San Francisco Food Blog

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Banchan aren't the only freebies.

​An early nibble from the Weekly's Wednesday food review.

SF Weekly restaurant critic dives into the spread of banchan and soy sauce-marinated broiled beef this week at Muguboka in the Inner Richmond (401 Balboa at Fifth Ave.) and comes up charmed. The Korean mom 'n' pop serves up creditable versions of seafood pancake, galbi, and brick-red rice cake fry-ups, plus a black goat stew that leaves her thrilled as a toddler at a petting zoo. But banchan -- the spread of pickles and condiments as inevitable as chips and salsa at Chevys -- aren't the only freebies. Read about Mugoboka's secret schwag later today online at SFWeekly.com. In the meantime, score a preview in SFoodie's paragraph-long excerpt (after the jump).

At lunch on a weekday, the bargain-priced specials (all under $10) served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. proved irresistible -- especially since at dinner, the same dishes cost $10.95 to $18.95. Bul go gee was served simply: a towering heap of broiled slices of beef that had been marinated in sweetened, garlicky soy sauce, served next to an equally impressive amount of steamed rice. In some Korean barbecue houses, especially those that feature small table grills where you can cook your own meat, fresh vegetables and lettuce are included for wrapping the meats. That's not so here, but they weren't missed. We were distracted by the nine-dish banchan, which included familiar items, such as two kinds of kimchee, sesame-oil-slicked beansprouts, and crunchy pickled daikon. But there were also unusual elements, such as broccoli, lightly cooked potato strands, and thinly cut, smooth-textured sausage paired with silky-textured long-cooked vegetables. We loved the acid bite of the bright pickles against the sweet meat and the bland rice.