Um Ma Son

One word: homey.
Was in search for a restaurant in this area still open at 10 and got here a couple hours before closing. This small restaurant has a family feel, run entirely by an elderly lady at the time we arrived.
Of course my go-​to was a dol sot bi bim bap. Not disappointing at all! It came slightly sizzling and rice at the bottom of the pot was nicely crisp. Would recommend this for all bi bim bap lovers.
Also ordered a mandu appetizer. So. Good. Though the menu said potstickers, it’s actually steamed dumplings. The sauce was a bit too salty for me though. Recommend this as a starter to share or small entrée.
Service was excellent too.
The lady who was running this place does it all– taking orders, cooking, and refilling waters promptly. The best part was as we were about to leave, she was humming along to «All of Me» by John Legend as it started playing. Adorable!
Overall: comforting Korean food with a hospitable vibe. I’d come here again for sure.

Not sure how this place got such high rating. The food is just ok, slightly below par. The price is really high for what it is.
Service is slow, and in more than one occasion I’ve observed blatant favoritism in terms of service.
I gave it some benefits of doubts, but it never impressed me after multiple visits.
Maybe this place had its days. But alas it’s no more.

We came here on a cold night craving Korean food. Clean and quiet family style restaurant. They gave us a good amount of side dish, we ordered a tofu soup, bibimbap, spicy squid, and spicy rice cake on ramen.
My impression is that everything was very average, the spicy squid and spicy rice cake tasted the same probably because the sauce and seasoning were identical. The tofu soup was a little blend without much flavor. However, the owner gave us a complementary seafood pancake that actually tasted the best out of all the dishes we had that night! There were good amount of seafood and the pancake was crisp.
Will go to other Korean restaurant in the Richmond district, but if you are in a hurry, you can always get a table here easily and fill your stomach fast!

Great home cooked Korean place. A bit at the end of Geary but if you decide to make the trek this spot is worth it (it is right next to Aziza and if you cant find parking you can pay to valet at Aziza). Great place.

Pretty typical food And environment. Wasn’t very exceptional. The lady was nice though. I think be cause she thought I was Korean. She sure knows how to up sell. I let her though as she seems to work really hard by herself. They can use a little more decoration and brighter lights.
I have a feeling the reason why this place is highly rated is a lot of people see the lady working on her own so late. Just saying

How in the world did this place get such high reviews? I have no idea. Don’t let its name fool you, this place not authentic at all, most of the workers in there speak fluent Chinese.
Came here with like 20 people on a Saturday night without reservations. We ordered the usual items but in larger portions: soondubu, jap chae, kimchi fried rice, galbi, haemul pajeon. The food must have food coloring because everything was bland and texture was off. Their bowls holding soondubu looked cracked and about to break on you. Soup was too watery and bland. It was definitely red in color, hardly any substance in the soup. Jap chae was just watery and noodles were overcooked and soggy. Kimchi fried rice was bland, it was literally kimchi and rice tossed in the same pan. Haemul pajeon was alright. Galbi was a bit overdone, but decent enough.
Servers were rude, no smiles at all. We asked for refills on certain banchan (kimchi, bean sprouts) and the lady there pointed at the other banchan and said «you have them there» and then said «you still have some» for the one or two pieces of sprouts left. We were the only Asian customers, everyone else around were non-​Asian. You can easily tell they had a better attitude towards them than us.
For that price, I’m sure I would like to spend it elsewhere. No wonder they could fit such a huge group on a late notice.

We called to ask if we could come in for 2 people for dinner and asked for a reservation. They said «no problem, just come in, come in» and hung up without asking for our names — we drove straight over, found parking, and walked in. The place was half empty, but when we got there they said there were no tables because a party of 15 was coming.
There seemed to be space, and I told them we’d called ahead. They just told us again that there weren’t any tables. Hungry and pissed.

Small little restaurant, but great food! It’s not all hyped up like most Korean restaurants around SF, but definitely the same quality. Been here twice, both an hour or two before closing time. It was really quiet and we were the only table.
The restaurant is run by a older Korean lady and she does it all! Or at least during the time I was here. She was the only person working and she even locked the doors for her own safety inside. We had to knock for her to unlock the doors for us.
The food came quick! I’m still confused by how she can cook so many dishes in such a small amount of time.
Only downside is that both occasions we were here, we wanted to get the fried fish but she was out :/​
Will definitely be back to support her business. Very sweet lady!

The lady who served us was the friendliest sweetest lady every! Love love love her.
We ordered seafood pancake and Kalbi. Both were delicious, especially loved that the pancake was not too oily. Perfect balance of crispy and doughy texture.

Overall, I’d say this place is alright. Not amazing, but not terrible. I’d probably come here as a backup if other locations were closed. The food is great, but definitely on the salty side.
korean pancake — large seemed like what is traditionally a reg size
bulgogi — reg size plate, would say it’s standard
other red meat — reg size plate, again it’s standard
spicy rice cake — very salty, and seemed extra doughy, which can be good or bad depending on your preference for how rice cakes are cooked
seafood hot tofu soup — salty, a bit lacking in the seafood
reg hot tofu soup — salty, was more standard

I wish there was a Korean place that delivered close to home. When the roommate said he’d pick up food, we decided to try Um Ma Son. Ordered through GrubHub (
).
November 2013
*Banchan
*Go ki soon du bu ($ 9.95)
*Kal bi ($ 20.95)
*Jo ki gu yi ($ 14.95)
*Jop chae ($ 10.95)
*Kim chee bok um bab ($ 10.95)
We got a good amount of banchan. I especially liked the sprouts and fish cake. The food itself was solid. The soup was spicy. The short ribs smoky. The noodles had a good chew. The fish nicely grilled. The only thing that was just okay was the kimchee fried rice. I thought it was a little mushy and the egg a little overcooked. It didn’t ooze onto the rice.
Nice mom and pop place. In fact, we recently ordered food from here again and enjoyed our meal. The only thing I noticed was they didn’t seem to give us as much banchan this time. Still, their soondubu is good. The tofu is silky and it has a nice amount of spice. Just the way I like it!

Good Korean food at a good price. Quick service. Very intimate environment. Try it out!!!