San Ho Won

I've had this spot on my list for a few years and finally had the chance try it. I wasn't able to get a reservation, so took a shot and came around 5pm to see if I could walk in. I was quoted 3 hours for a party of 2. I was expecting to wait at least two hours, so we went to one of the many bars in the area to wait. To my surprise I got a text our table was ready an hour earlier than expected! So we were seated at 715pm. It was a phenomenal experience after that. We were seated at the counter with a view of the open kitchen. The atmosphere is very simple and modern. Our waiter was great at walking us through the menu. We definitely wanted to try as much as possible for our first visit and might have gone slightly overboard lol! The standouts were definitely the beef tongue and the egg soufflé. I highly recommend getting the ssam and scallion salad as they both really help to cut the richness of the meat. Next time I will try more of the appetizers and stews. The desserts are also delicious, especially the soft serve. Overall I was left stuffed and blown away. Please note 20 percent gratuity is already included in the bill. They don't have a Michelin star for nothing! I cannot wait to come back again!

What we ordered:

Egg soufflé - the best steamed egg I've ever had. The way they serve it is unique. The broth they pour in it is delicious.

Ssam - various lettuce wraps. wish the portion was a bit bigger, but definitely needed to compliment the meat

Scallion salad - very nice and refreshing

Rib cap - very good, but I could skip it next time

Galbi - a little thick for my taste, but very tender and flavorful. If you're only ordering one meat, then go with this one.

Beef tongue - melt in your mouth!!! I don't usually eat beef tongue, but this was unlike any I've had. A must order!!

Bulgogi - super smoky and delicious. Not your standard bulgogi! Super tender!

One of my favorite fine dining experiences in SF and a great spot to celebrate special occasion!

The service here is amazing. I was blown away by the attention to detail from the staff. I noticed that they would constantly check if our teapots were warm/full and refill them if needed, without us having to ask.

My partner and I did the a la carte menu and weresatisfied by the portion sizes - my favorites were the double cut galbi and pancake. The galbi is truly melt-in-your-mouth good and exceeds all others I've had before. My hot take is that I don't think I'd order the savory egg souffle again, which seems to be a popular item. While delicious, it was nothing mind-blowing and didn't really stand out from a regular steamed egg dish. We also had the black sesame ice cream as dessert, which was refreshingly nutty and not overly sweet!

This is a great spot to celebrate a special occasion! The staff took a polaroid for us as a keepsake, which was very sweet. The ambience is upscale but still casual (and not too loud!).

3.5 stars. I had very high expectations because of reviews and recommendations by friends. Overall I thought the food was good and on the prix fixe menu, the short ribs were delish with great flavor and generous portions. I'd return just for this dish and their salads. The 2 plates of ban chan were OK and different from traditional ones. The buttered mushrooms were good but not memorable.

My least favorites were the fermented parilla leaf, also know as sesame leaf. It had an overwhelming pungent anise - licorice taste. But this leaf served raw with the fresh lettuce leaves and marinated veggies was really good with a mild minty flavor.
The pork Jowl, tofu, Kim chee stew was too spicy and sour for me. The friends who dined with us wished we ordered the clam stew instead. The ice creams were good and different but nothing special.

Service was nice but one staff member asked if we wanted more ban Chan but forgot to bring it and later asked again if we wanted more and we told him yes, again. They could use more staffing given how busy they were, fully booked. We had to put a $30 pp deposit when we made the reservations which was deducted from the bill at the end of dinner, it included an automatic 20% tip.

I've heard amazing things about this place and clearly the reservations show for the popularity. It has such a discreet exterior and simplistic inside. I came in a party of three and we opted for the house menu. Off the bat, I can say it's a lot of food, the portions are huge. Given all the courses, I did feel rushed when the waiter kept bringing food out before we were ready to move on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to enjoy my meal to the fullest.

My highlights were the egg soufflé, pork neck, galbi, and the ice cream. The egg soufflé was fluffy and bouncy, and the broth served with it was delightful. The seaweed sauce really enhanced the flavors. I loved the pork neck; it was tender and soft. The galbi was outstanding, with rich meat that melted in your mouth. I would have enjoyed it on a bed of rice to balance the flavors. I tried both ice cream flavors, but the black sesame was my favorite.

The other items on the house menu didn't stand out to me. Next time, I'd order à la carte. Overall, I had a great experience.

I lived in Ktown LA for 2 years and had my fair share of kbbq. This is a eye-roll-back-to-the-back-of-your-brains type of kbbq place for sure -- I was skeptical at first, but yeah... San Ho Won FTW!

The Good:
- I mean............ i don't wanna repeat what everyone else has but i guess i should: if you think you've had tender kbbq, you really haven't until you try their short, neck, anyyy ribs... if you ENJOY FAT in your meat (tastefully and skillfully done), san ho won is for you
- i honestly think they're charging a fair price for the experience... post inflation (i hope), $120 prefixe?! one mich star? no complaints from me... and i'm cheap af


The Meh:
- nothing. coming back every chance i get

This is a place I've been wanting to go to for a very very very long time. Let me tell you, getting reservations is not easy, but I'm here now and this place did not disappoint!

The service here was great. My server Maggie was really nice and she was great at breaking down the menu and giving recommendations.

I started off with the Mae hwa cocktail and complimentary banchan. Next, I had the Soondae Pajeon and grilled tteok. The Pajeon was hearty and the tteok was sweet and chewy. Up next I had the House Double Cut Galbi w/Ssam. The Galbi was incredible lemme tell you! The meat was so tender and packed with flavor.The Ssam with the assorted sauces also add a nice complement to the meat. I finished off my dinner with the Black Sesame Sundae and a Korean Chamoe Melon and Milk Crisp. The black sesame sundae had an interesting balance having some saltiness yet still being sweet and creamy at the same time. The Korean Chamoe Melon soft serve had light freshness to it and crisp on top added nice texture to it.

