In this time of sheltering at home and restaurants being closed, it’s amazing to me to see how so many places have adapted to the circumstances. And as someone who loves patronizing local establishments, I do want to support them and try to see if there are any making amazing food. When I found out about San Ho Won, which is a Korean restaurant that was scheduled to open this summer from the team at Benu, I knew it was going to be something to try. And luckily, they have found a way to share a preview of their menu out of the kitchen at Benu. It just involves preordering online and picking up in SOMA, then taking home to eat! And they are making it fairly easy to reheat at home, so you don’t need to feel bad about getting it during one of the early spots (although they do recommend eating it that evening as it isn’t designed to be cooled completely and reheated.)
They offer a set menu of a few items, but with the takeaway menu you can also add on a large jar of kimchi or several different alcohol options if that is your choice. (I do always feel bad when I order out because I never add on any wine, but that is partly because we may have enough wine to last us a year, so buying more just seems ridiculous! I do, however, love some kimchi, so that options seemed like a no-brainer.) The meal started with barbecue ribs with oyster sauce, crudites with tomato ssamjang, nalak kimchi. and ramp and egg jumeok-rice with anchovy sauce. And some of the extra kimchi I bought.
There are reheating and eating instructions that come along, so it’s quite easy to get ready at home and dig in. The ribs were incredibly tender and tasty, and I love creating lettuce wraps. The oyster sauce was very strong and I fell in love with it right away. Providing several different leaves to wrap with was also an excellent touch as it provided even more flavor profiles. The crudite with tomato ssamjang was surprisingly tasty, although I do prefer my ssamjang a bit more on the spicy side. The leftover ssamjang went very well with the ribs so there was none that went to waste. The rice was a lot like a bit of sushi as it was wrapped in seaweed, and the anchovy sauce was another really good pairing. Both kimchis were fantastic, as the traditional was really well prepared, and the nalak kimchi is more of a broth with a few vegetables in it to sip on during the entirety of the meal.
Next, I had to prepare the bone broth with the rice noodles, which was very simple as it just involved boiling the noodles in the broth for around thirty seconds and serving. It was a pretty stellar dish as well with a rich, creaminess from the bone broth and a very tasty rice noodle. It was a bit like a Korean-style ramen, and an incredibly good one at that. Dessert was a “simple” profiterole filled with a decadent chocolate and acorn pudding. It was also tasty with a light choux pastry and a sweet craquelin on top.
Overall, it was a pretty simple but incredibly tasty meal. Both I and my husband were really happy with it, as we have had some takeaways that have not met our expectations. He told me that he’d eat it again if I wanted to order another time in the future, so that’s always a bonus. We both would have liked a bit more spice to some of the dishes, but there was still a pretty good balance of flavor all around. It’s also going close to the top of the list when we can start going to restaurants again, as I’m eager to see what they can do with a full meal and not one that would require some reheating at home. If you’re looking for a fantastic, elevated Korean dining experience at home, San Ho Won is the place to try. They are currently taking online orders on Tock for pickup at Benu.
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: Well, everything really. It’s a set menu! (Oh and extra kimchi)
