Tag Archives: Korean

Gamja fries – Namu Gaji

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Gamja fries - Namu Gaji
A poutine-like stoner favorite. Hand cut organic potato, kimchee relish, gochujang, kewpie mayo, teriyaki, green onion, bulgogi beef. $10
Namu Gaji, San Francisco CA

These French fries are a lot of everything! I can see why they’re a popular hangover item. The bulgogi was really good and I liked all the different condiments. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t hung over, but these fries were verging on too much flavor-attack for me.

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2014

Sommariva mimosa - Namu Gaji
Sommariva mimosa. $10
I was not impressed by this flat, overpriced mimosa.

Angry Korean wings – Wing Wings

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Angry Korean wings - Wing Wings
Fried chicken wings with homemade Angry Korean sauce, green onions and sesame seeds (blue cheese 50¢). Six for $6
Wing Wings, San Francisco CA

Omg, these wings were AMAZING! I’m a huge fan of chicken wings and I’ve tried a lot of them over the years, and these Angry Korean wings are probably some of the best I’ve had. Their homemade sauce is frickin’ out of this world and believe you me, I sopped up all of it from the paper boat, lol! I also found out that they deliver – crap, this could be a problem. 😉

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

Yellow angel's trumpets
Yellow angel’s trumpets (Brugmansia sp., Solanaceae), The Castro.

Tofu kimchi – K-pop

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Tofu kimchi - K-pop
Sliced tender prime pork marinated in spicy sauce, pan fried with kimchi and tofu. $13.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

The menu description made it seem like the tofu was incorporated in the pan fried pork and kimchi mixture. I was kind of annoyed when the dish arrived and there were large slices of fresh tofu on the side. Ugh! The tofu was bland of course so that’s why I was hoping it would have already been added to the spicy kimchi mixture so that it could have acquired some flavor. Otherwise, I like the dish enough.

Steamed rice - K-pop
Side of steamed rice.

de Young Museum

de Young Museum atrium area.

Spicy soy garlic Korean fried chicken – K-pop

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Spicy soy garlic Korean fried chicken - K-pop
Breaded Korean style fried chicken thighs in a spicy soy garlic sauce. Served with daikon non-spicy kimchee and a mixed green salad with strawberry dressing. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

Ugh, I keep thinking that the Korean fried chicken will get better at K-pop, but I’m wrong again. The chicken is way over-fried, has too much breading, and uses tiny sad cuts of chicken with little meat. I like the flavor of the sauces, but that doesn’t make up for the poor quality of the chicken pieces. 😦

Banchan - K-Pop
Banchan. Complimentary

Pax Jerusalemme

Pax Jerusalemme, 1999, painted steel, Mark di Suvero. Legion of Honor.

Beef dol sot bi bim bap – K-pop

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Beef dol sot bi bim bap - K-pop
Rice bowl mixed with cooked vegetables, fried egg, nori and served on a hot stone pot with soup. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

Mmm, salty beef with rice and a runny egg. Sounds like heaven to me! This is a sizable bowl which is good for the fifteen-buck price tag. Like I’ve said, the food here tends to be on the salty side but the Korean flavors still shine through.

Spicy chicken with ssam – K-pop

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Spicy chicken with ssam - K-pop
Korean style marinated chicken mixed with onion, scallion, and sesame seeds served with vegetable wraps. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

Even though K-pop isn’t the best Korean food around and the food tends to be on the salty side, I still crave it once in a while because it’s the only Korean restaurant nearby. The flavors are great and the banchan selection is respectable, but they really need to dial the salt level down. They service is also hit or miss, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Banchan - K-pop

Banchan. Complimentary

Western beaked hazelnut
Western beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica, Betulaceae), Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Dol sot bi bim bap – K-pop

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Dol sot bi bim bap - K-pop
“Mixed rice” with soy marinated chicken strips, fried egg, assorted vegetables and served on a hot stone pot with soup. $13.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

This was pretty good and super hot temperature-wise! I wish the egg was runnier (maybe even raw like other bi bim baps), but it still tasted good and the whole thing was flavorful.

I think this Korean restaurant is a great new option in the Castro. The food is a little on the salty side but the flavors are great. The service also needs improvement. At the end of our meal, we could NOT get our check no matter how hard we tried. We literally stalked all the servers until we could finally flag one down. I hope this places stays open though.

