San Ho Won

Incredible food, service, and ambiance! I visited on a weekday without a reservation and was the first walk-in guest. We were seated at the bar.The meal started off with barley tea and complimentary sides including chilled tofu, pear radish, and peanut anchovies. I absolutely loved the sides! They offer free refills, and the staff consistently checked in to ask if we wanted more. I also ordered additional banchan: the spicy pig's ear salad and baechu kimchi. The pig's ear had a very citrus sauce which I felt was a bit overpowering. The baechu kimchi was fresh. The Sanma Pajeon (mountain yam & green onion pancake) was a surprise! The mountain yam had a crunchy texture I wasn't expecting. The beef neck filet was so tender, juicy, and smoky! The texture was chef's kiss. The House Double-Cut Galbi was SO thick and delicious! It was also super tender, juicy, and smoky. Each piece had a balance of fat and meat, so if you don't like fatty cuts, I would skip it. The galbi melts in your mouth like butter. The charcoal bbq came with ssamjang, gochujang, house chili oil, and jangajii. I loved trying the meats with the different sauces, but my favorites were the house chili oil and jangajii (pickled jalapeño and onion). The seasonal vegetable bibimbap was packed with greens and flavor. I enjoyed the preserved squid on the side, which added a nice salty texture to the dish.To end of a great meal, I had the roasted buckwheat soft serve which paired well with the barley tea.I would definitely recommend this place! They do charge a 20% gratuity, but the service is well worth it. I already can't wait to come back but I'll definitely make a reservation next time.

I went here a few weeks ago to celebrate my birthday with my family! We made a reservation via Tock for a $30/person deposit, which went towards our bill. Although our reservation was at 9:30 pm, we showed up about 45 minutes early and they were able to accommodate us before the reservation time as it wasn't too busy that Tuesday night. It was fairly easy to find street parking right around the corner. As a group of 5, we were seated in the more private dining area towards the back and I really liked the ambiance and lighting of the dining area. The service was wonderful and our server was very knowledgeable of the menu. He even suggested to us how many dishes our group should order as it was our first time there. We ordered a la carte and got: Galbi Mandu, Savory Egg Souffle, Grilled Tteok, House Double-Cut Galbi, Beef Neck Fillet, Beef Tongue, and Kimchi Jjigae. I had never had such tender meat from a KBBQ restaurant! We loved the beef neck and beef tongue the most out of what we had ordered, and even got another serving of the beef neck! I will say, the grilled tteok is something you can pass on, however it was a pleasantly chewy side dish. Throughout the dinner, our server checked up on us and would make sure our teapot was always warm and full. As for dessert, we decided upon both soft serve flavors, and the persimmon bingsu. The served the bingsu with a candle and they took a polaroid picture of us to keep, alongside a magnet with their logo on it! :) The persimmon bingsu was delightful and unlike any other bingsu I've had before. Additionally, the buckwheat soft serve was a good balanced, not too sweet dessert, so I would definitely order this again if it were offered!

First time at San Ho Won for a pre-Valentine's day dinner, and we left very impressed. Since it was our first time, we did the $118/pp pre-fix menu, which included multiple dishes. It doesn't look like a lot, but it's plenty of food. Some of my favorite dishes were their buckwheat dumplings, beef neck fillet, and the rib eye bulgogi. The beef neck was so flavorful on it's own, and with their housemade chili oil, so good! The things I thought were alright was the egg souffle and dungeness crab biji jjigae. Good but not sure if I'd order again. The presentation of all the dishes were top notch. You can tell they put a lot of care into their quality. The service was impeccable. Everyone we interacted with were so nice and made the experience even better. The restaurant itself was great for date night. It's very unassuming from the outside as it's tucked next to homes and condos. They use the TOCK reservation system and it's a $30 per person hold, which they use towards your final bill. Making a reservation is crucial, and trying to find a 2-person table reservation is a tad bit harder, but it's easier if to grab one if you have a larger group. We definitely plan on coming back and now that we have a baseline idea of what their food is like, I can't wait to go the a la carte route, and go for more meats!

