Seoul House

I miss you Seoul House! With your spicy pork and cheesy art! I’ve never, ever had banchan as perfect and diverse as yours. No other Korean restaurant will earn my complete devotion after the 20+ years of eating here. They never measure up. Please re-​open!

Yum! Yum! Yum!
Friendly reminder: Always come to korean BBQ resturant hungry and ready to eat.
There is a million and five hundred pickle dishes and do not fill up on just the rice so you can fit in the meat (actually this is for smaller eaters, everyone else, make wise choice, there are plenty to consume) Good service, caters to everyone who could or could not speak Korean and especially those who has enough Korean clientele to stay legit. Most importantly, the dishes were delicious.

After 25 + years in business, Seoul House Korean Restaurant is permanently closed! Owner decided to retire after the landlord tried to burn down the building for insurance money. He pleaded guilty of attempted arson. To all the regular & loyal customers, much appreciation for the years of patronage! There are no other Korean Restaurant like Seoul House in Oaktown… Curtains Closed!

Always a great place to take the family for lunch or dinner!

Every once and awhile, I get the korean bulgogi craving, and this is the spot for me… I have been visiting this place for soooo many years… I am surprised that there are so little reviews and every time I go for my lunch, the place is booked…
11 bucks a takeout is somewhere close to average nowadays for a decent filling meal…
The sides are also great… especially daikon and kim chee…

Wife and I stayed at the Clarion hotel right up the street from the Seoul house/​we were looking for a bite to eat before we walked to the Fox theater for a concert. Not many resturarants in this part of town. So we took a chance. The place does not look like much from the out side. So don’t judge by the outside looks. We we were not very savy on Korean food so we took a chance on food we reconize. She had BBQ chicken I had a dumpling soup. Both were very good. The side dishes were a nice touch and the Saki was good too. All in all a nice experience.

Love this place. Always come here with the fam after a dentist appointment. The place is a nice little place with big portions. We always get the same orders: Bi bim bop and Bul go ki. Comes with a ton of vegetables, from kimchi to japchae to pickled cucumbers to bean sprouts to seaweed. I like the bi bim bop for its gigantic bowl. Delicious. Comes with soup, which can be used to dilute the kimchi if you’re like my mom and can’t handle spicy food. Great price (about $ 10 per person on average depending on the ordered dish). Clean place with random paintings to admire while you wait for your food. Also, the tea is tasty. The waitress knows us as regulars and told us it’s primarily barley and a couple other ingredients. Great place to enjoy on a rainy day!

It was okay. Better than other Korean places I have been. Service was okay. Had their yookgejang. I would rate it okay too. If I have to eat Korean food in Oakland, I would eat there.
The banchan dishes were pretty good.

Under new owners but still excellent. If you like it really spicy, however, you must INSIST upon it — they are accustomed to a clientele that likes the heat middle-​America low.
The absolutely best, most varied, tasty pan chan in the Bay Area is still here (the various side dishes they bring out, and what Korean restaurants are reknowned for).
We have tried other Korean restaurants, but this is still #1.

Where else can you find a Korean restaurant with food served in a Japanese bento box located in the middle of Chinatown? LOL
I came here with a few co-​workers for lunch, and I thought it was good food for a decent price. Our server recommended the Galbi/​Kalbi lunch so all 4 us got it. The lunch «bento box» came with several sides (kimchi, etc.), soup, salad, rice and of course the entrée. I liked the soup, and the salad and rice were okay. However, although the meat was juicy, it was drenched in oil. I was disappointed there were a lot more bone than meat. I can say that I’ve had better, but for the price ($ 10), it’s a good deal. I would recommend this place because I’ll come back but I’d try the Bul Go Gi next just so I don’t have to deal with any bones.