The ambiance of the restaurant is intimate, chic, and has a traditional vibe to it. Their bathroom is also really clean and they have a fancy high tech toilet lol. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone who is interested in trying high quality Korean food!

This might be the best bites from this year! Definitely a Michelin star restaurant that is WORTH VISITING !!

It was a sudden thought to come visit so the only available reservation was for 9PM. The appetizers were good but nothing really blew our mind. However, I would gladly do another 9PM reservation for the meats!

*Beef tartare with asian pear ($24) - beef was fresh and the fried seaweed was a great twist, added a nice crunchy texture, but nothing too special.
*Western mushrooms ($8) - mushrooms filled with melted butter.
*Grilled tteok ($6) - came in a skewer of three. Rice cakes were chewy, drizzled with sweet sauce.
*Ssam assorted lettuces ($12) - a great variety of leaves to wrap the meats.
*Mugunji kimchi jjigae ($24) - filled with tofu and pork jowl. It was hearty but the taste flavor was more like tomato soup. Good portion to split.
*House double-cut galbi ($68) - if you are more into fattier meat, you would lovee their galbi! Thick, packed with flacor, juicy, and just melts in the mouth.
*Center cut beef tongue ($46) - my favorite of the night! The cut was thick but it was cooked to perfection! Smoky and veryyy tender! Might be the best beef tongue I've had.
*Kimchi - not overly fermented, very fresh, watery and crunchy, very sweet; perfect to cut through the fatty meats!

San Ho Won is located in the Mission District with decent amount of street parking around the block. The restaurant gives off a more casual vibe with amazing service. It was definitely worth the $ and the calorie!

San Francisco, Mission. June 2024.

Casual charcoal BBQ with a bit of traditional and lot of modern touches. The audience is American. The influence is clearly Korean, from the land of mountains ... "back when tigers used to smoke".

Just west of Potrero Hill, on the good side of S Van Ness in Mission, the restaurant has a plain white facade and stands in stark contrast to the rest of the neighborhood. The inside is industrial with some light and dark wood. The neatest seats to grab are on the counter in front of the kitchen - most of the early seating there is also usually set aside for walk-ins.

Meals start with some warm nutty boricha served in an aluminum teapot with a cup. Everyone will tell you to get the Galbi Mandu, Savory Egg Souffle, and 12oz House Double Cut Kalbi. They are popular choices. Try the Beef tartare w Asian Pear - fresh tender chunks of beef accompanied by julienned daikon and Asian pear, served w puffed rice covered gim bugak chips and a sauce with an egg yolk.

If you are a group, the Spicy Beef Riblet Teokkbokki showcases what Chef Hwang jeong In really likes - a charcoal flavor to the beef with nice chew on the spicy ricecakes ... familiar but not traditional Korean take.

And get their Jebi Churi! This is not the tough cut of the beef neck. This cut has a juicy tender filet mignon consistency. When grilled over the lychee wood charcoal and served with a quartet of epic aged ssamjang, cilantro scallion kind of chimichurri, chili oil, and an LA style jalapeno onion jangganjji, you will wonder why every Korean BBQ place doesn't have it on their menu.

And yes to soju! A 375ml bottle of Sulseam Mir 22 - made with rice from Gyeonggi-Do, nuruk, and water, and distilled to a clear vodka like 22 proof liquid. Maybe a lower alcohol volume, Jinro Is Back, a predecessor of the familiar green bottle Chamisul.

Make your reservation 30 days in advance, or stand in line to walk-in at 5:00pm. But come with your friends. Leave your Korean family and relatives at home - they probably won't dig the modern tastes or prices.

This place is phenomenal! They've been hyped up for awhile as they are a 1-Star establishment.

The staff was very friendly and patient, we were a bit overwhelmed with the options we had at our disposal.

We ended up going with the Egg Soufflé, Beef Tongue, Short Ribs, Veggie Bibimbap, and a round of the soju cocktail.

The soju cocktail was such an easy drink/refreshing, super tasty. The egg soufflé, omg that broth...absolutely divine. Fluffy/velvety eggs, absolutely a must order. I'm literally salivating as I'm drafting this review. I forgot to take a photo of the kimchi, but that was super bomb too. Unfortunately I do not recall which one we ordered. As for the main attractions, both were super tender, super flavorful, just melt in your mouth palate experiences. YOU MUST GET THE SSAM AND SCALLION SALAD. The flavors were absolutely rocking for this. Lastly the veggie bibimbap, it mildly put us over the top in terms of our appetite, but that was quite tasty as well.

Ambiance is minimal and super sleek. Bathrooms have bidets! Lol

Definitely would come back. This was a meal split between two, for sake of reference on wondering how much to order.

This past week we made reservations to San Ho Won, this is a one star Michelin restaurant. We arrived at 5pm that's when restaurant opens. The host came out to greet the clients and started to allow entry to those that had made previous reservations. From the moment you arrive the service is great! Focused on providing the client a great experience. The server often assisted serving each plate and clearing empty tables as needed.

The inside of the restaurant is a very chill, more of a casual setting. Plenty of soft lighting, the noise can get a bit high when the restaurant is at its peak. I personally loved the casual setting as my wife and I had friends with us and to be able to sit down enjoy a great food experience with friends is perfect.

Our table went with the house menu. The food was nicely presented, it had good flavor, and the meats were very tender. The short ribs were very thick, with great flavor. Out of the dishes we had ordered I can't say I did not like any of them. I enjoyed every bite.

The bathrooms were very clean and there's a toilet bidet inside of each bathroom. Overall great experience.