Servers are super friendly and kind. I think I would come back to try the jokbal, which seemed pretty good. Galbijjim - 3.5/5, the sauce had good flavor, slightly sweet and salty. It was a bit watery, so it didn't stick to the meat or veggies as well. The meat quality was mid, could find better elsewhere for the price. Stir fried squid - 4/5, lots of veggies with squid. The gochujang flavor is more prevalent here than other restaurants, which didn't bother me too much. If you prefer not to have a heavy gochujang flavor, this might not be for you. Seafood pancake - 4/5, nicely crisp with decent amount of seafood. Yum! Fried mandu - 4/5, typical fried korean dumplings. Good, hard to mess up.
francis montgomery
We greatly enjoy our Thursday visits here. The bento box selections has something for everyone.I'm especially enchanted by the wide variety of Banchans their warm fish cakes, warm potatoes and delicious warm japchae are all reasons to return again and again.Parking: There is a parking lot next to the restaurant, but the timing is everything. We try to get there right at 11 am. or as the lunch crowd is dying down.Wheelchair accessibility: We use a seated 4 wheeled walker there's is a slight grade going into the restaurant. We also pick our time. That way, the walker isn't blocking any other tables
4.5 STARS Date: Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 Time: around 8:30pm Meal: Dinner Party of: 5 How: Walk In Wait: None at All 9. Yukhoe - Korean Style Raw Beef - Beef Tartare ($30) 13. Mul Naengmyeon - Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Beef & Cold Soup ($18) 25. Galbi - Marinated Beef Short Ribs ($38) 30. Kimchi-Jjigae - Kimchi Soup with Beef ($20) 31. Sundubu-Jjigae - Tofu Stew with Seafood ($18) 37. Yukgae-Jang - Spicy Beef Soup with Egg, no Green Onion ($21) *Soda - Coke ($2.50) x2 After a day in Napa (some of it pouring rain), we wanted something comforting. I looked around for places by my house and found Sonamu. Didn't realize until we got here that this was the old Turtle Tower which I adored. Nothing has really changed with the new Korean restaurant that's taken it's place. It was a quiet Sat night, so only a table or two were here when we walked in. Got seated right away. Took a few mins to look at the menu and ordered everything above. The server was super sweet and patient as the bday boy was a little confusing. Apparently he was trying to ask our server something in Korean. NO ONE knew what he was saying, let alone that he was trying to speak Korean. (The bday boy does not speak Korean BTW. But apparently listening to Google Translate, he thought he could?) It was actually the highlight of the night since it was sooo funny. Thank you to our server for putting up with us! The complimentary banchan was delish! Came with kimchee, cucumber kimchee, broccoli, bean sprouts, fish cakes, acorn jelly, and some potato thing that's sweet (not actually sweet potatoes tho). I should know the names of these since the hubby is Korean, but I'm too lazy to look them up to fact check. Regardless, I loved the fish cakes, broccoli, and sprouts. Could have had like 5 servings each of these. Maybe more. And I'm talking about just me! A gf and I shared the soondubu. Had a great amount of spice for something where we didn't indicate a spice level. I love extra spicy on everything, so I actually asked for more chili flakes to add to the stew. I also got the raw beef since I love tartare. The texture was a little odd as it was still partly frozen. But got better as dinner progressed. I thought this could have used more sesame oil, so I added some more when I ate the rest at home. At the restaurant, it was good with the gochugaru and banchan. The naengmyeon, I brought home for the hubby. He said the broth was too sweet and asked if there was hot mustard. Had no idea to ask for it, so just a note if you don't like this dish when it's on the sweeter side. A good addition to the neighborhood. It was the perfect choice to end our day in Napa.
Jessica O.
