4 Embarcadero Center | San Francisco, CA |  (415) 839-4070

No, this isn’t one of those places, but I am sure the name doesn’t help.  Due to popular culture references, it does conjure up an image of a certain type of kitchen, but for me, it also conjure up images of places (think Stonehenge).

To me, Korean food is addictive because of their use of spices and their never-ending panch’an (little small plates of pickled vegetables and fish).   Even though this restaurant is more financial district Korean than your mom-and-pop run Korean restaurant, we do appreciate the touch of authenticity.  Namely, the offering of a few panch’an rather than no offering at all at places that I shall not name.

Before venturing into the entrée territory, we decided to order just small plates to share.

• Jap Chae  $6.50
• Steamed Man Du (2 orders) $.7.00 each
• Seafood Pa Jun $7.50

Came with the following free panch’an:

• Pickled carrot and radish slices
• Pickled salty-fishes
• Kimchi

Taste:

The Seafood Pa Jun (pancake) was the first dish to land on our table and the first to go because we were ravenous and it tasted really good.  If you have tried potato latkes, you will know that the pancake is savory and crunchy. This  tasted a bit like that except instead of potato, the pa jun is made with regular flour (or rice flour) and they added seafood.   We ate this while dipping into a sesame soy sauce.

We couldn’t get enough of the steamed Man-Du (dumplings), thus 2 orders.  This particular one has a pork-filling with chives.  Dipped into another type of soy sauce with sesame, they were both satisfying and delicious.  Wanted to mention that they also offered this dish fried, but we think the steamed tasted better and more authentic.

Perhaps my least favorite dish here, the Jap Chae (clear glass noodles) nevertheless was okay.  I thought it was a bit more saltier but G seems to like it.

The free panch’an that came with the meal is always appreciated.  While other Korean restaurants will offer 8-12 panch’an at sitting, this restaurant only offer 3. Again, I have to say that this may be due to the restaurant’s location in Embarcadero (more touristy and in Financial District).

They offer happy hour dining of 4-7 p.m. Monday – Friday, so we recommend that you try their appetizers as they are much cheaper and you can enjoy it with beer or soju.  Enjoy!