Koreatown

Koreatown is the largest Korean community outside of Korea — a dense, 24-hour neighbourhood west of downtown that contains the best Korean food in America, the most active nightlife in LA, and a cultural ecosystem that operates largely in Korean and on a schedule that makes the rest of the city look like it goes to bed early. The neighbourhood's restaurants, karaoke rooms (noraebang), barbecue joints, and late-night drinking establishments are the real thing — the food is made for Korean palates, not adapted for American ones.

Korean barbecue is the neighbourhood's culinary centrepiece — dozens of restaurants where you grill marinated beef, pork belly, and short ribs over charcoal or gas at your table, accompanied by an array of banchan (side dishes) that can number 20 or more. Park's BBQ, Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong, and Quarters are among the most celebrated, but the neighbourhood's depth means that virtually every block has a Korean restaurant worth eating at. The late-night soju culture — Korean rice wine consumed in quantities that would alarm a European wine drinker — keeps the neighbourhood active until 2-3am.

Koreatown's spa culture is the other essential experience. Wi Spa (a 24-hour, multi-floor Korean spa with communal bathing, dry and wet saunas, and the jjimjilbang tradition of sleeping overnight in heated rooms) provides the most authentic Korean spa experience in America. The neighbourhood is accessible by Metro (Wilshire/Western station) and is one of the few LA neighbourhoods where a car is genuinely unnecessary — everything is within walking distance, and the density of businesses on every block makes Koreatown feel more like Seoul than Los Angeles.