Shin Tofu House

I’m sad that this tofu house is gone! Everytime me & my sister had a craving for some Korean food, we would just come here since it was close to our house. The owner was very nice to us and if anything was wrong with our meal, they’d correct it for us and make us satisfied. We usually eat in but sometime just get it to go so we can enjoy a meal at home. The service is good, they are really attentive and makes sure that you have everything you need. The last time I was there before they went out of business, I ordered food to go over the phone, they forgot to put one of the entrees in our bag and we came back to pick it up and they threw in another free entrée, some rice & 10% discount towards our bill! That’s good customer service! I shall miss them, now I have to find another decent Korean restaurant in this area.

the bbq sign is still up. the papered windows are gone. a single light is on. an abc liquor transfer notice dated ¹²⁄₁₈ is up. one can see a sushi bar being constructed. the new tenants will be
TGI Sushi K & C LLC.

3.5 stars… better than 3, but not a 4…
Located on a deserted end of a long strip mall (the other side, super crowded with diners for Chinese food), it had two tables occupied on a Saturday evening… not a good sign but still decided to give it a try.
Panchans…bean sprouts, brocoli, dried fish, kimchi, picked dikons; simple, clean, and flavorful – no complaints here
seafood soon tofu: bubbling like lava, a raw egg downs the fire and adds creaminess and sensuousness to the hotness. Excellent seafood umami even though it was drawn out from a tiny shrimp, two tiny oysters, and unidentified seafood (calamari??) The tofu was silken and great as expected. I would only say the bean paste used to flavor the soup was not the best ones they could buy…
dol-​sot bibimbop: bibimbop in hot stone pot… my gauge for a good Korean restaurant… not bad, but again could be more flavorful
jopchae (or chap-​chae): glass noodles with nice seasame oil, above average; few slivers of green pepper and beef…
tonkatsu: yeah I know I know… decided against the golgi’s… got two big slices! Nicely breaded and fried with tangy bulldog sauce on it… a bit thin (probably too vigorous with the mallet in the kitchen) but again it went down well…
No dessert… Would have been nice to finish off with a soft-​serve to kill the heat but nothing. No barley tea either.
Place could use softer lighting to really improve the ambience… and the leaky ceiling tile is not pretty to look at. The food will not stand up to Koryos in Berkley or any place on El Camino Real, but the food is serviceable for a quick korean meal in the neighborhood.

Soon Du Buji is always my favorite and who does not like Kalbi and Bi Bim Bop. This is a classic korean meal that is delicious. Service is medicore here donot expect anything great. Just eat and go.

G: I’ve only been to a total of 3 tofu houses in all my life PLUS I only come here when I come from work starving so my take on this place is both limited as well as biased, I mean anyone would be inclined to eat anything when they’re starving, well not EvEryThing…
We’ve eaten here twice and I’ve ordered bibimbap both times because I love it! I’m addicted :) I love their hot sauce. The food comes out fast (maybe because the place was empty both times) and the server was approachable.
Price is standard for bibimbap I think, not a fancy atmosphere but it’s decent enough for me for an after-​work-​bibimbap-​craving-​fix.
If you get the women servers, they’re really attentive and they fill up your water glasses as well as the appetizer plates often.

My friend and I came to this casual Korean place for dinner on a saturday. I’m not sure if it was just that night, but the place was completely empty at ~7:30 pm. I must admit it was awkward with 15 tables and only one filled. The food was average. The tofu in the seafood soft tofu was good, but the seafood was most definitely not fresh. The spicy chicken on a sizzling plate was on a mildly-​warm-​not-​sizzling plate. Also, considering the atmosphere and food quality, the menu seems a bit pricey. (There are much cheaper lunch specials though)

I come here for lunch occasionally since i work near the 99 Ranch shopping center and you get to pick from about 7 items for the lunch special and you get a lot of food for your money. They come with the main food choice/​meat, soup, salad, rice and all the little side dishes. I tried the korean bbq which was decent. I thought it would be a bit more flavorful… but maybe I should be trying the tofu dishes since it’s a tofu house.

