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Toyose
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 6 pm - 2 am
- Delivery:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Late Night, Dinner
- Music:
- Background
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
721 reviews for Toyose
Review Highlights
"Good soju, yummy kimchi fried rice and huge caseroles."
(in 152 reviews)
"Soju - there is a unique variety of flavors (i."
(in 425 reviews)
"Seafood pancake is yummy too *drools."
(in 129 reviews)
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721 reviews in English
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Review from Denise T.
San Francisco, CA
2/7/2012 4 Check-ins Here
I love Korean food and soju, so this is a place I visit frequently. My friends and I usually order family style--a typical order consists of kimchee and beef fried rice, chicken wings, and the seafood pancake (nomz!) I also recommend the casserole with spam and sausages (a bit pricey for what it actually is though). The food is MUCH better here than The Spot and Tonight Lounge which are both on Taraval. The flavored soju is also pretty good for those like me who hate strong alcoholic drinks.
The only downside is how small this place is. It is literally in a garage, so be sure to make a reservation or be prepared to wait over an hour for a table on a busy night. -
Review from Stefi C.
San Francisco, CA
1/31/2012
If this place wasn't so far, I would be back allll the time! I made the trek through some INTENSE fog to try Toyose, and it was totally worth it.
The two of us ordered the seafood pancake, duk boki, and some soybean tofu soup with seafood. Obviously we did not know that the portions here are huuuuge, and we basically took stuffed our faces until it hurt, and took home the majority of the soup for lunch the next day.
Their seafood pancake is amazing--you must order. It's a huge portion, and goes great with the dipping sauce they give you. Duk Boki is soft and chewy, with sweet with a hint of spicy flavors. Sooo good. The soup was nice too, but I was expecting something similar to soondubu because the waiter said it was like it, but it definitely wasn't. More like a broth based soup with seafood and pieces of tofu.
All in all, a great place if you can make the drive out there. We got there at around 7pm and the place was absolutely packed by the time we left, so get there early or be prepared to wait! -
Review from Lisa R.
San Francisco, CA
1/15/2012 5 photos
Its like my favorite spot to take my friends from out of the city! I was never disappointed to their service and food! Love the environment and uniqueness of their "garage" atmosphere. Korean food may not be the most authentic, but it would be great for friends hanging out at late night, with soju drinks!
Best and most popular dishes are the kimchi fried rice, I do believe they made the best out of all Korean restaurants I have gone to. If you have a group of friends, try the hot pot style with everything! -
Review from Annie L.
East Bay, CA
2/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
The most DELICIOUS Korean restaurant eva!! The atmosphere + food reminds me of Korea in the winter time. This cozy little place serves a lot of food for a good price, so it's best to bring a group of friends along. They're open late which is awesome~* BUT, expect a line shooting out the door when you arrive. The 1st time here, we were in a group of 12; waited 1.5 hrs. The 2nd time with two people, waited an hour. It is definitely worth the wait though! Nom Nom Nom. I recommend it to U! =)
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Review from Eileen E.
Los Angeles, CA
1/13/2012
OK the first thing to beware of about this restaurant is that they don't take reservations and the restaurant is a converted garage so it's really tiny. Be prepared to wait a bit unless you avoid peak hours.
Melissa H., my lovely tour guide for SF, was the one who first brought me here :). I've been here about 4-5 times now!
Here are the dishes I recommend:
Kimchi Fried Rice
Seafood Pancake (haemul pajeon!!!)
Chicken Wings
Peach Yogurt Soju
This is a great meal for 3-4 people :). Toyose is a bit expensive and I can't remember the exact prices for the above dishes but I remember they are in the $12-13 range.
I highly recommend this cozy SF favorite!!Listed in: Favorite Restaurants in San…
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Review from Judy C.
1/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Toyose is such a quirky little Korean hot spot literally hidden in the Outer Sunset district. It's a garage-turned-restaurant with some of the best, affordable Korean food ever.
