Pyeong Chang Tofu House

Cuisine	Korean
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	6/10
Last Visit	Sept. 23, 2023
Location	SFBA: Berkeley + Oakland

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General Notes

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Oh my god their kimchi pancakes are wonderful. Their kimchi pancakes in of themselves are worth a visit. This place was featured on Eater, and in addition to the kimchi pancake Eater recommends their banchan, tofu stews, and fried chicken. Their other offerings are solid, but not quite as much of a standout as their kimchi pancakes. I've been to both the Oakland and Berkeley loations; they both have essentially the same offerings. The vibes are a little different; the Oakland location definitely feels more "bustling".

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Positives

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> They have a rotating cast of banchan, which I was pleasantly surprised about. I'm inspired to try making the bean sprouts + seaweed banchan now, which was just the right level of sweet. And the kimchi, oh my. Definitely ask for a second round.
> Great for larger groups. Many of the larger dishes are expensive but have large portions. They also have a lot of large tables. Most of the seating at the Oakland location is large rows of table. At the Berkeley location we were able to seat a party of 12.

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Negatives

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> The tables are REALLY wide. Which makes it a great option for a larger group (the tables are also quite long and could easily seat 8), but not so much for a smaller group.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★☆☆ Soy Garlic Chicken -- Fried chicken with soy and fresh garlic sauce. Pretty good but the flavor does feel a touch imbalanced (again, a little too sweet). I prefer the yang nyum chicken. Maybe the move is to get the original fried chicken next time.
• ★★★☆ Yang Nyum Chicken -- Fried chicken with sweet & Korean chili sauce. The flavor feels a bit imbalanced, leaning a bit too much on the sweet side. Overall, excellent texture, well fried, and a solid dish.
• ★☆☆☆ Galbi Tang -- Beef short rib with napa cabbage (spicy paste upon request). Not bad per-se, but a bit disappointing. The beef didn't have the savory, tender quality I was hoping for, the flavor felt a little off, and there was just so much cabbage.
• ★★☆☆ Dol sot bi bim bap -- Steamed mixed vegetables, rice, egg, beef, stone pot. Served with tofu soup, which I wasn't expecting. A bit bland (which sort of makes sense since it's served with the tofu soup), but I would have liked some bibimbap sauce.
• ★★★☆ Squid tofu soup -- Soft tofu soup with squid and enoki mushroom. The flavor is perfect (we got it medium). It's hard to go wrong with this, though.
• ★★★★ Kimchi pancake -- Korean pancake with diced kimchi, fish sauce, flour batter and snow puff mushroom. This is hands down the best kimchi pancake I've had. So crispy and savory, with a delightful almost custardlike interior. The kimchi flavor is pronounced but not overpowering The dipping sauce is just the right level of tangy and goes perfectly with the pancake.