Hojokban: Modern Korean Cuisine Expansion in Los Angeles

Hojokban, a modern Korean restaurant, opens in Los Angeles with plans for national expansion. Emphasizing innovative dishes and soju-based cocktails, it offers a unique dining experience rooted in Korean traditions.

While Los Angeles’s Hojokban just opened its doors, Lee is currently wanting to the future and intending a growth course for the dining establishment that can take it across the whole country. “I want us to be able to be situated in rural states to ensure that every person can learn about Korean food and actually taste it to make sure that they can much better find out what they really such as,” he states.

Hojokban’s Vision

While a pair of miles away in Los Angeles’s busy Koreatown, where generations of immigrants are offering old-school preparations of jjigae, samgyeopsal, and seolleongtang, Hojokban a lot more closely straightens its menu with exactly how people currently eat in Seoul. On December 1, GFFG will certainly open its 2nd Los Angeles station of Knotted in the very same building as Hojokban.

The majority of the recipes at Hojokban take impacts from GFFG CEO Joon Lee’s mother-in-law’s food preparation. “She’s something special,” Lee says.

Menu and Inspiration

“We are like a college kid currently leaving home,” Koh says. On December 1, GFFG will certainly open its 2nd Los Angeles station of Knotted in the exact same building as Hojokban.

Hojokban’s interior resembles its New York place, utilizing a similar green-and-wood concept while leaning right into a dark, sleeker appearance. Koh and Lee hope the dining establishment will offer itself to several kinds of nights out, from a date evening to a birthday party. “I think the vibe and the food that we offer are still significant in terms of cooking, yet we want it to be enjoyable,” Koh claims.

Ambiance and Atmosphere

Hojokban is located at 734 E. Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013, and is open Sunday via Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Bookings are available on OpenTable.

GFFG’s director of method, Amber Koh, that played a famous duty in the opening of Los Angeles’s Hojokban, states the restaurant’s food selection is “not traditional, yet it’s still very genuine Korean.” While a number of miles away in Los Angeles’s bustling Koreatown, where generations of immigrants are serving traditional prep work of samgyeopsal, seolleongtang, and jjigae, Hojokban a lot more very closely aligns its food selection with just how people currently eat in Seoul. “There is a big Oriental community in Koreatown where they serve actually conventional, genuine food, and we have a very high regard for that,” Koh says. “That’s the second and very first generation of the U.S. immigrants. However food has constantly advanced.”

Modern Korean Spotlight

Hojokban launchings amid a minute where modern Oriental food preparation is in the spotlight, from Koreatown’s Danbi, to the resurrected fermentation restaurant Baroo, and 2025 Eater Best New Restaurant victor, Dining establishment Ki. For Koh and Lee, Hojokban’s arrival in Los Angeles is personal. “Hojokban is not a cookie-cutter brand,” Koh claims.

Hojokban debuts in the middle of a minute where modern Korean cooking remains in the spotlight, from Koreatown’s Danbi, to the reanimated fermentation dining establishment Baroo, and 2025 Eater Finest New Restaurant winner, Dining establishment Ki. While the most recent wave of restaurants leaves from the more traditional frame of mind of Oriental cooking, they are completely rooted in customs of generations that came before. For Koh and Lee, Hojokban’s arrival in Los Angeles is individual. “Hojokban is not a cookie-cutter brand,” Koh says. “We placed our spirits right into it.”

Drink Selection

Hojokban focuses its drink food selection around soju-based cocktails, like the Strawberry Moon with golden barley soju, strawberry hedge, and a gochugaru salt edge, and the Gim-Let with sesame oil-infused soju and toasted gim (algae) syrup. White wine alternatives span bottles like a Santa Barbara chardonnay, a Portuguese skin get in touch with, and a pinot noir from the Willamette Valley, all readily available by the glass. Hojokban additionally uses comprehensive selections of makgeolli, cheongju (rice wine), and soju, consisting of Red Monkey makgeolli, Jinmaek 22, and Hana Makgeolli yakju.