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Shin Toe Bul Yi

4 star rating
based on 138 reviews

Category: Korean  [Edit]

Neighborhood: Parkside
2001 Taraval Street
(between 30th Ave & 31st Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 566-9221
  • Hours:
    Mon-Thu 12:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
    Mon-Thu 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
    Fri-Sat 12:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
    Fri-Sat 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
  • Price Range: $$
  • Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
  • Parking: Street
  • Attire: Casual
  • Good for Groups: Yes
  • Good for Kids: Yes
  • Takes Reservations: No
  • Delivers: No
  • Take-out: Yes
  • Waiter Service: Yes
  • Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
  • Outdoor Seating: No
  • Good for: Dinner
  • Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
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138 Reviews for Shin Toe Bul Yi

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Photo of Joyce L.

 

1

7

Joyce L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
06/24/2008

We tried this place a few weeks ago.  We got the spicy BBQ pork and the chicken teriyaki, which was $30 combined.  It seemed a bit pricey but when you get all the food, it was pretty worth it.  Both of those dishes tasted pretty good, although my fiance said the BBQ pork had an after taste.  Also, the amount of food they gave us got us dinner and next day's lunch!  

We took the food to go because we read about the stinkiness of the place.  =)  We waited outside instead.

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4

11

Monica C.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
06/26/2008

I love this place... I've been coming here for so long now.  I've never been disappointed with any of their dishes... uh... but that's because I tend to stick with my favorites... the soft tofu soup and their fried chicken, yum! The place gets really crowded right around dinner time so I tend to go earlier or much later to avoid the wait (it gets pretty cold in that area!). One thing to know... sometimes when they're extremely busy at dinner time they don't take orders to go.  Boooo.

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Elite '08

77

175

kris h.

San Jose, CA

3 star rating
06/21/2008

This was a pretty decent  find sans Yelp.  What do you do on a scorching hot day in SF?  You go and have spicy Korean food, of course.  

Honestly, the food at STBY was not all that spicy.   The side dishes were rather limited and tiny in portion.  The kimchi was mediocre and not all that spicy.

We ordered:

Seafood pancake- very yummy, great texture and just enough dough.  Plenty of squid.  It comes with a great dipping sauce.  IMHO, this was the best item that we ordered.

Spicy beef- i wasn't too fond of the neon red coloring, which made it look inedible.  It was a bit too sweet and not spicy enough.  

Grilled mackerel- the 2 large pieces were delicious but a bit on the salty side.  We got 2 small pieces of lemon.

Spicy tofu soup- complimentary item. High MSG content and low on spicyness and flavoring.

The joint is small and gets packed quite fast during peak hours.  Service is a bit slow.  Ambiance is not something you would find here.  The place definitely needs some remodeling and perhaps AC.  

But then again, the food wasn't all that spicy.  STBY gets 3 lackluster stars.

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0

8

Matt B.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
07/04/2008

Great Korean food. Down home, local, unpretentious, family run.  Go for the food, not the ambiance, and be prepared to wait.  The place is small and very popular.

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22

30

roger l.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
06/20/2008

Korean food is one of my favorite cuisine to eat. They have great lunch specials at a very reasonable price. All the food was really tasty and plenty of food. BBQ beef was good, scallion pancake which was complimentary was good... the whole restaurant smelled good.

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1

35

Aruni J.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
06/21/2008

This is one of my favorite Korean restaurants.  The place doesn't look like much outside, so you'll most likely end up passing right by it if there isn't a crowd of people standing by the door.  It's really small and crampy inside, but the food is delicious.  

This place was back and forth with the food quality for a while.  What I mean by that is years ago it was really good, then up until a few months ago the flavors were lacking.  Now it's really good again.  They stopped giving complimentary Korean pancakes though, which sucks because it's pretty pricey for what it is (dough and green onions).  They still give the spicy soft tofu soup on the house though.  You come out smelling like Korean BBQ but it's worth it.

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14

85

Marti L.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
06/04/2008

The place is tiny. A bit pricey. But the food is HELLLLLA goood. You come out smelling like the food which reminds me of how wonderful it was. *sniiiiifffff* yuuuuuum.

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18

198

Jane a.

