Sahn Maru

This weekend Vicki and I went down to the Big Game, Cal vs. Stanford. On the way down we made our favorite mid-point stop at the Flour Garden Bakery in Auburn, CA where we bought sandwiches and cookies to eat at the game. I got a marvelous black forest ham on foccacia and Vicki, chicken salad—a good alternative to game food.

After a satisfying game that saw Cal win, 36-16, we checked in at our hotel, Marriott Courtyard, at the Oakland airport. We had a nice big room with two queen beds—Vicki thought it looked like it was brand new, though according to Travelocity it was built in 2001. We were tired and for dinner were eyeing Yoshino, a Japanese restaurant across the street from the hotel; no driving. We rallied, however, and got back in the car for a fifteen-minute drive to Sahn Maru restaurant on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.

SAHN MARU

Located in north Oakland's Temescal area in the Korean district, Sahn Maru is one of the outstanding Korean restaurants in this area. We entered a well lit room that was about a quarter full of diners and were immediately greeted and let to our table. The atmosphere was large and open, the walls on one side decorated with beautiful Korean artwork. The tables are very unique, the tops consisting of a single piece wood, cross cut from a large pine log.

We started with Duk Bok Gi, a sauteed rice cake served with a sauce of soy and scallions—delicious! We'd been led to Sahn Maru by a short review in Oakland Magazine, which touted its Black Goat Stew, Heuk Yum So Tang, so I ordered that for my main course. It came in a bowl with sesame leaves and a mustard and bean paste broth, and a sesame, mustard, and chili dipping sauce. The meat was excellent, tender and flavorful, really great with the sauce. Vicki chose braised pork with sweet potatoes and dates and it was also outstanding. It takes a little getting used to picking the pork off the bones, but the flavor of the pork with the sweet potatoes was excellent.

Black Goat Stew

As always, our meal came with banchan, those little side dishes. Here's what we had:

Kimchi, sweetened yams, marinated bean sprouts, sauteed spinach, anchovies, pickled radishes, broccoli, tofu.

By the time we left, about eight, the place was pretty full. It was generally a young crowd and most of the diners were asian, with a sprinkling of anglos. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

Sahn Maru has exceptional food and a great atmosphere, it's a great part of the East Bay restaurant scene.

Sahn Maru. 4315 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94701. (510)653-3366.

Sura - Korean Restaurant

Last October, my son Matt and I ate at an awesome Korean restaurant in Oakland after a Cal football game. Sura is located in Oakland's Temescal District (4869 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609) an area where there are many ethnic restaurants. We entered an elegant dining room, which was very open, airy, and filled with Asians. As we walked by a table occupied by two diners, I couldn't believe the number of banchan side dishes that were in front of them. We sat down and were immediately brought a bowl of Korean egg whites, which was tasty, but not like what was to come.

The menu is substantial and features many interesting traditional Korean dishes, most of which I'm not familiar with. Matt was born in Korea and has eaten at many good Korean restaurants so he was able to explain a few things. We settled on the all-you-can-eat barbeque, which featured beef, chicken, and pork belly. Each table has a dome-shaped cooker that is heated by a gas flame underneath it. The meat is cooked on this dome until it sizzles and is done.

Before our huge platter of meat arrived, a waiter covered our table with banchan, Korean side dishes. The most common is kimchi made from cabbage or cucumber, but there were other vegetable-based dishes, some with sesame oil, and others pickled—to describe all of these is a blog entry in itself. We also received a bowl of lettuce leaves and small bowls of garlic and jalapeno slices, and gochujang, a very spicy Korean bean paste.

The drill is to place the meat on the grill in the middle of the table with tongs, then turn it and cut it into more manageable pieces with the scissors you are given. When the meat is done it is placed in a piece of lettuce along with some garlic, jalapeno, and gochujang, rolled up and eaten—fantastic! All of the meat was great, but the pork belly was wonderful when just done—don't let it cook too long! The thin pieces of beef and chicken were also superb; I ate until I was very full then watched Matt put away about twice the meat I had; poor, starving, college student! Together we did a pretty good job, though, there wasn't much left.

Banchan. Photo courtesy Shannon I.

We also ordered a bottle of soju, which is an alcoholic Korean beverage distilled from rice, sweet potatoes, and tapioca. It is a pretty neutral taste, like vodka, but with a touch of sweetness. We tossed it down along with numerous glasses of ice water.

Sura is a wonderful restaurant and I highly recommend it. A good indication of how good the food is was that it was filled with so many Asians—I imagine mostly Korean. Glancing around the room after we sat down assured me that I was the only caucasian in the restaurant. All of the staff that helped us were very pleasant and we had a nice chat with our Korean hostess who, it turns out, was born in the same Korean city as Matt, Jeonju City.

Sura is a very classy Korean restaurant and a little pricier than most others I've been to, but the food is worth it and I'm looking forward to going back very soon.

Sura. 4869 Telegraph Ave. Oakland, CA 94620.
(510) 654-9292