Minari

We stopped by on the way to SFO driving a friend for a long haul flight. Parking was a little challenging but we found a good spot where we can see the car thereby easing our worries about being broken into.They weren't packed, so we sat ourselves next to the counter after being beckoned by staff. We ordered a few minutes after perusing the menu.The banchan arrived first. It was a decent assortment of vegetable side dishes with kimchi of course.I got a 16 oz can of refreshing Lemongrass Witbier which tasted more like cider than beer.The food we ordered were:1. Japchae. Just can't go wrong with these sauteed glass noodles. Oddly, it wasn't part of the banchan.2. Bulgogi. Tender cuts of stir fried beef.3. Scallions Pancake. Decent crunchy flavor enhanced by the soy dip4. Doenjang-jjigae. Soybean paste stew with tofu. Served piping hot in a stone pot.5. Hot Stone Bibimpap. We opted to share this generously portioned dish of spicy pork with the anticipated bites of the crispy rice, sunny side egg and vegetables that get toasted by the hot dolsot (stone pot) after being served. This one was the winner.Attentive service.This San Bruno resto was spacious with nominal wall furbishing.

We wanted to go someplace for dinner on Friday night. My brother made a few suggestions, and I opted for Minari. I asked him to make reservations once everyone else confirmed that they were able to join us. Our reservations for was for 10 people at 5:30pm. One person bailed on us but everyone else showed up on time for a change. Our table was ready. Menus, set-up and tea were presented. Water is self-service in the dining room. It took a while for us to figure out what we wanted. We prefer to eat family style rather than each person ordering their own dish. This takes careful negotiation because of allergies. We always strive to order so everyone gets what they want and enough so everyone else can have some. Thank goodness, the menu at Minari isn't massive. Bu there's plenty to satisfy everyone's cravings.What'd we order? We started with two orders of Mandu while we were deciding on what to order. We had them placed at either end of our long table and the rest of our food was distributed the same way.2x Mandu 2x Corn Cheese Japchae Chicken JapchaePlain PancakeSeafood PancakeKorean Fried Chicken Sweet Chili & Soy Sauce2x Army Stew-BuDae JigaeGrilled Mackerel2x GalbiStone ChickenBulgogiTteok-GukSix items of Bon Chan were also placed at each end of our table, and more was brought out as we finished them. Service was terrific as they kept checking back on us frequently, took away empty plates and kept the tea pot full. Everything we asked for was provided with a smile.

cozy restaurant. popped in on a rainy day and had the place to ourselves.stone beef bibimbap 5/5spicy squid stir fry 4/5banchan 4/5japchae 4/5seafood soon dupu soup 2/5service 5/5prices 3/5atmosphere: cozy 5/5

A surprisingly good find in San Bruno for Korean food! I was a little worried about walking in without a reservation, but at 6PM on a Friday there was plenty of seating. Service is friendly, although pretty hands off. You get your own water from a dispenser off to the side.Food was good. I would definitely come back for the bulgogi, army stew, and the Korean pancake. The portions were surprisingly big, even though we were told the army stew was a smaller serving for one (we split between three people). I also really liked the assortment of banchans, although I don't know if they are bottomless because we didn't end up asking for refills.

The food was so tasty, atmosphere was cozy, music was fun, friendly service and food came out fast. The was orders were colorful, bon chon perfectly spiced. Ordered Kim chi fried rice and beef bulgogi. Both large portions enough to share and leftovers to pack for later. Enjoyed every bite and the beautiful surroundings. Easy parking and ADA easy.

I finally had the opportunity to this placeout--and it didn't disappoint.We came for a late lunch and it was relatively empty, so we had our choice of tables. The service was excellent, prompt and attentive. Our banchan of 6 dishes came out quickly--we got the usual sprouts, kimchi, broccoli. Instead of the braised potatoes, we got potato salad, which was very tasty. We ordered the beef stone bibimbap and the tteokguk soup (rice cake soup). The portions were huge. The bibimbap was sizzling as it was being served, as it should. The meat to vegetable ratio was generous and my tteokguk was also plentiful with rice cakes and broth. The broth was really tasty and I nearly drank the whole bowl. Everything was really delicious and I would return for another meal. It's a nice hidden gem in San Bruno worth checking out. It may seem a little pricey for the area, but for the size of the servings,it was worth it.The biggest downside is parking--it can be challenging.

We joke that the Netflix hit "Squid Game" brought us to Minari (along with a couple other Korean restaurants in the span of a week), but the fact is, my group constantly craves comforting Korean dishes. At Minari, we ordered what I consider to be "the greatest hits" of Korean cuisine: -- plain pancake ($16): fluffy & fried scallion pancake, even more amazing when generously dunked in the sauce provided -- galbi ($38): some of the best-tasting Korean short ribs I've had-- ramyeon ($14 +$4 to add dumplings): the only item we wouldn't reorder, tasted too close to packaged ramen & the dumplings weren't the taste or texture we were expecting-- kimchee tofu soup ($20): did not try but I hear the broth was wickedly spicy with satisfying fatty meat pieces sprinkled throughout I would've loved to have tried their kimchee fried rice or bibimbap but we were at stomach capacity with our order, as it was. Something to look forward to next time, maybe after Season 3 drops!Sidenote: Thanos (aka T.O.P.) has my whole heart.

Nice and roomy place. Mix of booths, tables, and bar seating. Guess I went at a slow time and was the only table so the service was great. Ordered veggie japchae, galbi, tteokbokki, and grilled mackerel.Japchae was good not as slick as some places but I liked it. Galbi had decent amount, party of three and we had some left over.Tteokbokki had a decent spice level to it. The rice cakes were a bit on the softer side so it didn't have the chewy, bouncy bit to it. Grilled mackerel was good.Came with two rice: one from galbi and one from fish.

Came twice! Once dine-in, another takeout! Easy enough to find parking which is always wonderful. LOVED the sides. Not too busy, which is also always appreciated. My friend got a fried rice and I got a tofu stew (which I ended up getting again for takeout another time). The tofu stew is spicyyyyyy even at a mild spice so be warned. I practically burned off my tastebuds each time. It was actually a struggle to finish. Portions are large. You can probably share the stew and be fine. I kept a second half of my portion for later because I wanted to save money that week. It doesn't keep too well in the fridge because the soup gets absorbed a bit, but if you add some water and toss it in the microwave, it's fine even after a couple of days.

Randomly pretty good for Korean food in the Bay? I always thought you could only find the better places further south, but happened upon Minari in San Bruno - much more doable of a drive from the city! We tried:- army stew + cheese added on (a necessity): a treasure trove of savory bites - so satisfying and comforting - seafood pancake - this was the star of the show for me; it was SO thick and they weren't shy with fillings. And the ratio of crisp:fluffy was still good despite the thickness.- the banchan were pretty standard (kimchi could be fresher) and as always, I demolished the potato salad Nice and spacious on a Friday, but of course complete with the presence of a group of ahjummas to validate authenticity hehe.