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I've tried multiple Korean restaurants in SF and this one is the best. They give you all the little side dishes which always are fresh. The service is fast and friendly. My favorite is the complimentary tofu soup and the BBQ Pork. I took a star off because sometimes the do over cook the pork, the flavor is still right on. I would definitely recommend this place for authentic Korean.
Went for a good friend's birthday and we sat in one of the paneled off back rooms.
First off the staff was polite and helpful. We ordered tofu soup, kimchee pancakes, some other cake-like item, bul gogi, kal bi, pepper glass noodles, someone ordered bip bom bop and another soup and of course it came with all the sides and two stone pots of steamed egg.
$17 each, including paying for the bday girl.
The food was excellent and served in a timely fashion. The kimchee and kimchee pancakes were especially notable. I would recommend this place.
On a side note, a sweet rice drink is served as the end, I guess as palate cleanser? It did cleanse my palate. The inside is utilitarian, but clean.
Came for a friend's birthday with a 7:30pm reservation for a large party of 20 in the private room. We waited FOREVER for them to bring the small dishes and water. We had to flag someone down to get anything. No one was coming to take our order so I had to walk up to the waiters and ask them to come. We finally ordered with them at 8:30pm; the food came a little after 9. The food was decent but since the service was literally sooo painfully slow, by the time the food came, I was suffering from acid indigestion and I couldn't eat much. (I get this when I don't eat "on time.")
I may come back someday but NOT with a big group of friends and definitely NOT in those private rooms!
Hooray, I've found my favorite Korean restaurant in the city! Now if only it wasn't so far away!
Everything we ordered was fantastic - the bibimbap, rice noodles, tofu soup, BBQ pork, and pancake. I'm looking forward to returning and trying even more dishes.
I love Han Il Kwan!
Their meat is tasty and cooked perfectly. I also like how it comes on iron hot plates. Their banchan is also delicious and fresh.
I always order their kalbi lunch special. It comes with their delicious banchan, spicy tofu soup, pancake and sometimes steamed egg. A deal!
This is definitely my favorite korean restaurant in the city.
So the food is good, love the kimchi! Great service for an asian restaurant, but its always been slow when I've been here. Prices are a tad on the high side. But if you come during their lunch happy hour they have great deals! Love the bibimbap!!!!! Way out of my way though to get here which sucks. But as long as I keep getting a ride, I'll keep coming back!
meat! bonk bonk! This place is a block away from where I have a safehouse out in San Fran so walking distance this can't be beat.
this is not for the faint of appatite or single eaters, I thought I could tank this mess by myself.. wrong! the banchan selection and quality is excellent. You need to order two meat dishes to be able to cook for yourself at the center table. I orderd the spicy beef (rib eye meat) the flavor and quality was excellent. Prices are fair and I had more than enough leftovers for my little funsized self!
Just got back from dinner here.
The extent of my Korean authenticity starts and ends at the fact that I am one-quarter by blood. I do not know the language. I do not know much of Korean history.
What I do know is why there is a City Ordinance sign out front that says "No idling of tour buses."
Now please excuse me.
It's elastic-waist pants time.
The food is pretty good, a little too oily to my liking. I ordered the bibimbap, I'd say it's above average but too heavy and oily. The side dishes are very good, especially the spicy tofu stew! I would've given this place 4 star, except for the fact that the parking there is impossible!! And the barbecue smell was too strong so you'd come out smell heavily like korean food. The place is also busy so service wasn't sufficient. Overall good meal with somewhat lacking experience.
Pretty good dol sot bibimbab and side dishes. The barbecue smelled really good. But parking sucks and the place is always really busy so service is a little lacking.
This place is only a block or so away from where my husband and I live. We always see people inside and giant Korean tour buses with a bunch of Koreans going in. Must be good if the Koreans are eating there so my husband and I decided to try it one day.
This place was pretty good. I got the dol sot bi bim bap and my husband got the tofu soup. While we waited they gave us some onion pancake like thing to try - it was ok but kinda greasy for my taste. Then came the banchan - the stuff that I especially love about Korean food. Came with a lot of the stuff I love - pickled bean sprouts, cucumber, kimchi, radishes, fish cake, and a few others. Sadly, they didn't have the chap chae (my favorite) or the potatoes (my husband's favorite).