I came to Sonamu on a rainy day for some soup to warm me up. I got there at open and grabbed a parking spot in the lot next to the restaurant. I ordered the 5 piece fried chicken and galbitang. Service was prompt and food came out quickly, maybe because I was the only person there lol. There was complimentary hot tea, which I appreciated on the cold day. The meal came with 6 banchan selections including kimchi, cucumbers, seasoned broccoli and sprouts, braised potatoes, and fishcakes. I liked the cucumbers and fishcakes the most out of the banchan. The kimchi was fresh and not fermented, but still pretty good. The fried chicken was crispy and tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. I liked this to start but the chicken could have been juicier and crispier. The galbitang was rich with a silky seasoned broth and was served with some glass noodles and a bowl of rice. I liked the white pepper and jalapeno seasoning in the broth, it didn't need anything extra. There was a decent amount of galbi, though I wish some parts were a bit more tender. However, it was the perfect ratio of meat and bits of fattiness and tendon for me. The daikon in the soup was soft and soaked up the flavor of the broth, so good to have with the rice. It seems like a popular takeout spot - I saw quite a few Doordash drivers pick food up in the time I was there. Overall, it was a satisfying meal and I appreciated the service and the Warriors game on the screen. I'd definitely come back to try more of their menu, the seafood pancake is calling to me!
Jerry
Delicious food, good portions, and fairly priced. What more can you ask for!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Trish M.
My friend and I were in the area so decided to try this restaurant for lunch! We ordered the bulgogi lunch box and tteokbokki to share. Everything we ate was delicious and came out very quickly. The bulgogi was super tender and the tteokbokki had a nice kick. Very enjoyable lunch on a rainy day. It was also very clean inside and the lady that served us was very friendly. Highly recommend and would love to try more next time!
Kien V.
one visit to sonamu already put them on the top of my favorite korean spots in sf! headache-free parking in the outer richmond? (unless you're competing with dragon beaux customers) nice! open til 10pm? love! too many options on the menu? guess i'll have to come back again and again! and i don't have to wait 45 min-1 hour to be seated?? sign me UP banchan and water/tea were served promptly. the braised potatoes were my favorite, i think i could eat them forever. ordered kimchi jeon, fried mandu, small budae jjigae (can be ordered S/M/L), and to my surprise, yukhoe (korean beef tartare). not something i often, if ever, see offered in restaurants around here, so i had to get it of course. they used a high quality cut of beef which resulted in a light and refreshing, melt-in-your-mouth experience. being financially responsible, i should not get this every time but just know I WOULD! the budae jjigae came out on a burner, and the waitress was attentive in helping us adjust the fire throughout our meal. i also like that they have size options for it, but can't imagine how big the medium or large are...considering the small was enough to share for 2-3 people. we even had leftovers, which the waitress kindly offered to pack up for us. service gets 10s all around! no misses from what we got. i won't call the food mindblowing but it's quite tasty, will get you full, and everything about the dining experience will convince you to return. also comparing to other korean restaurants nearby, i feel like the dishes were less pricey for what you get, making it easier on the mind to come back here and just have a regular shmegular dinner. see you again!
Rae S.
This is such a good finding in the neighborhood! All good items are delicious. My favorite is their seafood pancakes. Service is good and dinning area is clean. We came on a Wednesday evening and had no issues finding seats. I would definitely visit them again and recommend to all Korean food lovers!
Carol N.
This place has jumped to my go-to spot for their spicy cold noodles. I'd come here, Han Il Kwan, or Cocobang for the dish. Really great flavor in the broth, comes with slices of beef (though wish every place added more), & noodles have a great texture. Another highlight was the galbi and galbi tang. I love galbi tang, but most places don't have enough flavor in their broth. My go-to spot for short rib soup is Kunjip in Santa Clara but now I can get a quality bowl much closer. I'd come here for the galbi tang over Daeho as the broth is more flavorful. Looking forward to trying more dishes here!
Maylene C.