My favorite dishes include:
* Kimchi Fried Rice w/ Egg
* Seafood Pancake (relatively light and pleasingly thin and crispy)
* Potstickers (great crunch on the skin with a warm core of tender meat)
* Fried Chicken Wings
I also love, love, love their Strawberry-flavored soju. Their sojus are made with fresh fruits and are sweet to my liking.
I came here again last night for a friend's birthday, ordered 3 entrees, 1 appetizer, 1 pitcher of beer, and only paid $15 (with tax and 18% gratuity). Cheap much? Yes. Filling? Yes. Delicious? Yes! -
Review from John S.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 1/9/2012
So I've been here on and off with my friends since my last visit. Food here is sometimes a hit and miss. The chicken wings are sometimes over fried, which isn't too pleasant to eat since it's just really hard and it has a slight burnt taste to it. Sometimes they over cook the pancake too so that has a lingering burnt after taste as well.
Also, their food here that is spicy... is really good. The other stuff that isn't spicy... isn't really that good. For example, one of the bugolgi wasn't spicy and because of that, it wasn't too flavorful. So I'm not sure if it's just that dish, or their dishes that don't have the spicy paste it just lacks in general.
In general, I'll still be coming back, but food really isn't that OMG since it's not consistent at all.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/5/2011
Ate here the other night with a group of friends since I've been wanting to check this place out.… Read more »
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Review from Jessica L.
Saint Louis, MO
1/8/2012
I've never had flavoured soju before so we hit up this place because I was curious.
Décor: We didn't have reservations or anything and for 2 people, we still waited about 40 minutes. The place is tiny, which explains why the wait is so long but we didn't mind much because their waiting area of the bench was actually quite comfortable while we just chatted. (FYI, while we were at our table, people still waited for a good 40 minutes.)
Service: Use the bell! Haha, they never really checked up on us but was prompt when we called!
Food: We only had their fried chicken as drunk munchies- it was fine, nothing that special nor fantastic. I LOVED their soju though. We had 3 between the 2 of us- yogurt, mango and peach. Peach was our favorite, followed by yogurt and then mango.
Overall: Recommended for their soju; can't say anything about the food. -
Review from Christopher L.
Millbrae, CA
You can look through the rest of the reviews here for what's good to order. I think it's important to know that you will NEED to bring someone Korean with you to get the full experience. If you've been here with and without one before, you'll know what I mean.
The food gets 5 stars. The service is dependent on whether there's a Korean at your table. The alcohol content in your drinks will also vary depending on the same factor.
It's pretty typical to expect this kind of treatment from a Korean restaurant, so it doesn't bother me too much, but it definitely keeps it from being a 5 star rating.
When I come here with Korean friends, the mood from the waitresses is upbeat, drinks are wickedly stronger, and being of age isn't questioned. When I visited more recently with non-Koreans, serving staff attitude was apathetic, drinks were like juice, and we were aggressively carded (I don't mind being carded, but everyone should be treated the same).
The last gripe I have, is that for the portions, it's pretty expensive... but when is Korean food not? I know this all sounds pretty negative, but it's not. I'm just sure people have said enough positive things about this place and I definitely would always be down to come here for food and drinks. Just straying a bit from my typical review style to let people know what's up.
DO realize that this place gets pretty busy at night and that you can call to make reservations. Be prepared to wait, if you don't. If you have no Korean (or girls) with you, don't get flavored soju, it's a rip, unless you like juice for $11.
Oh yeah, each bottle of flavored soju pours about 10 shots. -
Review from Elaine N.
San Francisco, CA
12/24/2011
The first time I heard about this place was some time in high school. A couple of nights ago I finally got the chance to come here with some friends for late night food and drinks.
We ordered:
Kim Chee Fried Rice - pretty good, definitely hits that late night food craving, Cheese Corn - this was on their house favorites list, it's literally cheese... and corn... it wasn't very exciting if you ask me, Fries + Garlic and Cheese - savory and filling, the typical snack food people would order after you've had a few drinks.
Kiwi and Pineapple Soju - This was my first time having soju and it was pretty good. The pineapple flavor was probably my fave because it wasn't too sweet. The kiwi on the other hand is more syrupy and tasted a lot like a jolly rancher.