Daly City, CA

5 star rating
06/03/2008

THE BEST KOREAN RESTAURANT I've ever been to in my damn life. There are always good hidden restaurants in the Sunset district of SF and this is definately one of them. I've always searched for the right place to find some good bulgoi and I tried many Korean reastaurants in Japan town. whomp whomp whomp. One of my close homegirls (thanks Jos) introduced me to this place the next morning after a night of drunken bliss. Delicious dishes.

Again, I was sold. Definately a place I go to eat pretty often.

But one thing I don't like... the servers and their starring problems.

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2

24

Felix T.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
06/05/2008

This place is so good! I've lived in this neighborhood most of my life and I have never tried the food until last year when I Korean co-worker brought me here, I can't believe I've been missing out for so long! Definitely one of the best Korean restaurants I've ever tried.

I'm not sure if they've raised their prices, but it seems a bit more expensive since the last few times I was there. Anyway the food is still really good and you get lots of extras so it's well worth the price.

I love getting the fish soup there when I'm feeling sick. The soup is so spicy with lots of veggies and it warms up your insides in a jiffy. The onion pancake super yummy too, I always finish it when my friends don't want anymore.

So far I've really liked everything I've tried which includes 3 of their soups, the chap jae, bul go gi, and a bunch of other dishes that I can't remember at the moment. It's a bit expensive, but it's my place of choice when I'm craving Korean.

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27

44

K L.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
05/29/2008

I love this place.

I love how, like most Korean restaurants, they provide a ton of free stuff to go with your dish.  

You order one thing, and they give you fried onion pancakes and kimchee tofu soup.  You order one of those things and they give you a fish.  

The Fried Chicken kinda tastes like it's got that Chinese Restaurant Crab batter around it.  MM.... soo good and juicy.

Man... I think I might go there this weekend.  I do live about half a block away and the place makes the entire parkside smell good.  Oh yeh, don't go half an hour before closing time, they will refuse you.

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2

49

Katie O.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
06/08/2008

This is my favorite Korean Restaurant.  I can't say it's the best since I haven't tried every korean restaurant in the city, but it's good enough for me.  

I've noticed this restaurant everytime I drove past it, but it always seemed empty, mainly because I'd always noticed it during the day time, but there's actually a line outside if you drive by at night.  The location is at a quiet residential neighborhood.  

I love their short ribs (I hate bbq-ing food at my table, mainly because it makes my clothes stink afterwards), rice cakes, stews...almost everything I've tried there is good.  Service is quick and pleasant.  They give you a lot of side dishes and I love the onion pancake they give you.  Also, they'd usually give you an item for free, it's usually grilled mackerel or tofu stew.  Who doesn't like FREE (and delicious) food?!

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0

17

a c.

San Mateo, CA

5 star rating
05/01/2008

Reading the other reviews of "Shiny Ball Toe" (cant remember the real name for the life of me, sorry) you will get the impression that the fried chicken is really good ... they're wrong. ITS FRIGGIN AWESOME!!! Where else are you going to get steaming hot freshly fried chicken with a crispy outer layer with beautiful flecks of what i can only assume are kimchee spices or some other magical Korean magic dust...ooohhhh! Caveat: eat the chicken before its get cold because it does a cinderella thing and turns into a normal bird after. Good Kalbi and Kimchee Chige, and thanks for the free fish girls!

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52

298

Mark W.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
05/06/2008

Came here a long while back in their infancy and didn't come back for the longest time but always wanted to return so I recently.....

Came here for their Lunch Specials and really enjoyed my meal.  I think they are one of the most fair priced Korean places in the city.  We had their Bulgogi Beef and Bulgogi Pork.  Liked their Pork much better.  The beef didn't have too much flavor but there are so many other things to try, we will be sure to order some other things next time.  Have to try their Fried Chicken and probably the Korean Pancake.  

Lunch wise, in addition to the small plates, they even gave some soup, which was cool.

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27

Priya K.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
06/15/2008

Very good korean food. Only problem is they close at 9.30 (most korean places are open till late).
We ordered jap chae, green onion pancake, fried chicken bits, dol sot bam and a spicy korean sausage soup. They added a piece of fried fish on the hosue. Everything was quite good. The soup had liver and something that resembled blood sausage in it, and was in a spicy broth. I personally didnt care for it, but my husband and friends loved it. All portion sizes were quite big, and everythig was good. Good service as well.

