Korean Restaurants in San Diego
What's your favorite Korean restaurant in San Diego? I use to like Korea House on Convoy, but I feel that it's gone downhill since the new owners took over. The interior is nicer now, but the food is more expensive and not as good, I think.
Is there any place that uses real wood charcoal (as opposed to the usual gas grill) like you find in New York or Los Angeles restaurants? Bulgogi, for example, cooked over charcoal is much more flavorful and cooks up crispy brown.
So far I've tried Arirang, Convoy Tofu House, Korea House (both Convoy and National City), Seoul BBQ, Seoul House, and Yen's Wok. Does anyone know of any others?
By Angie V.
on Dec 13, 2001 04:19 AM
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I agree with your assessment of Korea House - now since the mgmt has taken over the quality of the food has gone downhill...they even charged us for a second round of Kim Chee!
When we want to eat Korean we usually go to Seoul BBQ - if we want more of the BBQ your own or more of the classical and "fancier"(i.e. seafood omelette, etc). If we just want Dak Bulgogi, and not do our own cooking (i.e. lunch time when you don't want to go back to the office smelling like you've been grilling during lunch), etc, we go to Do Re Mi House on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, just the basics - the prices are a couple of buck cheaper - they were recommended by A Korean Gal at a local Mailboxes etc....so pretty good for the price.
There's another place in Plaza Del Sol on Convoy called Han Dak(please pardon if inaccurate...my memory sometimes fails me), we'll proably be trying since it looks like they have Goat Stew.
Since we're on the subject, do you know of any 24 Hr Korean BBQ places - they have them all over LA and in Honolulu....we've been trying to find one?
Good Luck....
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I've seen a restaurant called Seoul House in University Heights on Adams. Has anyone tried it?
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I tried the Korean restaurant on Adams a few years ago and it was not for serious Korean food fanatics. Very limited menu choices and not many ban chan (side dishes).
On Convoy, I've always preferred Seoul Barbecue to Korea House. They've always had better and a wider range of ban chan. I've also enjoyed almost all of their lunch specials (well except for the Japanese teriyaki items). The last time I was there for dinner I had Eundaegu Jorim, a black cod and vegetables dish in a wonderful spicey sauce. Velvety fish, wonderful contrastive textures, and great smokey, spicey chili sauce. Yum! Probably the best meal I've had in the last year. Korea House, on the other hand, has sold me freezer burned fish, regular tofu as soft tofu in a dish that was supposed to come with vegetables that also (unstated on the menu) included shrimp and pork. Though I still do like their Bi bim bap.
But I don't live in San Diego any more, so now I get there only 7-8 times a year, and it's nice to hear about Do Re Mi, which I have never tried before.
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Sorry, don't know of any 24-hour Korean restaurants in San Diego. There's a great one, Kang Suh, in New York. (I once landed at Newark airport at 11 p.m. and took a cab straight to the restaurant.) I'm lucky to have a spouse who loves Korean food, too. He doesn't complain about my kimchi and raw garlic breath afterward.
San Diego, as you have probably noticed, doesn't have too many late-night restaurants of any type.
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I am relatively new to San Diego (1.5 years) and am a huge fan of Korean food, so one of my 1st tasks was to find the best Korean food in San Diego. After going to Korea House and one other restaurant, as well as reading online, I had pretty much given up. Recently a couple of friends from work took me for a Korean night out and we got some fabulous Korean food for great prices at Thang Thang (7905 Engineer Rd, between Brinell St & Mercury St; $35 for 3 people & plenty of food). Great kimchi fried rice, dduk boki (rice cake w/ vegetables, very spicy for those sensitive to heat), and a pork dish which I hadn't had before (I think bossam in Korean?). This restaurant, and another one across the way, Min Sok Chon, are more bar than restaurant, but also serve great food. Decorated as a tradition Korean schoolhouse, this place is packed at night but reasonable for dinnertime. They are known for Soju drink specials (similar to vodka, but sweeter) Also, it is open from 5pm-2am, so is available for late night munching and might help out for those looking for a 24 hr spot. When I got home, I checked for reviews on Yelp, which were mixed, but my experience was 100x better than Korea House and much closer to great Korean food I used to eat in NYC. I would be interested to hear what others think. For newcomers to Korean food, my favorites in any restaurant are: bulgogi (barbecue beef), dolsot bibimbap (rice, vegetables and meat w/ red bean paste, served in a hot stone pot), mandu gook (dumpling and rice cake soup), dduk boki (rice cake & vegetables w/ red bean paste, very spicy) and pajun (seafood pancake). Enjoy!
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The OP is over 7 years old. However, if you do a search for "Korean" and "San Diego," you'll find that Buga Korean BBQ has the best BBQ in SD. Their bi bim bap is also very good. If you want more comprehensive Asian in SD all in one place, go to KirkK's blog, mmm-yoso.typepad.com
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