Exploring the Bay Area

Korean Superette This Korean sit-down restaurant doubles as a Korean market. The walls are lined with packaged Korean snacks, cooking ingredients essential to Korean cuisine, and lots and lots of noodles, especially ramen. They also have a wall lined with refrigerators stocked with kimchi, frozen dumplings, and other items. Plus, there are some beautiful non-food items made in a Korean style that would make cool gifts or decorations. As you eat, you can admire the selection; it’s hard to leave empty-handed because it’s hard to find such a wide assortment of Korean products elsewhere in Berkeley. The eating area, which doubles as a market, is a cozy place to eat. It’s bright and clean looking, with walls lined with fascinating Korean goods and a glass window separating the indoor eating area from the outdoor one, which is a small patio with some greenery that butts up to a few buildings on the other side. The seating is comfortable, and the tables are carefully spaced apart. It’s as if ...

Manna Manna is a Korean restaurant in San Francisco that proudly gives San Franciscans a taste of the flavors and textures of Korean cuisine. This small and charming restaurant efficiently made use of every bit of its small restaurant, packing in the tables and lining the walls with soda boxes. It has one small dining area, some outdoor seating, and a long waitlist, if necessary. It is so good that it is popular among those familiar with Korean cuisine and those who are not yet. We discovered Manna by accident when we were walking through the area, casually perusing  eating options. We were intrigued by the long menu full of reasonably priced and interesting Korean dishes, and ultimately, each of us quickly found something we would like to try. Soon after joining the waitlist, we were politely pointed to one of the tables. We placed our orders with a conscientious and kind server, who took our orders back to the kitchen and returned with a fascinating spread of kimchi and other Kor...

Oori Rice Triangles Oori is a very small restaurant. In fact, it is more like a stand. It has no seating at all. You come in, order and pay at a kiosk, and then wait as they prepare your order in their small kitchen. There is standing area where you can eat, or you can carry out your order.  The fact of the matter is that this adds to the appeal of Oori. It is fast, simple, and tasty. Nothing more. The simplicity of the restaurant helps it maintain low prices for the food. Customers rotate quickly through the business and often come back for more. Oori has cornered the market in Berkeley for freshly prepared rice triangles. They have grilled salmon (pictured above), short rib, spicy ahi tuna, chicken teriyaki, spicy pork, spicy shrimp, unagi, tofu teriyaki, tofu kimchi, spicy kimchi, pickled plum, spicy tofu, and rice only triangles. All are made with same basic method, which wraps a healthy amount of filling and a rice triangle in crunchy seaweed.  These toppings can also be...