San Francisco: Aria Korean Tapas
Abby saw a photo of Aria Korean Tapas on Instagram and was desperate to try it. The perfect opportunity arose after a naturalization workshop in the city on a Saturday. As usual, I dragged my whole family to volunteer. Since I get paid to work the workshops and they don't, I usually have to bribe them with food.
Well, Abby's the only one who needs bribing. My parents actually enjoy volunteering. Probably because all of my colleagues love them and always ask if they're going (even when I tell them I'll be vacation and can't make it).
The workshop ended a bit early for once and Aria wasn't open yet when we arrived. There was a line already outside though:
On weekdays, Aria is open all day, but on Saturdays, they break from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. On Sundays, they're closed.
We were the fourth party in when they finally opened. We walked inside to find the tiniest restaurant ever:
It was basically a kitchen with counter seating on the side that fit around six. Needless to say, there was no space for us.
We ordered to eat in anyway because how else can you get one of those epic tray photos?:
We got the Combo B, which is supposed to serve two to three people. The tray was loaded with 10 pieces of original Korean fried chicken ($9, sauce on the side), 10 pieces of gangjung fried chicken ($10, sauce on the chicken), bulgogi kimbap ($11.50), and spicy pork stir-fry ramen ($5.50) to which we added an egg (+$1). For the gangjung fried chicken, we had the choice of sweet and spicy or garlic soy. We went with the garlic soy out of deference to my non-spicy eating father.
We tried eating while standing outside, but we just weren't that dexterous. Ultimately, we squished ourselves back in and found a corner were my parents could sit on some plastic bins while my sister and I stood and hovered over them.
Was the food worth it? In my honest opinion, nah.
The breading on the chicken was so thick that we had trouble finding the actual meat. The kimbap was good, but a tad too sweet. The ramen had no flavor beyond sweet and spicy. We laughed about the experience and now have a funny story to tell, but we all agreed that we wouldn't want to go back.
The photo looked good though.
Aria Korean Tapas
932 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 292-6914
https://ariasf.com/
Well, Abby's the only one who needs bribing. My parents actually enjoy volunteering. Probably because all of my colleagues love them and always ask if they're going (even when I tell them I'll be vacation and can't make it).
The workshop ended a bit early for once and Aria wasn't open yet when we arrived. There was a line already outside though:
On weekdays, Aria is open all day, but on Saturdays, they break from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. On Sundays, they're closed.
We were the fourth party in when they finally opened. We walked inside to find the tiniest restaurant ever:
It was basically a kitchen with counter seating on the side that fit around six. Needless to say, there was no space for us.
We ordered to eat in anyway because how else can you get one of those epic tray photos?:
We got the Combo B, which is supposed to serve two to three people. The tray was loaded with 10 pieces of original Korean fried chicken ($9, sauce on the side), 10 pieces of gangjung fried chicken ($10, sauce on the chicken), bulgogi kimbap ($11.50), and spicy pork stir-fry ramen ($5.50) to which we added an egg (+$1). For the gangjung fried chicken, we had the choice of sweet and spicy or garlic soy. We went with the garlic soy out of deference to my non-spicy eating father.
We tried eating while standing outside, but we just weren't that dexterous. Ultimately, we squished ourselves back in and found a corner were my parents could sit on some plastic bins while my sister and I stood and hovered over them.
Was the food worth it? In my honest opinion, nah.
The breading on the chicken was so thick that we had trouble finding the actual meat. The kimbap was good, but a tad too sweet. The ramen had no flavor beyond sweet and spicy. We laughed about the experience and now have a funny story to tell, but we all agreed that we wouldn't want to go back.
The photo looked good though.
Aria Korean Tapas
932 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 292-6914
https://ariasf.com/
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