But they were nice to refill our banchan when we were low so I am happy.
My bi bim bap came out sizzling and smelling wonderful. I enjoyed my dish and it's so filling, I couldn't even finish it. I had a taste of my husband's tofu soup and it's a little different from the ones we usually get but it was still delicious. Although, I got the beef bi bim bap, there wasn't that much beef in it so next time, I would rather get the veggie bi bim bap and save some money. Not that prices here are expensive and unreasonable. It's actually pretty cheap for bi bim bap - I've had ones where they cost much more and were not as good.
Since we live near-by, we were able to walk. However, this place is mainly surrounded by residential housing so parking may suck and you'll probably need to park on Geary and walk over. Service was good, despite the busy night, we were still attended to by the two waiters.
If you can go on weekday at lunch, they have awesome lunch specials under $10. Han Il Kwan gives you so much food - all the little side dishes, tofu soup, seafood pancake, and shik hye for dessert. Hello! Who else does that?
For photos and a full review: http://www.yummysf.com...
Another regular spot for my family, our go-to Korean restaurant in the city. We love coming here for lunch to take advantage of their incredible deals! To be fair, I have eaten my share of Korean foods and have definitely developed my own personal taste, but it's not anywhere near what the authentic standard should be.
They recently changed their prices abit, but it's still great. We normally go for 2 of the meats: bulgogi ($8.95), kalbi (9.95), pork bulgogi and chicken ($7.50). And sometimes either bimbimbap or japchae as well. With each entree, it comes with rice, tofu soup or steamed egg, and some dessert sweet water. They also have a good variety of appetizers. The meat is on par with other good restaurants in my opinion.
The service and staff is always very nice and generous about giving the extra stuff. They do serve Korean tour groups during lunch time often, so service can be a bit slow during those times, but it's never bothered us before!
We all know Geary Blvd. is where you go for Korean BBQ. The street is lined with restaurants- Brother's, Tofu House, etc. I've tried at least 4 other places and none of them fill my tummy with happiness and delicious food better than Han Il Kwan!
The restaurant itself isn't anything to look at but really... who cares about that? You won't notice where you are when you start eating! They serve the usual little dishes- all of them mouth-watering delicious! The usual orders include: kal bi (beef), jap chae (vermicelli), kimchee chi gae (kimchee tofu soup) and bibimbap (rice with veggies and meat and the best sauce you've ever tasted). They will usually throw in a free dish too- a fish or pancakes.
Of course, after stuffing your face with all that deliciousness, you get a small bowl of sweet rice soup... not sure what it's called but I know I like it!
I really like this place but it's just so far! Prices are decent and so worth it! If you are driving, allow ample time to circle 'round! Parking is horrendous!
After going to probably 50 or so similar places to this one in various other states and countries, I'd rank it in the bottom half. The kalbi and bulgogi(pork) was lower quality than what I've seen at most other places for the same price. The sides for lack of a better description didn't seem very fresh or flavorful. I was there around 6pm on a week night and the place was almost empty. It might be coincidence, but most of the other Korean bbq joints have much more attentive waiters that will cut up the meat so you don't have to hassle with it. Not the case here.
There are a half a dozen similar places on Geary that you should check out before wandering over to Balboa.
gramma kim who is the perfect gramma: soft, fat and an amazing cook went on a korean tour bus trip and their last stop was dinner at Han Il Kwan. like a good granddaughter, i met up to have din din with gramma, only to find myself being shunned to a separate table because i was not a part of the tour bus group :( so ginger and i ordered at our separate little table and watched gramma from afar. han il kwan still isn't comparable to any restaurant in la's ktown, but i may have found my surrogate in the city.
PAAAAAWTY TIME IN KOREAAA~
Ok, just kidding - but a Korean restaurant!
