3.5 stars. Nice service. Clean environment. Cooked / prepared properly. Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) was home made and soothing. May be one of the best in SF. That said, I was not really into the quality of their meat but you get what you pay for. (I age selected beef from specific farms in my temperature, humidity, airflow, bacteria/fungus controlled dry aging chamber in my basement. I also only eat air chilled birds at home)
Jeannette C.
AYCE Korean food. They have an iPad where you can check your name in on the waiting list. We were the 8th name when I walked in and wait was probably about 50 mins long on a Friday night. Food was good and service was good
Ke C.
This place is alright. It's very quiet, very peaceful. The BBQ meat portions are startling small for the price (you're looking at high $20s to mid $30s), and they all err on the side of a sweeter marinade. Pan chans were standard, and dolsot bibimbap was really good. The dumpling and rice noodle soup was really lacking... kind of bland, and had an off sour taste. Overall, not the best Korean BBQ, but definitely not too bad, especially if you don't want to wait in line and have a more intimate experience.
æ¿æ´¥ é彦
Nice place for Korean BBQ in japantown, skip the vegetables and go for the meat!
Brad T
From 'Meh to 'just plain bad' in 3 years.
Nobbi L.
We have not eaten here for years now. The location has moved slightly but the food is as good as ever. The number of banchan seem to have decreased. But otherwise we loved our visit. Besides our usual daeji bulgoki (spicy pork bbq) and the dolsot bibimbap (beef and veggie rice bowl), we got our favorite, yuk hwe (essentially Korean steak tartare). This was the best we've ever had. The spicing was out of this world. Truly amazing. Service was super friendly and attentive. I love Korean food!
Andrea G.
We decided to come here for lunch over the weekend for my friend's birthday. It opened pretty early and could accommodate a large group of people and takes reservation. I was a little frustrated with the service. I felt the servers didn't really pay attention to us even though there weren't many people in the restaurant. What I did really love was the Mount of side dishes that they brought out. And you get a set of side dishes for every 3-4 people, which was definitely nice. I ended up ordered the vegetable Dolsot. I loved the flavor of the dish and that it's loaded with all sorts of vegetables and mushrooms and tofu. But when I got to the bottom of my bowl, something tasted really vinegary/sour so I stopped eating. In general, the food was okay. The service could have been better. Maybe it's because we were a large group (10 people) but it felt like we were missing orders and having a hard time getting servers to come to our table.
Viclaire S.
I just can't rate this place any higher. I'm not positive if it's because they were closing in 45 min or also that we had a big group, but somehow I found it hard to communicate with the servers and the service was just OK. Lunch food portions are on the skimpy end. I opted for the bowl skillet which, thank goodness (1 star) I did because it was just the right size. Most of the folks in our group ordered a lunch portion "meat" item and they seemed pretty hungry still. The place is located near japantown and down the way from our team building event, so a plus for convenience (1 star), but other than that, not impressed with the food or service here. Not sure if I even want to come back and do another review. Paaassss....
Thomas L.
It was another cold SF summer evening, and my friend was craving soon tofu. I was crossing my fingers for a good experience after having really bland Korean food in Haight Ashbury last month. And New Korea delivered with a flavorful vegetarian soon tofu, and crispy beef and veggie pancake. Banchan portions were plentiful. They gave about 8 little bowls for the 2 of us. The pancake dipping sauce had that nice soy sauce saltiness with sesame seeds and minced garlic. Don't wear your best clothes or decide to go dancing after eating here, however. You can cook BBQ here, and it smells like smoky meat heaven. So if that's what you consider your eau de toilette, then by all means go dance and sweat your a** off.
Elena N.
For dinner last Sunday, May 22nd, the roommate and I decided to order delivery from New Korea House. We ordered via DoorDash. Placed our order at 8pm and it arrived at 8:56pm. I live in Outer Richmond. *Kimchi Chigae: A hearty kimchi and pork belly broth stew served in a stone pot ($15.50) *Hae Mul Soon Dubu: Spicy silk tofu stew with seafood ($16.50) *Grill - Kal Bi: Marinated beef short rib fillet ($34.50) *Grill - Daeji Bul Go Ki: Thin slices of pork in spicy red pepper marinade ($24.50) *Jogi Gui: Pan fried yellow croaker ($18.95) They gave us a good amount and variety of banchan which I adored since I love a bunch of side dishes. They also provided a bunch of rice which the roommate appreciated. He loves his rice! I was really looking forward to their stews since I love soup. But they were pretty bland. I love my korean stews super savory and spicy, so these were kind of a let down. Especially the kimchee jjigae. It was a little watered down. The bbq, taste wise was good. But the roomie did comment on how small the portions were. In particular, the galbi. The fish had good flavor, but was a touch overcooked for me, so a little dry. Probably because of the delivery time, so not really the restaurant's fault. Most of the dishes were pretty good, but they need to step up their stew game. Korean stews should be super flavorful, not bland. 3 stars.
