Do Re Mi House

This restaurant and Friend’s House are my two favorite Korean restaurants in San Diego. The difference with Do Re Mi House is that while their dolsot bimbimbap is not as good and while they don’t have a seafood fried rice, they have more interesting dishes and they taste great more consistently.
The similarities with Friend’s House is that the service and hospitality is also inviting and genuine. There’s also an impressive variety of banchan (free side dishes) in rotation.
At the end of each meal, a free «shot» of refreshing cinnamon tea is offered. It’s a nice touch that adds to the overall positive dining experience.

SD/​Convoy area has many legit korean restaurants and this is one of them. I visited Do Re Mi a couple of times while I lived in SD and my meals have always been pleasant. This most recent visit was also great and probably more memorable. The restaurant itself is a little bit small (for SD) and can get crowded around meal times. The food generally comes out fast so tables clear out pretty fast in my opinion. I think my friend and I waited around ~10 minutes before we were seated. Not bad. For this visit we were HUNGRY and decided to splurge on the budae jjigae — kimchi spicy soup base, ramen, spam, sausage, all the goodness in a bowl of yummy soup = GOOD IDEA! Although it was too much for 2 people. Probably the right amount for 3. My friend took it back home for leftovers! Not a good place for huge parties. Keep it small people! Overall a good place for quick, authentic korean food.

Nothing special although it might be unfair to review baed on one lunch. Comments suggest visitors like the quantity of food but i thought even the kimchi was humdrum. Not bad but also no reason to try to comeback.

As a fellow Korean, I have to say Do Re Mi House is decent, authentic Korean food. Their menu is comprehensive and includes all sorts of stews, meat options, noodle soups, rice bowls and appetizers. Entrée prices range from $ 10 – 25.
The great thing about Korean food is no matter what you order, you get complimentary side dishes which include kimchee, broccoli, seaweed, bean sprouts, potatoes, fish cakes, spinach and best of all, steamed egg! The side dishes were on the saltier side so beware. We loved the sizzling kalbi! The chicken BBQ was okay; nothing special.
Overall, we thought the service was fast and it was nice that they have young people working there who speak English to accommodate those who are not Korean. Korean servers don’t typically come by your table asking you if you need anything, so don’t hesitate to flag the server down for more drinks and side dishes during your meal.
The restaurant is on the smaller side (fits about 30 people) so come prepared to wait if you come during rush lunch or dinner hour or have a large party (more than 4 people).
NOTE: they only accept Visa, MasterCard and cash.

I’ve been to many of the Korean spots on Convoy and I like that this one is not in the madness of that area. Still a busy spot next to the Bull Pen, but there’s usually always parking. Came for lunch and got the tofu soup and kalbi combo. You get a generous portion of banchan including steamed egg. The soup was yummy, kalbi was a little fatty but flavor good. My boyfriend had the dolsot bibimbap which was delicious!
We would definitely come back. One of the better Korean spots in SD for sure.

Went here with my roommates and safe to say I loved it here!
I ordered the pork galbi ($ 16.99) and it was delicious!!! I personally like the pork galbi more than the LA beef galbi! The pork galbi was so juicy and filled with flavor. I also tried my roommates seafood tofu soup ($ 9.99) and it was amazing!!!
Their side dishes are great as well! I love their fish cakes. Their kimchi wasn’t as spicy as I would like it to be but pretty yummy. I didn’t like the steamed egg though. It didn’t have a lot of flavor at all.
Total: ~$ 30 for three people

Been a regular here since my move from NY to San Diego. This did become my local Korean spot. I usually order seafood soondubu to go because I have two kids and sometimes, it can be challenging to sit down and enjoy your meal. Not impossible-​just challenging, haha.
Along with my soondubu, you get a 9 side dishes with it. I typically order extra spicy because their spice level to me isn’t very accurate on a typical average mild, medium, spicy, extra spicy spice level. It costs $ 11.87 after taxes.
*They don’t have to go menus* but I’ve asked the boss lady if I could snap a photo for future to go orders and she kindly allowed it.