Overall our experience was okay, the decor was interesting.. I mean it is the infamous Korean garage restaurant... and the service was subpar. Basically a quick stop for food and drinks kind of restaurant, but not much more.Listed in: Thirsty Days
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Review from Jerry C.
12/17/2011
the Prince of Taiwan, in an effort to improve relations with the South Korean gub'ment, decided to visit this often heralded dive in the Outer Sunset area on a popping Friday night. first of all, the wait is as bad as everyone here laments. And I think the reason isn't the fault of the servers or the kitchen at all. The food here is banged out fast and hot, and the servers (cute Korean chicks BTW) are fast and efficient. the problem with the wait are all the damn people sitting around and leaving when the last chicken has been eaten and the last drop of delicious mango soju has been drunk.
When we got in around 800PM, there was this large group of Taiwanese lesboz sitting eating and drinking, and probably decide in whose rug to munch on later that night. They are my own people, so the Prince of Taiwan can make fun.
When we left around 9:30Pm, those chicks were still there! And it wasn't like they were eating or drinking or fisting, etc. they were just sitting there talking as if they were still in the Shilin night market in Taipei, Taiwan. Cmon ladies..i know your hair is cool because you all styled it like Justin Beiber, but that gives you all no right to hog up a damn table for over 2.5 hours!
Crowd is pretty rowdy and loud, and full of young Asian folks, and curious white folk. There was this one dude dressed like Asian Justin Timberlake with his fedora, vest, and slim pants hitting on a bunch of ladies. And to the table next to us there was a huge crowd of drunk as well Vietnamese young ladies (some pretty hot, some just ok) celebrating either the holidays or someone's birthday. They spoke in viet/ engrish so loud i felt like I was getting a rosetta stone class. And when they started singing "HAPPY VURTHDAY DO YOOO.. HAPPY VURTHDAY DO YOOO" over and over again..I had enough, and got up to leave with my wife and friend.
O h yeah..the food. ehhhh. honestly I was expecting food that lift my skirt up like Marilyn Monroe. Instead it was just good, decent food, but not worth the hour plus wait. Spicy chicken was not spicy nor was it flavored..just fried chicken without any herbs or spices. Seafood pancake was the highlight of the night. Good and tasty, with the sauce it was really nice. hot tofu soup with calimari was very spicy and hit the spot on a cold night. Mango soju was like drinking candy..excellent.
I am glad i tried this place out. I think the servers all work very hard, and stay friendly despite probably hit on by both men and women. the kitchen bangs out the plates fast. but the wait is probably a bit much. -
Review from Linda C.
12/15/2011
Toyose is my can't fail rowdy Korean go-to spot in the City, especially when I'm feeling like tapering off a night at the bar (in a good way) by imbibing on some seriously yummy soju cocktails and satisfying Hog Dog Casserole!
Tucked away in a garage in a quiet residential neighboorhood near 45th and Noriega, this place is easy to miss - unless you know what to look for. It's almost like a Korean speakeasy - look for the angry chicken! :) Once inside, you'll know why there is always a loooooooooong wait - there is only enough room for about 20 to 30 people, tops. And if it is at full capacity, you'll be waiting upwards of 1 to 1.5 hours. However, don't be a n00b--make a reservation and you'll be seated almost instantly. If you do, make sure to be on time as they WILL give your table away with a quickness, especially if you're late and its big party.
Consistent favorites here are the casserole, dduk bok gi, and kimchee pancake. I will make a disclaimer and say that if you do get the casserole, get extra spicy. There is NO point to not get spicy at a Korean restaurant! The casseroles are HUGE and easily shared between 3-4 people, especially if they have small appetites. The drinks are good, though the soju cocktails really are pretty weak, at least for me.
Toyose is definitely more for the rowdy, younger crowd so if you're looking for something quieter I would skip this place. It's not the BEST Korean I've had (and it is not the best in the City), but I always have a great time here so four stars for me on this one! -
Review from Jon R.
Alameda, CA
1/31/2012 1 Check-in Here
Soju is the BEST
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Review from Mabel B.
San Francisco, CA
12/18/2011
MMMMM, Toyose!