Abit over price $60 for reg size on the beef short rib stew- they mixed two kind of ribs. Should be only thick pieces of short ribs. Not mixed with reg thin cut ribs. - Seafood pancake -very good - Bibimbap w/chicken - chicken should cut in strip instead of a big piece which u cant mix it with the rice. - mix intestine and tripes-good - pork bone soup- so-so bland Their service are good
Prices were great! We loved the spicy pork plate! It was the perfect amount of spiciness and the rice was perfectly cooked! Everything was phenomenal. Clean and super friendly! The atmosphere was also perfect, it wasn't loud so you could have conversations peacefully. Overall, definitely recommend coming here!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Robbie R.
I really appreciate how the food here isn't cloying sweet. Flavors are on point and balanced. I usually don't eat the banchan, but theirs was really fresh and delicious. We ordered the kalbijim (so good!), seafood pancake (the best I've had at any Korean restaurant), oxtail soup, bbq chicken, and the potstickers. If you order the soup, make sure to add salt to your liking. It comes intentionally unsalted. Highly recommend this place and can't wait to return the next time I'm craving Korean.
Rose C.
Went around 6pm on a Thursday night and it wasn't crowded at all. We got the beef bulgogi and tofu soup with seafood to share between 2 people and it was enough and would recommend. The side dishes are yummy, we didn't get a refill but maybe it was because there was only 1 person working the whole restaurant.
Patricia P.
The food is absolutely fantastic! We got the kimchi soup, stir fry ramen noodles and one of the stone pot rice and beef dishes. The sides were sooo good. Service was wonderful, the ladies running the restaurant were so sweet. Can't wait till I can come back
Emily Z.
Delicious Korean restaurant that you must add to your list of what to try next!! It's a quiet neighborhood joint that has a large menu to choose from. We ordered the chicken wings to start, and then the army stew and the bibim naengmyeon. Everything we had was delicious. The chicken wings had a nice sauce on them that was both sweet and spicy, and every bite of it had a crunch. The army stew was surprisingly really delicious and had a creamy base that made it unique from other places. And the naengmyeon was delicious and flavored perfectly. My only critique for it is that there was just one piece of beef on it but it was otherwise yummy. I was honestly so satisfied with my meal. The service was great, and parking was so easy to find! I'll be coming back soon to try other items on the menu!! (:
Servers are super friendly and kind. I think I would come back to try the jokbal, which seemed pretty good. Galbijjim - 3.5/5, the sauce had good flavor, slightly sweet and salty. It was a bit watery, so it didn't stick to the meat or veggies as well. The meat quality was mid, could find better elsewhere for the price. Stir fried squid - 4/5, lots of veggies with squid. The gochujang flavor is more prevalent here than other restaurants, which didn't bother me too much. If you prefer not to have a heavy gochujang flavor, this might not be for you. Seafood pancake - 4/5, nicely crisp with decent amount of seafood. Yum! Fried mandu - 4/5, typical fried korean dumplings. Good, hard to mess up.
We greatly enjoy our Thursday visits here. The bento box selections has something for everyone.I'm especially enchanted by the wide variety of Banchans their warm fish cakes, warm potatoes and delicious warm japchae are all reasons to return again and again.Parking: There is a parking lot next to the restaurant, but the timing is everything. We try to get there right at 11 am. or as the lunch crowd is dying down.Wheelchair accessibility: We use a seated 4 wheeled walker there's is a slight grade going into the restaurant. We also pick our time. That way, the walker isn't blocking any other tables
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tempura, Galbi Beef Short Ribs, Tofu Soup, Bento, Banchan
