Happy Hour just became beefy.

Don Day instituted their $10 “happy hour” — 9pm to closing — couple of months ago. While there are a few $10 KBBQ joints in Ktown, most do not deserve coverage due to pure shittiness. They’re either filthy, suffer from dog meat syndrom, or have panchan you wouldn’t serve to a miguk saram you hate.

Offerings during happy hour:

cha dol (beef brisket)

oo sam gyup sal (beef belly, ie, beef brisket, actually sirloin)

black pork belly (haek dae ji sam gyup sal)

tripe

hong chang (abomasum, cow maw, large intestine)

For non-offal eaters, this translates to merely 3 cuts of meat, so the actual quality matters as there are plenty of neighboring Hangook meat shacks offering $10 AYCE. Due to previous experiences with thin beef cha dol carrying nothing but adipose tissue, I personally avoid cha dol bae gi unless advised otherwise.

Pictured above was the ambiguous “beef belly”/sirloin, sprinkled with Korean sea salt, later pan fried in its own fat (check right corner for a chunk of beef fat). Next to it shows thick cuts, though frozen, of pork belly. There’s no way to confirm veracity of the “black” pig claim, but at $10 per person, no one should care about the actual skin pigmentation. Below, is the picture that should speak to many:

Strips of “country” pork belly,topped with shin, sour, kimchi. Some folks demand dduk wrap, some really love pa moochim (shredded green onion salad) at AYCE, others will insist the absolute abundance of panchan (not Don Day’s strong suit — see scoop of potato filler shown in pictures below) is what matters between the competition. At this price point, intangibles contribute to the final score because even if the Korean restaurant executes one dish well, somebody will come back with $10.

The hostess/server at Don Day was really nice — she didn’t ignore us, she didn’t wince when myeol chi was requested among second round of panchan. The ventilation system worked well to evict both grill smoke and cig smoke; there was enjoyable hot sauce instead of plain gochujang:

Final verdict: drop the hipster/Filipino infiltrated San Ya & its 8 cuts of moshed meat, its rotten floors, dirty tables. Swing by Don Day after 9pm (the drunker the better) & keep reporting back. It’d be interesting to see how this new(ish) promotion trends in a few months.

Don Day Yi (or, per their official yellowpages entry: Don Doeji)
300 S Hobart Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 427-9292

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