Dan Sung Sa

When you enter it's a dark, wooden cellar w/ K-Pop posters and graffiti on the wall. Don't let the decor fool you. This place has amazing Korean food from soups, stews, grilled meats and fried chicken. If you're w/ friends, make sure to also order some soju or even a Hite beer to complement your meal.If you like a little kick to your food, would highly recommend the spicy race cakes with ramen noodles. The soup isn't too spicy and is filled w/ a combination of delicious rice cakes, vegetables, tofu and ramen. The perfect dish especially for a cold or rainy day. You can never go wrong w/ the standard bulgogi or grilled spicy pork. The dish is served w/ rice and works as an individual entree or to share amongst friends.Candidly this place would be 5 stars if the service was a little better. Although the servers are polite, you often have to track or wave them down. It's almost as if they sometimes get lost in their own world and the K-Pop music blasting on the speakers. I've been here 4x and every time the servers are polite but I've had to kind of wave them down to ask for something. They do not check-in and honestly once you're seated, you're on your own.

Dan Sung Sa is one of my favorite late-night spots in Oakland! The ambiance is perfect for hanging out with friends, and they offer a great selection of food and drinks. I highly recommend trying their yogurt soju--I love mixing it with lychee for an extra fruity twist. This time, we ordered the kimchi pancake, which was delicious! Next time, I'd ask for extra jalapeños to add a bit more kick. The kimchi fried rice with spam and the pork belly lettuce wraps were both flavorful and good presentation. However, the cheesy corn took an extremely long time to arrive and didn't come out until after our meal, which was a bit disappointing. That said, the servers were attentive and quick overall. The food was packed with flavor and the presentation was on point. If you're looking for good food, late-night vibes, and something fun to sip on, this place is a solid choice!

This Korean restaurant delivers an authentic experience with incredible food and ambiance. The kimchi pancake is perfectly crisp, packed with tangy, spicy flavor. The beef tofu soup is a comforting bowl of savory goodness, rich and satisfying. The chicken wings are a highlight--crispy, juicy, and coated in a perfectly balanced sweet-and-spicy glaze. Combined with the warm, traditional decor, this spot is a must-visit for anyone craving genuine Korean flavors.Just be careful about parking. Very sketch. We almost got detoured away because a homeless was dancing infront of the store for a long while.

What's all this talk about a Porno Bar? This Korean spot has been here for years, but Jamie W and I didn't know about it until a bartender at the White Horse Inn suggested the Porno Palace as THE place to get big portions of good Korean food. We were hesitant our patronage would mean bodaciously endowed strippers flinging banchan at us, but no such titillation did occur. However, there was a sign for the Happy Hour at the Porno Bar, Mon-Thu 5-7PM.It turned out the references to porno relate to provocative long-ago movie posters that have since been removed from the walls. What's left is a dark, clubby kind of a vibe with a fully loaded bar and a series of wooden booths where we gorged in private. We knew we needed to try the $22 Korean Whole Fried Chicken, which came with a dipping sauce, salt seasoning, pickled jalapeños, and daikon (photo: https://yelp.to/O0uF9TuTAA). It was slightly overcooked, but that didn't stop us from exhibiting buzzard-like behavior.I should mention the Banchan. There were fewer dishes than most Korean spots, but they were all tasty, including an unexpected mac salad (photo: https://yelp.to/VuTtVhbpVz). The $10 Corn Cheese arrived at the same time, and it was decadently creamy (photo: https://yelp.to/U43JNum-sv). The best dish of the night though was the $20 Seafood Pancake which was generously stuffed with squid, shrimp, clams, and scallions. So large, it was drawn and quartered and still huge (photo: https://yelp.to/T1NvPo9BPR).We really didn't miss the porno and came back just recently after downing a cocktail or two at Thee Stork Club. This time, we shared three other Korean favorites. First up was the Banchan but then the $16 Kimchi Fried Rice with Spam topped with a fried egg (photo: https://yelp.to/DxS2iEQSVp). That's total comfort food to us and well executed. Next was the $22 Stone Bowl Bibimbap with Beef. There was quite a bit of delicious grilled beef still sizzling in the stone vessel.The rice was browning the way we like it, and the fried egg provided a nice runny texture (photo: https://yelp.to/dOA8hMYUSq). Lady on the table was the $33 Korean Short Ribs, a generous portion of bone-in beef ribs grilled and tender over a bed of grilled onions on a cast-iron platter (photo: https://yelp.to/U_THaheVLm). A carnivorous delight with each savory bite of the meat. We had yet to try the soju which appears to be the major get here regardless of the lack of porno. Maybe next time.FOOD - 4 stars...hearty plates of familiar Korean favorites unlikely to disappoint AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...felt like a dark bar with plenty of privacy and pop culture decor SERVICE - 3.5 stars...fairly stealth crewTOTAL - 4 stars...come starvingRELATED - Exploring Oakland? Here's my collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2ObVcpQ

