A Koreally good time!

Seoul Food and More!

Sure, you love sushi, and your grandparents always took you out for Chinese on Sundays. You’ve even been known to gorge yourself on some Pad Thai or soothe a tummy ache with some cheap-ass ramen. You love Kung-Fu flicks and you college roommate was named Ronald Liu, though his Mom calls him Wen-Ya. You drive a Toyota. You are not unfamiliar with the delights that the continent of Asia has to offer us. But when was the last time you and your sweetheart had a date inspired by Korea?

Dinner, a movie and desert, brought to you by the divided nation that gave us John Cho (Harold, of Harlod & Kumar Fame! Thank You!)

DINNER
Korean BBQ is amazing. Flame grilled marinated meats and mind-boggling amounts of little side dishes or, banchan are served with rice and the ever-present Kimchi. Kimchi is fermented vegetables, usually Napa cabbage, seasoned with chili peppers and salt. Though it can be a little intimidating for us gringos, some Koreans don't consider what they ate as a meal without Kimchi so you gotta try it. Just take a little bite! Go ahead! Now grab some water. That shit can be spicy.

Galbi or Kalbi or Bool Kogi (seriously, every website seems to call it something different) is called by some the pinnacle of Korean cuisine. Beef short ribs marinated in the most beautiful balance of sweet and savory flavors. If you aren’t feeling like going out for dinner, Trader Joes makes some pre-marinated Bool Kogi that is pretty damn good, and only takes a few minutes to cook on your grill.

There are Korean resturaunts all over Los Angeles. So here are some of the best, according to the interweb.
Citysearch
LA Weekly
LAOkay (arranged by neighborhood!)

Fun fact about Korean food- Korea is the largest consumer of garlic, ahead of the rest of Asia (particularly China and Thailand, excluding Japan) and the Northern Mediterranean (mainly Spain, Italy, and Greece). So bring mints or even your toothbrush! I am not kidding!

MOVIE
After dinner head over to the theater to see THE HOST, Korea’s modern take on Godzilla/Jaws/Little Miss Sunshine/ Soilent Green. The Host offers everything you could want in a murderous sea-monster movie. At least, everything I wanted. The monster attack sequences were thrilling the comic relief was hilarious, and the heroes were heartbreaking. It also had that wonderful, dark Korean mistrust of the government that I can never get enough of in a good, scary movie. I don’t want to say too much, I just want you to go and enjoy it. In the screening we saw, people screamed out loud, gasped and cackled. Almost everyone there was on a date, and everyone had a blast.

Check your local listings for showtimes and locations.


DESSERT
When you’ve caught your post-monster movie breath, (you’re stinky, garlicky Korean bbq breath) take your date to the greatest Korean import to date. The unstoppable pinkberry frozen yogurt . Hyekyung Hwang (a.k.a. Shelly), the mastermind behind the “Soft swirls of chilly bliss with a distinct pouty peak”, started with a small shop in a residential area of West Hollywood and it took off faster than you can say “Korean Genius”. The LA times called it “ The taste that Launched 1,000 parking tickets” due to the original location’s overwhelming success and subsequent logistical problems. Don’t worry; there are several LA locations now. Business is booming.

It is plain yogurt. Frozen. Tart and airy and sweet and… well you just have to try it. I like Granola and strawberries on mine, but they have everything from Captain Crunch to Mochi, so really it is hard to go wrong. Warning: it looks like ice cream, but it isn’t. It is tart yogurt, Tart, delicious, addictive, fantastic yogurt.

11 LA locations.

DRINKS
If you are going to have a beverage, stick with the theme and go for the Soju. It is like Korean rice vodka, and can be found all over the place in LA. You can get very snockered with soju. Watch out!

Here are some possible soju destinations:
Soju Town
Johnny's Cocktail Lounge

So grab that special gal or guy and take them on a fantastic theme date! You’ll be koreally glad you did!

Here Comes the Grooming!

Don’t worry, no one’s getting married- it’s only been a couple of dates- but I would like to bring up something important and possibly long since forgotten in this pre-apocalyptic future: Male grooming.

Male grooming used to exist in every home in America, but these days it appears as if that number has decreased dramatically. We’ve become a society dominated by “casual.” From job interviews in jeans to tank-tops in French restaurants.

Here are some simple, straight-forward tips for guys that will make your special lady swoon.

Part 1 - Clean cut vs. stylishly disheveled

While it’s nice that popular culture is accepting of guys being a little messy, a little scruffy, if that is a risk you are willing to take, have at it. But clean cut and well groomed is ALWAYS impressive and you can’t go wrong.

Even if you’ve had your hair long for years, change is good, variety is exciting and in fact, you may find something that you didn’t know you liked. (Example: girls talking to you).

Part 2 – Save those pennies

A little more money for a haircut goes a long way and I speak from significant experience. I used to think there was no reason, as a guy, to get a haircut anywhere but Supercuts because I didn’t need to spend more than 12 bucks on a cut. That’s before Hawleywood’s Barber shop(gentleman only) opened up down the street from me. I didn’t know what to expect or how much it was going to be, but I brought about $70 bracing for the worst.