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25

40

J N.

San Francisco, CA

3 star rating
04/01/2008

I love Korean food. I like to come out of a night of Korean food with burning lips and tears in my eyes, staggering around from all the Hite or OB I drank to alleviate the pain.

I don't love waiting 45 minutes for a table because the restaurant is tiny and they don't seat people at the table by the open door because it gets too cold and drafty. Why is the door open? To ventilate the kitchen. Where is the kitchen? Not by the door.

The food is average, in my opinion. It's hard to go wrong with spicy, meaty things. The pork that my friend ordered had definitely been marinated in kiwi a little too long--the words "like grainy pudding" came out of his mouth more than once. The two things that were super good: the Chilean Seabass soup in the hotpot and the little whole fish you get as ban chan if you order soup as an entree. The other ban chan...meh.

By the way, did you know that Chilean Seabass is just a fancy schmancy name for Patagonian Toothfish?

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Elite '08

76

70

Christine L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
03/23/2008

I really like this Korean place. There is a really comfortable, homey feel to the place.

You sit down and they give you my favorite side dish, the green onion pancake. They always have different side dishes whenever we come. Their kalbi is good. Their bulgogi (spicy pork) has too much of this thick sauce on it on my opinion. Their fried chicken is goood. They even give you complimentary grilled mackerel which is also goood.

So it's story time. The first time I came, 8 out of the 10 tables in the place had fried chicken on the table. The only two tables without fried chicken was the only non Asian table and my table. So I decided the next time I would get the fried chicken. So the next time I come in, we ordered the fried chicken AND THEY DIDNT HAVE ANY LEFT. How depressed was I. When I saw the couple that came in before us get a plate of fried chicken, my sadness showed on my face. The waitress asked me what was wrong and I told her that I really wanted fried chicken. She said she was sorry, but they had just a few pieces left so they give it to that couple on the house. :( So sad was I. Then the waitress comes back with a plate of four pieces of chicken and told us that it was HER chicken that she was going to have for dinner! Needless to say, that chicken...was....so....good.

In conclusion, they really take care of you here; their food is good; its a small place and they sometimes will stop taking people if its nearing closing time. I think its family run so it has a very mom and pop feel to it.

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7

8

Paolo E.

Daly City, CA

4 star rating
04/08/2008

It seems I'm always here about every other Friday night with my cousin, his wife and daughter.  (cousins wife is Korean)  Anyway, if you like Korean food, Kim chee, fish, Kalbi, Bulgoki, korean pancake, then this place is perfect for you.  

Also, their fried chicken is very tasty and be careful cuz they serve it piping hawt!  I also find myself drinking lots and lots of their tea.  I come to find out that it is either barley tea or corn tea.  Both are easy to find in a Korean market.  

It's just a typical hole in the wall type joint and I feel really comfortable during every meal there.  

Here's a tip, if you're planning to have dinner there, be there by 6 or earlier or else be prepared to wait at least 30 min to be seated.  

I like meeting my family there for dinner.  I think you will too.

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9

63

Serena W.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
03/19/2008

I was introduced here by friends a long time ago and have been coming here ever since. This place is very small. Sucks half of the time when you have to wait, but lately we've been lucky and have always gotten a table right when we enter....*knock on wood* Lots of complimentary dishes, including the green onion pancake and spicy tofu soup. Once in a while they'll throw in the grill mackerel.

We normally order the Bul-go-gi, Rice Cake bok yi, Baby Octopus Bok-Um, Jap-Chae along with several bottles of Hite beer. I've tried the Korean fried chicken here as raved by everybody here. This was probably the most spiciest for me out of every dish I have tried here. Nonetheless, it was good!

After trying various Korean BBQ places, I have got to say this place isn't exactly the best, but their food is good enough to keep us coming back for our occasional get-togethers.

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1

33

Wini H.

