Western Pocha

food was ok, couple of the staff members were not so nice. Price is a lil higher than anywhere else so its not really a bargain. Some of the spicy food was way too spicy. Music wasn’t so loud so you were able to actually talk to your friends. Honestly, would not go back again.

Accidentally found this place by Unilocal … Food was amazing!!! we ordered corn cheeses, deep fried gizzard and fish cake soup everything was yummy and wonderful
Terry is the best server !!! Honestly he took a good care of us ;)
Love this place we will come back for next party :)

Came here once a long time ago and then again yesterday (which was basically a weekend since everyone had today off because of eth of july landing on saturday). Not sure how it is on an actual weekend night but last night was completely dead. 2 or 3 tables total. I remember when I came here about a year ago people were being waitlisted because it was so crowded.
The atmosphere has an old school korean pocha style (hence the name). Lighting is dark and intimate.
I tried their french fries because it was free french fries when you check into Unilocal.It was
.
The prices are decent and good place to just hang out for beer/​soju and beer food.
Parking is valet $ 2 or street parking.

I like this place, good Korean style «pub», not really like a real «Pojang Matcha», but nice cozy décor, good food and some decent combo specials.

Being a Korean who frequents ktown and its many bars, I originally found it annoying to Unilocal these places, especially because they begin to recognize your face after a while-​and they don’t like talkers. However, I also realized that the power was in my hands to guide the non-​Koreans in choosing their bars. LOL so little by little I plan to leave reviews… beginning with here.
I’ve only been here with 3 people tops on occasions so I was excited to come as a group of 8 girls to see what kind of service we could get when it was Happy Hour until 9pm. Only two of us were Korean and the rest were not. It was empty when we got there at 6:30 on a Friday night and stayed that way until about 8pm when people started rolling in and it started to get pretty packed. We even got shushed at that point because we were being too loud… what? It was true that we were being rowdy but we got a bit turned off by that. FYI-​this place is almost always empty from around 5 – 7:30 pm so that’s a good time to come.
However, I thought the food was good (anju type of food of course) and there were lots of vegetarian options in addition to many meat ones. The boodae jjigae, spicy chicken, fries, popcorn chicken, and jjampong were all satisfactory. Very greasy-​but what do you expect from these types of foods? It’s a guilty pleasure and the alcohol washes away the skepticism. The seafood jjampong came with no noodles so we had to ask for it-​but they gave it to us for the vegetarians among us-​and because jjampong should always have noodles, duh.
We also got steamed egg and corn cheese as service, along with a soju bottle. The service was quick and nice and in hindsight, they were very accommodating because our girls were sort of all over the place. You can come here expecting intimacy or fun for larger groups, but keep in mind that there aren’t many seating options available for big groups. Parking is valet only so bring cash-​but if you want you could always find street parking outside on the smaller streets. Bill is typical of Korean places where they don’t itemize your receipts-​so you’ll get one fat total at the end. It can work for or against you so depending on your situation, try asking the waitresses beforehand to break down the prices!
What it comes down to, however, is vibes and I like the crowd here in addition to the environment as opposed to rowdy, busy places like Gaam so I definitely recommend this bar if you haven’t been! Another plus-​they play throwback Korean classics… like SG Wannabe… I almost fainted from excitement.

Normally i love this place bc its so close lol
But i seriously hate how im ignored when i say im waiting for a friend to show up… i had to grab a menu from an empty table to see what they have too… not cool western pocha

Came here to meet up some friends. Great interior atmosphere as far as looks go, but pretty dead and lacking liveliness on a Saturday night, especially for a Korean pub.
For food we got mussel soup and udon, both of which were okay at best and WAY too overpriced. As for service, the servers were pretty attentive, but probably because we were one of the handful of customers there.
My experience wasn’t bad, but it’s far from stellar, and if ever asked my opinion on it I’d pause and say, «meh» while tilting a palm back and forth.
I’d go more often if it was cheaper and food was a bit better.

Seriously! This place is one of my favorite suljibs in ktown. It is a walking distance from my place and this place has never disappointed me so far.