Came here for the first time all the way back in October or so with my teammate. We got there a few minutes after it opened and were seated immediately. I had the notion that they were going to open the garage door and we can be seated in the garage area, like how they do so in Taiwan. Not the case, you open the door to the garage and you walk in and upon entering there are booths. Interesting....
We sat down, we ordered the kimchee fried rice, seafood pancake, and a bulgoki. All were very delicious. Teammate's favorite was the kimchee fried rice and the seafood pancake. The seafood pancake comes with a delicious sauce a little soy saucey and a little spicy.
Came here a second time, initially we wanted to be seated and eat, but the wait was way too long, so we opted for take out instead. Again we got the kimchee fried rice and the seafood pancake, we changed it up and got the chicken wings instead of the bulgoki. CHICKEN WANGS ARE DA BOMB. Go for it. :) -
Review from Sofia R.
A group of friends and I decided to go here to catch up over dinner. I had never heard of this place but I was pretty stoked about getting Korean food for dinner since I don't have it too often.
When we got there, I was surprised by what I saw. This restaurant was built within a house so it looks very house-like outside. The doors to go in is made from past garage doors. For this, I find the outer appearance odd.
Apparently, I was in for more surprises. Despite looking odd on the outside, the inside was very impressive. Fashioned with wood decor, it looked really authentic and cozy as a restaurant. A bit cramped, but it still fits a lot of people. You would have never known that it used to be a garage!
Service was pretty attentive but forgot one order and then got it wrong after we asked them about it. It wasn't a super big deal, but it was kind of annoying. To be fair, the place has a really loud atmosphere and they seem to be busy very often.
We ordered two orders of kimchi fried rice, an order of split eel, an order of spicy pork, and one order of kimchi pancake. Everything was really delicious! I like their kimchi fried rice and the spicy pork the most. Very flavorful and filling.
Overall a really cool place. I plan to come back here not just because of the food but also to try their soju. -
Review from D C.
San Francisco, CA
1/7/2012
Yum! It's hard to notice this place, because it looks like it is someone's garage.
The yogurt soju was delicious, and the Kim Chee Pancake was probably one of my favorite dishes. I came here with friends and we ordered the spam and hot dog ramen in spicy broth. So tasty! Definitely too large of a serving for 3 people though! -
Review from Alex K.
San Francisco, CA
1/28/2012
Thumbs up for kimchi fri rice. Okay for the seafood pancake. Kiwi Soju really good. I felt the seafood pancake at Soju Bar is much better.
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Review from Dorris W.
San Francisco, CA
12/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
Their yogurt soju is really good. They have a lot of flavors...strawberry, aloe, kiwi, yogurt, etc. I'm not much of a drinker, but I can easily drink their stuff. I think that's probably how people get messed up My friends and I come here all the time, and for some reason we always run into people here. It's the hot place to be.
Food is decent here as well. I've tried their rice, chicken wings, and fries. The fries here are good. I'm a fries fanatic so trust me on this.
Bad part about this place is that it only has 1 bathroom and it's unisex. One time this guy cut me and I had to wait 20 minutes to finish his business. :O Do that at your own home! I don't mind, but you cut me! -
Review from Linda H.
San Francisco, CA
1/26/2012
Came out on late Wednesday night/Thursday morning and the place had a steady flow of people.
We had kimchi fried rice and the tofu stew along with a bottle of soju. Food was good but I felt it was quite spendy for what it was. -
Review from Casey B.
San Francisco, CA
1/16/2012
You may have to wait until the next lunar epoch to get seated, but it's a nice, friendly, low key joint that is worth going to (especially if you know your dinning companion would enjoy seeing fire shoot out of your mouth...the food is hot, is what I'm saying :);.
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Review from Coco C.
San Francisco, CA
1/24/2012
Small restaurant, this place is in a garage!
Food is good, kinda reminds me of SoCal Korean food. Noise level was high because people were drinking.
We had spam ramen casserole and cheese corn. -
Review from Alysha M.
Large-portion, quality, Korean food out of a garage? Me thinks YES!
