tarun_'s Profile
Back to Namu in San Francisco
My wife also pointed out that the chopsticks they gave us were cheap bamboo that splintered a bit instead of metal ones. She especially thought the Echigo beer really wasn't worth it.
Back to Namu in San Francisco
Hi, I saw your review and wanted to thank you for the recommendation. Here is my report of my meal last night with my wife:
Went last night and it was pretty good, there were some small service issues and some of the dishes weren't as good as they should have been. This review reads as critical, but it is just being picky and I would definitely go back (for calibration - this is my idea of a 4/5 star review).
First, they forgot our inital banchan… we only found out at the end when we noticed the entry on the bill. It is sort of like the restaurant that waits 'til you order to bring bread - cheesy and cheap. Just bring the stuff out. Also 3 banchan is skimpy and there was no indication of whether or not you would get free refills on those three.
Water was not refilled promptly (they didn't leave a pitcher - something that is fine at this price point).
The ika tempura dish we both found greasy and heavy - not tempura like at all, more like fish and chips - and the dipping mayo sauce didn't go far enough on the kim chi side. The squid itself was fresh and it was sad to see it ruined that way.
The korean tacos were delicious - but again, the kim-chi flavor was mild and the seaweed tasted more like high quality Japanese nori rather than the salty yummy Korean gim. Also, the seaweed didn't really hold together well enough to eat them like a taco.
The stone pot rice was very good but really just a depressingly conventional bi bim bop with better quality meat and fresher sauce. How about a bit more adventure in the vegetables - e.g. some purslane for a bit of citrus crisp? The tofu bits were good but perhaps cut a bit too small to really add any substance. The rice quality itself was superlative. They also only gave one spoon to mix it all up.
Finally, the Japanese Echigo beer made with koshihikari was at least Japanese (unlike Sapporo in the US which is rebranded Molson) but also a bit conventional in flavor. I think they would be better off with some of Hitachino's brews or Yebisu if there isn't a craft Korean scene. Didn't get to the Soju cocktails but since they were made with something called Han Asian Vodka instead of real Soju - I couldn't say that I had any interest either.
Overall I found it a very successful fusion of Korean food - but there were small issues with each dish. It seems like the chef is trying to really tone down some of the more interesting sides of Korean food. If there audience is non-Korean savvy, that is fine, but then they should be more generous with the water, they should mix up the bi bim bop table side, and definitely put some more mild banchan out there. If they are going for the interesting twist angle, it would be nice to see some different variations of kim chi in different dishes and be a bit more aggressive on experimenting. Also, real Soju would be nice, and a selection thereof would be better.