I came here for drinks and a snack on a saturday night. I really liked the atmosphere. Maybe I’m just getting old but nowadays I like going to bars/​pubs vs clubs where I can sit down and be able to have conversations with friends. I ordered the spicy rice cake with ramen and drinks. Pretty standard but the rice cake was very nice and spicy. I had fun here and service was prompt.

we got like 7 of us blasted for $ 70
pretty good

Absence does makes the heart grow fonder. Not living in Koreatown anymore, I miss these hole in the wall pubs like Western Pocha. Since, my last visit, they actually remodeled the place a bit and it still remains very popular amongst the younger K-​town crowd.
It’s not my first option for a drinking destination, only cause the place gets kinda loud and I believe their outdoor patio allows smoking. My tolerance for second hand smoke and needless bullshit is getting much lower as I age, so I can only handle so much at one time. The music is always popping — old school Korean and Top 40 K-​Pop, which gets my head bouncing. If you didn’t know, I’m awesome when it comes to a Lip Sync Battle.
I haven’t explored too much of their food options, but the Kimchi Jun (pancake) that I had was pretty darn good. Also, the soju flows nicely in this venue, with bottles coming out icy cold and refreshing. What more could a Korean want? The décor is more like Dan Sung Sa and Dwit Gol Mok — wooden style booths and benches, but much newer and a bit more spacious. The place is definitely cleaner, I’ll say.
The service is excellent and the waiters are friendly. But, you’re gonna get served better if you know the locals and staff. So get to know the manager Terry. He’s a cool guy, very down to earth and low key. Cause, that’s how they want to run this place. Quietly, without a lot of drama, and to fly under the radar from the Pigs and ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control). Who likes all that non-​sense anyway? I surely don’t.

We were in search of late happy hour and Korean bar food, and Unilocal research led us here! It’s a little hidden, but parking is fairly easy to find on the street in the evening.
The interior reminds me a little of Toe Bang in Chapman plaza, with wooden booths and benches, TV screens, and a tavern atmosphere. Service was spectacular. A very friendly, happy server walked us through the menu and appeared instantaneously whenever we hit the service buzzer… almost as though they were waiting around the corner. No complaints there.
Check-​in deal — a large beer for a penny!
We were disappointed that «happy hour» wasn’t really happy. Apparently, the menu here changes pretty often. The only «deals» are the combos, which range from $ 23 to $ 40 and include a beer, soju bottle, and 1 or 2 dishes. You can switch out anything in the combo for a menu item that’s within a few bucks in the price range. When you look at the individual prices, you aren’t really saving anything. Other Unilocal reviews said that the menu was half off until 9PM, but I guess this is no longer the case.
Flavored soju is $ 16.99 for a small bottle… yikes! When we asked if we could have a yogurt soju as our combo drink, we were told it would be an extra $ 5. Corn cheese was $ 10.99, and the chicken katsu with cheese was a little more than that… both with kinda paltry portions. I spent close to $ 50 for those two dishes, the small yogurt soju, and a beer. Not as happy as you can be if you ask me.
Great service and some of the best cheese corn I’ve had, but I usually don’t have to spend half as much in K-​town to be happy. Next time we’ll do Arang ot Heu instead; much better choices.

Western Pocha is another hole in the wall in KTown, seriously.
Pulled over to the valet on a Friday evening a couple of weeks ago…
Le me: Is this where Western Pocha is?
Le valet guy: Yes it is
See what I mean? A truly hole in a wall!
This place is way nicer* than Dan Sung Sa on 6^th or GoPocha on Vermont with unbeatable happy hour deals for those who find paying regular price is a pain in an ass.
*Clarification: Cleaner tables and benches unlike at Dan Sung Sa. They also got picture menu with English descriptions unlike DGM. They probably got their tea pots from a restaurant supply not from a swab meet near by because they’re amazingly new!
There’re some gigantic tables that would definitely fit 8 – 10 peeps. So let’s bring everyone in your department here! There’re also a couple big screen TV’s playing games and all.
Food was alright. Spicy octopus wasn’t hit me. Pork belly with kimchi was a little bit tasteless. Rice cake skewer was more on the taught side and the dipping sauce wasn’t anything I expected. Or maybe my expectations were too high?
Service was outstanding here. They’re willing to go extra mile to make sure you’re satisfied. Everyone was so attentive here, no kidding. Well, at least the service was awesome when everything else didn’t turn out the way I was looking forward to.

This is my favorite place in Koreatown. The service is always amazing and the food is so delicious. My friends and I take the train up from LB just to hang out here. Lots of options on the menu and yummy soju. Must visit if youre in the hood, sooooooo goooood!

