Ohgane

went last night. there are lots of korean restaurants in oakland i haven't tried, but i think i may have found my go-to spot for korean food.

we had haemul pajeon (green onion seafood pancake), sundae (blood sausage stuffed with cellophane noodles), dwaejigalbi kimchi jjim (pork ribs braised with kimchi), two servings of galbi, one of spicy pork, one samgyeopsal (thinly sliced pork belly), a...+READ went last night. there are lots of korean restaurants in oakland i haven't tried, but i think i may have found my go-to spot for korean food.

we had haemul pajeon (green onion seafood pancake), sundae (blood sausage stuffed with cellophane noodles), dwaejigalbi kimchi jjim (pork ribs braised with kimchi), two servings of galbi, one of spicy pork, one samgyeopsal (thinly sliced pork belly), a grilled yellow croaker, the spicy black goat casserole, and one order of hwae naengmyon, or raw skate with spicy cold buckwheat noodles.

with such a large party, i didn't get the opportunity to try all the panchan, so can't report much there, although i remember really tasty spicy soybean sprouts and radish kimchi, and the tiny dried anchovies were excellent as well.

stand out dishes for me were the braised pork ribs and kimchi. like a drier, much more substantial kimchi chigae, with whole leaves of napa cabbage kimchi, with tender, delicious pork. i also loved the black goat casserole, although this is my first experience with this dish, so i haven't tried the more famous version at sahn maru. but the broth was delicious, with whole mustard seeds, and strongly flavored with the perilla leaves. the goat meat was tender but quite mild, and i enjoyed gnawing on the connective tissue and skin.

the seafood pancake was good, with more variety of seafood than most versions, which often come with just squid. this had prawns and octopus as well. the sundae, served as bites cut on the bias, had rich stuffing almost bursting out of the casing. i only had a bite or two, but i would order this again, especially dipped in the dish of salt and chile flakes.

the grilled meats were a mixed bag. the galbi was solid, and not too sweet, a common flaw. the ssamjang, or bean paste sauce was clearly house-made, and not doctored up store bought. the spicy pork bulgogi was good, but restrained. not very spicy, but big on ginger. the pork belly was kind of a disappointment. they said that they had to grill it in the kitchen, unlike the galbi and the spicy pork, which was grilled at our table. the pork belly was sort of bland and i couldn't find the traditional dip of sesame oil, salt, and black pepper.

the grilled fish, the yellow croaker or corvina, or whatever a jogi or chogi is in english, was tender enough, and sizable, if plain, but i like it that way. the raw skate naengmyon was nicely balanced, the saucing bright and just sweet and tart enough, but when i got to the bowl all the skate was already gone.

the complimentary shikye, or sweet rice punch that ended the meal also had a subdued sweetness. well...for a dessert.

corkage is $10.

everyone in my party really enjoyed the meal, and those of us that dined at jong ga house a few months ago all agreed that ohgane was superior. and i think for my friends it was sort of an adventure because not many of them have much experience with korean food. i basically ordered everything, and would walk down to the other end of the table to explain what we were eating. it was tremendously fun but more to the point, ohgane is now my favorite korean restaurant in the area.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (9 Replies) (by augustiner, created August 9, 2009)