I live nearby the restaurant, and I had seen it in passing by the 99 Ranch, and so I decided to give this place a try. The service was ok, and the food was ok. I ordered the beef tofu soup. I requested that the soup be made ‘very spicy’ and it did in fact taste very spicy. I’ve never had beef tofu soup that spicy before.

mmmm the best korean food since i got back from LA. i suggest you get your soon tofu mild. going spicy will just make u want more korean tea. the service is really nice and very catering. the food does come out really fast. and they can even make the tea iced if you ask them too (try it korean iced tea is delicious.) parking is super easy, lot. they do have pictures on the walls of the popular items to order. i like bulgogi, korean bbq, dolsot bibimbap, soon tofu, and my current favorite spicy chicken! ordering is easy because their menu is really simple and prices are very reasonable. ii highly recommend getting the soon tofu combo. because you still get all the sides. and it’s fun to eat there with a friend !

I was craving something spicy and since Shin Tofu House was close to where we were at the time we (my bf and I) decided to give this tofu house a try. They have some great pictures of their foods on the wall that really helps along the ordering process. Also on the wall they advertise a special water filtration system they use which probably explains why this place has excellent ice water. However with all the pictures on the wall I of course had to order the spicy tofu. I ordered it as spicy as it came and I admit it was spicy, however the broth was just bland. Its as though they really wanted you to taste the water. It tasted like it was simply water and chili oil. Its sad to say that the only thing good at this tofu house during my visit was the ice water. I did however give this place 2 stars because the service was great.
I’ve had better spicy tofu elsewhere.

Went here with my family (wife and two kids) to meet up with a friend. We picked the place at random and got lucky. The tofu was good and the bbq wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad either. The server was really nice and the food came out fast. Nice place to sit down and have a conversation.

I’m not from around Newark, so maybe in Newark, this restaurant is one of the better Korean restaurants, but where I’m from — SF — we have so many other better Korean restaurants.
The food was just decent here for its value. I’d say this place is better if you’re eating alone or with a friend. They offer bento boxes ($ 7.99 for lunch) which is a really good deal: rice, soup, salad, your choice of meat. What I like here is the meat + soft tofu soup combo. At about $ 14 you can have your own small sizzling bowl of any soft tofu soup on the menu plus a dish of your choice of meat big enough to share with a friend.
The soft tofu soup tasted a little salty for me, and the tofu itself was softer than usual, but overall, it was decent. I asked for the spiciest and I ended up with how other restaurants usually serve their soup — thanks Unilocal folks for tipping me on that. I also tried the spicy chicken and the spicy pork which were both delicious.
Overall, a nice find if you live in the area, but I don’t see myself going out of my way to come back here.

3 stars: Food is good, but they dont have that much selection.
Extra star for the very attentive service AND they can make it VERRRRY spicy if you ask!

I thought this place was ok. They had pork bulgogi & soon tofu combo for $ 13.99 (my bill said $ 12.99) and you can pick what type of soon tofu you want from the list they have. I picked seafood. I asked for it medium. It does have enough spice for me, they spicy pork is delicious w/​grilled onions, soon tofu is good too. Nice silky tofu.
Hubby got a spicy chicken and soon tofu $ 12.99. he liked the soon tofu fine, but didn’t care for the spicy chicken at all. Just boring chicken w/​teriyaki sauce and some other spices. I wanted to take it home for my dinner, but I totally forgot and left without the chicken dish. bummer.
Panchans were average, but I did like the fishcakes. Other sides pretty forgetable. I prefer Lee’s Tofu in Newark or the tofu place in Union City to this place.
Hope they can make it, that location is pretty bad. Across from Del Taco (which is very nasty-don’t ever eat there.)
You get Korean gum w/​the bill. Credit cards taken. I didn’t check out the bathroom.

