I ate a lot of Korean food in 2025.
There were jumbo chicken burgers glazed in fiery Buldak ramen-flavored sauce at Los Angeles-based Chimmelier, which expanded to the Bay Area with locations in Berkeley and Oakland in quick succession. I tried gloriously rich marinated crab at Tang Jip, a homestyle soup chain, and yukhoe (Korean beef tartare) piled over fried onigiri at the highly anticipated Oken in Oakland. San Francisco gained a sool jib, a stylish Korean drinking den, with Jilli — another Los Angeles import.
I started to notice a common neighbor. Chimmelier in Oakland was 10 paces away from Ohgane, a Korean barbecue mini-chain. In Alameda, Tang Jip and another location of Ohgane were so close, the buildings could almost hold hands…