4.5 STARS Date: Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 Time: around 8:30pm Meal: Dinner Party of: 5 How: Walk In Wait: None at All 9. Yukhoe - Korean Style Raw Beef - Beef Tartare ($30) 13. Mul Naengmyeon - Cold Buckwheat Noodles with Beef & Cold Soup ($18) 25. Galbi - Marinated Beef Short Ribs ($38) 30. Kimchi-Jjigae - Kimchi Soup with Beef ($20) 31. Sundubu-Jjigae - Tofu Stew with Seafood ($18) 37. Yukgae-Jang - Spicy Beef Soup with Egg, no Green Onion ($21) *Soda - Coke ($2.50) x2 After a day in Napa (some of it pouring rain), we wanted something comforting. I looked around for places by my house and found Sonamu. Didn't realize until we got here that this was the old Turtle Tower which I adored. Nothing has really changed with the new Korean restaurant that's taken it's place. It was a quiet Sat night, so only a table or two were here when we walked in. Got seated right away. Took a few mins to look at the menu and ordered everything above. The server was super sweet and patient as the bday boy was a little confusing. Apparently he was trying to ask our server something in Korean. NO ONE knew what he was saying, let alone that he was trying to speak Korean. (The bday boy does not speak Korean BTW. But apparently listening to Google Translate, he thought he could?) It was actually the highlight of the night since it was sooo funny. Thank you to our server for putting up with us! The complimentary banchan was delish! Came with kimchee, cucumber kimchee, broccoli, bean sprouts, fish cakes, acorn jelly, and some potato thing that's sweet (not actually sweet potatoes tho). I should know the names of these since the hubby is Korean, but I'm too lazy to look them up to fact check. Regardless, I loved the fish cakes, broccoli, and sprouts. Could have had like 5 servings each of these. Maybe more. And I'm talking about just me! A gf and I shared the soondubu. Had a great amount of spice for something where we didn't indicate a spice level. I love extra spicy on everything, so I actually asked for more chili flakes to add to the stew. I also got the raw beef since I love tartare. The texture was a little odd as it was still partly frozen. But got better as dinner progressed. I thought this could have used more sesame oil, so I added some more when I ate the rest at home. At the restaurant, it was good with the gochugaru and banchan. The naengmyeon, I brought home for the hubby. He said the broth was too sweet and asked if there was hot mustard. Had no idea to ask for it, so just a note if you don't like this dish when it's on the sweeter side. A good addition to the neighborhood. It was the perfect choice to end our day in Napa.
I came to Sonamu on a rainy day for some soup to warm me up. I got there at open and grabbed a parking spot in the lot next to the restaurant. I ordered the 5 piece fried chicken and galbitang. Service was prompt and food came out quickly, maybe because I was the only person there lol. There was complimentary hot tea, which I appreciated on the cold day. The meal came with 6 banchan selections including kimchi, cucumbers, seasoned broccoli and sprouts, braised potatoes, and fishcakes. I liked the cucumbers and fishcakes the most out of the banchan. The kimchi was fresh and not fermented, but still pretty good. The fried chicken was crispy and tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. I liked this to start but the chicken could have been juicier and crispier. The galbitang was rich with a silky seasoned broth and was served with some glass noodles and a bowl of rice. I liked the white pepper and jalapeno seasoning in the broth, it didn't need anything extra. There was a decent amount of galbi, though I wish some parts were a bit more tender. However, it was the perfect ratio of meat and bits of fattiness and tendon for me. The daikon in the soup was soft and soaked up the flavor of the broth, so good to have with the rice. It seems like a popular takeout spot - I saw quite a few Doordash drivers pick food up in the time I was there. Overall, it was a satisfying meal and I appreciated the service and the Warriors game on the screen. I'd definitely come back to try more of their menu, the seafood pancake is calling to me!
Delicious food, good portions, and fairly priced. What more can you ask for!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My friend and I were in the area so decided to try this restaurant for lunch! We ordered the bulgogi lunch box and tteokbokki to share. Everything we ate was delicious and came out very quickly. The bulgogi was super tender and the tteokbokki had a nice kick. Very enjoyable lunch on a rainy day. It was also very clean inside and the lady that served us was very friendly. Highly recommend and would love to try more next time!
