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The Richmond is where most San Francisco Korean barbecue restaurants tend to congregate, and another — Dancing Bull — has recently joined the crowd. What’s making this one stand out, though, is its focus on bulgogi only and the grills it uses, which apparently are very popular in Korea. They’re made of copper and have two separate areas of cooking, one higher and at the center for the bulgogi, and one lower and circling around the center to cook sides like fried rice, vegetables, and soup as the meat juices drip in. When the soup is in the bottom portion, it almost becomes both barbecue and shabu shabu.
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Partners Jason Kim and Tony Chong opened Dancing Bull in late August, and it’s been packed ever since. Despite their background in cell phone billing, they wanted to try something new and teamed up with chef Jun Lee, who has 25 years of experience in restaurants like Morimoto in Napa. The menu offers prescribed bulgogi-focused dishes like bulgogi japchae (sweet potato noodles) and bulgogi dukbokki (stir-fried rice cakes), but the really cool part is in the all-you-can-eat bulgogi, which comes with your choice of beef or pork and bone broth soup and assorted vegetables — all cooked on that one copper grill — for $20.50 per person. For another $3.50, you can add fried rice or noodles to cook on the grill after you’re done with your meat.
Dancing Bull has a beer and wine license, so there’s Korean beer, some wine, and shoju cocktails in the 15-table space. It’s open at 4217 Geary Blvd., Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.