I had my 17th birthday party here, with a group of 30 or so friends. I was craving for some spicy food, so I ordered the soft bean curd with meat and vegetables in hot sauce soup. A lot of my friends ordered the infamous Korean dish, "Bibimbap". You know, that yummy bowl of rice, meat, and vegetables with a fried egg on top... mmm! http://www.yelp.com/bi... I think I should've gotten that too because it looked so fucking delicious.
The side dishes that they gave us were alright. I liked this one particular ba-chan but I forgot the name of it. The service was alright but a few of my friends complained about inconsistency and lack of attention from the waiters. All in all, I liked this place. I think I'm gonna try their jap chae noodles next time! And order myself a bibimbap :)
I seriously don't think there is anything special about this place. First of all the parking is HORRENDOUS. The dishes are just so-so. The ba-chans (little plates) that everyone is raving about are no better than any typical Korean restaurants. Seriously.
We made reservations for 7pm fo 11 people and didn't get seated until maybe 7:30 because some tour group was late coming from Vancouver so we had to wait until they finish. The owner did comp us free 1st round of drinks, including beer. When we finally got seated, you would think that because of the wait, they would tend on our table immediately. But nope - as most people say, if you get seated inside those "private" rooms, be prepared to wait. We waited and tried to wave someone down. We even walked outside of the room to get the waiter's attention. He acknowledged us and said he'll be coming, but nope. Another 10 mins passed. We were all starving. It's about 8pm already - 1hr after our initial 7pm reservation. We finally ate around 8:15. It's ridiculous.
The food, once again, was mediocre. We ordered the Dinner B special for $145, and I don't think it's worth it at all. We ordered a chop-jae and a seafood pancake on the side. Do not order the seafood pancake. It sucks.
I would not come back to this place again. I would rather go to Shin Toe Bu Yi on Taraval.
Review #129
I like the decoration over there, and it is so Korean, and comfortable.
They offer two kinds of tables: one with bbq pot or the other without.
Their menus have a good variety of traditional korean food to choose from. My table got 3 orders of bbq set (#1, ribs, #6 pork belly and # 8 seafood) plus oyster pancakes.
ALL YUMMY!! Their portion of food is larger, comparing to the famous bbq korean restaurant even though the prices are slightly higher.
The staff was friendly, and willing to take questions.
Remember to reserve a bbq table and save time to eat rather than wait! Definitely take a look at the menu before u go.
the sides dish and sauces are delicious, and I will go back to eat.
OK. Need to up this place one more star. Like other Asian restaurants, if you speak the native language, service improves exponentially. The ahjummah is very nice and the side dishes are great.
Doenjang jjigae, spicy bulgogi, and the complimentary steamed egg have to be among this place's best.
Now, this place feels like home :D.
I must have been eating the wrong thing, but this place wasn't as good as others say.
Pros: this…
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Jang Soo used to be our go-to restaurant for Korean food. But sometimes you want to switch things up and sometimes the often empty Jang Soo has fifty rowdy 20 year olds having some sort of party inside on a random Tuesday night. So you drive to Han II Kwan, a Korean restaurant located in another part of Richmond district that is equally difficult to find parking.
Now, Han II Kwan caters to Korean tourists on most nights. And I don't mean a family on vacation in SF suddenly felt nostalgic and came in looking for authentic homemade food. I mean, there is a parking space outside designated for tour buses. Whenever we see one of those parked outside, we know our chance of getting a table is slim ( even if we do get a table the waitstaff will be too swamped to offer fast service). However now it seems like they put all the bus tourists in the inner room and people like us can still get a table in the outside room. Fantastic!
Food is wonderful at Han II Kwan. Their chicken bulgogi is so flavorful and tender and not dry at all. Their little dishes are abundant and delicious. And like most Korean restaurants, they also throw in the freebies like pancakes and tofu stew. One of our favorite dishes to order is the spicy rice cakes. The texture of the ricecakes is really chewy but not tough.
Service is fast and efficient. Space is fairly large and open and comfortable. And price is reasonable.
The best Korean restaurant in the city along with one of the most affordable! And lets just say that I've had a LOT of Korean food in my lifetime. Possibly too much. But I loooove me some Korean food, no lie!
