Korean Restaurants in Oakland

[ola]

Any recommendations on Korean dining near downtown, Temescal or Greyhound station areas?

[Jumbo_Jack]

You mean the Greyhound station on San Pablo?? There are bargains to be had there, but they mostly rhyme with 'track' and 'four'. . .

The two hotbeds of Korean food in Oakland are the Temescal and KoreaTown (officially 20th-34th on Telegraph). The outlier being Jong Ga on Grand... which is well regarded and specializes in non-BBQ food more.

Seoul Gomtang is winter food with lots of white oxtail/bone soups. I used to go there once and a while... I think it's a tad pricey for what you get, but really the only restaurant on the strip that does it.

My dark horse recommendation is Chef Yu Yu (aka Chef Yu or Yuyu Za Zang), 3919 Telegraph. It's a Za Zang noodle house (i know, it's technically Chinese Korean). Za Zang is the most popular lunch item in Korea...

I'm eating the 'Spicy Za Zang' these days. It's not up on the backlight picture menu (with the awesome paper cutouts covering photographic inaccuracies). It's not on the yellow laminated menu they hand you. There is a handwritten note on the right side wall.

It's the best thing on the menu: they basically add some sliced jalapeno peppers and additional spice to the mix. I took one bite and thought "why didn't anyone think of this sooner?"

bonus tip: you can park in their little side lot! It's difficult to get into, and if you don't put your car in the right spot, you might have to move it to let someone out. It mostly seems like older Korean folks park there. It's *easiest* to get in while driving North on Telegraph and making a Left turn into it. If you drive a lowered vehicle, park on the street... trust me.

[DezzerSF]

Downtown - I like Gigul Gigul
Temescal - Many options: Sura, Casserole House, Sahn Maru, Seoul Gomtang, Pyung Chang
Greyhound station - Sam Won maybe? Jong Ga House is a little further down Grand.

Most mentioned in this thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/490903

[moto]

we enjoyed our dinner at Jong Ga, but there's quite a few places along Telegraph Ave. between the upper 20s and MacArthur we haven't tried that are much closer to the bus station.

[DezzerSF]

A couple of those places are only open for dinner, since they're more of a soju bar with food: Dan Sung Sa & Kang Tong Degi. Then there's the old Lee's BBQ that's now Korean BBQ Tofu House on Telegraph near 38th.

[toofacetious]

For tofu soup, we love Pyung Chang! They have awesome panchan--very fresh and homemade. Sahn Maru is good but haven't been too impressed with any specific dish. They're very friendly though that we go back just because they're so nice.