Korean Music Festival Lineup

March 5th, 2012

The first round of artists for KMF10 have just been announced… They are Nam Jin (남진), Im Tae Kyung (임태경), and Love & Peace (사랑과 평화).

Second round: Lena Park (박정현), Bobby Kim & The Buga Kingz, and Kim Kyung-Ho (김경호)

Third disclosure: Brown Eyed Girls.

More announcements of guests to come.

KOREAN MUSIC FESTIVAL 10 – APRIL 28th 2012 – Hollywood Bowl

Founded in 2003, the KMF is one of the largest annual concerts in Southern California. Selling out to a full house of 18,000 each year, the Festival surpasses all expectations and records as it takes root as a Korean American tradition.

The Korean Music Festival is held at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl and attracts people not only from Southern California, but also from the rest of the country and the world.

The KMF puts its patrons at the center of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) that is sweeping across the world. Globally renowned artists such as BoA and Rain have graced the stages of the KMF, elevating it to an event for both Koreans and non-Koreans.

The festival started in 2003 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Korean immigration to the United States and has since grown into one of the most anticipated annual events in the Asian American community. The concert is a four-hour event featuring more than a dozen top-tier Korea artists ranging from the most popular idol groups to famous ‘trot’ singers of years past and concludes with the legendary Hollywood Bowl fireworks finale.

Bulgogi House

March 5th, 2012

Caught sight of Latino workers replacing the sign at Goong last Saturday. The place will henceforth be known to passersby as Bulgogi House.

Goong All-You-Can -Eat Korean BBQ Restaurant

The Korean girl even today still answers the phone with “Goong” and when prompted, she said yeah, they changed the name outside, but the owners and the concept remain the same.

Lunch AYCE options are $9.99 and $13.99 while dinner options are $16.99 and $19.99.

Bulgogi House: All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ Restaurant LA

Though in this case there have been “Bulgogi House” restaurants in other parts of the country in years past, I sense a trend locally to replace Korean restaurant names with generic appellations that foreigners can more easily remember.

Can’t cite a specific example for a full-service restaurant, but what stood out was when Aio coffee shop put up a very stark “Coffee Boba Hookah” sign (not sure if she’s still open by the way… had a run-in with the health department, last I heard).

I have deep fondness for the use of classic Korean names for restaurants, but I realize keenly the marketing effectiveness of having a memorable name. A friend flew in from out of state more than a year ago and briefly glimpsed the Oo-kook logo and I told her it could be translated as “Cow Country” or “Cow Nation” — even to this day, when we talk, she references it and the Honey Pig across the street. She can’t remember the name of the restaurant where we actually ate that evening!

Still, it would be nice to see a Korean restaurant be a marketing success and a critical hit even with an alien-sounding Korean name… Oh, wait. We already have that…

(Never liked the word “Bulgogi” as it’s written in English… not aesthetically pleasing as all. Visually and auditorily gross. It’s sort of like how ugly the words “kimbop” or “kimbob” are, though “kimbap” isn’t so bad. Thank God I know Korean, so that I see the hangeul in my head instead of the English transliterations when I eat. I had kimbap with perilla leaves yesterday and a bulgogi doshirak today for lunch.)

Bulgogi House (Goong AYCE Korean BBQ Restaurant)
Address : 3600 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Phone : 213-388-1988