Every time I've gone to Han Il Kwan I've had a wonderful time. It's a very comfortable atmosphere, where you can choose either a BBQ table or regular table. I prefer the BBQ tables by the window even if we are not BBQing, because it's exceptionally cozy and nice when you're accompanied by friends or family.
The food is really delicious, seasoned well and very fresh. The only mishap I've had is the spicy squid dish (can't remember the exact name) where it was a little gummy for my taste. Squid is not necessarily the easiest texture to deal with though. Everything else I've had is always on point and tasty. My boyfriend and I frequent this restaurant as much as possible as it's one of our favorite spots, and we always get the same friendly service with great food. Our favorites to order are the chap chae, bulgogi and kimchi jigae. All the panchan are always fresh and compliment our meals to the tee. Plus the free sides never dissapoint and we love to receive the little surprise to our meal.
Love this place! You can't really go wrong, seeing that even Korean tourists come to this place on the regular. ;)
Service was ehhh... we had a big group, 14, got squeeze into the back room, being a big group, people tend to be loud. The food was good, I thought the service was not so good. We literally walked out three times to ask for the check before the person brought i in, and we asked for boxes in which, it was not provided, in the end, we didn't have enough boxes, and walked out to get some more...
Oh, yes, and parking... was a beeeeeach...
I had discussed with the bf that there should be a restaurant named "the good thing you're smelling ,it's here" For we eat with not only our mouths but our eyes and nose too. Sooo like Toucan Sam I followed the delicious aroma of kal bi all the way to Han il kwan's doors and found my soon to be mommy friend waiting for me. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get charcoal for our grill. We learned later if you do want that you would have to order in advance. That however did not deter us from enjoying every single bite. A whole lotta food for a pretty reasonable price.
Sister recommend to come here for dinner last minute while we were driving to Go Go Cafe& Restaurant.
Good recommendation!!
Great side dishes.
We Ordered the set dinner A. Wow!! it was A LOT of food for 4 people. But it was so good... I love our beef, and chicken bbq that we did on our own at the bbq tabletop. It's Flavorful.
Tofu Soup is somewhat spicy but yummy on a cold night.
The egg batter tempura for the oysters and shrimps and cucumber was excellent.
My sister said the chap jae was delics. I didn't eat it b/c my stomach has no room for that....
The steam egg was smooth and tasteful. Reminds me of my mom's steamed egg at home.
The spicy octopus was alright but seriously, i was so full by then.
Last but not least, the mackerel was grilled just right. And the rice dessert drink was cooling and sweet after a huge meal.
Shit, i went to the gym earlier that day, and it just canceled out from this dinner! Oh well, we all left feeling full but satisfied. It hit the spot alright!
Now back to going to the gym. (yeah... right... ) =P
Checked this place out with some buddies on a Saturday night. After reading up reviews on Yelp, I have to agree with everything. Service is bad. We waited probably 15 minutes for a table when there were plenty of empty tables. When a table did "open up," we were put in a corner where the waiter couldn't see you. Nevertheless, we persevered and ordered a ton of food
(Pardon any spelling errors as I don't speak Korean.)
Had the spicy pork chabchaei (noodles), and rice clay pot with beef. All the dishes were excellent but what was really really good were the side dishes! Very fresh vegetables and top notch sauces and flavoring.
If you can handle the service, I highly recommend this place. Food is wonderful.
The best Korean restaurant in SF. Their Gal-bi is delicious and the ban-chan (side items) are some of the best I have ever tasted. I would seriously go there just to eat the ban-chan. It's that good. The cucumbers are simple yet so fresh and flavourful. The radish cubes are tasty without being too spicy. The service is great and I have never left wanting for anything.
Become a regular and the service becomes even better. I could eat here at least 3 times a week during a recession and 5 times a week during good times. Plenty of seating and never had to wait for a table.
My only complaint is that parking can sometimes be a bitch. Because they do not have their own parking lot and the only parking is on the street. May be smarter to take a cab or mass transit.
