Song Hak Korean BBQ - San Diego

I took a day trip to San Diego from LA with my two friends and this was on our itinerary as the main event.

I ordered the Large Combo for 3-4 people with 3 choices of meats. It was $89.99 and it came with a corn cheese, the choice of a kimchi or soybean stew, and a steamed pot egg. We got the pork belly, the pork jowl, and the abomasum (I had no idea what this was, but my sweet server recommended it!)
The abomasum was really chewy and I wish it was cut smaller so the chewy-ness could be cooked down into crispier pieces, but the pork belly and jowl were excellent.

I thought it might not be enough since we were all really hungry and also added a side of the LA Galbi Meal (beef short rib on a hot stone plate and lots of grilled onion) and it also comes with rice, soybean or kimchi soup.

We also got a ton of side dishes aka banchan such as kimchi, pickled daikon, fish cake, fresh chives with spicy sauce, soy pickled onion, and sesame oil bean sprouts.

You can always tell the quality of a place by their side dishes at Korean restaurants and although it's not AYCE, the banchan here makes you forget about that and just enjoy the quality of the ingredients you're getting!

Everything was soooooo good and the portions were great!

We ate all the meats and were too full to finish all the banchan, but we kept telling each other how amazing the experience was as we were eating.

The servers are so amazing and would constantly come and check on our grill and replenish our sides without us asking. I love the hospitality and presentation of this restaurant so much.

The only thing I will say to look out for is that you may have to wait for parking and it depends on the busyness of the plaza (since they seem to have a bunch of great food businesses all in one) and it’s a small parking lot. Other than that, be ready to have such a good time!

If you're a local and haven't had SongHak, you're definitely missing out and need to try it! If you're not a local like me and have to travel 2+ hours for it, then I still say it was super worth it.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

This place just sucked all around. I should have known it wasn’t good because there was hardly anyone there at 6:30 on a Friday. The wait staff wanted to seat us at the worst table, next to the cash register. We ordered meals rather than cook on the table. My bulgogi had absolutely no flavor. My partner ordered short ribs but it turned out to be like a meatloaf allegedly made from short rib meat. Not short ribs. And the flavor was like meatloaf, not beef.

Will never return.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

As an adult I am leaning towards a la carte kbbq spots than ayce because my metabolism wasn’t what it used to be. So Songhak is a great place to go since I don’t feel like I need to roll out of the restaurant after I’m done eating. I got the prime combo 3 with beef belly pork jowl bulgogi and marinated short rib. I also added on cold noodles and fried rice which was also delicious. Service was great my server reminded me of my aunt I felt like family

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Have been here a few times but the most recent time our gopchang (intestines) had small bits of what tasted like sand/rocks. This has actually happened before at a different restaurant, and can happen with cow intestines, so it’s not a big deal in itself and understandable.
The issue is they refused to refund us for it. Not sure how they think that would be ok but definitely won’t be returning.

Outside of that… also just mid Korean food.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

We didn't order the Korean BBQ which it seems like most people get and are dinner fairly late which may have affected our experience. We got the rice cake soup and jajang myeon. I thought the soup was fine but the meat was thin and tough. My friend did not like the jajang myeon and didn't eat more than a few bites. The food was relatively cheap, but only ranged from okay to bad. The waiters were nice though and brought my friend an apron and were very attentive. It is also open very late.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 3

We dined in and had a good experience, so we decided to take a pancake to-go. I really wish we hadn’t. Found a piece of plastic inside the pancake 🤮 and now I’m seriously questioning how clean their kitchen actually is. Diners beware.

This place is a joke. I guess for san diego you can call it korean bbq. This is like an all you can eat place quality

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

My favorite Korean bbq spot in San Diego!

Food: 5

Service: 5

Songhak is one of the OG spots on Convoy and honestly still one of the best. The quality here is up there from the meats to the side dishes, everything is super flavorful and always hits. It’s not ayce but the quality more than makes up for it. Our go-to order is the Prime Combo #1, which comes with brisket, wagyu beef belly (pro tip: you can swap out the pork jowl), and prime pork jowl. We also ALWAYS get the large intestine, which is seriously underrated. One of my favorite things about this place is that they cook everything for you and make sure it’s done perfectly. The service is always great, and I’ve never had a bad experience here. Highly recommend if you’re looking for quality KBBQ in San Diego.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

UPDATE 6/25/25:

There's a reason we keep coming back - Songhak has some of the best quality kbbq!

We are such die-hard fans of their bbq combos, but today we tried something different and just got a full order of beef belly and an order of the Galbi Jim and added cheese.

Service is excellent as always - they help cook up your bbq and change the grill as needed. The Galbi Jim came out on a sizzling plate, but after our beef belly was done cooking our waitresses took out the grill and set the pot of Galbi Jim on top to keep it warm. You can order this with either soy based sauce or a spicy sauce with level 1-3 spice, and we really loved level 2 spicy.

You still get all the bonchon and garnishes like onions and bean sprouts and radish slices for the bbq.

Pro Tip- since this spot is notoriously crowded and parking is a challenge, we like to come on a weekday in between the lunch and dinner rushes. We found parking more easily and the restaurant was quite peaceful and comfortable to dine there as a family with our son.

We always have the best experience whenever we come here. We always get the Prime Combo 1 which has brisket, beef belly and pork jowl, and includes corn cheese, steamed egg and soy bean stew, along with bonchon.

We love the service here too - the server helps is cool it all up to perfection, and when we order spicy fried rice with cheese at the end, she preps it all then puts it on our grill to melt the cheese. Perfect every time. The place has always been pristine clean and bright too.

This time we also tried the chadol champon, which is a spicy noodle soup with brisket. The portion was huge! We will definitely be back again. We want to try more of their non bbq items but just can't pass up that combo 😆

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Wagyu Beef, Corn Cheese

First time here and we enjoyed our hostess and our meal. We did the five meal.

Songhak truly delivers an unforgettable experience! From the moment I arrived, everything was smooth, professional, and welcoming. The quality, attention to detail, and overall atmosphere were beyond impressive. It’s clear that the team behind Songhak takes great pride in what they do. Highly recommended for anyone looking for excellence — I’ll definitely be back!

Excelent food, good atmosphere and great beer!

Outstanding Korean BBQ experience. I had never tried intestine before, but since it’s a specialty here, we tried the Dae Chang (large beef intestine). It was full of flavor and had an interesting texture. We also ordered the Wagyu Beef Belly, Prime Pork Jowl, and the Prime Brisket. Our waitress put the meat on the grill for us and adjusted the heat when needed. Per usual for Korean BBQ, the accompanying sides were awesome. We also ordered ChumChurum Soju (sugar free) and Cass beer which came with small glasses to measure and mix the two drinks together. Luckily we were with someone who regularly orders Korean BBQ, so we were taught how to enjoy the beverages and food. Ordering four meat dishes was plenty of food for our group of 4 and they offered boxes for the food we didn’t quite finish which was nice. Parking was a little tricky due to the many businesses in this area; however, just down the street is a paid public parking lot for just $3 an hour. Highly recommend this spot!

Amazing experience! We ordered Spicy Korean soup, Galbi Beef, and Jajangmeon (Black bean noddle). I requested chopped chili to be added to the black bean. Service was phenomenal despite being a full house. They're so friendly, they checked up on us and the other tables many times throughout the dining experience.

Tasty food and excellent service! We will come back again. Thank you so much!!