Song-tae Kim and 17 of his friends from church chattered boisterously, some fueled by soju, with the remnants of their dinner — black bean noodles and spicy seafood noodle soup — spread out in front of them.
For dessert, they passed around slices of Korean pear they had brought from home.
This was the group’s last meal at the Dragon, a Korean-style Chinese restaurant in Koreatown. They have gathered there twice a month for two decades.
The Dragon is closing on Sunday after more than 40 years of serving dishes like jajangmyeon (the aforementioned black bean noodles), jjamppong (the seafood soup) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) to Korean Americans who converge from around Southern California.
With its private rooms and expansive banquet spaces, the Dragon has hosted countless first birthday parties, or doljanchi, and 80th birthdays, or palsun .