Food was amazing, so much flavor! Kimchi fried rice with egg, cheese corn, codfish tofu soup, calamari, seafood pancake, & fried chicken wings - all good!
They take reservations for larger parties but make sure everyone gets there on time because they will give your table away if not. Place is pretty small & poppin' so the earlier, the better!
1 star less because they didn't have the traditional meal dishes, like kalbi or bibimbop. I would definitely go back though! -
Review from Spencer E.
South San Francisco, CA
11/16/2011
I ordered their spicy noodles with calimari (not sure the exact title of it) and it was really good. The level of spicy is on the spicier side which is great! It actually got me to start sweating which I have not done in a while when eating spicy food.
Our table also ordered their yogurt flavored soju which was great. They don't skimp out on the soju so it was still very strong in the drink. The flavor was great tasting and deceiving as I could down that whole bottle without realizing there's much alcohol in it.
One thing I wish was that the prices would be cheaper for everything overall. It is more on the pricey side when it comes to korean food but still good overall. -
Review from Nina Y.
11/22/2011
Damn this place was good.
We finally got to try this place after hearing about it for a year or so. We ordered the kimchi fried rice and seafood pancake based on yelp suggestions. We also got a bottle of soju.
They were all so good. We finished the bottle of soju and were sufficiently tipsy by the end of the night. Maybe next time, we'll walk there from my place and get drunk with not too many consequences.
MUST TRY AGAIN! -
Review from Mina T.
San Francisco, CA
10/27/2011
I been to this place since 2005,been there many times, it's a small place build in the garage, they busy as hell during the weekends, always line up.
I had eat the seafood hot pot and the seafood pancake, taste good to me, but my favorite is the yoguart soju, LOVE IT.
Didn''t eat in there for long time , think should back there to eat soon, of cause I'm a fan of the yoguart soju :)Listed in: Mina Hot List
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Review from Chris D.
Hayward, CA
11/3/2011
I'm sure that anyone who arrives at the place the first time is like, "wtf, why are we going in this garage?" Yup my friends, its a Korean joint in a garage. Just FYI, garages are the new boats.
Add toyose as yet another fun place to get your drink on with some good food to boot. Full disclosure: my preferred place is porno palace in Oakland, which I hold as the gold standard for similar places. However, given that not everyone can or wants to go to Oakland (shame on them really), toyose is a great alternative holding it down for the city.
They have a good selection of various flavored sojus, and the yogurt-soju ratio is kept at a reasonable level. Beers are your standard OB, Hite fare. I will say though that the booths here are a little smaller and there's more areas with just regular tables. Then again, its in a freaking garage so that's understandable.
The food selection here is much more robust than Toyose, with good amount of options. The hamul pajun was okay, but a little thin for my liking. The BBQ and boodaejjigae were both interesting but nothing to different. I'd say this place's calling card is its kim chee fried rice, which is pretty delicious. Too bad the portions are on the small. Aside from the food, they give you a limited selection of banchan as well as popcorn.
Overall, another solid Korean place but nothing that's going to blow your mind. -
Review from Audrey C.
Santa Cruz, CA
11/12/2011
This place is literally a hole in the wall, you would never imagine to go here to eat but once you try it you will not be disappointed. The garage look on the outside is really cool and when you walk in you're literally in awe because you expect nothing but it's really nicely decorated insdie. The lighting inside is pretty dim and there isn't too much seating.
We came here around 7 and waited for about 15-20 minutes. I thought the seating was kind of weird, there were some tables near the front that had bamboo shades to separate the table from the waiting area but it didn't separate it very well and there wasn't a lot of space for people to wait so it was kind of awkward to sit there because you would have people really close to you and waiting for a seat while you were eating. There is a button you press if you want service and I thought that was pretty cool.
We ordered the chicken wings, the kimchi fried rice, and the kimchi soup. Everything was so delicious, I want more right now just thinking about it. The kimchi fried rice was full of flavor with an egg on top, the kimchi soup was perfect and the chicken wings were crispy and flavored very well.
My only complaint is that everything was pretty expensive for the amount of food that was given to us but definitely come here and give it a try. -
Review from Annalyn A.
