um.ma

Cuisine	Korean
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	6/10
Last Visit	March 16, 2023
Location	SFBA: San Francisco: West

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General Notes

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Excellent restaurant in the Inner Sunset serving up Korean comfort food. "Umma" literally translates to mom. As the name suggests, the menu focuses on comforting classics like kimchi fried rice, fried chicken, various stews, pancakes, and KBBQ. Not everything is perfect, but overall a great restaurant with solid food. If you sit in the patio, you could also eat here KBBQ-style. Apparently, this place received Michelin recommended status in 2021, and since then it's been incredibly popular.

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Positives

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> They offer marinaded quail eggs as banchan, and they are fantastic. A little overcooked, but they're perfectly seasoned and have a lovely creamy interior.
> The interior has a loverly vibe. There's also a backyard patio. Check it out for yourself!

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Negatives

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> Quite popular -- you'll definitely want to call in advance or make a reservation. Though it's not quite as busy as it was last year, when it first received its Michelin recommended status.
> The kimchi / pickles were mediocre. I liked the broccoli quite a bit, but the pickles were WAY too strong and overpowering.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★★ Sullungtang -- bone marrow broth, sliced brisket, somen noodles, scallions. The broth is incredible, so comforting and satisfying. The brisket is actually surprisingly tender, and not tough / dry like most thinly sliced meats in soups like this.
• ★★☆☆ Seafood Pancake -- shrimp, scallop, scallions, imitation crab, seasoned soy dip. Well fried, generally prepared well. For my personal taste, it's a little thick and softer than I would like in the middle.
• ★★★☆ Pork Belly -- kurobata pork, citrus gochujang sauce, Korean miso, apple. Lovely flavor, cooked well, nice char. Served with purple rice. You have the option of cooking it yourself, or having it cooked for you in the kitchen.
• ★★☆☆ Citrus Gochujang Chicken Wings -- Nice flavor, definitely a bit more well-balanced than the ginger sesame. Decently well-fried but also quite overcooked.
• ★★★☆ Kimchi Fried Rice -- kimchi, poached eggs, scallion, + pork belly. The pork belly has a wonderful tender, juicy texture. It's a bit too sweet but the char is excellent and helps counterbalance it somewhat. The rice has an excellent texture (the crispy bits are nice!) but the flavor falls a bit flat -- it just tastes buttery and doesn't have much tang or complexity of flavor to it. The pork belly is only +$3, definitely worth it.
• ★☆☆☆ Ginger Sesame Soy Chicken Wings -- Flavor is unbalanced -- this is way too sweet and doesn't have much ginger / soy flavor. It has a somewhat unpleasant aroma. The texture is quite nice, perhaps slightly overcooked. Makes me wish I had gotten the citrus gochujang instead (although the server told me that one is quite sweet too)