Restaurant Review- Wharo

I hadn’t been to the Marina/Venice area for ages, so it was with eager anticipation that I took my wife and daughter to Wharo restaurant this past weekend. Wharo is located on that busy stretch of Lincoln Blvd. that is chock full of interesting ethnic eating establishments. As the restaurant is located in a strip mall with parking for only the fortunate few, I found my nearest place to park about 4 blocks away. This might have been a bit irritating but for the fact that on my walk to Wharo I was able to view a number of fascinating venues: first, what must be one of the world’s largest motorcycle showrooms, followed by an art gallery, a tiny, interesting looking Italian restaurant, and a colorful bar that features turtle races. Now that spawns a number of vital questions. Does one have to bring one’s own turtle, or does one race the house turtles. What are the distances? Are there age or weight classes? Are the turtles monitored for illegal substances other than for Salmonella? What is the prize-or is the turtle’s journey itself the reward? But I digress.

Wharo is a fine Korean barbecue restaurant, stark on the inside with plenty of happy customers. The menu is broad, and the staff members friendly. We had the opportunity to cook our own meat-just what we wanted to do- go out for dinner and prepare our own food-so we left the cooking to the professionals. Excellent choice!

I love beer but was unfamiliar with the Asian selections. I asked the enthusiastic waiter to contrast the ales for me, and he professorially explained, “Beer is beer!” He obviously has not seen the Miller Lite commercials on TV.

We ordered fish, steak, and chicken, not wanting to favor any one specific animal category over another, and each entree was excellently prepared and quite delicious. In addition, the waiter brought us small samplings of every imaginable vegetable, all in sauces that varied in spiciness from attention grabbing to palate searing.

All in all, the food was excellent, the atmosphere pleasant, and the service efficient. We left after an hour fully sated yet still wondering if the turtles had made any progress.