Way too expensive for the amount of food you get. It's already more than 30$ per person, but I'm still hungry :(
Acelyn B.
I had pretty high expectations for something in Japantown. I know Korean food is not the same as Japanese, but I was thinking anything Asian in an Asian part of town should be amazing. I wasn't that impressed, though. Not the best KBBQ I've had. I DO like that it's only 2 min for bbq at table instead of the entire party, like several other places I've visited. The bulgogi grill at table was the best - not too sweet, like it usually is for me. Strange though because the bulgogi lunch special (which is cooked in the back) tasted differently. That one was too sweet. The pork belly grill at table tasted like a healthy version? I don't know how else to explain it, but it was not that good. BUT she did split checks for every one of us in our party of 11. So I'm flipping back and forth between a 2 and 3. Let's go with 2.5. rounding up to 3.
Michelle K.
This is a solid Korean restaurant in SF. The banchan tastes almost homemade and I was a huge fan of the beef soon dubu. It was really good as leftovers! The grilled mackerel was good and I also recommend trying the dolsot bibimbap. Service is decent and good luck finding parking in Japantown :)
Brad T
Not Brothers but still ok.
James S.
I stopped by here on an afternoon looking for Tofu Soup. In hindsight, probably not the right place for soup.. Most people were ordering the barbecue and it did look and smell pretty delicious. I will have to come back and see how it is. The soup was ok.. It seemed a little small, and a little short on non-tofu.. but the flavor was good. The banchan was pretty good. I left feeling a little hungry.. and still wanting a fried fish.. (Tofu soup shops will usually provide a fried fish appetizer for the soup).
3.5 stars. Nice service. Clean environment. Cooked / prepared properly. Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) was home made and soothing. May be one of the best in SF. That said, I was not really into the quality of their meat but you get what you pay for. (I age selected beef from specific farms in my temperature, humidity, airflow, bacteria/fungus controlled dry aging chamber in my basement. I also only eat air chilled birds at home)
AYCE Korean food. They have an iPad where you can check your name in on the waiting list. We were the 8th name when I walked in and wait was probably about 50 mins long on a Friday night. Food was good and service was good
This place is alright. It's very quiet, very peaceful. The BBQ meat portions are startling small for the price (you're looking at high $20s to mid $30s), and they all err on the side of a sweeter marinade. Pan chans were standard, and dolsot bibimbap was really good. The dumpling and rice noodle soup was really lacking... kind of bland, and had an off sour taste. Overall, not the best Korean BBQ, but definitely not too bad, especially if you don't want to wait in line and have a more intimate experience.
Nice place for Korean BBQ in japantown, skip the vegetables and go for the meat!
From 'Meh to 'just plain bad' in 3 years.
We have not eaten here for years now. The location has moved slightly but the food is as good as ever. The number of banchan seem to have decreased. But otherwise we loved our visit. Besides our usual daeji bulgoki (spicy pork bbq) and the dolsot bibimbap (beef and veggie rice bowl), we got our favorite, yuk hwe (essentially Korean steak tartare). This was the best we've ever had. The spicing was out of this world. Truly amazing. Service was super friendly and attentive. I love Korean food!
We decided to come here for lunch over the weekend for my friend's birthday. It opened pretty early and could accommodate a large group of people and takes reservation. I was a little frustrated with the service. I felt the servers didn't really pay attention to us even though there weren't many people in the restaurant. What I did really love was the Mount of side dishes that they brought out. And you get a set of side dishes for every 3-4 people, which was definitely nice. I ended up ordered the vegetable Dolsot. I loved the flavor of the dish and that it's loaded with all sorts of vegetables and mushrooms and tofu. But when I got to the bottom of my bowl, something tasted really vinegary/sour so I stopped eating. In general, the food was okay. The service could have been better. Maybe it's because we were a large group (10 people) but it felt like we were missing orders and having a hard time getting servers to come to our table.