Daly City, CA

4 star rating
04/01/2008

This place is sooo good!  and with the freebies, you just can't help but come here over and over.  I think the onion pancake is free free..and then they give you like fish or tofu for free also!!!  the free free stuff is definite and the free stuff i think it's up to them.  But even I'm not entirely sure cuz she just popped up with free food and all I could say was "WOW!  REALLY?!  THANK YOU!"  The fried chicken is also a favorite of mine.  The portions are large and the food is tasty!  I think they may even do foot deliveries as I have seen the lady walk out the door and around the corner with a plate of food!  At night though, the wait is pretty long...but I mean if there's people waiting then it must be pretty darn safe to eat at.  Prices are good and the feel of it is very homestyle.

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3

39

Joseph F.

San Francisco, CA

2 star rating
03/08/2008

The food was good and delicious, but I hated that they could not seat my entire party of 10 people.

They did not even bother to try to seat us all together. We all went out to be together and I was really disappointed that they split us up like that.

I also hated that we sat by the door with the door open. It was so cold, but they have to keep it open because it will get smoky inside.  I also did not like sitting by the door because everyone waiting for a table was watching us eat.

6 of us got seated together by the door and the other 4 got seated in the back of the restaurant.

The waitress also took our tea kettle, but she never returned it, we had to ask for it back.

For six people our tab came out to be $87.28 with %15 tip.

Again, food was good, but not really happy with the service and they probably can keep on giving that kind of service because they always have people waiting.

I don't think I want to go back.

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10

55

norine h.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
02/17/2008

This Korean restaurant is located on the corner of Taraval and 30th Avenue.  Upon entering the restaurant ,I felt like I was in a spa.  It was rather stuffy since the kitchen is not enclosed.
I had ordered the fried chicken ( 13 pieces for $10.99 )  it was delicious and piping hot.
I also ordered the Jap-Chae was also very good.  They give you complimentary  onion pancakes and tofu soup in addition to the many other small dishes .  The good thing about this restaurant is that everything came out hot.
Parking can be difficult during dinner time.

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3

24

Elizabeth G.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
03/30/2008

In general, the food here isn't as spicy as I'd like  -- I should have read all the reviews and asked for everything extra spicy. Especially the fried chicken! Bibimbap could have cooked longer -- the rice didn't have quite enough time to crisp up. But the gigantic amounts of chicken are crisp-a-licious and the free onion pancake is delicious with the spicy dip. Solid types and amounts of panchan (especially for the vegetarian I came with). And you can't beat some spicy tofu soup to round out the meal, especially when it's free (and you have some extra red pepper handy).

Do I sound unimpressed? I came away loving STBY. Love love loving it. I will drive to 30th and Taraval. I will wait for 20 minutes in the wind (Yeah, bring your poncho. It's COLD out there). I will cram myself and two other people into a table meant for only two. And next time, I'll ask for everything extra spicy. I'm giving this one four stars for general coziness. The food isn't fancy, the decor isn't fancy, the service isn't fancy, and the prices aren't fancy. It's all kind of homestyle. But unlike a lot of people writing reviews, I like it that way. Everyone looks like they're having a great time, and it seems like a point of pride for the waitstaff to send everyone off with mountains of take-away cartons from the enormous plates of fried chicken.

Shin Toe Bul Yi is warm and friendly, and a little grungy. Like my mom's kitchen -- if my mom were Korean instead of Jewish.

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5

25

SA C.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
04/03/2008

Ummmm... ok... I admit I want to hurt everyone who gave this place a great review.  They've out-ed one of my fave Korean restos and now the wait will be longer!

There are 4 important words to memorize:
Fried chicken
Seabass stew

My work is done.

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Elite '08

29

228

Dina V.

San Francisco, CA

2 star rating
03/13/2008

What I really, really wanted was San Tung's dry fried chicken! I'm not up on the real KFC apparently but figured I'd try out this place. It's down the street from my son's karate school and being a Wednesday and shit out of luck for going to San Tung, we ventured here.

Located on the south west corner of 30th and Taraval, like the many others have said the decor inside and out is minimal. Driving past the first time, I wasn't sure I wanted to stop, but I made a trip around the block and said to myself that if I found a close parking spot, we were eating there. Sure enough. There was my parking spot.

