Since the pandemic, um.ma has been on my list to check out for Korean food. Why? I ordered an at-home Korean Barbecue kit from them, and everything was fantastic. That, and my recent love for Korean food, made heading out to the Inner Sunset for dinner one night seem like a no-brainer. I made a booking and we arrived on time and were shown to our seats. The restaurant itself isn’t overly elaborate inside, with some basic seating, but as long as the food is good, it doesn’t really matter does it?
They have a pretty small wine list, but beer is always an option, so we went for some Asian beer, which aways pairs well with food from that area. I’m a sucker for KFC, so I knew the chicken was a definite. I had never seen a honey butter sauce for it, so that was how we got them. We also went for the kimchi pancake, because it is also one of my favorite things in the world (and I still can’t make it well at home). We also decided on roasted bone marrow over corn cheese, and we swung wild for something new: Gejang. It’s marinated raw crab in a citrus and gochujang dressing.
All of the food was out of this world. Truely. The wings were crisp and well cooked, and the honey butter sauce on it was so delicious. The kimchi pancake was perfectly crisp and just the way I like them. The bone marrow wasn’t that exciting really, but the corn cheese under it was so moreish I really couldn’t stop eating it and raving about it while we were sitting there. And finally the crab was brilliant. The meat was soft and luscious, and it felt like I was eating a pile of sweet shrimp from a sushi bar, but with an amazing spicy sauce. And there was so much of it, we were quite surprised. They even gave us gloves to try to keep less messy, but I’m not sure it worked out. Someone even got incredibly into getting the delicious crab meat out that he cut his hand on the shell, but basically ignored it and kept going.
The food and service at um.ma were absolutely fantastic, and I couldn’t recommend it more! I’m still dreaming about that corn cheese and the crab, so I know that a return visit will be in our future, perhaps even when we have friends or family visiting. The only downside is that there wasn’t a dessert menu, but luckily there’s a fantastic ice cream shop down the street, so there’s a way to get some sweetness at the end of the meal!
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: KFC, Crab, Corn Cheese, Kimchi pancake! I’d have them all again and again
um.ma
1220 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122
