Olympic Restaurant Reviews
Submitted by J Lee on 03/23/2021
J Lee 5 stars rating.
Korean home style cooking. The "ah-joo-mas" that run this earthy home cooking style eatery are super friendly and welcoming. They only speak Korean so be ready to point to the picture menu if you're not adept at Korean. Their fried fish and spicy pork BBQ are to die for. The Korean miso stew is really old school, funky and challenging because of its fermentation if you are not Korean cuisine regular. It also permeates the funky smell in the small restaurant. The place isn't much to look but come for the excellent home style comfort food. Definitely won't impress your date unless they are Korean food sophisticates.
John Giacinto 5 stars rating.
Delicious meal, great hospitality. We ordered doenjang jjigae, bibimbap, and fried corvina.
Submitted by John Giacinto on 02/26/2022
TangerineTheBand 5 stars rating.
Amazing spot! Delicious food. Our order was to-go and everything was lovely. The people working here were friendly and helped us figure out our order over the phone despite our sad lack of Korean language skills. 5 stars, highly recommended
Submitted by Tangerinetheband on 03/17/2021
Jin Y. 5 stars rating.
I was the first to review Olympic Cheonggukjang on Yelp in 2008. It's still one of my go-to places for extremely adventurous eaters.If they're not adventurous I tell them to stick to the spicy galbi, which is so so good and not stinky at all. This place smells DANK. But for the people who are down, this place can be your holy grail - the place you go to when you need a hug in the form of food.
They specialize in fermented soybean soup that (some) Koreans LOVE to eat. It's a specialty and many (even Koreans) cannot stand the smell. I personally thought I was going to hurl when I first came here with my dad when he had a craving for Cheonggukjang (the fermented soybean soup).
However, as soon as I ordered my tamer and less smelly dish of grilled corvina (jo gi goo eeh), I was floored. So crispy on the outside and meaty and juicy on the inside. Their side dishes were all homemade and delicious, especially the hella crispy geem (seaweed lavers). I especially love that when you ask for jak gok bap (brown rice with beans medley), they actually give you the real version vs. other restaurants where they try to pass off rice with a few beans as the real thing.
For me authenticity in Korean food = fermentation. Kimchi is fermented, Daon jang is fermented soybean soup, Cheonggukjang is HELLA fermented soybean soup.
But the best thing is that they also have great KBBQ ribs and spicy pork ribs which won for its category in a KBBQ fest.
Always a wait but so worth it. Go slightly off hours and you can linger. The owner is super nice and loves talking about her food. I love their seaweed. It's so crisp. I can just eat their rice and seaweed with cheonggukjang and be a happy little girl.
Since I've been coming here, it has been "discovered" on yelp, J.Gold wrote about it, they competed in ktown's bbq contest (and won), and their menu now has English translation and you can order by phone to pick up. Their online menu doesn't seem to be working yet.
I vouch for all the fish, the banchan, the pork bulgogi, the ji gaes.
Submitted by Jin Y. on 03/06/2021
kiwi mama 5 stars rating.
Love all their stuff. Clean, fresh ban chan (side dishes), and home cooked meals. Called for an order beforehand. Not a long wait, great service!
Submitted by Kiwi Mama on 12/14/2020
Kyoowan Yoon 5 stars rating.
You must try their galbi-jjim (for 2). It was amazing and have never tasted something like this before. It also comes with cheonggookjang with it so you dont need to order it separately. I visited LA for 4 days and this was the only restarant I wanted to come back for the next time when I visit LA again.
Submitted by Kyoowan Yoon on 03/10/2020
Andy Cho 5 stars rating.
Feels like I'm home! Real legit Korean jibbap! Will come again for sure and will come very often.
Submitted by Andy Cho on 06/01/2019
Rob 5 stars rating.
I shared a good experience here with my honey and a visiting family member who had been abroad from Korea. They both enjoyed the food, and I did as well. The selection isn't vast, but what they had available was very good food. The waitress brought out all of the dressings to augment the beef dish that I had ordered as well as the other dishes my companions had gotten. Enjoyable complimentary tea served as well as no outrageous prices seems to make this an enjoyable and authentic option in Los Angeles.
Submitted by Rob on 07/25/2017