This place is amazing, and has some of the best Tofu soup and Kalbi. If you are visiting san diego, I’d definetly recommend visiting this place for some authentic korean food. It can be busy at times but call ahead to get a wait time or go vista somewhere close by like societe brewery =)

This was our Friday night adventure — we had tried coming here last weekend, but couldn’t find parking… so we decided to come again this week, much earlier this time.
The food — 4 stars! I had the Kalbitang, and it came with lots of ingredients, I counted, 11 bones! It was tasty, a tad on the saltier side though. In any case, it was decent. My wife had the soondubu — it was also on the salty side. but was pretty good. The banchans were above average, all dishes were made with quality and tasted great. I couldn’t have asked for more/​better. Oh yes, free soup for the toddler, who couldn’t eat spicy! That was great, because we wouldn’t have to order something mild just for the baby.
The service — very nice waiting staff, who were both friendly and patient. It got pretty busy after we started to eat, and being with kids, the meal usually takes longer than normal… no complaints. They were also friendly with the kids.
The bathroom — that was the turn-​off for me. I wish they had renovated the bathroom… it was grimy and dirty. I was glad that I only went at the end of our visit. Would have lost my appetite.
Another weird thing was, we smelled cigarette smoke the entire time we were there… yet no one was smoking in the restaurant or outside… could it be the staff in the kitchen? Not sure, but I will remember to ask the next time we visit and if we still smell the smokes.

One of the best kalbi’s in San Diego!
I always get the kalbi meat when I go here, and sometimes the bulgogi (also highly recommended) which are both super soft and deliciously marinated. They come out in sizzling pans for that extra fresh taste! The side dishes here are also the best! My favorites are the sweet sauce potatoes, fish cake, steamed egg and pickled bean sprouts. The employees there are also very nice about refilling these sides up when you want more! Each meat dish comes with rice and side dishes so you will be full and content by the time you leave!
They also give you cinnamon tea as dessert at the end of your meal (YUM).

A friend who used to live in San Diego recommended this restaurant, and we drove from PB for dinner.
We ordered fried veggie dumplings, spicy pork, and bibimbap, and all were amazing! The bibimbap came with fresh cut lettuce and had a sweet tanginess that I loved, and the spicy pork was served sizzling and was the perfect amount of saucy. There was a wide variety of banchans, which included a steamed egg served boiling!

This place is probably my favorite Korean place when it comes to non-​BBQ dishes!
Waiting took quite a bit, as there is a decent amount of people and the restaurant itself is quite small. Service is quite fast with many waiters easily walking by and food coming out at a decent pace.
My girlfriend and I ordered the Mushroom and Beef Tofu soup, the Seafood Veggie Pancake (Okonomiyaki) and the Bibim noodles. They started us off with a ton of free appetizers (Banchan) with about 10 different things to eat to get us started while we waited for our food. The first of our dishes to arrive was the Okonomiyaki, which was huge and quite delicious. Definitely one of of the better okonomiyaki I have had in San Diego, Crispy on the outside and packed in the inside. The Tofu soup was great too, having a ton of tofu, but a the same time it dwarfed the mushrooms, meat, and even the broth! The Bimbim noodles were amazing as well, having a nice sweet, savory, spicy flavor, while being a refreshing cold noodle dish. Although, the actual contents of the noodles felt a little lacking as it was just noodles, sauce, and cabbage. The end of our meal was also concluded with a small serving of cinnamon tea.
Overall everything was great. Prices of most of our dishes were from 10 to 15 dollars, but they also had other items that were 20 – 30 dollars that were more premium items, or meant to be shared with 2 people. We will definitely be coming back!

