Quickly now, how many of you always walk or drive past a restaurant, and think to yourself, "hmmm, I really need to check that place out, one of these days?" Next part of the question, how many of you actually do make an effort to try out this "mystery restaurant", the one that never, ever seems to have any customers, that looks like a front for the Yakuza, or some other crime outfit, the one that never has any wonderful cooking fragrances wafting out the door. If you’re like me, you just walk or drive on by…….
Until you start food blogging. Now with a true mission, empowered and emboldened by Typepad, you become Super Foodie. If you’ve driven up Convoy street, or eaten at Nozomi, Convoy Noodle House, or Dede’s, you’ve probably taken a glance at Friend’s House Korean BBQ.
So did you take the time to walk in and eat? If you did, you’re of a minority of people I’ve spoken to. Only two individuals I know, have claimed to have eaten there. And when queried, all I could get out of them was a cryptic, "well, we mostly go there to drink soju…."
So on this evening, after staring at the food photos, and glancing at the menu, I walked on in. And was quickly greeted by 2 very nice young ladies, and seated at a table.
The interior of Friend’s House is paneled and divided with untreated wood, along with many photos, and a faux corrugated metal "roof".
I guess it does make you feel like you’re visiting a "friend’s house", and perhaps sitting on the patio, or in the garage. I’m sure that Friend’s House sounds more appetizing than Friend’s Garage……
I looked over then menu, and started with, the one dish that was mentioned to me. The Kun Mandoo($7.50):
These were a shade better then the frozen stuff, okay in flavor, though a bit on the oily side. The wrappers were also very brittle. But you could tell they were handmade. Not bad, but really not very good, the meal still showed promise.
I remember Ed from Yuma and I having dinner at Boo Cho and talking about how panchan is served in various Korean restaurants. Some restaurants will serve the panchan upfront, and give you something to "pick on" while waiting for your main course(s). Well, at Friend’s House everything came out in one furious rush, except for one item, that I’ll go into at the end.
The panchan:
Everything except the Baechu Kimchi, was served on a cute little plate, almost like what you’d use to feed little kids. I truly expected to see some Hello Kitty emblem on the plate. The Baechu Kimchi was very, very sour, at first I thought it might even be spoiled, but it was not. Overall, the panchan was a disappointment, well maybe not, since how can you be disappointed if you have no expectations. To summarize, the same marinade was used for the baechu kimchi, Cuttelfish, fishcake, and Mu(radish). They all tasted the same. The marinated potato wasn’t too bad, but on the mild side.
My Bulgogi(Thin sliced marinated beef $13.95) arrived at the same moment, along with the usual metal container of rice:
Well let’s see; the portion size was quite generous, but that’s about it. I knew this was going to be very mediocre Bulgogi when the sizzling plate was placed on my table, and I really couldn’t detect any fragrance at all. The meat seemed like it was quickly dumped into a marinade right before cooking, it was tough and flavorless. I didn’t eat but a few bites. I brought it home, and after the Missus got home from work, She opened the Styrofoam container, stared at the meat, wrinkled Her nose, and went "yuck".
And in what was an apt end to the meal, my soup arrived as I asked for my check.
The service at Friend’s House was very nice, though on the scatter-brained side. Not one customer entered the restaurant while I had my meal, so maybe someone can clue me in. Not that I’ll be back, though who knows, after a few bottles of Soju, that Bulgogi might taste good.
Friend’s House Korean BBQ
4647 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
Real bummer Kirk. I sometimes wonder why people open bad restaurants? Are they just opening a shop to make some quick money and therefore don’t care about their food? I wish people took pride in the food they made… oh well… just a rant.
I ate there about a year ago… the service wasn’t scatterbrained then–it was simply nonexistant. i think i had a super bland bibimbap and less panchan than you. you got lucky, it seems.
Hey Kirk!
That plate does remind me of my Hello Kitty playsets – not too long ago! lol. Sorry the food wasn’t very good, but you definitely deserve credit for venturing in! A true blogger ๐
LOl love the comment about the childrens food platters. I had one just like you described, with a cartoon on the bottom (so you could encourage kids to finish their meal and uncovre the picture) Interesting comment about how you can be dissapointed if you had no expectations …. its definitely deep and something to ponder … I guess you’re right it is possible just a front. Or scarier yet, it could be someone who thinks they can cook.