Got the kids out of the car and smelled the delicious smells of bbq. Okay big seller. Initially we were going to take it to go, but figured the wee one was sleeping and I wanted to see what free goodies we were getting. Heh. I'm frugal like that, didn't you know ;D. And I like FREE.

It wasn't crowded yet at 6:45PM, we got a table no problem. First thing on the table, onion pancake and hot tea. YUM. Next were the 6 banchan. I only really liked the pickled daikon and the kimchee. Those little fishies and the cut up fishcake just too fishy for me. The cucumber too salty. We ordered the teriyaki chicken and, of course, the fried chicken.

EVERY. SINGLE. TABLE. had the chicken... so we had to try it. It was piping hot when it came out. When it was finally cool enough to eat... it was alright. Rather disappointing actually. My mom's fried chicken is tastier. The flavor of the teri chicken was mild, like it needed to be marinated longer. They gave us the free tofu soup and it was too spicy for my liking, and the flavor was just a little funky for me.

I can cross this one off my list. I can now say I've tried it and I won't be wondering anymore. For Korean I'd much rather go to Pine on Noreiga, the flavor of their BBQ is very tasty. And I eat much more of their Banchan. And well, I obviously know nothing about kfc, but if that's what it's all about then I'd rather just eat my mom's chicken or wait for a nonWednesday for San Tung!

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4

23

Alice T.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
03/16/2008

This is one of my favorite Korean restaurants. It is small and the wait can be long but it is so worth it. The prices are decent too. Their fried chicken is the best! Everybody orders it. I also like the chicken gizzard dish! The freebies are always great too. I've been coming here for almost 10 years.  They also have lunch specials.

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2

14

Monica M.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
04/25/2008

A friend and I dropped-in here today to have some good ol' bibimbap, and I gotta say.. I was impressed! The woman (I'm guessing she was the owner) was very friendly, and the beef bibimbap was delicious. We asked for seconds of the fish cake and the kimchee that they give you before your meal, and they gave us a complimentary tofu soup to share. I wish I coulda tried their green onion pancake, though! My girl was raving about it, but we were guessing that nobody else got it along with their kimchee and fish cake, either. When I come back, I wanna try their fried chicken. Every single freakin table had it! lol

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33

Maple P.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
03/14/2008

Reasonable prices and great tasting food. The free onion pancake is delicious! Tofu, kim chee, veggies, meat, kim chee mhh goodness! I love all the free stuff we get. Sitting in this place is tight, but it's worth the squeeze.

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4

Maggie L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
02/08/2008

This is one of the most authentic Korean places in San Francisco.  It may not be the cleanest restaurant, but the food is too good to pass up.  They also give out complimentary small side dishes, potato pancakes, and mackerel if you order enough food.  I love the fried chicken wings, seafood tofu soup, and bibambap.  The only negative side is that they are understaffed.  It takes forever for your order to come and the staff often ignores you because they are too busy serving other tables.  But other than that, this place is worth going to because their food is bomb!!

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6

Miyas J.

San Francisco, CA

1 star rating
03/14/2008

This is the first time yelp reviewers  have let me down.
This restaurant is pretty terrible. I will never go back.

I say you can always judge a Korean restaurant by its kim chee. Good kim chee usually equals overall good food.  As soon as I had a taste of the kim chee here, I knew this meal was going to be a huge disappointment.

We had the pork bulgolgi, the chewy spicy noodles, and the kim chee chigae.

Pork bulgolgi
Not good. It was the usual thinly sliced pork however the sauce was bright red, only slightly spicy, very sweet, and thick with ketchup - Not what you would expect to find at a Korean restaurant. It reminded me of a bad Americanized Chinese restaurant's version of sweet and sour.

Chewy Spicy Noodles
This was OK. The texture of the noodles was as advertised. The sauce was average -  Sweet and spicy, but not very refined in flavor.

Kim Chee Chigae
This was average. It had a nice smoky bacon flavor, and a bit of tang from the kim chee. The broth was watery and not particularly hearty. I prefer "My Tofu House", but even their kim chee chigae isn't  extraordinary.

The only bright spot in the meal was the deep fried mackerel that came "on the house"  - Crispy and full of fish oil goodness. Yum!

