Hahn's Hibachi

(415)731-3721
535 Irving St.
(@ 7th Ave.)
San Francisco, CA
(Inner Sunset district)

And other locations in the Bay Area, see their website

Price: $-$$
Rating: 4.5 (Rating & price key)
Last visit: 06/14/06

Fairly decent, but verrrry Americanized Korean fare in a cute and cozy location next to the N-Judah MUNI line (and thus a rumble every few minutes). We were seated promptly and perused their menu of the usual Korean fare, with some more Japanese items thrown in.

We decided on an a starter of mixed tempura of shrimp, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli and calamari ($8.95). It arrived well-cooked, especially the calamari, which was more tender than mast. The sauce was a little tangy and extremely salty.

I was disappointed by the lack of the myriad of side dishes that usually accompany Korean meals. I always quite enjoy snacking my way through them and picking my way back around during lulls in the meal. Another sign of westernization was the lack of chopsticks, and the lack of hot tea. Our entrees arrived well-timed, right on the heels of the tempura.

Sarah had the beef soft tofu soup ($9), which was piping hot, and pretty spicy given that she ordered it "medium." Once it cooled, however, it revealed itself to fairly bland other than the spicy-heat. Just a few bits of beef and a lot of soft tofu. Little in the way of vegetables was to be found.

My spicy BBQ pork ($7.95) had a standard quasi-spicy korean red sauce on it, and was an extremely fatty cut. It was served with a mound of rice with some gooey bbq sauce on it a japanese-style green salad with mayo dressing, and some bean sprouts. As no kimchee was offered, and we love the stuff, I ordered a side of it as well ($2.50). It was a decent rendition, not very spicy, but piquant, crunchy and tingly.

Service was okay, but didn't check in on us after our food was tabled. I suppose if I'd never had or heard of Korean food before, this might be great, but as it was we missed the typical Korean accoutrements, which really make the meal for us.