Yi Cha Overview: Debbie Lee’s Highland Park Restaurant Serves Enjoyable, Unfussy Korean American Delicacies

A dozen miles from the restaurant-heavy, densely packed streets of Koreatown, a self-described fashionable gastropub has introduced the distinctive flavors of Korean delicacies to Northeast Los Angeles. Housed in Highland Park within the former Otoño area, Yi Cha serves a menu of drinking-oriented fare, or anju, rooted in chef-owner Debbie Lee’s North Korean heritage and Southern upbringing, with a heavy sprint of influences from Southern California’s immigrant communities. Locals within the space sidle as much as the bar for cocktails just like the dongchimi-inspired Radish to Riches and the colourful Jeju Sunrise, which pairs lychee-infused vodka with mandarin, orange, and pomegranate juice. Whether eating or ingesting, it’s a dependable cease within the space for a laidback meal.

Playful fluorescent indicators — together with a soju bottle and a head of napa cabbage — and a prismatic mural add persona and vibrance to the slender, high-ceilinged room. A hidden alcove within the again resembles an outside alleyway in a nod to conventional pojangmachas, which traditionally operated as avenue stalls.

Don’t skip the goguma (candy potato) pie. Topped with Asian pear creme fraiche and a mouthwatering chili peanut brittle, it’s the best not-too-sweet finish to a meal.