First Impressions. We read about them all the time and how they're a good indicator of what you can expect. I knew this place was going to be good right off the bat based on the panchan (typical side dishes you get at Korean restaurants) they hooked us up with shortly after we sat down. The vegetables retained that crisp and snappy quality that you find in only the freshest ingredients. Also, I've they served us some panchan that I haven't gotten at any other Korean joints I've been to such as a boiled egg soufflé and octopus salad.
So when the main courses arrived, I was not surprised at all to find that the meat and soup we ordered was delicious (I highly recommend the spicy bulgo ki and kim chee chi ge).
Post-meal, they even serve this sweet rice drink where the grains of rice kind of dissolve and have this fabricky texture. Kind of weird but very pleasant at the same time.
A big plus for me is the after dinner mints they have there. They look like peppermint candy but they are the softer, buttery mints. What normally would've been a 4 star review was bumped to a 5 star one, solely on this.
Overall, it's my favorite Korean place that I've come across so far.
Super yummy restaurant. Everything was really good. We ordered a family style meal with about 10 dishes. I went with about 6 of my girlfriends and we couldn't finish all the food! It was too much! My favorite dishes were kimchi pancakes, kalbi, jap chae (korean noodles), and all the sides! mMmmm... However, it was a tad on the pricier side...that was the only downside of it.
This was my first Korean meal and it was amazing! My friend and I had a table where we cooked the meat ourselves. It was really really really good. The side dishes were amazing as well.
My only complaint is the super-bright lighting, but perhaps the light is there to show how clean the place is.
We frequent this place at least once a month. Option to cook at the table or by the pros. Meats are savory and flavorful. Environment is not too smokey, if any. Favorite dish = raw beef with raw eggs and apples!! YUMMY! So much better than My Tofu House... which is on my "Banned" list.
Came here for a birthday dinner with 11 of us. It came out to being
$13 each person for 7 dishes and TONS of banchan (we got 3 sets of each item). That's super cheap for Korean food! We were in a private room in the back but we waited forever before we were acknowledged.
We ordered kalbi, spicy pork, jap chae, 2 tofu soups, bi bim bap, and the seafood pancake. The food was pretty good...my faves were the spicy pork and seafood pancake. I've had better tofu soups (wasn't even spicy) and bi bim baps. I liked how they cut the pancake into separate pieces too.
Service was a little slow but the food came out fast and was affordable!
Usually come here with a large group for dinner because of the private rooms they have. Food has always been good and a good selection.
Came here for lunch the first time. Ordered the lunch specials and wasn't bad. Nothing really special during lunch. The rating is really for dinner. I think with the large selection of food, it is great to come with a large group and order a lot of different dishes.
They do the tour bus crowd every now and then, there is reserved bus parking in front of the place. Parking during the day is easy. Get's harder at night but if you don't mind walking a little - not a problem.
Pho Kim Son!
Pho Kim Long!!
Pho kim Gu!!!
These were some of the places i saw headed over here...
I sorta knew that we had something good in store for us... The menu is a little misleading.... it didn't seem as cheap as it would be...but it actually is!
The food's great! They put so much food on our table it's like they didn't want us to leave alive.....
my conclusion is... GO!!
3.5
After visiting last week, Han II Kwan is now on my rotation of possible Korean BBQ destinations when in the City.
First off, as you walk towards the restaurant, you are enveloped by the delicious aroma of K-bbq. Why? Because they have amazing ventilation inside that pipes the smoke outside. Most of the time, when you eat Korean BBQ, you reek until you scrub yourself raw in the shower but after we left Han II Kwan, it wasn't so bad. We even decided to go to a movie and didn't offend the rest of the theater. LoL
That being said... they get props because they let me special order my favorite dish (which wasn't on the menu) - squid with rice cakes in spicy sauce - and it was actually really tasty. The rice cakes were very soft - like clouds and the sauce and squidy were also good. We ordered Galbi and though it wasn't 'quite' as good as our Oakland favorite, it was still delicious, more reasonably priced and had a decent quantity of meat. I can't remember much about the panchan but I remember thinking it was pretty good while eating it. They also give the free tofu soup... nomnom.
