One of the most highly anticipated openings in the Bay Area food world is finally here.
Jagalchi , a colossal temple to Korean food unlike anything else in the region, will open its doors at Daly City’s Serramonte Center on Friday. The 75,000-square-foot complex houses a grocery store, a restaurant, two bars, a bakery, a butcher, a seafood counter and an extensive prepared foods section. There will be house-made foods from kimchi to tofu as well as seafood, specialty produce and beauty products imported from Korea. There will also, almost certainly, be long lines.
Jagalchi is a new offshoot of Mega Mart, an international Korean supermarket chain with two Bay Area stores. But Jagalchi is the first of its kind, and the company plans to open more locations.
The store’s deli section will be packed with banchan, or Korean side dishes, as well as multiple kinds of handmade mandu (dumplings), kimbap, tempura and jeon, or savory pancakes studded with kimchi or seafood. Two street food carts will serve hits like tteokbokki (rice cakes), Korean-style corn dogs and tornado potatoes, or thinly sliced potatoes spiraled on a skewer. Another section is dedicated to the Korean Buddhist cuisine known as temple food, with grab-and-go vegetarian dishes.
Jagalchi is named after the largest seafood market in Korea, in Busan, so seafood is a focus, from fresh to aged fish and to-go sushi. Once a month, Jagalchi will host cutting demonstrations of whole bluefin tunas; customers can sample and then purchase select cuts. An oyster bar will serve several kinds of steamed West Coast oysters, plus sushi, sashimi and tataki. Marinated meats, from galbi to pork bulgogi, and premium cuts will be sold at a butcher counter.
Pogu, a modern restaurant in the center of the sprawling store, comes from Jagalchi executive chef Tony Yoo, the first chef in Korea to win a Michelin star. Korean barbecue, from short ribs seasoned with aged Korean sea salt to mackerel, will be cooked over charcoal on two grills that anchor the large open kitchen. Several dishes are inspired by Yoo’s grandmother, whose cooking he watched growing up in the Gangwon province, including hand-pulled buckwheat noodles tossed in a nutty sesame-herb sauce. Another is a humble potato dish, slow-cooked in lotus leaves with umami-rich doenjang butter (made from fermented soybean paste, like miso) and aged soy sauce passed down from his grandmother.
Customers will be able to order a-la-carte dishes, opt for an ever-changing chef’s tasting menu ($95 per person) or a combination menu ($15 per person) inspired by bansang, a traditional Korean meal with rice and side dishes…