid looked almost like a well-aged white Burgundy, which prompted me to pour it into a Montrachet glass. I'm not sure if doing so really improved the tasting experience, but it certainly made it feel schmancier. In any case, the herbal tea's nose was savory up front, with supporting nuances of light honey, herb, and a vegetal, "green" backing. Taking a sip, I got sweet, floral notes right up front, counteracted by a persistent, yet subdued astringency.

I've been a proponent of Baroo ever since the strip mall days over a decade ago, so I'm happy to report that Chef Uh's cooking is better than ever. I think the key here really is how his interpretation of Korean cuisine so seamlessly employs the various facets of fermentation, highlighting the additional depth and complexity they can bring to bear. There's just a sense of originality and purpose and thoughtfulness to the cooking that's unlike anything else in LA. I'd deem this my top meal of 2026 thus far, though admittedly, the year is still very young at this point.