San Ho Wan is an upscale Korean restaurant, but was it worth it? I'd say it was overpriced, though the food was good--except for the blue crab biji jjigae.What did we order? We went with the house menu, a prix fixe experience featuring five meals and a dessert. Keep in mind, the menu changes periodically. The ambiance was chic and stylish, but I couldn't help noticing most of the Gen Z patrons were dressed casually, while I prefer to get dolled up--just like my food!My only gripe? The blue crab. I was thoroughly enjoying all the dishes until the last one came out. I get that blue crab doesn't have much meat, but it was served as a soup with kimchi leaves, and I just wasn't feeling it.That being said, the service was fantastic--very friendly staff, and the food came out promptly. Overall, a mixed experience with some highs and a disappointing finish.

Wanted to treat ourselves for our anniversary and San Ho Won did not disappoint. Staff was friendly and informative, and they even gave us a Polaroid picture at the end so we could remember this special night! The food comes out at a good pace and was well worth the price. Be warned the galbi is humongous and made us so full we had to take the soup to go. The restaurant is spacious so you can really enjoy yourselves without rubbing elbows with the people around you. Truly and elevated Korean BBQ experience.

Great experience. From the moment you walk into the beautiful restaurant to the moment you leave, everything is on point. Amazing food, amazing service, beautiful decor,...can't ask for much more.

This meal was one of my favorites I've ever had. The flavors were so unique and the meat was so so tender and melt in your mouth. Also, the buckwheat ice cream was really unique and fun, and not too sweet- I would definitely recommend it. The service was really great as well. Automatic 20% counted into your bill as part of gratuity/no additional tipping required. Casual-ish ambiance but can still be an intimate setting! A splurge but well worth it for a special occasion or treat

Booked the set meal for valentines ($118/person). We had to book right on the dot at 10am a month in advance and snagged the 10pm slot. All the food was so impressive and so thoughtfully made. My favorites from the meal were the bintteok dumplings, the jowl, and the beef cheeks. Both meats were incredibly tender and perfectly cooked. We also chose the clam tofu stew/kimchi fried rice combo. We thought it was super yummy but wasn't super special either. We got the buckwheat soft serve for dessert and really enjoyed that as well. The buckwheat flavor was nice and prominent and was a super refreshing way to end our course. Service there was super friendly and they even took a Polaroid for us for our anniversary. Cant wait to come back and try more things a la carte :))

One of the best traditional Korean dining experiences I've had in SF! Reservations are difficult to get but the food and service more than makes up for it. Perfect for a special occasion or a date night this is a must try in sf! Must try: tasting menuAdditions: the rice cake skewersPrice: $$$Rating: 9.5/10

to dine at san ho won ain't easy. the hardest being getting ala carte/general reservation, parking, price ofc. but when you're in, get the beef tongue and galbi. THEY ARE A MUST. i suggest to request for a booth in your reservation for optimal seating and tablespace (if u need space for photos). the service is ok (nothing special), and food comes out in a timely manner as they serve the dishes based on the pace of the party eating. i've gone twice now (only general reservation, i have never done pre-fixed) and i definitely have some thoughts on what is worth the time and money. FYI: i like my meat to have a bit more fat/texture. i recommend: beef tongue*, galbi*, sanma pajeon, ssam (to cut through the fatty-ness), spicy pork bulgogi. (list is short, but will add to it when i have more money to try other stuff on their menu)*heck, if you have enough money and want more meat? just get multiple orders of them. that's gonna be my go-to plan. everything else is a take it or leave it/ filler kinda situation, because what i recommend are the highlights/ what i feel taste the best to fill the stomach. which is also why i'm deducting a star, because the other stuff i've tried like the tartare, beef neck, (even when they had the soondubujiigae) were just underwhelming/ not worth the price and stomach space. and i do apologize that i haven't mentioned anything about their speciality banchan. i never order them because it's very pricey for side dishes and i rather just save my stomach for their meat dishes. would i come back? yes. but only for special occasions/ when i'm craving those two meat dishes.