Negative things... parking was a biatch. Also, we had to ask for water 3 times. All the servers seemed to be too busy with the larger groups... ah well.
We'll probably check it out again... hope to bump the star up from 3.5 to 4.
See ya there!
Where the tour buses full of Korean tourists congregate. The restaurant pays for 2 tandem parking spots in front of the restaurants dedicated for the buses. No parking EVERYDAY from 5-8 PM! And during lunch hours.
We arrived near 6:30 PM. Shortly after, a tour bus pulls up into the designated parking space and a group of Korean tourists hopped off to their reserved tables for an US-Korean cooked meal. BFF's hubby & Hubby do not like to cook their own food, citing "You go to a restaurant to have food cooked for you, not to cook your own food".
It's been a great many years since our college days when we tried this place. The place is still as spacious as I remembered and fairly clean. The bathroom has a front anteroom with sink and an inner door with the toilet in fairly tight quarters. Parking is challenging in the neighborhood.
They offer 2 dinner menu plans. One feeds up to 5 for $116 and the other feeds up to 7 for $146. Most entrees come with rice, soup and mutlple small side dishes. There's plenty of food and it's a good place to come in a group of 4 or more. Choice of entrees include Korean BBQ dishes, hot pot/soup, pan fried/sauteed, pan fried/lpancake, soup, Bi-Bim Bab, broiled fish and deep fried seafood. Prices are variable. Soups can run $9 to $20 for "Sciaenoid" fish soup. BBQ dishes are $10-$21 - chicken, beef, pork, eel, shrimp. HOt Pot/soups are $16-22, etc. Hot tea comes with the meal but they have Korean wine, sake, beer, soda. We had 2 orders of beef short ribs (very good), $21, BBQ chicken (very good), $17, soft tofu soup (spicy, good) and stir-fried vermicelli with vegts/beef (OK), $13. You can make a meal with just the side dishes alone (about 10 of them) and rice. BFF ordered a side of toasted seaweed to eat with the rice (refillable in metal bowls at NO extra charge).
We waved to the tourists from our window seats as their tour bus pulled away, knowing both their bellies and ours were warm, happy, content and overfed.
Tasty flavors all around.
I'd like to weigh in as a Korean food first-timer. I absolutely love trying new cuisine. I absolutely hate when you go to a restaurant and every dish is seasoned from the same pot. Lucky for me, Kristin P. took me to Hall Il Kwan.
Each of the little plates was bursting with unique flavors, and I'm still salivating over that hot pot. We also had the pork ribs and a delicious egg dish.
The service wasn't overly friendly, but was efficient enough and the price was right on! We weren't drinking, but we got out of there for under $20/each. I'd say it's a great place to go with friends - but not a great date atmosphere (the lights are super bright and it's not cozy furniture or decor).
Had an impromptu lunch her with a girlfriend and we were both so pleasantly surprised! The server was helping about 5 to 6 tables with grace. What a find for lunch....specials pretty much, under $10. Lots of sides, tofu soup and a pancake to try. We will definitely be back!
Loved the beef ribs, but the spicy pork wasn't as good as the beef. I will definitely be back to find some more fav's.
My friend's fave Korean place in SF. We headed there last week for dinner and the bill for 4 came to a little over $100. There's a huge room in the back for the buses of Korean tourists who stop by nightly. Food was soo good! Loved the tofu soup, seafood pancakes and bul gul gi. Service was nice. Only drawback - it was a cold winter's night and the hood range pumping AC on us from our neighbors turned our hot tea to iced tea! Yikes! Coming back again in a parka!
I was half impressed, while wary about the sanitation...
On the plus side, Han Il Kwan has much better side dishes than most Korean restaurants that I've been to.
On the lesser side, Han Il Kwan's 'entree' dishes were tasteless and dull. I've ended up eating more of the side dishes than the actual entree order.
On the worst side, Han Il Kwan has a huge sanitation problem (at least when I went there last Saturday) - I've counted about a dozen flies around the area where I sat, and yes, they've made their way to the dishes.
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Barbeque
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Parkside
Category: Korean
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