Los Angeles, CA
12/21/2011
every time i go back home i NEED to go to this place. one of the best korean restaurants i have been too! definitely a hole (garage) in a wall! their dishes are created to perfection! no joke! from their chicken wings (when i use to eat meat) to their yogurt soju! line gets a little long sometimes however it's definitely worth the wait.
few favorite dishes:
- chicken wings
- bu dae ji gae (AMAZE BALLS)
- seafood pancake
- kimchi fried rice -
Review from Daniel B.
San Francisco, CA
11/20/2011 3 Check-ins Here
If SpongeBob SquarePants had Korean parents and a Japanese aunt or uncle, I could see this as being his restaurant. The interior nautical hints of boat ropes and wood posts almost make you forget you're in a converted garage, and the fact that you're in a garage might make you not notice the slightly maritime decor. I include Japanese in the background due to the presence of Japanese writing on at least one wall decoration.
Seems to me like the menu might be a little different now than in months or years past, but the army stew, bibim naengmyeon, and selection of beverages to pass around and try to thump the metal twig off the cap are still there. My friend liked the fact that there's popcorn, and spicy edamame is always good to me. There are also fish sticks, bacon sausage, and fried whole chicken. So any Blues Brothers fans out there can literally order four fried chickens and a Coke.
This place keeps an interesting mix of dishes, but to me it doesn't quite warrant a crosstown trip for dinner. Still, for meeting friends or as the afterparty to whatever, I'd go here any night, though I might wear an eyepatch and bring some Hemingway to read on the way over.
FYI: The signage outside does say both "Toyose" and "Chamse", but rest assured you are at the right place. People speak of this restaurant using the names interchangeably, so keep that in mind too. -
Review from Vikki K.
10/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
The boyfriend and I decided to give this place another try. I still don't get the charm of this place being in a little garage because it makes me feel so claustrophobic! The group next to our table obviously don't wear deodorant because I just had constant whiffs of body odor blowing towards be every single time someone walked by. Barf.
We ordered the Kimchi Pancake, Kimchi fried rice and Sauteed Calamari and Beef Bulgogi.
Meh, everything was alright. The kimchi pancake had a good dipping sauce, the kimchi fried rice was not better than The Spot and it was a much smaller portion. And the Sauteed Calamari and Beef bulgogi cannot beat the place on Balboa St. So overall, I probably wouldn't come back for a while. -
Review from KD M.
San Francisco, CA
10/24/2011
This place is good if you want to have delicious soju cocktails with crazy friends, pay for overpriced Korean food, and have young Asian eyecandy.
I've been here before and was disappointed. The food just didn't have any pizzazz to it. My friend loves this place and wanted to celebrate his birthday here. This was another opportunity to try other dishes so I could truly determine whether I like this place or not.
Party o' six on a Saturday night. Waited for about 15 minutes without a reservation. The place is hella small, all bedazzled with lights and shiz, straight up garage. Perhaps why a lot of people like this place is the home feel and comfortable environment. Any more comfortable and you'll start taking your shoes off.
I didn't have high hopes for the food and as expected, was mediocre. The seafood casserole and ramen/spam thing was meh. Definitely not worth the 20+ dolla dollas. The spicy chicken wings don't have sauce or anything. I think they just coat it with spice flour. It was ok but on the dry side. The kimchi fried rice is the winner. The portion is a bit small for sharing but the taste is perfect and flavorful.
Cocktail soju time! We ordered: Yogurt, Peach, 2 Aloe, Kiwi, Mango. All were good. I really recommend the kiwi and aloe ones. Super refreshing! Maybe this is why Toyose gets such good reviews. Everyone's too drunk off the alcohol to realize how bland and overpriced the food is. Imjussayin. -
Review from Jean A.
10/6/2011
Best Kimchi fried rice evveeer. Just thinking about it makes my stomach growl with longing. Now that I got that out of the way, here's the low-down. My friend and I came here on a Saturday night knowing that the Yelp reviews all said the wait was at least an hour long. And we hate, hate, hate waiting. Luckily, I planned it all out and had a late lunch so by the time we finally got seated at 9:30 I was good to go.