OB Lager beer - K-pop

OB Lager beer. I’ve always found Korean beer to be super drinkable!

Spicy pork with ssam – K-pop

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Spicy pork with ssam - K-pop
Korean style marinated pork mixed with onion, scallion, and sesame seeds served with vegetable wraps. $14.95
K-pop, San Francisco CA

I didn’t realize this dish was going to be SO paleo-friendly when I ordered it, but it was a nice bonus! The flavors were good but this thing was WAY too salty! Geez, I could barely eat it after a while. Too bad because It looked and smelled amazing.

Ban chan - K-pop
Ban chan. Complimentary
Mmm, I love ban chan and seven different kinds is decent at this price point.

Place setting - K-pop
Place setting.

Korean bbq dinner with work peeps – YakiniQ BBQ

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There’s usually an occasion to warrant a work dinner for our group, but this time around I think we just wanted to grab some Korean BBQ in Japantown. What?! We don’t have a Korea-town in San Francisco, hehe. I’d never been to this restaurant, but it’s one of those places that’s all-you-can-eat for a set price. Or at least all-you-can-eat when the service feels like refilling your table. I’m not complaining, we had plenty to eat as you will see. Overall, I enjoyed the food and it’s always fun to hang out with my work peeps and their significant others. There were only six of us that night which made it easy to pass along food as they were ready off the central grill (and split the bill, lol)! $23.99 each, beer additional
YakiniQ BBQ, San Francisco CA

Intestine bulgogi tripe - YakiniQ BBQ
The grill is located in the center of the table and it does get dirty throughout the night, but they periodically replace the grill top. At one point, we had too much meat in the center which choked out the flame, so a server had to relight it. Oops! I tried to get a pic of everything we ordered, and I was mostly successful. We kept ordering multiple plates at once so it was a little difficult. You’ll get the general idea of the evening’s dining experience though, hehe!

Prime beef tongue and pork neck meat - YakiniQ BBQ
Prime beef tongue and pork neck meat. I’ve never had pork neck meat before and it was really tender and delicious!

Prime beef tongue - YakiniQ BBQ
Prime beef tongue on the grill.

Small intestine - YakiniQ BBQ
Small intestine. You definitely have to use the scissors to cut this and cook it to a crisp!

Honeycomb tripe - YakiniQ BBQ
Honeycomb tripe. Not my favorite, but they taste better with some chili sauce on top.

Marinated short rib gal-bi - YakiniQ BBQ
Marinted short rib (gal-bi) and marinated beef (bul-go-gi) on the grill. Delicious standards.

Spicy chicken - YakiniQ BBQ
Spicy chicken.

Beef brisket - YakiniQ BBQ
Beef brisket.

Pork skin - YakiniQ BBQ
Pork skin. Again, the trick is to grill this to a crisp otherwise there’s no way you can even chew through it!

Garlic butter chicken - YakiniQ BBQ
Garlic butter chicken.

Spicy pork belly - YakiniQ BBQ
Spicy pork belly.

Steamed egg - YakiniQ BBQ

Steamed egg.

Rice cake wraps - YakiniQ BBQ
Rice cake wraps.

Dipping sauces - YakiniQ BBQ
Dipping sauces.

Banchan - YakiniQ BBQ
Banchan. Complimentary

Hite Korean beer - YakiniQ BBQ

Hite Korean beer. Large bottle $13

Hite Korean beer - YakiniQ BBQ

Hite beer in a Cass glass beer glass. It was my first time trying this beer and I enjoyed it. It was light and didn’t make me burp as much as other beers, lol!

Spicy bbq pork bowl – Sorabol

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Spicy bbq pork bowl - Sorabol
Thinly sliced pork (dwegi gui) smothered in spicy chili pepper paste. Served with steamed rice, chap chae (Korean style glass noodles) and vegetables. $6.95
Sorabol, San Bruno CA

This probably wasn’t the best thing to eat after getting a teeth cleaning at the dentist, but I was starving and craving this yummy pork. Sorabol definitely isn’t authentic Korean by any means, but it somehow hits the spot nonetheless.

Stained glass window, San Bruno Bart Station
Stained glass window, San Bruno Bart Station. As you descend onto the station platform on the escalator, look up and witness this colorful stained glass.