Unfortunately, on top of the food being sub par, the cleanliness was exemplified by the food spattered menus, and rice sticking to my shoe (the hair stuck in the pork bulgolgi didn't exactly get my mouth watering).
Hey, I'm all for mom & pop joints, but the comfort (and I don't mean hair) must be found in the food because there certainly is no love in sticky condiment bottles, and greasy tables.

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87

Tiff L.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
01/07/2008

I love this place. I really do. The service isn't the best. But theirs is the only food that satisfies my Korean cravings. If I go anywhere else, I just wish that I came here. Staples that we always order are the soft tofu stew, bul go gi, pork bul go gi, chicken teriyaki, and jap chae. I have to admit though, the jap chae has gotten a bit less tasty and more oily over the past year. But, seriously, best soft tofu stew.

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89

Mamie J.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
01/21/2008

Wow, definitely my favorite Korean restaurant.

Shin Toe Bui Yi is a cozy family owned restaurant with gooood fooood. The people there are so nice, they're always smiling and I feel welcome everytime I go there. Their Cal-bi is so good, argh. They also have this hot sour soup that's really good, forgot the exact name :x They give you free food on the house sometimes as well. The plates you order are huge and they give everyone a bowl of rice. At the end, they even give you these cute little Korean gum pieces. (=

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goldberg d.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
01/15/2008

Korean fried chicken bitches!  Off da hook.  Great food here and great sides.  Small place and long waits but well worth it.  For dessert cruise upto Marco Polo for some Chinese gelato.  Definitely not a party for the lactose intolerent especially after some kimchee.  Ohh but it might be worth it

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James K.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
03/03/2008

Oh my! This place seems to be the only place to get korean fried chicken for a 50 mile radius around San Francisco. I've been going to Shintoebulyi since i was 5 and their fried chicken is very good. The moment the pieces of chicken enter your mouth, your mouth will salivate as your teeth chomp down on a crunchy and slightly spicy skin and then you will penetrate the soft and tender chicken while you rip away using your jaw and munching with great comfort. Also be sure to eat this with the white radish cubes they give you for the full orgasmic effect. Great Korean Friend Chicken.

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Christina D.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
05/01/2008

This place has its pros and cons, although I am no Korean food connoisseur, so this is just my personal taste.  and apart from my most recent visit about a week ago, I haven't gone in over 2 years before that, so it might not be exactly the same anymore.  

Its appetizers are great.  along with the little plates that they give, they also serve grilled mackerel to every table, and they used to have free pancake but I didn't get it last time, so perhaps they've stopped. We ordered the spicy rice cake (dduk bokki?), fried chicken, soondoonboo, and japchae.  this place has one of the best spicy rice cake (dduk bokki?) I've had so far.  It's not too spicy (in fact it can be much spicier), but it has a good blend of sweetness to it that's to my liking.  

I know everyone RAVES about the fried chicken, but really, it's very typical to me, nothing to write home about.  I think they might use a bit of corn starch or whatever because the fried texture is a little different.  but it's relatively bland with no special flavor.  I actually enjoy it quite a bit, but it's just not as special as other people said it is.

The japchae was normal, tasty as always, not too oily.  The soondoonboo was somewhat too salty for me and not spicy enough.  But i'm a huge fan of the soup so unless it's horrendous to eat, I'll love it no matter what.

Other things I've tried in years past, bbq chicken, kalbi, bbq beef, bbq pork, bibimbop.  From what I remember, the taste was slightly off from other places I've tried before (I guess depending on your preference..this might be better or not).  The kalbi is cut differently from most places, it has one large bone with some meat around instead of cutting deep into the bone if that makes sense.  And nothing's too spicy.

While the prices are pretty competitive with the other Korean places, the meat is somewhat on the pricier side ($14-19).   And the wait can be long, and it's small, so you'll definitely come out smelling like your food.  

Regardless, I still think it's one of the better Korean restaurants in SF, and I always have Korean cravings every now and then, so I'll definitely go back again.

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Juliane N.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
12/09/2007

A real hole in the wall place! Korean food is one of my favorite cuisine to eat. They have great lunch specials at a very reasonable price. All the food was really tasty and their plenty of food. BBQ beef and fried chicken was really good, scallion pancake which was complimentary was good... the whole restaurant smelled good. If you plan to go at night, there might be a wait but while waiting, you could just smell the aroma of grilled meat. That could either be a good thing or bad thing for people waiting.