So talk about weird places to have restaurants. This restaurant is literally in the garage of a Sunset home. When you get inside, there are no windows, just a long narrow space with group tables that have privacy curtains in the front and regular restaurant tables in the back. The front of the restaurant is hot as hell, but the back (where they have the air conditioning machine thing) had me cold as a popsicle. It is a little loud in here - none of that fancy sound bouncing stuff they have in the nice restaurants and people do get loud after 4 bottles of their soju that tastes like juice. (I pretty much drank a majority of the bottle by myself - you'd never know that this stuff has alcohol in it until you get up and you notice you're a little tipsy.) Ambiance and comfort is not really what you should expect when you go to a place like this anyway.
After some extensive Yelp research, we decided we were going to eat like pregnant ladies because we wanted to try everything and had something on the magnitude of 5 dishes between 2 tiny Asian girls. I guess that's what happens when you eat with your eyes. We ordered the kimchi fried rice, seafood pancake, fried chicken, cheesy corn, and the pork hot pot dish and topped it off with some aloe vera soju. My favorites were the kimchi fried rice (obviously), the seafood pancake, and the hot pot dish. The fried chicken was eh, ok, nothing special there. The cheesy corn dish was just weird. It was like hard/bland mozzarella cheese over corn. Not my favorite. The aloe vera soju is Awesome with a capital a.
Stop reading this review and just go already! -
Review from Jeff C.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
awesome korean restaurant located towards the end of noriega st, i'd definitely recommend the casserole, their fried chicken wings, kimchi pancakes, kimchi fried rice and their cheesy garlic fries !! this place is great for groups and especially if you got a thirst for soju. the only reason that this place doesn't get 5 stars is because there always a long wait when me and my friends go there. other than that... this place is like what i said in the very beginning of this review. IT"S AWESOME !!
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Review from Daisy D.
Daly City, CA
1/8/2012
I came here for the first time a couple weeks ago and it was pretty good. I pretty much knew it would be since there was quite a wait (around 10pm on a Friday night) and because there were many Asians there and we all know they know real Asian food. I had the seafood udon soup which was a good size and shared calamari, eel, and strawberry soju. Service was fine and the place was pretty loud. Looks like a good spot for late night cravings. The garage look of it on the outside is unique and tricky.
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Review from Aggie I.
Denver, CO
10/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
Off the beaten path.
Typed in Late Night on Yelp & Toyose was the first place I got.
Toyose or the Garage - From the outside, all you see is a garage, a door & a sign in between.. At this point, it's hard to know what to expect but once you open the door, it's like walking into a korean movie. Def. a late night / comfort food kind of place. They have a pretty big menu with lots of different choices. A variety of korean beers & flavored Sojus.
I had their Spicy Chicken Wings, recommended by my friends mother, & i must say, it was some bad-ass KFC (Korean Fried chicken)! Perfectly crisp but not greasy & really flavorful. There's no sauce on it. The flavoring is in the batter instead & it comes with pickled radish, which is the perfect condiment to help cut through the richness.
Being here felt like having a night with friends at home with some bomb homemade food. One of the best late night experiences, hands down. -
Review from Sam T.
10/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
The Frie Chigggggin is finger licking good! At 12AM this restaurant is packed with people waiting outside for a table. From afar this place looks like a house (full on with a garage).
Food:
Only had the chicken wings and Kimchi fried rice. We ate before we came so we didn't order much, but it was so good we ordered a 2nd serving of Kimchi fried rice! The wings has what I call a light batter that does not come off. Very flavorful and though not too crunchy it is dry on the exterior and moist on the interior. The Kimchi fried rice reminds me of Kimbaps. Actually it's pretty much the same ingredients. Kimbap rice, kimbap beef, and kimchi!
Service:
Gotta love those Korean button things. Unlike many places in Los Angeles where they don't come to you even if you press the button they actually come over! 1 point off because they didn't give us Panchan! If you want to tell me they don't serve Panchan...then 1 point off for that!
