08 - Ohgane Korean Barbeque Restaurant - Oakland

Ohgane Korean Barbeque Restaurant - 3915 Broadway, (between 38th St & 40th St), Oakland, CA 94611, (510) 594-8300

Last visit - July 5th, 2008

Ohgane's website

Serendipitous food findings are always welcome in world. We were looking for some Vietnamese pho place for dinner after a movie at Emeryville, but it was a bit too late for that. For some reason, most Vietnamese restaurants don't open late (there's supposed to be this pho noodle house that stays up past midnight in San Jose area, but I haven't verified this). Our next thought was Korean, but not the same ones that we are used to going. I remembered a Korean place across from Momma's Cafe on Broadway, so we decided to go there ~ which turns out to be Ohgane.

We go in from the wrong door, the front door. Yes, if you don't want to make our mistake, go through the parking lot. That's where the real entrance is. The place is big, bigger than we expected. All I am hoping for is something quick and hot, and perhaps two or three tables taken. Nobody wants to eat at a restaurant as the only table attended to. We walk pass a glass cabinet of liquor; not super top shelf, but they had Johnny Walker Red label. Not too shabby I think. Maybe it's going to be more than $10 bucks. Then they seat us at a table under a bbq vent and present us with a tome-like leather menu . OK, $20 bucks it's going to be. There are eight or nine tables full of people, so I am glad.

We order the Jab-chae and sauteed beef and vegetables, we aren't too hungry, and a large bottle of Hite. Not "hi-te", but "height"; I am corrected by the Korean waitress. We sit for a bit, watching the baseball scores on the Samsung LCD, and the waitress returns with a platter of appetizers. I guess they are trying to outdo the Koreal house? There are 15 mini dishes of appetizers, ranging from kimchi and carmelized potatoes to steamed vegetables and seaweed.

After the beer came, we just decide to just enjoy the meal. It's been awhile since we had Korean food anyway. The spicy sauteed beef dish is really good, just enough flavor for the beef and authentic kim chi sauces. The Jab-chae can be a bit spicier, but it really complimented the spicy stuff well. They bring out complimentary seaweed soup (much like miso) and a bowl of rice for each of us. That's always nice, rice should always be complimentary. Even when it's costing up to a dollar a pound now.

We talk and eat, and drink some more beer. When the time comes to pay for the bill, I notice a knob on the side of the table. There is one on every table. Might it be a service button? I press it comes a digital "25" on their table monitor and a waitress comes up to us. We tell her we want the check. Amazing, I haven't seen a service bell in the U.S. for a long time. A great feature in Asia, and almost every Japanese restaurant.

We pay for the bill and think of what to do with the leftovers for the night.

Yelp's two cents