This place is quickly becoming my favorite korean restaurant in san diego. It’s a small restaurant so there’s always a bit of a wait around dinner time, but trust me, the food is worth it.
The banchan here are very generous (there were about TEN different kinds!). They are a meal in themselves and they are replenishable if you ask. We didn’t this time because we already ordered so much food. The boyfriend and I shared a okonomiyaki for appetizer, he got the tofu soup with mushrooms and beef, and I got the bibim noodles.
The okonomiyaki is HUGE, and can be an entrée in itself. It’s also probably one of the tastiest I’ve eaten in san diego. The outside was perfectly crispy and the inside soft and stuffed with delicious things like leeks, shrimp, radishes, etc… It’s topped with bonito flakes and while it doesn’t look like there was a lot of sauce at first glance, it was really flavorful.
The tofu soup was really packed with tofu. My boyfriend commented there was probably more tofu that actual soup! I did not mind this at all and the mushrooms were really delicious. It was, however, a bit light on the meat side of things. Could’ve used a bit more beef. Also unlike other tofu soup places I’ve been to, it was really flavorful and didn’t taste like watered down soup packets. Felt very homemade.
It was my first time trying the bibim noodles and at first I was a bit nervous because they’re cold noodles, but they felt really refreshing. The noodles had a great chew to them and the sauce is very similar to the same gochujang sauce you’d used with a bibimbap. It came with lots of julienned cabbage (red and regular) and half a hard boiled egg. I did kind of wish there was more protein in here than the egg. Maybe some meat and some other vegetables besides just cabbage.
The meal ended with complimentary cinnamon tea which was a really nice touch. Overall, I really enjoyed my visit here and will be back again. The only thing I would suggest changing is perhaps adding a bit better ventilation because of all the sizzling plates, the place smelled rather smoky.

Came in for lunch with my cousin on a Thursday. We got there around 12:15 and there were 2 other guests there. We were seated immediately and had our orders taken within 5 minutes. I ordered the bulgogi set and my cousin ordered the bbq chicken. Both lunches were $ 8.99 each and came with soup, salad, 2 fried pot stickers, meat, rice and a drink. Our meals also included yummy banchan.
Our food got to us less than 10 minutes. It was more than enough for both of us. The bulgogi was marinated and cooked to perfection and so was the rice. The soup and salad were okay and the fried pot sticker was pretty good. I tried my cousin’s chicken and her food was also good.
The service was good. They came and checked on us often. My overall experience was good and you can’t beat the lunch specials at $ 8.99.

I ate here 5 years ago and I remember enjoying my experience. I came back 5 years later because I found out that food critics call this the «2014 best Korean restaurant in San Diego.»
It still looks the same 5 years later. I didn’t like the smell when I went in. It smells like cigarette; it reminded me of the Korean restaurants I ate in the Philippines, where the majority of the customers were Korean and they would all just light up a cigarette and smoke in the restaurant. Eeew.
I ordered the Naengmyeon; it’s a cold noodle that’s wildly popular in North Korea. I’ve always been fascinated with that evil little country and I keep on reading about how the locals over there go crazy over this stuff. I’ve never had naemyeon before so I was excited that I was gonna try it for the very first time.
How’s the naengmyeon? Well, I like it. I can understand why North Koreans like this stuff. It’s light and surprisingly sweet.
In the end of the meal, they give you cinnamon tea which is pretty good
So, this place is great for the food but it smells so nasty in here. Ordering take out in a Korean restaurant normally sucks because they don’t give you a lot of banchan. So you have to eat in this nasty smelling joint

