Han Il Kwan Review

Han Il Kwan provided us satisfying protein. We called ahead to ask to grill our meats over charcoal and were glad we did. (Normally you grill over gas or have the restaurant cook the meats on your behalf.)

For meats, we got kalbi (beef short ribs) and bulgogi (thinly sliced steak). Both meats were marinated in the house's special sauce and both were quite good. We slightly preferred the bulgogi because the (thicker) kalbi ended up a bit chewer. It was a sight to see the waitress attack the meat with kitchen scissors to get it in sizes more appropriate for grilling. With the meats came lettuce (with which to wrap the meat) and rice and a sour, pungent paste, all of which we generally ignored. The meat was too good to dilute the flavors with lettuce or rice or alter them with the paste.

We also ordered some broiled mackerel. Although served as an unappetizing halved fish, it turned out to be quite good. Though salty, it was still moist.

The less exceptional parts of the meal were items we didn't order. As with most Korean restaurants, the fun thing is to see what unordered complimentary sides they bring. This time, we got eight such small side dishes (so called panchan), including tofu & peppers, anchovies, beans, mung beans, jelly things, kim chi, thin octopus sticks, and radish things. We also got a hot tofu soup with diced cucumbers, a dish which may more accurately be described as soft tofu with a little broth. The panchan and soup were fine, but we weren't impressed.

Better yet, we received as an appetizer some freshly cooked Korean mung bean pancakes. These were good, nicely salty, and complemented well by the dipping sauce.

As if that wasn't enough, we got a free dessert: a sweet liquid with some submerged grains of rice -- a nice end to the meal. It reminded one person of a Persian dessert of sweetened rosewater, with the exception of the rice at the bottom. That rice was odd and we could've done without it.

As you can guess, this turned out to be a ton of food.

The setting included pristine, clean, red tables and none of the smoky odor one finds in most Korean barbecue restaurants. As we started grilling, we realized the ventilator hoods worked quite well.

The service was good, though we would've preferred less help with the grilling. Our waitress sometimes came over and added more items to the grill and flipped others. This made us have to eat faster than we would have preferred, as we had to remove stuff from the grill to prevent them from burning and, once removed, we'd rather eat them hot. We'd like to eat at our own pace.

The total was $23/person including tax and tip. We didn't order drinks.

Original Announcement

This week, if we have four people, we'll head to the Malaysian/Thai mirage in Chinatown that is Penang Garden. If we have fewer, we'll head to Han II Kwan, a Korean restaurant in the outer Richmond.

Please tell me if you're coming.

Comments from Other Attendees

Apparently the soft tofu soup is called soondobu. -mark

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