"Restaurateur Ina Jungin Lee has an uncanny knack for making quick, surprisingly addictive food. She’s the owner of numerous Korean restaurants in San Francisco including downtown’s Matko and Excelsior’s Korner Store. But it’s not just her — her whole family can crack out everything from soy sauce crab to banchan to-go with speedy excellence. Her latest venture, BoBop on Valencia Street, is no less impressive. The stir-fried kimchi, 100 percent gluten-free and vegan, is a palm-sized medley of aioli, sweet rice, and spicy cabbage. I was asked if I’d like my order heated up or not; thankfully I deferred to the recommendation of my server, who encouraged me to spend the 45 seconds required to warm up the handroll. Biting into this tofu skin-wrapped dish grants the feeling of drinking warm soup on a cold morning. This chobap hit the spot in a rare kind of way. The peppery spice is bracing, yet I still ran through this dish in the same way I’ve dashed through all my favorite snacks: too quick, always wishing for more, staring blankly and wondering who could have eaten my treasure without my noticing, not unlike Patrick Star. For $4.29 (or three for $11.99, five for $17.99, and a party pack of 21 for $72.99) a chobop noob like myself can easily get inducted into Lee’s canon of Korean snack food. Any of those deals make for a worthwhile investment at this Valencia corridor newcomer." - Paolo Bicchieri