This place blows. It is a bait and switch, will never be back! We came in yesterday around 5:30, happy hour starts at 5. We were the only table in there and it was our first time here, so it was scary.
US: SO… how is your happy hour?
Server: Everything is half price, the alcohol is buy one get one free.
US: Okay give us a pineapple Soju Cocktail
Server: Sorry we are out of that, we only have lemon, peach and lychee.
US: Okay we will take a Peach
Server two minutes later: Sorry we are out of that too… someone is coming with the peaches.
Wife: Okay we will take a lemon.
We then place the food order:
US: Do you have a side of peanuts or something I can order?
Server: No we have this squid and peanuts
US: Okay how about that?
Server: We are out of that too.
We ordered the a cold noodle, popcorn chicken and a bento box because my wife wanted the rolled egg that was pictured.
The noodle had apples in it and was decent, the popcorn chicken was okay needed seasoning, and the bento box came with a lazy mans rolled egg, which is just a fried egg… not surprising on how this place seems to work.
Since my wife wasn’t really happy not having the rolled egg, we ordered a steamed egg, I have eaten hundreds of these steamed eggs and this one was the worst. It was incredibly watery and had no seasoning at all, didn’t really want to eat it, but didn’t want to waste it… so I had the server bring over salt and pepper, which took another 5 minutes.
So while we wait and since we get a second Soju for free… may as well.
Server: Do you want another soju cocktail? We have peach now.
Us: Okay we will take a peach
Server two minutes later: Sorry the peach is not ready yet it has to be chilled… how about another lemon.
Us: WTF, OKAY.
Wife: (even though we asked earlier for peanuts… and they had none we wanted to try again) Do you have some peanuts for service?
Server: Uhh okay
She brings us some peanuts, wasabi peas and our lemon soju.
By this time there are now maybe 4 tables, and there is only one server. So we wait patiently, and finally just go up to pay.
She tallies up the bill $ 73, which is all hand written… huh… we added it up. and wouldn’t you know it, charged for both soju cocktails.
Us: It looks like we were charged for both soju cocktails.
Server: Yes those are not on sale
Us: But you told us that alcohol is buy one get one free, we were your only table in here.
Server: Let me go check with the manager.
Us: Okay
She comes back a few minutes later:
Server: Sorry I can’t do anything
Me: Okay well unfortunately you lied to us, and I will not be tipping you. We were your only table here, it is the only alcohol that we asked about and you said it was buy one get one. WTF.
Server: Silence (not a word)
The manager of this F’N place is too much of a coward to come say anything, I really can’t stand managers that make servers or employees do their management work and are too afraid of customers.
The food here is bland, the soju cocktail was barely drinkable and contained no soju, I had to order a bottle to pour it in so it tasted a little like soju, and the service well, I feel bad for the server because it is not all her fault, but she did lie to us… but we were the only table here, so it was intentional, it was not because they were too busy or anything.
The manager is completely worthless due to the fact that they are out of almost every F’n thing we tried to order, he needs to be fired and go back to restaurant management school, he even came close to us during the standoff at the register and walked away… D’BAG!
No wonder you guys are dead, you are out of half of your menu, one server and a bait and switch… I hope you close.
Do yourself a favor and stay the hell out of this place, I’m never going back… Go Pocha on Vermont is better.

Called ahead to reserve a space for group of 15. Valet parking was $ 2 and we didn’t wait. Music is loud and you will barely hear ppl across the table. But owner was nice and plenty of «service» was offered throughout the night so no complaints. Will be back.

Great drinks and intimate. Side dishes are the best. Try the oh dol bbyuh. Yum yum.
Good place for pre or post drinking. Parking really sucks.

I recently went with my friend because she was bugging me to go. I don’t really like going to bars, but Western Pocha was THE most comfortable to drink at. The food was really good and the prices were reasonable. I love everything about this place ESPECIALLY the parking. Its so hard to find parking in ktown but this place was very sufficient. Not only does this place have great indoor seating but he balcony is very relaxing and chill. Its really good for smokers because you can smoke At the balcony without getting any complaints about it.
The watermelon was REALLY good! It is the perfect chaser!
I heard it was under new management! They sure are doing it well!

I love this place.
This restaurant slash pub just bleeds South Korea. From the 90’s OG record labels along with pre-​kpop days good olé korean music and the wooden interior masked by dim lighting. These music and images are all fragments of my «back-​in-​the-​days» memories.
I don’t drink anymore, but every song they played gave me flashbacks and made me feel like I was drinking for some reason.
Food was finger-​licking good and price was good along with stellar customer service. Definitely a place to check out with some friends!

Western Pocha: UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!!!
It’s remodeled and has a chic 80’s theme with records and cassette tapes on the walls. 90’s kpop music playing in the background. It’s a great place to just hang out and relax with friends!
The food is worth the price in both quality and quantity. The drinks are affordable, try the cocktail soju! The servers are nice and if you’re nice to them maybe they’ll give you free anju~.