Taste:
Meh. was def the right word to describe this place. i’ve eaten here twice and both times. MEH. i was craving the whole bulgogi sweet and spicy experience like tofu house in SF. total fail. The bulgogi failed to taste like real bulgogi… not enough taste and whatever they marinated it in. no flavor. It almost felt like i was eating at a Panda Express– Korean style. yenno, the whole fake korean food ordeal. –_​_​-​.
Then we got the tripes… there was barely any tripes! most of it was pig stomach which usually is really good still but majority of the plate was more veggies than tripes and stomach itself. the tofu soup was also a fail… no taste. the only thing that tasted decent was the kalbi. it had more taste than anything we ordered.
Atmosphere:
If youre on a date, i guess this could possibly be a good spot to chill and talk/​get to know each other. and when you run outta things to talk about and its awkward silence, you could always bring up something from all the weird paintings hanging from the wall around you. por ejemplo: skinny obama, tiger woods before the drama, JFK, JESUS. hahaha and many more. random random but good conversation.
Service:
Of course, whats new .only koreans have the balls to open up a restaurant in ghetto ol’ oakland. why? …because they have this fattitude with no fear of anyone kinda swag goin on. The lady was nice but very intimidating. she was kinda *itchy when we werent ready with our order yet after she only gave us like what.5 minutes? lame. and koreans are big on tips so even though we were a party of ten but my family of four came in way later and wanted it on a separate check, she WOULD put it all on one check.$$$.we didnt want her givin us shit so we just all paid on one card like mature adults and just paid one guy back in cash. LAME! she was so quick to see our tips as we were leaving so incase it wasnt enough… you know the deal… she’d go bonq’s on us.
overall, good experience thanks to some good company. but would rather choose the other 50 korean restaurants around the area all within a 1 mile radius.

I’ve been here several times finding it not packed. Where did the crowd go? The owner is mean and the servers are nice, we played monopoly here once while I waited for time to pass by to go to work.
I like the food, it’s okay for the price they offer, but don’t drop my grilled pork on the table and pick it back up and serve it to me. please. that’s a no no.
I still like you guys, I like the paintings for sale, but please don’t do that again. No hard feelings.

This is my wife’s favorite Korean restaurant. She used to work for EBMUD and would frequent this place for lunch. So naturally she turned me on to this joint.
Situated in Oakland’s Chinatown, this corner restaurant looked like a total dive on the outside but surprisingly nice and comfy on the inside.
The minute we arrived we were greeted and seated. Shortly, we were served complimentary hot tea followed by their house soup.
Both were just perfect. The tea was just right and the soup was good!
As I snapped pictures, I didn’t really bother to look at the menu as the better half already knew what to order. We did run into a little snag and pulled our server aside to ask for her recommendations on what to get for our girls. She made a suggestion and two thumbs up.
Here’s our line up:
Banchan — Eleven complimentary traditional sized serving.
Kal Bi — BBQ Short Ribs marinated in house special sauce.
Jap Chae — Noodles w/​beef and vegetables.
Bul Go Ki– Korean barbecued beef.
Our girls, who don’t really eat much, killed their house soup! A half a bowl of rice in concert with some Kal Bi and Jap Chae kept their mouths full and wanted more.
I was shocked to see that they actually focused on eating instead of running around the place!
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Of course, I tore up the Kal Bi like nobody’s business and the rest of the evening was history…
I’m a fan now baby!
Good food, good portions and great service!
Melon flavored chewing gum to go was such a pleasant surprise…

I came here on a dreary Tuesday for lunch hoping for a pick me up. It’s not a place I’d go out of my way for, but it’s a couple blocks from work and their tofu soup lunch special is a pretty good value at less than $ 10.
I got the seafood tofu soup and asked for mild level of spiciness because I was thinking of super spicy Korean food I’ve had at other places. I’m not sure if they cater more towards a non-​Asian clientele or just don’t want people to complain because mild was not mild at all and my co-​worker who requested super spicy was not impressed either.
Anyway, the tofu soup was very filling and had a good variety of seafood (octopus, squid, shrimp) in it. I was also really impressed with one of the appetizer dishes, Gyeran jjim/​steamed egg. It’s probably the best I’ve had so far. All in all, I’ll probably come here again but won’t be expecting to be blown away.