Pretty cute place — called Do Re Mi, like the keys on the piano. This was on my list to try for a while. We went in on a Sunday — October 25^th for my friend’s birthday. The place was not too large, kind of reminded me of those holes in the wall in NY. It’s right off the 15. We were greeted upon walking in and then sat in the middle of the restaurant.
The main thing I love about Korean restaurants is their side dishes. There’s always a variety to eat. As it’s been a while since I really ate anything meat-​related, I got the bulgogi. I could already hear Walter’s Ehh… It was pretty tasty, and the plate it was on was hot! Do be careful if you order a hot dish. Unfortunately I was too hungry so I neglected to take pictures of just the food. Birthday girl got the galbi which she enjoyed. Our other friend who came later ordered the okonomiyaki. That was amazing! However I think that’s too much for one person to finish — as it is quite heavy. But hey, if you are sharing, most definitely get! Very filling.
Across from where we were sitting, there was also pictures on the wall of the other dishes. We had a enjoyable time at this place, and I would totally come again.

This is probably my favorite Korean comfort food spot in SD!
I’ve had some pretty bad Korean restaurant experiences in the past with rude restaurant owners who chase after you for not leaving enough of a tip when they gave you awful service, but Do Re Mi is the opposite.
Fabulous, fabulous service from this seemingly family-​owned restaurant with great food as well. I’m always a sucker for some good tofu soup, but their bibim naengmyun is delicious as well!
Also a bonus: their sides are dank!
Highly recommend Do Re Mi. It’s also refreshing to not have to park on Convoy.

This place has everything you’re looking for in a Korean restaurant. Their banchan (side dishes) are extensive with at least 8 – 10 different selections. I come here mainly for their naeng myun (cold noodles), stews, bulgogi, galbi, and spicy squid which are all great. As a Korean, I can say this place is on point with their flavors and spices. I recently tried their spicy fried chicken wings, and they were DELICIOUS! Sweet, spicy, crispy, and salty — everything I look for in good wings!
Once you’re done with your meal, they offer a small cup of sweet and spicy cinnamon drink to cleanse the palate. It’s a nice way to end your meal and get that garlic breath somewhat under control.
My only complaint is that they seemed to have raised their prices for some of their dishes. $ 20 for several pieces of galbi and $ 14 for bulgogi seems a little high. I do recommend their lunch combo (M-​F 11AM-​3PM) where they offer all the same delicious foods but at a much more reasonable cost. I used to frequent this place quite often, but since the recent increase in prices, I find myself coming here less and less…

Came here with some friends for dinner, and it was worth the trek to Kearny Mesa! It’s a smaller place and they don’t take reservations. Not that kinda place… Has a hole in the wall type feel. But the food is good comfort food and very tasty. Not a ton of vegetable options, but as a Pescetarian, there was plenty of food options. Afterwards they give you this sweet cinammon drink to wash it all down with.
Only warning is you’ll leave so stuffed with all the yummy appetizers they give you, that you should pace yourself and don’t plan for dessert or drinks directly afterwards.
Wait staff was responsive and friendly.
I love good Korean food, and this satiates my cravings for sure. I’ll be back!

I used to come here looooooooooooong time ago before even Unilocal was existed. At the time, in this little Korean town in SD, not many restaurants were available to choose from and be picky about them. I just appreciated their existence to fix my craving of Korean foods sometimes since I was a kid who could not cook.
I was happy to see this restaurants doing great on Unilocal,so I decided to try their Bibim Naeng Myun. I also wanted to order a pot of steamed egg, but my waitress told me they serve the steamed egg as a complimentary side. Great!
Banchans were served. They looked fresh and clean, but I thought they were too many. Steamed broccoli was already going rotten. That’s what happens usually if restaurants serve too my banchans, they fail to keep all banchans good.
Naemyun… oh my… I have never tasted such a sugar bomb naeng myun. Corn syrup, white sugar, fruits, whatever they used to sweeten the sauce, that was a way out of control.
I asked to my waitress if she forgotten my steamed egg, she told me it doesn’t come with an order of naeng myun. Since naeng myun tasted horrible, I didn’t want to try anything else here no more, so I didn’t argue, all I was thinking was that to leave asap because I couldn’t stand the cigar smell from the neighboring shop and ammonia from their restroom.