The cut took about an hour(!), cost $20(with a $10 tip), and I’ve never looked back.

Here’s the thing: You don’t take your ’56 Ford Mustang to a Honda performance garage to get the oil changed. As a male, why are you taking your hair to such a generic place as Supercuts? There’s no reason not to go to the guys that are only cutting men’s hair. Specialize!

Part 3 – Inspirational Imagery

If you’re tired of getting an OK haircut, one that’s not quite almost kind of what you wanted then you need to take matters into your own hands, and I don’t mean the clippers.

Do your research: figure out what you want and where you can find a good example of the style. Magazines, movies, books, the internet, anywhere.

The next time you go to get that “kind of almost” haircut, bring a picture. You’re going to get what you want and the barber’s going to give you what you want. Both are happy.

Part 4 – Gloop

Here is another place that I used to be a cranky, ol’ curmudgeon. I HATED goo in my hair. The only thing I hated more was the innocuous way it’s referred to as “product.” Which made it sound like soylent green or something sinister that they couldn’t refer to with a more specific noun.

While I still don’t prefer “goo” in my hair, I’d like to make it very clear: THERE IS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE.

If you’re the kind of guy that can’t imagine putting anything in your hair, even if you want a little more “hold” or a bit more spike, trust me, there are a gajillion other people that feel the same way and one of those people has invented something for you.

There are two hair products that I’ve found to be unexpectedly amazing.

1.) Sea Spray – From a company called Bumble Bumble, this is essentially salt water you can spritz on your hair. It creates that “I was ripping up some waves this morning” look. It’s water based and it washes right out, it doesn’t smell or feel weird, and it’s a little more natural (in name and in compound) than blue jelly called “LA Stylez.”

2.) LayRite – Created by male barbers for the discerning greasy hotrodder. When I got my cut at Hawleywood’s they didn’t even ask if I wanted anything in my hair, they just did it. After they gave me a sweet comb-job, Cesar explained it’s the only stuff they sell there, it’s water based wax and washes right out. When I left, my hair felt like an armadillo (and looked great), but I couldn’t imagine it was going to “wash right out.” I was never more wrong or amazed in my life. I got in the shower at the end of the day and it was just…gone. I didn’t have to really shampoo any more than normal.

So those are two options you might want to look into if you’ve always questioned the use of product.

Part 5 – The Legendary Hot Towel Shave

There’s a great scene in the movie “Rounders” where Ed Norton and Matt Damon have been playing poker all over New York for 20 hours straight to win money so they can pay John Malkovich, an ex-KGB agent. Matt Damon is exhausted and Ed Norton says, “I’ve got just the thing you need.” And they go get a hot towel shave.

I didn’t know people still got shaves at barbershops, but when I saw the Hot Towel Shave advertised at Hawleywood’s, I couldn’t resist.

Afterwards, I called Lady Date Maven and said the experience was “transcendent,” without a tone of sarcasm in my voice.

Gents, if you’ve never gotten a hot towel shave, you’re missing out on an amazing experience. It’s worth the money to get the closest, most relaxing shave of your entire life.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: I want to make it clear that this may not be for everyone. When they slap that aftershave on, it stings like a motherfucker, so if you’re lucky to have a barber that warns you about this, it’s worth the experience. Not to mention, when you’re stubble starts growing back, the next 48 hours may be the itchiest of your life. It’s up to you to decide if this makes it all worth it.)

Part 6 – Don’t be a dip, leave a nice tip

Tip your barber. They’ll be more inclined not to kill you next time.

Part 7 – Pro-Choice

In the end, this is all up to you: The barber shop you choose to patronize, the cut you want, and the style you do yourself everyday. If you don’t care about these things than you’re really just paying for an awkward conversation.

Here are my recs for barbershops across LA and Orange County.

Rudy’s Barbershop
www.RudysBarbershop.com
Five locations in Los Angeles
Hollywood/Standard hotel – 8300 W. Sunset blvd. (323) 650-5669
Silverlake – 4451 W. Sunset Blvd. (323) 661-6535
Melrose – 8019 Melrose Ave. (323) 653-6078
Downtown Standard – 550 S. Flower St. (213) 439-3058 (call first)
Santa Monica – 3101 Main St. (310)450-2930

Hawleywood’s Barbershop
www.hawleywoods.com
Long Beach – 2234 4th St. (562) 434-5405
Costa Mesa – 545 West 18th St. #C (949) 631-COMB
(call for hours and appointments)

Floyd’s
www.Floydsbarbershop.com
Hollywood – 7300 Melrose Ave. (323) 965-7600
Santa Monica – 11431 Santa Monica Blvd. (310) 231-7200
(new locations coming to Hermosa Beach and Studio City)

The Barbershop Club
6907 Melrose Ave.
(323) 939-4319
Go here if you’ve got an awards dinner to go to.
Bring lots of cash.
Famous clientele.