Spoon By H

and dumpling soup at her Beverly Boulevard cafe, Spoon by H, is to taste the food of a chef who’s been thinking about improvisation and texture and harmonics her entire life. The impetus behind the dish is tteok mandu guk, Korean rice cake and dumpling

dining. It’s even more quintessential L.A. to find such magnificence in an unassuming strip-mall dessert cafe with paper snowflakes decorating its windows. Spoon by H chef-owner Yoonjin Hwang greets customers at the ordering counter. (Silvia Razgova / For

Spoon By H 7158 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles   

, cooked until they collapse into a fragrant, musky birria. — P.I.E. 6527 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, (562) 430-2667, playaamorlb.com Pescado zarandeado, a 1.5-to-2-pound striped bass, at Playa Amor. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Spoon by H

, (323) 930-0789, spoonbyh.com Highlights at Spoon by H include, clockwise, left to right, strawberry shaved snow; “teaffee” cube latte set; triple waffle with bananas, berries and Nutella; kimchi rice with a fried egg; and the spectacular pork belly and

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Spoon by H’s signature pork belly and dumpling soup. (Silvia Razgova / For The Times) Summertime tea salad, Porridge + PuffsMinh Phan won me over early this year with the signature dishes that comprise her restaurant’s name. When I returned in August

Colapasta    Kra Z Kai's BBQ    La Diosa de los Moles    Nightshade    Spoon & Pork    Tacos y Birria La Unica    Bulgarini Gelateria    Tacos 1986    Yang's Kitchen    Spoon By H 7158 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles    Pasjoli    Porridge + Puffs    Bon Temps    Hayato    Fiona   

Spoon by H, Yoonjin Hwang’s celebrated Korean restaurant in Fairfax, is closing. Business had been slow since the start of the pandemic, but last summer, Hwang said, she started to notice more people disputing charges and claiming missing items

where we just couldn’t stay in business anymore,” she said. “We’re losing money to these issues, despite all the evidence we provide.” Spoon by H is one of a growing number of Los Angeles restaurants dealing with customers attempting new ways to dine and

— really puts muscle into it, like a bartender sweating James Bond’s martini — to meld the ingredients into an on-the-go bibimbap. The $28 dosirak that Yoonjin Hwang conceived recently for takeout at her Beverly Boulevard restaurant Spoon by H is so

, japchae, fish cake, chicken leg, potato salad, pickled peppers with garlic, pineapple salsa. The flavors glow as brilliantly as the colors. The dosirak from Spoon by H, a special to-go tray of two dozen small dishes. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

be combined by shaking before digging in — composed by now-closed Spoon by H and other Korean restaurants all over the metro area. Gazing down at carefully arrayed piles of grilled meats, black-sesame-speckled rice and pickled vegetables could feel

in the neighborhood. Los Angeles is blessed with a lot of those kinds of places. If you have any recommendations, email me at patricia.escarcega@latimes.com. A strawberry shaved snow set at Spoon by H, a dessert and Korean food cafe by chef and owner

Bill Addison reviews Spoon by H, the mega-popular Korean cafe with elaborate desserts — and an unforgettable pork belly dumpling soup. I’m mildly obsessed with the beet-filled cazunsiei ravioli at Colapasta, a new casual trattoria in Santa Monica

Los Originales Tacos Arabes de Puebla   

Mexicolas that she has at the end of summer. Local chefs like Jeremy Fox love JJ’s, and your next bowl of homemade guac will, too. Spoon by H Courtesy Spoon by H »Smoothie Spoon by H 7158 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax District It can be hard to get excited about a

smoothie until you try the ones at Spoon by H. David Chang, the New York megachef behind Majordomo, hailed the Korean cafe’s dumpling soup as one of the best things he’s eaten, but its smoothies ($6 to $8) are also not to be missed. Available in flavors