Environment:
The place is pretty small considering the amount of business they have. The restaurant is pretty oddly shapes. I would shift to a bigger open space if I were them. They sure have enough followers to afford moving. Anyway the place has a party environment without a party setup because of the way the restaurant is structured. Definitely not a place you want to end up if you have a party of more than 4 (hard to get a table).
Price:
I don't remember...only remember 11 Soju mixes which is a pretty good deal. Good food is always worth it's price!
Will come back again! Need to try their other foods.
Food: 5
Service: 4
Environment: 3
Price: 4 -
Review from Peter G.
Vallejo, CA
10/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
More like 2.5 stars.
Aesthetics: From the outside, you can't even tell its a restaurant. It's a garage from the outside but definitely renovated on the inside. About ten tables or so, white Christmas lights adorn the walls alongside Korean beer posters and faux plants. Cool kick it spot for a late night bite.
Food: Meh. Expensive and definitely not worth the overpriced price tag.
Had the following:
*Kim Chee Fried Rice with Fried Egg: The best dish of the night. Flavorful, seasoned well, and the fried egg yolk's richness on top of the rice pairs well with the slightly acidic and spicy notes of the rice. Portion size is quite small for the price.
*Spicy Fried Wings: Should be called "overcooked, rock hard, non-spicy fried wings." These were a joke. Fried to complete Sahara Desert dryness, they lacked flavor, and the spice must've been lost in the 24 hour fry time they gave these wings. The best part of this dish were the side condiment of pickled radish. How sad.
*Sauteed Fish and Rice Cakes with Potstickers in Spicy Sauce: Texturally quite off-putting. Fish cakes were non-existent, rice cakes were gummy and undercooked, and the potstickers were dry and overcooked. Tomato based sauce was mediocre at best.
*Bulgogi with Calamari: Effin' disappointing. The calamari were overcooked and literally rubber band status. The bulgogi had potential, but inconsistent cuts and lack of sauce gave this dish two thumbs down... way down.
Service: A joke. Non-existent. With a restaurant that small, theres no excuse for her inattentive nature. Took forever to ask for water, more napkins, and menus. She was real quick to check on the finished bill though. Sorry hun, its a confirmed negative on that tip you were expecting. So here's a tip for you: actually wait on and serve your guests instead of texting on your phone where everyone can see you NOT WORKING. SMH.
Overpriced. Horrible service. Food was sad, with the exception of the Kim Chee Fried Rice with Fried Egg.
See you...never. -
Review from Annie S.
San Leandro, CA
12/23/2011
Crazy long wait but worth it. This place is quite small but I didn't mind the crowded setting after my meal. Soju was good and kimchi noodle was excellent as well. It came in a giant pot that could feed a part of 4-5. Another favorite of mine were their chicken wings. Definitely snag those two dishes if you ever come here.
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Review from Tiff C.
Daly City, CA
12/30/2011 2 photos
I tried their spicy chicken wings, spicy hot pot w/ ramen sausage and spam, seafood pancake, and kiwi soju. DELICIOUS!!!! The wait is ridiculous so if you decide to eat here, make reservations!
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Review from Tanya C.
San Francisco, CA
11/16/2011 1 photo
My good friend told me about this place. OMG....at first i was a little questionable about this place. "WHAT a restaurant in the garage?" LOL...When I think of korean food, I want bbq short ribs and kim-chi soup. This place didn't have the beef, but they had every things else.
The front door looks like a garage door, but with a business hours sign in the front. The place it small and I dont think you should go with no more then 3 or 4 (small) people. You would be sitting next to eachother with your arms locked together while trying to eat your dinner.
We waiting an hour for a table and on top of that it was a friday night. At first we wanted to leave and go somewhere else because we were so hungry. I am GLAD we did not leave and it was worth the wait...WOW! We ordered fried chicken, kimchi fried rice, seafood soup (cooked at the table), seafood pancake and can't forget about the drinks. The flavor Soju drinks were so good!!! Oh and their large beer looks like a big 40 bottle...haha...everything was great and we had a good time. The food also came out pretty quick too. WELL WORTH THE WAIT. I suggest everyone try this place. I would FOSHO go back again.
