Trying my favorite Korean dish at Mister Bossam in KoreaTown L.A.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program (sort of). I’m wedging in my recent trip to L.A. For MasterChef within my UK travels, so I’m going to finish off the L.A. Series with some L.A. Food reviews, followed by a L.A. Inspired recipe.The hubs and I met up some friends for dinner at Mister Bossam after the first day of shooting the MasterChef Celebrity Showdown because Korean food is a staple every time we visit L.A.Bossam is one of my favorite Korean dishes ever. Ssam means “wrapped,” and that’s exactly how this dish is meant to be even. You take the protein (in the case of bossam, it’s pork), wrap it in your choice of lettuce or thinly sliced radish (sometimes, even thin slips of rice cake called dak), add your choice of rice and condiments (preferably something pickled to cut through the rich protein—I like just kim chi), dip it in the usual sauces (the hubs likes the sesame oil with salt and pepper while my fave is the fermented soy paste), then pop it into your mouth and love it.The bossam at Mister Bossam was pretty good, though the hubs thinks we’ve had better elsewhere. We also ordered the pork ribs slathered in cheese, a dish for which Mister Bossam is apparently known, but it was just too much. What’s with all the Koreans putting cheese on everything? Did you know many of my Korean friends grew up eating instant noodles with a slice of melted American Kraft singles mixed in? What the…?The purist in me thought the cheesy ribs were too rich and too sweet. The fried rice that comes after it, however, was pretty delicious. I love how Koreans take the leftover drippings from your meal and make a last rice course out of them. Can’t ever let that good ol’ grease go to waste.I don’t have photos from Mister Bossam, but if you fast-forward the above video to 5:00, you’ll see the food live in the flesh.We only had to wait about fifteen minutes on a Friday night during the 8 o’clock hour, so not bad—there are other spots, albeit tastier, where waits can be a couple of hours. Maybe it’s not the best, but I’ve found almost every Korean place I’ve eaten at in L.A. Is still pretty darn good, and Mister Bossam is no exception.Many say Korean food in L.A. Is even better than Korean food in Korea. Truth or blasphemy? What do you think?Mister Bossam338 S. Western Ave.Los Angeles, CA 90020Phone: +1 213 262-7841