David Chang’s Los Angeles restaurant, Majordomo, is a bit of a destination.
The restaurant occupies an old warehouse located in an industrial area north of Chinatown and within the Arts District.
Majordomo serves California cuisine inspired by the different food cultures present in Los Angeles and the bounty of Southern California products.
Their menu isn’t just one type of cuisine so you’ll find a mish mash of flavors ranging from the West Coast to Korea, Italy and more.
The heart of the menu is dedicated to meat and fish offerings, most notably the Whole Plate Short Ribs (more on that later).
They also offer wines by the glass and cocktails.
What does Majordomo mean? Majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. In that spirit, we aim to go above and beyond for our guests.
I made a dinner reservation a few weeks ahead of time.
My party of 4 enjoyed a large round table within their patio.
We order the Mule (suntory haku vodka, shiso, cucumber, ginger, lime).
We started off with Bing, a fluffy flatbread, with choice of dips and spreads. The flatbread was hot and fresh out of the oven. We went with the Cultured Butter, Honey & Black Truffle Dip (a sweeter option) and the Chickpea Dip (savoury). Both dips were very smooth and spread onto the flatbread nicely.
Next, we had the Little Gem Salad which I absolutely loved. The crunchy anchovy coated each piece of lettuce lending an amazing texture to every bite. The smoke trout roe provided a lovely umami flavor.
The star of the show was the Whole Plate Short Rib with Beef Rice. It’s a dish that you should try to preorder ahead of time but they do have a limited number available on the day of for first-come-first-serve.
The dish is a blend of Texas and Korean barbecue traditions. A whole short rib is carted out and carved at tableside. The server slices the pieces onto a large platter and they present you with lettuce, kimchi, and other banchan or condiments like house made ssamjang sauce to eat it with. You end up making Ssam (Korean lettuce wraps) with the fall of the bone tender and smoky flavored meat.
The leftover meat on the bones and beef fat is taken back to the kitchen to prepare a rich and fatty beef fried rice. The beef is quite decadent with each grain of rice coated in delicious beef oils.
To finish off, a DIY Rice Pudding Set on a portable lazy susan with 6 choices of toppings including kinako (roasted soybean flour) crumble; strawberry jam; dates; butterscotch; cinnamon sugar; and kumquats.
Service was on point and overall, we had a nice time dining there.
The ambiance is energetic and it seemed like there was a mix of people going in for a special occasion meal and those who are there for casual bites.
The restaurant has large floor-to-ceiling windows, concrete materials, and a charming outdoor patio decorated with string lights.
There is a parking lot with a pay machine right across Majordomo but you can find find free parking on the street.
