The restaurant

The food

Chef's menu

Galbi  Mandu (Griddled beef dumplings) served with San Ho Won (SHW) Baechu kimchi (fermented Napa Cabbage).

The Galbi was served with some sort of lacy skirt that was crunchy and with a caramelized skin that is so delicate. The filling is made with pieces of short ribs that is so tasty and simply melted in your mouth.

The Galbi was served with kimchi and a dipping sauce.

 Next, our served came with two large bowls of egg soufflés and put them on a working table.  He scoops out a portion for each guest.

Our server was able to serve 10 people with two large soufflés.

The spicy anchovy broth is poured over the top and then served.

The soufflé was very light and airy and the broth is also very tasty.  We all like the soufflé.

Next, beautifully arranged leafy green baskets for wrapping arrive with a bunch of sauces.

Really neatly and artfully arranged.  I don't think I ever seen anybody arranged like this in an Asian restaurant or even at home.  We usually just piled all the leaves next to each other.

Our server explaining the 4 different type of sauces to go with all the grilled meat that are coming soon.

Prime beef Neck Fillet-Jebi Churi

By the way, all the meat are grilled in the kitchen and brought to our table ready to be eaten.  We do not have to grill our own meat, which is definitely a plus.

The meat was juicy, tender and so delicious.

This is not part of the chef's menu but we order an extra Center cut beef Tongue as we all love it.

The center cut beef Tongue did not disappoint!  It has a nice texture and it was perfectly grilled.

Mushroom cap filled with butter.

House double cut Galbi -Beef Short Rib

Extremely tender and very flavorful!  All of us agreed that the quality of the meat is top notch and we can really appreciate how it was prepared and grilled.

Seasonal Vegetable Bibimbap-gorgeous and colorful presentation.

The bibimbap was solid with unique vegetables such as  cordyceps, fiddleheads, purple cauliflower, snow peas, squash, etc..

I also love the fried egg on top.

Kimchi Jjigae Pozol, Baek Kimchi

Sometimes San How Won will depart from tradition even further, like with its kimchi jjigae pozole, which merges the traditional Korean stew with the hominy-filled Mexican soup. It’s a nod to their own backgrounds and the Mexican heritage of the Mission District where the restaurant resides.

“When I first tried pozole, it reminded me of kimchi jjigae, and I thought the two would go really well together,” Hwang says. “We don’t have strict rules about how traditional or how modern to be. It just comes down to trying to serve the tastiest food we can.”

The Pork belly, Hominy Kimchi Jjigae Pozole is served with a side of Avocado, Radish, Cilantro, and grilled lemon.

Duo of Ice cream

Roasted Buckwheat Honey and Banana Milk Nutella. A simple and sweet ending to a delightfully meal.

San Ho Won is by far our best Korean restaurant ever.  The restaurant focused primarily on BBQ but not the kind of Korean BBQ with grills anchoring to each table and the meat is served raw so that you can grill your own meat.  Here at San Ho Won, the grilled meat is cooked in the kitchen and brought out to table ready for their customers to eat.  We definitely like this concept a lot better and we appreciate coming out of the restaurant not smelling like BBQ.

Also note worthy that San Ho Won imported 15,000 pounds of lychee white charcoal from Vietnam. Lee fell in love with lychee charcoal years ago in China, impressed by how “clean and hot” it burns. I was told that Diners who manage to snag seats at the counter will get to watch cooks work the charcoal grill.  Unfortunately, we did not to experience that as we were in the a private room in the back without any sight of the kitchen while dining.

The food is delicious, you get the highest quality of meat and the service is very attentive and the restaurant was also very cozy. 

We definitely will be back but the next time we will order a la carte so we can try more dishes.

Filed under: Restaurants