I’m a creature of habit and when it comes to Korean restaurants, I frequent the same one or two spots in Oakland. I finally decided to branch out a few months ago and visited Sura Korean cuisine in the Temescal district with my sister, Melody.
We were too hungry to wait for our entrees so we started with a plate of mandu, or Korean dumplings. These thin, crispy meat-filled dumplings are similar to their Central Asian cousins like the Turkish manti and Kazakh manty, although they taste more similar to Japanese gyoza. You say potato, I say delicious.
Our banchan soon arrived, and what I love about Sura’s banchan is that I’d never seen many of these small plates served elsewhere. One of the banchan was a kale-like dish drizzled with a vinegar-soy dressing and another even included tomatoes. Still, my favorites were their classic banchan like radish kimchi and seaweed namul.
It was cold out, so I had a steaming bowl of sundubu as my entree, perfect with steamed rice. Sunudubu is a spicy jiigae, or stew, cooked with seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, and the ubiquitous gochujang red pepper paste. It’s all served in its cooking vessel while still bubbling hot, usually with a raw egg on top. My sundubu was sans egg, but it hit the spot nonetheless.
The portions are generous at Sura and the service is friendly, and now that I’ve branched out of my usual Korean favorites in the East Bay, I know that I’ll be back.