Best Korean food in Oakland. You should get:- corn cheese- tofu soup with beef- bulgogi - pork belly- chicken wings- soju

DSS is bananas! It's like every kdrama divey snack and lounge bar. I wish we had more kpop music blaring in the background, but I respect the 90s hiphop and alternative/indy nostalgic music... We just left a concert at Fox and we'd hankering for some good kfood snacks! Thanks to Yelper's recommendation, Dan Sung Sa was chosen one.We ordered all the snacks and they were snackin! Garlic fries, tteokbokki w/ hella cheese pull perfect combo of sweet-savory-spicy, kimchi fried rice, seafood pancake and Makgeolli combo...filled our table along w/ some delightful banchans! Service was friendly and accommodating! I was curious about these porn-fries but did not order...already too much food to take home. Even earlier from dinner. There is always next time...Oakland had to the best divey Korean food and lounges...

My first time at Dang Sung Sa was a fever dream. I was exhausted and starving. I am trying to remember if I liked the food, the only thing I took away was the decorations, and that it reminded me of spots I went to in Seoul. When my friend reached out to grab dinner and wanted Korean, we decided on this since it was a new spot for her. We left disappointed and found it lacking.We came on a weekday evening for an early dinner. The restaurant is dark but spacious with semi-closed-off booth seating. Late in the evening, it's a popular spot for friends and groups, but not a family-friendly place because, on the walls of the restaurant, you'll find interesting and hilarious photos. We both agreed service was extremely slow. We were at the restaurant for 2 hours and never once were checked in on. The food came out staggered too.With it being colder out, soup sounded ideal. I ordered the Fish Cake Soup while my friend had the Stone Bowl Bimbimbap with Korean Short Ribs. The portion of my soup was the only pro. The broth was saltier, the fish cake was similar to the frozen ones, and all the other toppings and proteins (fish balls, imitation crab) were lacking in flavor and taste. Even the side dishes, banchan, could have been better. My friend wasn't too excited to only see three small pieces of meat and a hefty amount of rice for her dish. I would steer clear of these items.Oakland has a lot of options for Korean food. I found the quality and quantity at Dang Sung Sa to be less than average compared to others. The restaurant is located off Telegraph Ave. with street parking out front.

Dining at Dan Sung Sa in approximately 2018 with some of my friends/classmates was a unique experience in terms of ambiance/atmosphere, food, and discussion. We were a cohort who entered Ph.D. programs in the same department in the same year. We opted to come here for food to do a semi-routine check in with how we were all doing.The line was not too long for us when we arrived and we were seated in our own house-like booth. While there were many other diners, the interior decor helped provide a physical impediment to sound from other groups carrying into our booth. While we did strain at times to hear each other, we did hear that one of us, Nate, was getting married and only their families were invited (small ceremony). It was also the occasion where we were informed another one of us, Luke, was leaving with a Masters degree and going to pursue goat farming.Not sure how long we wanted to catch up, we decided to pick a dish per person (approximately). The food came out in a few different batches. We were hungry when round one arrived and ended up liking the staggered delivery, our immediate hunger was alleviated with the first round and we filled up with subsequent round(s) of dishes. Servers/workers were busy, but did not forget about us.

Cozy spot for pocha, good for small or large groups! Love the decor and ambiance, makes for a nice spot to have some casual drinks and bites. The service was really great considering there seemed to be only one server (it was a Wednesday night). The garlic soy fried chicken was so good, definitely a must order. Loved the crispy but light batter, and the light tang from the lemon topping. The army stew and tteokbokki came with huge servings. Both were alright, the army stew came with most ingredients frozen, and tteokbokki was very heavy with veggies. The chewy noodle add on for the tteokbokki was really delicious!

Maybe skip the Seafood Bibimbap this time...I tried this place twice while in Oakland for work. The first time? Amazing. The kimchi rice and seafood bibimbap were so good I couldn't wait to go back. The second time? Let's just say I got a two-day hotel bathroom tour and a new appreciation for life.It was delicious enough to make me want to believe it was a fluke--because hey, I didn't die, right? Nice crowd, great vibes... Honestly, I'd probably risk it again. 3 stars for the food and my questionable life choices.