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Frank B.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
11/12/2007

Complete with a crappy looking exterior and interior, this hole in the wall seems to always have a line out the door, particularly on weekends. You may have to wait 15-30 minutes, but it is well worth it. Shin Toe Bul Yi serves some of the best Korean food I've ever had. Unlike a lot of Korean eateries, this one varies its spicing significantly per dish; with enough variety in your order, you'll be taken on a palate-tickling voyage of Korean spicing.

The fried chicken seems to be quite a hit here, as nearly everyone was eating it when I was there, but personally, I recommend the seabass. It is amazing. It's not so soft it disintegrates in your hand, nor is it overcooked, and the sauce steals the show for the evening. 5 stars: a must-go in SF.

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Jeanine S.

San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
02/14/2008

I love the food at this place. It very tastly and cheap. Their Tofu soup are so delicious. I would recommend all of you to try out this place.

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Amy E.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
10/04/2007

Red Pork at Night, Red Pork at Night, Woe hoe, Woe Hoe, Woe Hoe Hoe Hoe Hoe Hoe Hoe Hoe....

I'm spinning with spicy soju vibrance.  

Yesterday I walked 11 miles across the city and ate tempeh, yellow peppers and brown rice. Today, I shoveled bright red meats and spicy pickles into my mouth and washed them down with soju and beer.

On the way home I went to unbuckle my belt, only to discover, it already was.

Shin Toe...unfamiliar territory for me but quite the experience. We started with a tall "Hite" beer. Kind of the miller of Korea, goes well to cool the palate.

I'm seriously bursting at the seams and I don't even have any seams on. I'm about 12 bites beyond where I should have stopped. This is what a day at Mocone Center will do to an otherwise finicky eater. Yes, I was there at the tradeshow today checking out the exhibits and eating happy hour post seminar dumplings with those Oklahoman business men. I immediately ripped off my tradeshow pants once arriving home, and put on my reserved "fat pants" (girls, you know what I'm talking about) but even they were too tight.

Here at Shin Toe, where I met my (also-Korean-food-virgin) husband...I devoured miniature dried fish - faces and all.  Pickled pink Daikon was plentiful and fun to crunch. The silky tofu soup did not require any molar interaction, no chewing, just a slurpy slide. The pork tasted much better than it looked. The flavor was spicy, savory and a bit sweet. We ate it over little bowls of warm rice.

Not used to this kimchee fashion  of small picked spicy things scattered in tiny bowls on the table and bbq'd bright red meats and stews of calamari and green onion cakes.  

My lips are sealed together in the spicy aftermath.

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Chris T.

Pescadero, CA

4 star rating
01/11/2008

I went out to this little spot with one of my friend along with her family who live about 3 blocks from this little gem!  We went out and between the six of us, we ordered 6 dishes and and I must say the tofu soup and their fried chicken was amazing!  It's definitely a small little place but the Korean food and the sides are so good, When we got there two parties of 4 were adhead of us, we got seated probably in about 15 minutes, people have a tendency to eat and go, the food comes pretty quickly on the night I was there and yes the one of waitress there was pretty bitchy.  It's all good, the food was freakin amazing and on those 6 dishes it came to about 65 bucks, definitely coming back here for my Korean fix.  People say it has a sketchy atmosphere, I don't think it is that bad, I've eaten in sketchier places, but then again it was a narrow smoky alley in Japan...

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4

Vicky F.

Daly City, CA

4 star rating
02/03/2008

Absolutely our fave Korean place - very homey, dishes are tasty.  My friend and I always crave for the Seabass soup - flavorful with good chucks of seabass in it.  Hubby likes the Korean-fried chicken - they are fried well and not too greasy, plus flavorful.  I also like the meats - good Kal bi and chicken teriyaki.  I also like their spicy chewy noodles - noodles with good texture and great octopus/calamari pieces, yumm!!
One setback is that they are too popular, so on Fridays or Saturdays, they cut their waiting list at 8:50 or 9:00pm, even though they close at 9:30.  Got turned away a couple times because I worked late on Fridays :(.

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