Um Ma Son

Family run place that serves up some great Korean food!! I stopped in for outsidelands weekend with some friends and could tell the food would probably take a long time due to the whole place being packed from the after outsidelands rush for munchies but the smell entering the restaurant was too tempting to leave.

The owner was nice enough to let us take our orders to go. This lady was cooking, taking orders, serving, and cleaning all at the same time! She seems to run it all and I was blown away by the hardworking nature of the staff.

Now in terms of the food, it was amazing and exactly what I wanted- some hearty Asian food. I got the kimchi bibimbap which was super flavorful and tasty. We were all so satisfied with our meals and appreciate the staff for staying open and catering to our group on such a busy night.

Definitely come to this under the radar spot for some good home cooked Korean style food! I will be back for some more late night food runs:)

Walked by this morning and saw the "For Rent" sign.
This was one of our most favorite Richmond insider spots. Remember coming here for great late-night eats (so rare for SF -- open till 3am originally!). Love the woman owner (grandma feels). Always a relaxing spot to hang. Great soups (esp for the Richmond fog) -- galbi-tang and yook gae jang (yum)!! Also loved the sauteed rice cake. Will miss this spot dearly.

After a long traffic-ridden drive from LA, we were eager to get out of the car and get some real food into our stomachs.

Reading the reviews, I knew service would be slow since there's literally one person doing all of the work. But she was actually pretty quick in terms of service! However, it was New Year's and she started to turn away customers around 10pm/customers walked away when she was busy in the kitchen.

I think as long as you are aware and considerate of the circumstances, you won't be disappointed. There were hefty chunks of beef in my yukejang which was great! Everyone is always so stingy and I get like 3-4 stringy pieces. Although the seafood pancake came out sizzling, it wasn't as crispy as I would have liked. Since it was New Year's, the boy wanted to get rice cake soup and he liked it. The banchan tasted homemade too.

Korean food can be so expensive and yet unimpressive in the Bay so I'm wary but this was just what I missed since moving here. Low-key atmosphere with real home cooking.

Come to this restaurant if you want to experience a real umma's (Korean mom's) cooking. It's a one-woman show and she locks the door when she can't handle any more customers. If you run into this situation, you can wait outside and she'll start letting people in again when she's ready. I gotta respect that attitude.

We ordered a seafood bibimbap $16.95, a beef bibimbap $14.95, and a seafood tofu soup $11.95. The bibimbaps were delicious, but I probably wouldn't order the tofu soup again. You couldn't see any pieces of seafood in it, and there wasn't very much quantity. Maybe I'd get a kimchi stew instead?

A bottle of beer is $6 and is enormous about equal to two normal bottles of beer. This is the best value on the menu.

Going with the theme, this is a homestyle place, so you get some typical homestyle banchan. If you want excitement and ambiance, go somewhere else. If you want comfort Korean, come to Um Ma Son.

We went to um ma son at 11 pm on a Tuesday night. I would recommend calling ahead to make sure that the restaurant is open. Sometimes the restaurant closes early even though it is advertised as being open until midnight!

We were the only ones there. I think the owner is also the server and the chef, so it was amazing that she was running everything! She was super nice and friendly. (Another tip: it helps if you bring someone who speaks Korean!)

The food was pretty good. It's not the best Korean food around, but the restaurant has a very cozy, homey feel to it, and she also gives a lot of bonchon!

We ordered the seafood pancake (a lot of batter), japchae (pretty good), beef stew (the large size was huge!! With big chunks of meat. Pretty salty), and another potato beef stew (pretty good). Would go back, especially since it's open late!

So today I went there with a friend at around 6:30, and this sweet lady welcomed us to our seats! She was so sweet and let us take our time when ordering.
She took our orders and then walked into the kitchen, and what we realized is that she was also the one who was cooking! The food did not even take very long, but it was also not busy when we were there.
The food was delicious! My favorite was the seafood tofu soup, but it was not filled with lots of seafood which I personally like better! The sides were all good, I was so stuffed after!
We also probably spent a good twenty minutes just talking so I really enjoyed how she didn't rush us to leave. Can't wait to come back!

I didn't realize that the umma running this restaurant did everything herself - from working the register, to cooking the dishes (even the banchan is homemade), to waiting on tables. I'd say the food is good - it's not the most amazing Korean food I've ever had (I'm also from SoCal, so my standards are quite high), but it's right up there with other places I've been in the bay. The fact that she can compete with restaurants that have much more resources absolutely astounds me. For that fact alone, it would be a crime to give this place less than 5 stars.

We had the pancake, bulgogi, and spicy beef stew - all were delicious! I especially enjoyed the pancake; it was light and crispy, which from my many failed attempts, I know is hard to do. The spicy beef stew was delicious and very generous on the beef - perfect after a long day out!

We came on a Sunday evening, so the restaurant was pretty empty. There was no wait and service was great! I don't speak Korean, so I had no idea what the umma was saying, but my boyfriend seemed to have a good chat with her. He told me it reminds him of his own mom's cooking.

If you want the authentic, homestyle Korean experience, come to Um Ma Son!

* More like 2.5 *

Walked in and the entire place smelled of burnt ends / smoke, should have walked out then.

It's a one-woman shop, which good for her, but it's very inefficient. First, she speaks no English. I had to unwrap my chopsticks to point to the number I wanted. I ordered the seafood tofu soup and she kept saying something like "short rib" - which was confusing because I didn't want beef?? Way later, when I noticed neither seafood nor beef, nor really anything except tofu in my soup, I waved her over.. and she pointed to the three tiny pieces of SHRIMP in my soup. Plus, the soup came basically half full.. and I paid $12.

The pancake was basically flour. With the same measly shrimp and that's it.

Kalbi - 9 small pieces for $27. At this point, we were eager to finish eating and leave. I feel like everyone is tricked by the sweet Korean grandma, but she is half scowling when she's not customer facing.

Spent $70 and was really disappointed. The free tea also tastes weird, like herb medicine. Benches are hard to sit on too.

When was the last time you had Korean food where the cashier was also the owner and the chef?! Seriously, this umma is amazing.

Came for a late night dinner after a concert in the city, and sis and I wanted some hearty Asian food since it was rainy and around 10PM in the evening. Thank goodness for yelp's guidance to Um Ma Son in Richmond. We were the only other group that went in to eat--a table of four was finishing up when we went in. We were immediately served hot barley tea and given banchan once we placed our orders--seafood pancake to share, beef glass noodles for sis, and seafood tofu soup for me.

Everything came out super fast considering that this smiley Korean g-ma was the only one working all of the positions! Food was so delicious, and all of the banchan were yummy. We asked her for more of a select banchan, and she smiled and said something in Korean and brought it out. The food was not oily, like most seafood pancakes are, and the flavors were SO prominent. Diners who care a lot about ambiance and the "lewk" of a place might be turned off by how basic and lacking Um Ma Son is. But if you grew up eating in low-key places like this, you'd agree with me that aesthetic means nothing in a Korean spot. This place accepts card, and there are restrooms in the back.

The warm and no frills space, comforting quality food, and basic aesthetic reminded me of how great simplicity and good food should be more than enough to keep customers like me happy. It's quiet and music-less, so it's great for a quiet dinner or smaller groups. I will definitely come back to Um Ma Son for delicious and worthy Korean tofu soup and dishes like seafood pancake!

I had my favorite Berkeley Korean soup place, and this is just like that! Mom& pop, chill and delicious!
Hidden gem in the Richmond for sure