At the same time that LA diners are embracing authentic Asian food, other chefs and restaurateurs who have racked up experiences with unrelated concepts are taking their culinary traditions in new directions. Case in point: Hungry Crowd in Toluca Lake. Chef Juran Kwak, who previously worked at Manhattan Beach Post (M.B. Post), joined forces with Michael Woo, longtime GM of Glendale’s popular Ichiban, on Asian-influenced comfort food.

Hungry Crowd’s small patio with wood picnic tables and pastel green umbrellas gives way to a dining room with speckled white tables and flat-screen TVs. 

This new collaborative restaurant leans on Korean influences for dishes like white kimchi clam pasta featuring house-made kimchi and fettuccine-like noodles. Fried pork ribs are slathered in a sweet-and-spicy sauce and presented in a structure that resembles a log cabin. Grilled corn is another notable dish, starring a spiced cob planted in cheesy polenta.

The lunch menu is less ambitious by design, with a salad and sandwich focus—though you’ll also find unique items like kimchi fried rice and a bulgogi breakfast burrito.

10140 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake, 818-853-7858