Brother's's Gonna Get Knocked Out!!!
Written: Nov 22 '00 (Updated Nov 25 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: The BEST Korean Food, as a whole, I've ever had. The initial serving of food is fast.
Cons: Like most Korean restaurants, it's difficult to get service after you've been initially served.
|
|
|
| ATOM's Full Review: San Francisco |
In San Francisco, Korean Food used to be synonymous with Brother's. Open until 3am like a Korean restaurant should be, Brother's is still packed to the hilt, patrons willing to wait for an hour for their respective table within the chaos. Of course, I speak of Brother's #1 in between 6th/5th on Geary, not Brother's #2, on the corner of 4th and Geary. Many are reluctant to head the mere one block down to what is practically the same restaurant because we all know Brother's #1 is the place to be seen at.
But notice, I said 'Korean Food USED TO BE synonymous with Brother's.' Twenty or more blocks down that 38 MUNI-traveled restaurant haven we call The Richmond District is a contender that is quickly winning converts such as myself. Across from the Cala Foods on Geary, in between 28th/27th, hidden somewhat by poorly pruned trees but dressed up in a Grand Opening sign that's been up for about 8 months, is the soon to be reservation-required Jang Soo Kalbi.
Two months ago, a good-Korean-restaurant discussion had spontaneously arose with three separate groups of new acquaintances, all 1.5 generation Korean-Americans. Each mentioned they had discovered a new Korean restaurant. Before they could say what restaurant it was, I would answer for them. "Jang Soo Kalbi?", I'd say. "Yeah, you've been there? The food there is hella good," they'd respond. The buzz is bubbling over like the steaming pots of kimchee chighe you might find serviced on your table compliments of the house.
But why the buzz?
Honestly, this is some of the best Korean food my friends and I have ever had. And my friends and I have had a LOT of Korean food. Korean restaurants can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Several other Epinionators have written well on introducing neophytes to Korean cuisine (such as kboo, seoulman, and smiles33), so I'll refer you to their Korean Cuisine For Beginners for instruction. Let's just get straight down to the food.
We barbecued the food ourselves because that's part of why we go to Korean restaurants. We were quickly led to our table and quickly served. The little pre-dishes came out, always providing little variations on the theme with each visit. Sometimes we're given a soup of a beefier broth and sometimes mul kimchee. The latter, my fave, is a powerfully surprising taste to American palates. A cold soup, spicy in its attention, some might find it reminding them of gazpacho in its dissonating effect of a cold, yet flavorful, soup. Also amongst the appetizers is the obligatory kimchee. Top-notch in its flavor, the unique pungence of this batch of kimchee melts in your mouth perfectly so as to satiate each individual taste bud.
Then the bul go gi and kal bi is brought out. The waitress feeds the internal grill that will perfume you with eau-de-meat for the rest of the evening and you can not wait to devour the succulent morsels, either wrapped up in lettuce, rice, and bean paste or not. To rescind on my earlier statement, the best bul go gi I've had is at a strip-malled little Korean joint in Cary, North Carolina, but Jang Soo's comes in at #2 with a bullet.
The accompanying dishes we order are jab chae and one of the bokums. The former is a potato-based noodle dish with mushrooms, bul go gi, and onions that has never tasted better. My one friend has commented that she's never tasted it fresher, that other jab chaes at most other Korean restaurants taste as if they've been chillin' for a while. Surprisingly, the jab chae came out quite fast to be so fresh, yet it still tastes as if it were made specifically for you. The latter, bokum, we order is usually nakji (octopus) or o-jing-au (squid). Nakji bokum was the dish that introduced me to the joys of Korean cuisine, and the nakji bokum at Jang Soo, I'll say it again, is the best I've ever had. The slightly spicy sauce is more subdued than the soups and the chewiness of the octopi is perfectly prepared. The mushrooms within the dish funge the sauce nicely as well. I've ordered the dulsot bi bim bab as well, a mixture of rice, veggies, bul go gi, egg, and, if you add it, spicy bean paste that has received accolades from all who've savored it. The pot in which it comes heats up the rice along the edges to a satisfying crispy texture that only the dulsot version of bi bim bab can provide.
Although my gang is usually serviced with a complimentary pot of chighe (stew-like more than soup-like), if I were to order one, I would order the soon duboo chi ghe, or soft tofu stew. Now this is spicy! If you're stuffy and congested from a cold, forget the Walgreen's. Come to Jang Soo for your stuffy head fever so you can rest medicine. Their chi ghe will definitely clear you up, full of flavor that illuminates why it is we have taste buds.
Korean restaurants are NOT a place you go for desert, so there aren't any. You'll be stuffed enough anyway. Korean restaurants are about serious grub and serious bonding with your friends. Cooking the food yourself, poking chopsticks around at the cornucopia of offerings, talking smack above the roar of the smoke vent above you, it's all a part of what makes a Korean restaurant a terrific outing. And when the food is as phenomenal as that you'll find at Jang Soo Kalbi, it just doesn't get any better than this.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ATOM
|
|
Member: Adam H.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 105 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.