I ordered the bulgogi lunch special to-​go during a slow afternoon. The place was clean and the waitresses were courteous. Great value for under $ 10 since I’m used to paying ~$ 15 for Korean lunch.
I’ll be back

Came here for lunch in a group of 10. Luckily they had a free table for all of us. Seemed like a popular place b/​c the restaurant filled up quickly shortly after noon. Perhaps that’s why service was a little slow.
DECOR: Virgin Mary and Jesus paintings + landscape muras + Marilyn Monroe w/​a Tiger. Very hodge podge «décor» with plastic and vinyl chairs and tables.
FOOD: Traditional offering of Korean fare. Bento specials of bbq meats (bulgogi, spicy pork, kalbi, chicken, chap chae), soon du bul and bi bim bap. The bentos were $ 8.95 and came with a little pan chan in each box. I ordered the dol sot bi bim bap that came w/​its own variety of 7 pan chan. Huge portion that left me carrying half home. $ 11.95. But I’ve had better. May it was too much rice but something wasn’t quite right.
SERVICE: They were definitely short staffed for a full restaurant. One order was forgotten in our group and had to be reminded. But to they did come and chase after us when I forgot my doggie bag. That was nice and likely only to happen in Asian restaurants.
They were at least fairly authentic. Quintessential ending — melon gum that last holds flavor for 1 minute. Gotta love it.

A hot pot of spicy soft tofu casserole was the perfect remedy for a cold winter night. Dinner price for the soft tofu bowl is $ 9.95 (comes with beef and clams) and is served bubbling hot and as spicy as you can take it — I just had mine medium spicy. 11 side dishes served, and I would say that all but 2 or 3 of them were really good.
I also tried my friend’s barbecued pork and it was very good.
Bottom Line: It was an excellent meal!

haven’t been here in over 20 years and this place looks the same. the same (copenhagen) furniture seems to be there. only the pics on the wall by the owner have been changed. (they’ve been sold!). had the kal bi lunch special (9.95).
it came with very heavy msg-​infused soup, a piece of kal bi, a bowl of rice and 6 kinds on panchan on a bento tray. in and out in about half an hour. wham bam. a «thank you» on your out. no water refill. no doubt they were busy servicing the main event in the other room.
panchan (bean thread, broccoli, bean sprouts, sliced turnip/​carrot, spinach, sliced cucumbers) a few schreds or chucks of each were given.
the panchan and the kalbi were good and fresh but sparse.
only 3 stars since the presentation seems «cheap» but not of good value.

We went here last week and I tried the Bibim Nang Myun. Never had this dish before, but it was tasty and cool, perfect during the heat wave we had. Noodles were cut tableside, and the gochu jang derived sauce had a nice balance of sweet and tart. It came with cold slices of beef, pear and radish slices, and half a hardboiled egg.
My friends had the regular Nang Myun and Bulgogi. One didn’t really like his Nang Myun, but the Bulgogi was good, not too sweet with good balance.
What I found lacking was the panchan. There were about 6 total, half were marinated greens, only 1 of which I liked. Cabbage kimchi was not the best, but the radish kimchi was decent.
It’s pretty crowded during lunch.

Came for lunch and got the Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap. I don’t know if that was what I wanted, but I liked it.
I stopped here because it was rainy and I was hungry.
A waitress pointed me to a table, brought me a menu and asked me if I knew what I wanted and the same time.
I said I needed a couple minutes and she said «There’s a party of 11 about to order. If you don’t want to wait, let me know what you want now!»
Uh, OK. .. «Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap!» I found myself ordering and there it was. .. some of the lunch specials looked quite tasty as I saw them brought out, but you gotta reap what you sow. .. luckily…
Pluses: The food was very good! The meat tasty and the other fixin’s plentiful. The banchan (side dishes) were generous for a party of 1.
Minus: Not very attentive. There were several waitresses and all of them looked extremely stressed, even without a full house. I needed some more tea/​water and it took forever to get anyones attention. Stone pot could have been hotter to get some crispier rice.
Good food. Ok service. Averages to 3 stars.