Soy Lovers Catering

My body froze as soon as I saw the dark interior of the restaurant. I carefully approached the entrance and my eyes grew in shock as I read the sign in Korean. It was a thank you and goodbye letter to the regular customers informing them the restaurant closed. The reason, no one knew.
I ate at Soy Lovers countless times. It would bring back flavors for when I was a child, the flavors that every adult seeks.
I worked right next door at a tutoring center from 2004 – 2009 during my college years when Soy Lovers (direct romanization in Korean is Kong Sa Rang) was a sit down restaurant in the City of La Palma.
For five years, I became a regular, and consistently ordered the house favorites, dol sot bibimbap (seasoned rice with mixed vegetables and red pepper paste to taste in a stone pot), soon dubu (soft tofu soup), yook geh jang (spicy beef soup) and the elderly favorite, the kong bigi, which was a mashed version of soy beans with a soy sauce seasoning to taste that would take the elderly Korean seniors to their days back in impoverished Korea, fifty plus years ago. Not only were the entrees harmonious, the side dishes had a distinct clean, homemade taste, a taste that would unlock memories of my beloved grandmother’s cooking.
As with most people, we neglect our childhood flavors until it truly is gone. And it was gone. I thought I would never see Soy Lovers again and it devastated me as if a part of my history was gone. My heart wrenched because not only did I love the food, the ownership was real and genuine. It would be like the passionate owners you would see on Guy Fieri’s Food Network show, Diners, Drive-​Ins and Dives, where owners go and make sure that every ingredient and each detail is carefully put into each entrée.
Formerly I Love Noodle and Sunny Catering (previous businesses at this location), a tingling jolt ran down my spine as soon as I saw the familiar Soy Lovers sign come back to life posted outside the building. And to come back in Buena Park, my hometown, was even better.
Although it’s not a sit down restaurant anymore and a catering restaurant, Soy Lover still provides individual side dishes and take home side dishes for families.
The catering menu of the popular main entrees are posted on this Unilocal page, which is great for parties, banquets, family and friend events.
There’s also designed rotating meal lunch plan for companies.
The side dishes come out fresh every Monday.
I recommend the garlic stems, pickled cucumbers, salted dry anchovies with peanuts, dried and slighly sweet seaweed, pickled perilla leaves and beef in soy sauce.
The side dishes are reasonably priced and taste much better than what you find at the major Korean markets like Zion, H Mart, Super 1 Hannam, and AR Mart.
As I read back on my review in 2007 for the old Soy Lovers, which is thankfully still on Unilocal,I can’t believe it’s been nearly a decade. It’s difficult not to reflect back and not only did I grow as a person, I grew as a Unilocaler. I appreciate small businesses and the hard work and sweat that goes behind the scenes.
I believe that all stories have a fairy tale ending and I know that Soy Lovers will humbly regain its loyal customers and make new ones with its fresh, authentic and homemade Korean taste.
I walked in the new Soy Lovers, now accompanied with my wife, without any expectations. To my surprise, I saw the very same recognizable warm smile that always smiled back at me before. It was as if the years and time never passed.

Ordered catering for a Christmas lunch party at work. We ordered the spicy chicken wings, grilled mussels, spicy race cake, freshly made kimchi, deep fried shrimp, spicy marinated crab, and skate cucumber salad. Everything was delicious and there were no leftovers to take home. All the coworkers were asking where we got catering from. We made the order for 1030AM and everything was ready for us when we arrived. The young man at the front helped me take everything to my car. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone that wants to cater well-​made Korean food.

This was my first experience ordering Korean food for my daughter’s bday party. I am so glad we ordered from Soy Lover Catering, food was delicious! I appreciate that the owner asked her son Jason to contact us to make sure my questions were answered accurately. Thank you so much!!! Highly Recommended