Dong Baek Restaurant

Love the service… however they could’ve give us more Ban Chan (side dishes) but they only gave us a few… after we finished the first round of side dishes we found out that they accidentally replace one of the side dishes with another one that wasn’t in the first round… pretty obvious that they have more variety of them but they chose not to bring it out.

Some of the workers here are so delusional! I ordered the spicy tofu dish. Notice that it’s the fourth picture on their Unilocal page. The person taking my order asked me about 9 questions about what dish I was talking about. It looks like grilled tofu people with a spicy sauce over it. I sent my roommate to pick up the food and if I would have known they were going to charge me $ 20 for it I would have ran out their door screaming! I opened the box and there was FOUR. Four uncooked measly little pieces of tofu in there, not grilled or cooked, it look as if they just took it out of box. Then they just slapped about three cups of kimchi on it. I’m so appalled I could cry. Seriously $ 20. This is an insult Asian food. Honestly I’m so sad why would you do this to me dong baek? Who do you seriously think would want to eat this.

Came here on a late Saturday night with my buddies for the second time, and attempted again to order a comforting clean bone soup. Decided on the rice cake beef soup. Again rather disappointed.
One friend ordered the soup with potatoes and beef bones. Both of us felt that the beef tasted not so fresh. Our third companion, a Korean, thought her pricier-​than-​usual jjajangmyeon delicious though, and I agree!
We all liked the appetizing salad we were presented with.
Next time if we come back I would like to order fried chicken.

The food and the service in this place is Amazing! I Love the Spicy Octopus served with noodles. If you can take the heat! Make sure to order this one. parking is a lil err… But where’s the fun in that?! Walk! And enjoy Tenderloin Area upclose. And have an action-​packed experience and
delicious Korean food for dinner.

Smack dab within the Tenderloin is this spicy Korean spot, and their offerings are so large-​portioned that you may wish to reconsider quantity of dishes you’re ordering — they’re huge!
On our second visit, we «only» shared two [large] plates, thanks to other menu pics (I would suggest a website for a menu this extensive!!!):
–96) Spicy & Sweet Pork Feet: Spicy & sweet boiled pork feet served with seasoned sauce
–24) Spicy Octopus and Noodle: Spicy stir fried octopus and vegetables served with somen noodles
–Corn cheese mix on the house
–Sake
I found the corn extremely helpful in diffusing the spiciness of our octopus dish. It was surprising how quick both dishes were served up to us, especially considering how much food was on each plate. Really enjoyed the pork flavor and its vegetables — the carrots in particular. Octopus was decent in flavor, and by far the spicier dish, though a tad chewy.
When we visited here the previous year, we ordered the Gul Bo Ssam. Not only was there an endless amount, but spice levels skyrocketed beyond my capabilities. This second visit’s menu choices were better handled!
Two other things I remember here:
1) We got our order and food pretty quick. The bill, however…
2) This was the second restaurant within two weeks for someone spill a beverage on my mobile device. It still works well enough for you to be reading this posting, but ay carumba!

The best Korean food in Tenderloin. We had a nice time here. Food was delicious, service was so good and attentive. Kinda pricey but it deserved. I will probably come back to explore more food on the menu. Jjang!

This place has a nice homey more traditional feel to it than 707 but I’ve got to say the prices are a bit steep especially being in the tenderloin.
My tofu soup had lots of meat and tofu but at $ 13.99, thought it was a little more than I’m used to paying. There wasn’t even a raw egg that we could crack into it. We also ordered ja ja mein noodles which was also $ 13.99.
There was one server but we managed to get at least one refill of our ban chan.

Really good Korean food you can find in SF… My friend and I enjoyed the dinner here :)

This place is underrated. First off, it’s the only real Korean restaurant in the northeast part of town. If you live in Soma or North Beach and you don’t want to go to the Richmond or Oakland for Korean, this is your place.
But more importantly, the food is actually good and a decent value. The kimchee tastes like kimchee instead of old vinegar. Their meats are excellent, especially the short ribs — not gristly or chewy. The short ribs are extra but worth it. The banchan are generally fresh and a good variety.
Solid place overall. I would have given them 4 stars but they do take-​out and save me an hour of drive time to the Richmond, so worth the extra star just for that.

Every single one of their side dishes was perfect. from the sweet dishes to the savory/​spicy ones!

Been here a good amount of times now ever since they came under new management and will stay a loyal customer. Even though the food is pretty pricy, what do you expect out of a restaurant approaching downtown SF? It’s in a super sketchy and dirty Tenderloin district but don’t let that discourage you. The portions are pretty hefty which means good leftovers for tomorrow! The bbq is probably some of the best I tried in the city so far. It’s not the cook it yourself on the table type. They cook it for you in the kitchen which is fine because you can lay back and enjoy your food and avoid the super smoky room. Their other dishes are super bomb as well. The jajangmyun (black bean noodles), kampoogki (sweet wet fried chicken), dukgook (rice cake soup), boodaegeegae (spicy stew) are just among some favorites I get here. The banchan (side dishes) are the best! I was told that all of the banchan is made fresh every single day and it definitely shows. The kimchee is sooooo good! Best I ever had. The variety and amount they give you is amazing.
The service has always been good when I came but I could understand that it can get hectic when it’s busy due to the number of people on staff. The owner is my favorite. She’s always very nice and diligent when she has served me, but she is retiring which is super sad. Definitely going to miss her. But the rest of the staff are very friendly as well. Some of them, the English might be a little scarce but it’s not too shabby.
For those that come on a late night, I believe they’re open everyday until 11PM. Pretty decent selection of beer & wine. American and Korean ones. And who doesn’t love Soju? They got that there too!
This place is definitely worth checking out, I’ve never left disappointed. Just be prepared that parking is a bitch. Super hard to find around that area and be mindful of the street cleaning signs and stuff.
PS. They don’t deliver but you can find a delivery app that will deliver food to you!