I like the Intro to this post alot. The empowered by Typepad, Superfoodie part made me laugh.
Hmm… that soup looks like dishwater.
I eat there every once in a while. The things to get there are either the jab chae (which tastes like jab chae from everywhere else) or the spicy barbecued chicken. They are not the best, but they do taste pretty good.
Your comment about a front for the Yakuza reminded me of when I lived in Columbus and was trying all the pizza places close by. One day I called Ace Pizza and ordered a pizza for pickup. When I got there, the small space had 5 or 6 guys wearing suits just sortof standing around. Nobody eating anything. I got my pizza, brought it home, and it was the WORST pizza I ever ate. But somehow I think that pizza was not the main business at Ace.
Hey Kirk,
How offen does the Missus wrinkle her nose and say “yuck?”
Oh god, I’m having flashbacks of In Living Color’s “Snack’n Shack” skits ! (For those of you not in the know, the fictional restaurant would give even the hardest greasy-spoon fans nightmares, to say the least.)
Hi Kirk,
I’m new to this whole food blog thing, but I wanted to tell you that I’ve really enjoyed your site for a long time now! I especially love all your pictures and types of places you go to! I hope you can come visit my site sometime. Keep up all the awesome work!
http://www.ManjaManja.com
Dang, if the Missus says “Yuck,” then throw that out in the trash! Don’t even give it to the Boyz! Also, that is crazy-weird that you asked for the check and they brought you soup. That is some weirdo topsy-turvy crap goin’ on. If you asked for the soup, would they bring you the check or the bathroom key?
Hi Ted – No problem, I feel the same sometimes as well.
Hi CSB – Well if this is “lucky”…..
Hi Kathy – Well…..I always kept walking and driving past the place, so I had to finally give it a go.
Hi Rachel – Well if it’s terrible, it’s terrible……
Hi Captain Jack – It’s true though, isn’t it? ;o)
Hi Howie – Almost thought it was a “fingerbowl”.
Hi Fred – Thanks, I don’t think I’ll go back, but I’m sure that someone will check it out.
Hi Ed – That is funny! I’ll tell you the “barbershop story” one of these days.
Hi Jim – At food….not very often.
Hi Ed – Ugh…..I think I’ll skip dinner tonight. LOL!
Hi Janice – Thanks for visiting and commenting. I do like your site, and will create a link when I have a chance.
http://www.manjamanja.com/
Hi PE – I would be afraid if I ever asked for anything in a restaurant, and got the bathroom key…..;o) BTW, I think Da’ Boyz wouldn’t even eat it.
Kirk:
Do you really remember those skits?
Waitress/owner: You guys seem so fancy. What are you?
Customer: Well, we’re orthodontists.
Waitress: Well, that ain’t nothing to be ashamed of. Of course, I’m a Baptist myself. But I heard you guys give a good service.
LOL indeed!
Hi Ed – Vaguely….In Living Color had some great lines – “Why don’t you go outside and be the victim of a drive-by shooting?”
Kirk,
That is really sad, that the food was so bad! I agree with Howie the soup does like dish water. I liked this post though; it was very well written. ๐
Hi Mills – Well, I’m really glad I didn’t have the soup!
I just had bulgogi for the first time a few months ago at Kaisen (I will post about it eventually but I always forget to take pics..if you’re ever up in my area we should go!). Anyway, it’s so good! I couldn’t believe how tender the beef gets. I’m so sorry yours wasn’t good. Tough beef is nasty.
Hi Kady – Finally had Bulgogi? It’s good stuff, isn’t it?
This post is a great example of how cool your blog is. You go to the places many of us drive by wondering “Hmmm, I wonder….” Too bad it wasn’t a more positive experience.
Hey Jack – Hope all is well. You gotta just check out these places, once in a while you get something really good – not this time, though.
i went there about a year or two ago… because it looked cool from the outside and when you pass by it at night, there’s all these ppl on the patio drinking. What I remember from the visit was that we went for a 7 oclockish dinner on a sunday and it was not very busy at all and we went inside we thought,…” hmm… looks like they got a bunch of their friends together one weekend and built a patio inside the store space.”