NOTE: The current name of this place is «Shin Tofu House» not «Mr. Tofu House»
Out of the three Korean restaurants in the Union City/​Newark area that specialize in soon dubu tofu stew, this one is the best. For lunch, my husband and I split a combination of soon dubu and galbi ($ 14.99).
Their soon dubu is excellent — chock full of goodies (we ordered the combination which had seafood and meat) and packs a great punch of heat even at medium — as is their galbi. In my experience, places that specialize in soon dubu don’t necessarily have good grilled meats. This place is an exception and their galbi is a testament to it. Perfectly cooked with nice carmelization, the meat was tender and hearty with a great marinade. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that it was served on a bed of onions. I’m not fond of onions and think that they are poor filler.
Their panchan selection was very good though not excellent. Among the panchan we received were small fish, cabbage kimchi, bean sprouts, marinated soy beans (?), seaweed, radish and broccoli. Not the best panchan I’ve had but it was plentiful and the server was happy to offer us more.
All in all — we had a great lunch! They have lunch specials which seem to be reasonably priced. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area. I’d recommend this place over Soondong and Lee’s any day.
EDIT: While I was craving Korean a couple weeks ago, I decided to call in and order some take out. For some reason, I figured they wouldn’t give me panchan with the takeout. I was wrong. So wrong, in fact, that an order of soon dubu and and order of kalbi with rice ended up taking the entire front seat of my car. Why? Because of all the panchan they gave me. Holy toledo! And the lady was nice enough to help me take my mountain of yummy food to the car. Great service, great food!

We tried Soon Tofu with pork, which was fresh and tender. The tofu was silky smooth in texture but the best part was the broth, which had just the perfect amount of heat and flavor. We ordered it very spicy. A must order.
Our second dish was from the «Additional Items», which was on the standup menu on the table. We ordered the Dug Bo Gi, spicy. The rice noodle was perfectly cooked, soft and chewy. The sauce was thick and flavorful and had tiny minced chiles to up the heat.
If anyone knows where they serve Dug Bo Gi with chewy noodle, please let me know. That’s how they used to serve it at the now defunct Koko House in Berkeley.
The panchan is decent. They served kimchi, julienned radish and carrots, anchovies, seaweed, brocolli, yellow daikon, fishcake & beansprouts.
Update: Kimchi chigae was pretty tasty.

Yummy spicy bbq pork, but the little pickled sides were not so great.

Note: it’s now SHIN TOFU HOUSE! (see pic)
I must say that their meat dishes, especially the bbq chicken, are better than their tofu dishes. The chicken is really tender and well marinated. Kimchi is okay, nothing special. The tofu soup is generally mild, so if you want it really spicy, you should clearly request that to the waitress. Last time we asked for an extra kick, but it wasn’t hot enough. Staff is really friendly. We enjoy chatting with them.

Currently Shin Tofu House, this restaurant has changed hands a few times, and tonight I finally got a chance to dine here. I went with one of my Korean gal pals, and she gave me the inside scoop on the quality of the food and preparation.
The service was quick, efficient, and English friendly, which is rare for a Korean joint. We shared two dishes:
Combo #4 Spicy Chicken + Soon Tofu $ 12.99
Very good spicy chicken pieces came on a sizzling platter. We chose the assorted soon tofu with beef, shrimp, clams, and oysters, perfectly spicy and flavorful, choose medium.
Special #10 Yook Gae Jang $ 9.99
Shredded beef, onion, green onion, bracken, bean sprout, and egg in a spicy broth. I like it HOT, so medium was a bit tame for my tongue, I would order this light soup again, but would amp up the spice.
Straight from the Korean:
The small dishes were okay, not great in quality, but edible, she thinks it could be because the low traffic in the restaurant. She would order take out for her husband, only if the food were worthy, we ate, and then she ordered the assorted soon tofu to go. She would most definitely make a return trip, but ask for more heat.
Beware of the photos of the food plastered throughout the restaurant, they are deceiving, we did not get enoki mushrooms in our soup. I like my fungus, so YES I noticed!

The barbecue here is great, but my favorite dish is the seafood stew. It comes in this tiny cast-​iron pot, boiling-​hot. Quick! Pop in the provided egg and watch it cook before your eyes! I love this – built-​in entertainment! The soup is great – packed with calamari, clams, even a mussel or two. The kimchi and sides are great as well – even a little addictive. My favorite are these fried potatoes that aren’t necessarily sweet potatoes, but definitely have a sweet-​and-​savoriness about them. This is a real treat for lunch.