I used to come here alot before but I ll not gonna comeback anymore.
TobokkI and seafood soup tastes like instant ramen noodle soup. I am sure they are using that. I could make better than them. I made it togo so I can fix the taste.

Been here a couple times now, and I’ve always left a happy camper!
I’ve tried a couple of their dishes, including their kalbi, black bean noodle sauce, bibimbop, spicy rice noodles, corn/​cheese plate, and a couple I cant think of right now and all are so good. They’re staff is super friendly and accommodating. They also bring you banchan that includes cucumbers, kimchi, bean sprouts, fish cake, daikon, broccoli, and seaweed.
This place is pretty pricey, but considering that it’s located in DTSF, it’s kind of expected. Give this place a try if you’re in the neighborhood!

I was surprised that the restaurant only got 3.5 so here I come, for justice. If 707 for the hyper nighty young adults and Cocobang for the drunk, then Dong Baek is definitely that grandma’s food for family or mature you and your friends during the day. What you can expect from here is the warm homey atmosphere and the side dishes that you would expect from watching Korean dramas – I don’t watch those, again, I don’t.
My suggestions:
Jajangmyeon or Jangban Jajang (noodle in black bean sauce)
Dol Sot Bibimbap (The real deal bibimbap in the stone pot)
Hot Tofu Seafood Soup
Bibimnaengmyun (cold noodles)
The Spicy Squid and Chicken Gizzard is too chewy for my taste.
If you think the price is a bit pricier than other places in downtown, you may want to come in lunch time for the same portion with cheaper price. Other than that, it’s understandable since the place is nice, bright and the food is well-​served.

I hope there is No Star rating
They have terrible customer services ever had
They never wait for us to pick up menu
They never have patience
They never kind
They force us for tips, even we were eating
She kept saying she needs to go home, what the… I really hate this place
I will never visit here again

Stupid service. A woman she try to give us a bill and charge us 18% for service charge even we are only 5 people. Moreover she was waiting for the money while we were eating. How shit they give it to us !!

this place is pretty good! spacious and good décor — old school high back chairs and all! we ordered — korean fried chicken, soondoubu jigae, seafood pancake, and kalbi. i think my fave was the kalbi, which is atypical, but it was just so flavorful and juicy and delicious.
the pancake was packed with seafood, which was awesome, but very dough-​y. i didnt enjoy the dipping sauce as much with it either, not a lot of flavor. the korean wings werent spicy, which was disappointing, i was looking for a lot of spice on that! the soup was pretty good — lots of veggies nom nom… everything was easily washed down with 2 large things of beer. hehe. $ 100 before tax for three.
overall good experience! would come back!

On another very special date, we decided to get some Asian food. Just a block away from the apartment, we found this Korean joint that seemed to offer a pretty diverse menu. Time to check out another place!
The look was a bit outdated. Blue carpets and light wood around the joint definitely needed a face lift. The staff was alright. Although no one was in the restaurant, they didn’t seem to have a lot of patience. My date asked a bunch of questions and they seemed to be irritated by those questions. That made it very uncomfortable for us. No worries, I helped to ease the situation however, the staff shouldn’t do that.
For dinner, I got the Stone Pot Bi Bim Bob for $ 13.95. Steamed rice and vegetables topped with egg and beef, served in a stone pot. I’m always a big fan of this dish, no matter the restaurant. Veggies include peppers, carrots, cucumbers, bean sprouts and brought a very crunchy and fresh flavor to the dish. The white rice was sticky and did a great job binding everything together. Add Korean hot sauce to this and you’ve got a super awesome meal!
Overall, the place is worth coming back to. Nothing of a stand out but certainly not bad. The food definitely made up for the service, I can tell you that! If you’re in the Tenderloin, drop by this place and check them out for some good Korean food!

Overall:
Pros: Food is good, decent portions
Cons: Expensive ($ 11 – 20), bad service, 20% automatic gratuity charge for under 6 people, lots of flies
Did not have the best experience here. Little to no service and an unreasonable 20% automatic gratuity charge with a party of 5 that was not mentioned to us prior nor was it written anywhere on the menu. Our side dishes and water were not replenished.
We came with a party of 5. We were given a big table because we were going to have 6 people, but one of our friends could not make it. After we told the waiter she would not be arriving, he had us get out of our seats and move to a smaller table across from the room. This would have been fine, only we were already seated and given plates and water for over 10 minutes. The restaurant was not crowded at all during this time so I found it a bit unnecessary to move us.
We received no attention after our food arrived, and had to wave for a good five minutes before they noticed that we wanted the bill. Despite only being a party of five, they included an AUTOMATIC 20% SERVICE CHARGE that was not mentioned to us prior or anywhere on the menu.

God, this place was good. I had never had true Korean food before and I was so surprised and happy about eating here. Everything I had was delicious, and I would definitely go back.
The meal is started with some sort of arraignment of tiny dishes filled with things. My dining partner who lived in Korea knew the name of this practice, but I’ll confess that I can’t remember (or spell it). It was so delicious! I tried a whole bunch of things I might never had had otherwise.
For the meal we shared a seafood pancake which reminded me of the green onion pancakes at Chinese restaurants. This one had a huge bunch of seafood in it and it was delicious. The shrimp were huge and the whole thing was yummy.
I also had Bibimbap which was one of the most amazing things I have ever eaten, ever. The par cooked egg on the top really made the dish, the ooey-​gooeyness was perfect to the stuff cooked in the stone bowl.
If you’re new to Korean food (like I was) I’d have the Bibimbap!