The food wasn’t that great… theere’s better in Rowland Heights…
what I remember clearly is that the table we sat at was very awkward. the tables are built into the wall, so they are fixed. the benches you sit on are built into the ground and wall so they are fixed too. What was weird was that one side of hte table was strangely far away from the seat. After sitting down on the edge of the bench, the table was still almost a foot form your body. This is ok if you’re Plastic Man or Inspector Gadget, who can stretch their arms, but our arms weren’t engineered to elongate. After a while we gave up and both of us just sat on the closer side of the table.
Hi Andy – Maybe they didn’t want anyone stealing their benches??? ;o)
6 months later, the service is still abominable. they apologized, but hey, i was “this close” to busting out the “AJIMA”!
i like the dirty rustic country look. i like the pictures of country ladies on the wall. we had a great time and a great bargain. extremely fatty, thick cuts of sam gyup ssal coupled with a ass-kicking kimchi jigae (w/ tofu? and jalapenos? wtf?). everything showed up bloody red, including the kimchi. $27++ total damage.
thanks for giving a name to this place i just remembered as “the one next to pho convoy”.
Hi TonyC – LOL! Ajima…I don’t rememeber the last time I heard that…gotta watch out though, sometimes the “Ajima” can be a pretty tough customer!
Hi Kirk! I finally tried Friend’s House today because it TOTALLY was one of those places I passed frequently and never went in. My husband and I decided to give their lunch special a try hoping it would give us some idea of what their food was like without having to pay dinner prices. We ordered the bulgogi and seafood udon. The bulgogi must have gotten better since your last visit because we found it to be more flavorful and tender. Fortunately, it even looks tastier than the bulgogi in your pictures which I found to have a grayish tint to the meat. Bleh! But the important thing is, the meat was good for the price. The seafood udon was also plentiful with a variety of seafood (crab, clam, squid, octopus, shrimp). It was spicy and the broth was thick. It reminded me of “champong”, the spicy noodles they sell at Chinese/Korean restaurants that also sell “jajangmyun”. The only difference with this dish is that the noodles are udon noodles. Something I found really funny and quite sad is that when I first walked in, I found the service to be typical…non existent that is! This is probably due to the fact that I am Korean and my husband is Caucasian. Whenever I go to Korean restaurants with him, people kind of assume that I’m not Korean and I don’t speak the language. It’s amazing how restaurant service changes when I break out my Korean. Friend’s House was no different. When we first walked in, we were given our menus with the typical lack of warmth usually experienced in Korean restaurants. Through the course of the meal, I decided to ham it up a bit with the waiter. Towards the end of the meal, the guy was quite chummy with us and even said that if we came in next time, he would “hook it up.” Geez! Hopefully, they can learn to be nicer to all their patrons regardless of whether they speak the language or not. Sad to say, this is the situation at most Korean restaurants and also what leads my husband to tell me to speak Korean as soon as we walk in so that he can get more than one cup of water during his meal.
Hi Hannah – Wow, thanks for such a comprehensive comment! You know, we’ve gotten some really friendly and warm service from several Korean Restaurants in the area, Arirang and Buga kind of stand out, but then again, we’ve had some very terrible service in LA. It seemed at Friend’s House that they couldn’t wait to get rid of me… BTW, how was the panchan?
I found the panchan to be mediocre. In fact, I didn’t ask for second helpings of any of them. One of the factors that help me determine the status of a Korean restaurant is the kimchee and the one here tasted like store bought kimchee that had been sitting in their fridge for a good amount of time. While I enjoy a certain level of sourness to the kimchee, it was almost too much. I haven’t been to very many Korean restaurants in SD but Buga’s panchan definitely sticks out as one of the tastiest. Clean tasting with lots of flavor…if that makes any sense. Thanks for replying to my looong post!
Hi Hannah – That’s the one thing that really stuck with me…the Baechu Kimchi tasted really sour, almost spoiled…even worse than store bought.