I just can't rate this place any higher. I'm not positive if it's because they were closing in 45 min or also that we had a big group, but somehow I found it hard to communicate with the servers and the service was just OK. Lunch food portions are on the skimpy end. I opted for the bowl skillet which, thank goodness (1 star) I did because it was just the right size. Most of the folks in our group ordered a lunch portion "meat" item and they seemed pretty hungry still. The place is located near japantown and down the way from our team building event, so a plus for convenience (1 star), but other than that, not impressed with the food or service here. Not sure if I even want to come back and do another review. Paaassss....
It was another cold SF summer evening, and my friend was craving soon tofu. I was crossing my fingers for a good experience after having really bland Korean food in Haight Ashbury last month. And New Korea delivered with a flavorful vegetarian soon tofu, and crispy beef and veggie pancake. Banchan portions were plentiful. They gave about 8 little bowls for the 2 of us. The pancake dipping sauce had that nice soy sauce saltiness with sesame seeds and minced garlic. Don't wear your best clothes or decide to go dancing after eating here, however. You can cook BBQ here, and it smells like smoky meat heaven. So if that's what you consider your eau de toilette, then by all means go dance and sweat your a** off.
For dinner last Sunday, May 22nd, the roommate and I decided to order delivery from New Korea House. We ordered via DoorDash. Placed our order at 8pm and it arrived at 8:56pm. I live in Outer Richmond. *Kimchi Chigae: A hearty kimchi and pork belly broth stew served in a stone pot ($15.50) *Hae Mul Soon Dubu: Spicy silk tofu stew with seafood ($16.50) *Grill - Kal Bi: Marinated beef short rib fillet ($34.50) *Grill - Daeji Bul Go Ki: Thin slices of pork in spicy red pepper marinade ($24.50) *Jogi Gui: Pan fried yellow croaker ($18.95) They gave us a good amount and variety of banchan which I adored since I love a bunch of side dishes. They also provided a bunch of rice which the roommate appreciated. He loves his rice! I was really looking forward to their stews since I love soup. But they were pretty bland. I love my korean stews super savory and spicy, so these were kind of a let down. Especially the kimchee jjigae. It was a little watered down. The bbq, taste wise was good. But the roomie did comment on how small the portions were. In particular, the galbi. The fish had good flavor, but was a touch overcooked for me, so a little dry. Probably because of the delivery time, so not really the restaurant's fault. Most of the dishes were pretty good, but they need to step up their stew game. Korean stews should be super flavorful, not bland. 3 stars.
Restaurantji Recommends
Way too expensive for the amount of food you get. It's already more than 30$ per person, but I'm still hungry :(
I had pretty high expectations for something in Japantown. I know Korean food is not the same as Japanese, but I was thinking anything Asian in an Asian part of town should be amazing. I wasn't that impressed, though. Not the best KBBQ I've had. I DO like that it's only 2 min for bbq at table instead of the entire party, like several other places I've visited. The bulgogi grill at table was the best - not too sweet, like it usually is for me. Strange though because the bulgogi lunch special (which is cooked in the back) tasted differently. That one was too sweet. The pork belly grill at table tasted like a healthy version? I don't know how else to explain it, but it was not that good. BUT she did split checks for every one of us in our party of 11. So I'm flipping back and forth between a 2 and 3. Let's go with 2.5. rounding up to 3.
This is a solid Korean restaurant in SF. The banchan tastes almost homemade and I was a huge fan of the beef soon dubu. It was really good as leftovers! The grilled mackerel was good and I also recommend trying the dolsot bibimbap. Service is decent and good luck finding parking in Japantown :)
Not Brothers but still ok.
I stopped by here on an afternoon looking for Tofu Soup. In hindsight, probably not the right place for soup.. Most people were ordering the barbecue and it did look and smell pretty delicious. I will have to come back and see how it is. The soup was ok.. It seemed a little small, and a little short on non-tofu.. but the flavor was good. The banchan was pretty good. I left feeling a little hungry.. and still wanting a fried fish.. (Tofu soup shops will usually provide a fried fish appetizer for the soup).