To meet Sung Park of Kothai is to meet a true restaurateur. This humble but light-filled restaurant in the Inner Sunset belies the creativity on a menu where Korea-meets-Thailand in San Francisco skin. Park is not just a first-generation SF native, but has lived in the Sunset district his entire life, and in the Inner Sunset roughly 36 years.
He is a self-taught chef who honed his technique for years at home, gaining experience running food truck Spork and Stix with his friend Gof Sanguanwong, the Thai side of the Kothai collab, as Park brings the Korean heritage. Opening December 2023, they serve an Americanized brunch as the crowds desire, but here’s hoping more of the glories of their evening menu wend their way onto the brunch menu.
What I noticed visiting the neutral-toned, sunny corner space is Park’s engaging and consummate hospitality. This is what makes him a true restaurateur. As his first restaurant and traditionally untrained as a chef, his natural gift and understanding of hospitality is not only impressive but heartwarming. There are countless people in the business with vision, skill, talent and technique. But Sung’s warmth, ability to connect and desire to nurture through food and gathering spaces is what restaurants — and bars — are all about.
The good news is the food is also freaking delicious, to put it bluntly. It’s lively, creative and actually pushes boundaries, quite a feat for a first time restaurateur. The menu pulls from across Asia, centered in Korea with muse-like inspiration from Thailand.
Clean yet lively seafood starters wow. Kothai ceviche is cured sweet red shrimp with the purity of raw shrimp in the best sushi, enlivened with garlic, shallots, dill and mint, cradled in little gem lettuces. It’s unmissable. Likewise, a silky dry-aged seabream crudo pops with gooseberries, Fresno chilies and charred fennel in a citrus mango coulis. Both dishes exemplify breeziness without compromise in the flavor department.
Likewise light, an arugula salad shows off ripe, juicy Korean chamoe melon — which I’d happily eat as dessert — tossed with prosciutto, almonds, kumquats and cotija in a simple white balsamic vinaigrette. Crying Tiger tartare is a delicate mound of velvety prime ribeye tataki in shallots, cilantro and Thai chilies, with puffed black for crunch. It’s another delicate and flavor-packed dish.
Rich small plates also abound, like house favorite kimchi rice balls inspired by Silician arancini. They’re graced with bacon and sharp cheddar, dipped in aioli. Yes, please. Or “Mousse and Mochi,” surprising gluten-free mochi popovers with irresistible chew and a touch of mozzarella cheese in the batter to make them sing. Slathered in chicken liver mousse, yuzu and Cabernet wine-soaked currants brighten up the fatty richness of the liver and popovers.
Larger plates are no slouch. For example, red curry Cornish hen stuffed with aromatic raisin and toasted almond sticky rice, accompanied by broccolini in a red curry soubise, tastes like the holidays. Medium-rare King salmon haw mok is a gluten-free twist on a classic steamed curry dish common around Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Korea plays in the dish with accompanying baek kimchi (white kimchi) swimming in green curry emulsion, contrasted by sweet peppers, makrut lime and bamboo shoots, steamed and cooked until they impart a nice funk.
Korean goodness reaches its pinnacle in their kalbi, a traditional grilled short rib dish. Here, it’s an eight ounce marinated short rib with house kimchi and ssamjang sauce, packed in organic lettuce cups. Short rib stars as the tenderest beef sans any sinew or toughness, almost melting into the lettuce. It makes sense once you hear Sung bastes the beef for six days, brining it the first day in water, then in marinade the remaining days, which softens the proteins, breaking down any gristle or sinew.
Entree standouts don’t end here. A weekday-only porchetta with chicharrones is the least “Asian” only in the sense that its “hook” is a stout beer glaze. But lilikoi (passionfruit) mustard seed jam, arugula and amarosa fingerling potatoes amp up what is easily a beer or sake-friendly dish.
Which leads me to drinks. Sung thoughtfully composed a wine-and-beer-license drink list, leading on the wine side with widely-heralded wine regions like Burgundy, alongside also great, less-heralded regions. Think Galicia, Spain; Alsace, France or even white Rioja from Spain. There are 15 bottles of sake, with only three by the glass, two of them from our own SF sake brewery, Sequoia Sake.
Park’s low proof cocktails are rolling out with an easy drinking non-alcoholic (NA) passionfruit Mojito, or subtle-yet-bold low proof whiskey cocktail gently smoky with a burnt almond syrup he makes in-house to evoke peaty Scotch. The result is an earthy whisper of cigarette ash that remains elegant as it is present. This is a sign of “whole package” things to come here.
Last dish I must mention, as if there weren’t enough highlights, is in the soup and noodle section. I didn’t try their made-from-scratch Taiwanese beef noodle soup, but curious how it plays with traditional flavors I loved in this national dish in my Taiwan travels. But I don’t regret trying their dreamy Tom Yum rice noodles, illuminating the Thai classic with shrimp, tangy tamarind, chiles, pork belly, king oyster mushrooms, tomato, shallots, sawtooth coriander and a soft egg.
I was way too full to finish it but it made an ideal lunch the next day, lingering on my palate with vitality and punch, yet as comforting as Park’s engaging hospitality and service. This is the kind of neighborhood gem worth crossing the city for. A destination restaurant that stands on its own, expressing its own perspective, not unlike tiny, heralded spots like Noodle in Haystack. You heard it here first.
// 1398 9th Avenue; https://kothairepublic.com
Virginia Miller is a San Francisco-based food & drink writer.
The Bold Italic is a non-profit media organization, and we publish first-person perspectives about San Francisco and the Bay Area. Donate to us today.
