OHGANE KOREAN RESTAURANT, North Oakland
While not in the most desirable of neighborhoods – Ohgane is located on the stretch of Oakland’s Broadway Boulevard between 40th and 41st, off the 580 freeway – it makes up for lack of geographical charm with plenty of easy parking, lot and street. Those cruising in sweeter rides than our own need not worry while chowing down, for a trusty security guard, armed with a Bluetooth earpiece, keeps watch in the lot in the evenings. On the outside, Ohgane resembles a Koreanized IHOP, but the roomy interior makes for an ideal tabletop grilling space. The back room seems to be reserved for Korean speakers, so naturally we were seated in the front. Murals of the Korean countryside cover the walls, which surround abundant tables fitted with grills and overhead ventilation fans. Our only gripe: that there was only one grill for our table of eight, and it was located at the far end of the tabletop, rendering one of our party head chef and the remainder of us hungry and demanding baby birds.
The menus are beautifully bound in silver albums covered with rose brocade (seriously), Ohgane’s menu covers all areas of Korean food goodness. While you can choose from appetizers, entrees and meats for grilling, most go mainly for the meat. There is a lunch menu, which we’ve heard gives a bigger bang for your buck, but for our soiree we stuck mainly with meat and more meat. We did try two appetizers, vegetables pancakes and chap chae (stir-fired glass noodles with beef and veggies), and found them delicious, but the vast array of ban chan, or small complimentary dishes, are usually the perfect accompaniment to the meal. What’s more, you can ask for refills!
When wrestling with sizzling meat, filling beer glasses and making sure everyone gets a taste of a particular yummy side dish, presentation is usually not a concern. Like typical Korean BBQ places, Ohgane serves everything up neatly and efficiently, and as long as the meat kept coming, we didn’t mind that there were no tomato roses atop the piles. Korean BBQ is all about the meat, and we were all about getting it off the grill and into our mouths as quickly as possible. We tried bulgogi (sliced lean beef), spicy pork and chicken, although the menu offered many more selections, including seafood. We also ordered a few entrees - spicy pork and veggies, bi bim bap (rice with meat and veggies cooked in a clay pot and assembled at the table) and soup noodles. Everything was as good as can be, and although a certain someone declared that it wasn’t up to LA standards (but then again, what in Nor Cal IS?), we had to momentarily put conversation and socializing aside to indulge in the Korean BBQ experience.
A good selection of sake and liquors lined the display case by the entrance, but curiously the only Korean beer that Ohgane serves is HITE. Six bottles later, we didn’t really mind. A quick Google search reveals that Hite is not only made with 100% pure rock bed ground water, but is also the first beer to have a thermometer mark on its label, which tells you whether the beer inside is at the optimal temperature or not. As usual, our supper club party was too full to partake in any desserts after our main course. We are trying to work on saving room since we know this is a crucial element to restaurant reviews. We just can't help getting more than our fill of such tasty entrees.
Even though we didn’t have a Korean among us, we got excellent service from the rotating staff, with seemingly five or six different people serving us throughout the evening. It was a little difficult communicating with the waitress who took our order, whose English wasn’t great, but it wasn’t an issue. At $34 per person, Korean BBQ wasn’t the cheapest outing we’ve had, but for an evening filled with good food, good company and thought-provoking conversation it was worth every penny.
Ohgane Korean Restaurant
3915 Broadway Oakland, CA 94620
(510) 594-8300
3915 Broadway Oakland, CA 94620
(510) 594-8300