one visit to sonamu already put them on the top of my favorite korean spots in sf! headache-free parking in the outer richmond? (unless you're competing with dragon beaux customers) nice! open til 10pm? love! too many options on the menu? guess i'll have to come back again and again! and i don't have to wait 45 min-1 hour to be seated?? sign me UP banchan and water/tea were served promptly. the braised potatoes were my favorite, i think i could eat them forever. ordered kimchi jeon, fried mandu, small budae jjigae (can be ordered S/M/L), and to my surprise, yukhoe (korean beef tartare). not something i often, if ever, see offered in restaurants around here, so i had to get it of course. they used a high quality cut of beef which resulted in a light and refreshing, melt-in-your-mouth experience. being financially responsible, i should not get this every time but just know I WOULD! the budae jjigae came out on a burner, and the waitress was attentive in helping us adjust the fire throughout our meal. i also like that they have size options for it, but can't imagine how big the medium or large are...considering the small was enough to share for 2-3 people. we even had leftovers, which the waitress kindly offered to pack up for us. service gets 10s all around! no misses from what we got. i won't call the food mindblowing but it's quite tasty, will get you full, and everything about the dining experience will convince you to return. also comparing to other korean restaurants nearby, i feel like the dishes were less pricey for what you get, making it easier on the mind to come back here and just have a regular shmegular dinner. see you again!
This is such a good finding in the neighborhood! All good items are delicious. My favorite is their seafood pancakes. Service is good and dinning area is clean. We came on a Wednesday evening and had no issues finding seats. I would definitely visit them again and recommend to all Korean food lovers!
This place has jumped to my go-to spot for their spicy cold noodles. I'd come here, Han Il Kwan, or Cocobang for the dish. Really great flavor in the broth, comes with slices of beef (though wish every place added more), & noodles have a great texture. Another highlight was the galbi and galbi tang. I love galbi tang, but most places don't have enough flavor in their broth. My go-to spot for short rib soup is Kunjip in Santa Clara but now I can get a quality bowl much closer. I'd come here for the galbi tang over Daeho as the broth is more flavorful. Looking forward to trying more dishes here!
Abit over price $60 for reg size on the beef short rib stew- they mixed two kind of ribs. Should be only thick pieces of short ribs. Not mixed with reg thin cut ribs. - Seafood pancake -very good - Bibimbap w/chicken - chicken should cut in strip instead of a big piece which u cant mix it with the rice. - mix intestine and tripes-good - pork bone soup- so-so bland Their service are good
Restaurantji Recommends
Prices were great! We loved the spicy pork plate! It was the perfect amount of spiciness and the rice was perfectly cooked! Everything was phenomenal. Clean and super friendly! The atmosphere was also perfect, it wasn't loud so you could have conversations peacefully. Overall, definitely recommend coming here!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I really appreciate how the food here isn't cloying sweet. Flavors are on point and balanced. I usually don't eat the banchan, but theirs was really fresh and delicious. We ordered the kalbijim (so good!), seafood pancake (the best I've had at any Korean restaurant), oxtail soup, bbq chicken, and the potstickers. If you order the soup, make sure to add salt to your liking. It comes intentionally unsalted. Highly recommend this place and can't wait to return the next time I'm craving Korean.
Went around 6pm on a Thursday night and it wasn't crowded at all. We got the beef bulgogi and tofu soup with seafood to share between 2 people and it was enough and would recommend. The side dishes are yummy, we didn't get a refill but maybe it was because there was only 1 person working the whole restaurant.
The food is absolutely fantastic! We got the kimchi soup, stir fry ramen noodles and one of the stone pot rice and beef dishes. The sides were sooo good. Service was wonderful, the ladies running the restaurant were so sweet. Can't wait till I can come back
Delicious Korean restaurant that you must add to your list of what to try next!! It's a quiet neighborhood joint that has a large menu to choose from. We ordered the chicken wings to start, and then the army stew and the bibim naengmyeon. Everything we had was delicious. The chicken wings had a nice sauce on them that was both sweet and spicy, and every bite of it had a crunch. The army stew was surprisingly really delicious and had a creamy base that made it unique from other places. And the naengmyeon was delicious and flavored perfectly. My only critique for it is that there was just one piece of beef on it but it was otherwise yummy. I was honestly so satisfied with my meal. The service was great, and parking was so easy to find! I'll be coming back soon to try other items on the menu!! (: